“Well, of course I can make it to the gate, silly. You watch me,” she insisted.
Robyn had, by challenging her mother, ensured that she would make it. She must have forgotten the gate was her destination they were talking so animatedly, as they continued out of the park and up the curved sidewalk towards the high-rise where Joy lived and had parked. They were all a little relieved to get back in the car and sit down again.
“Why don’t we pick up some sandwiches and sodas and eat in the car?” Joy offered as she pulled out and headed up the street, going across town towards Robyn’s house.
“That sounds lovely,” Julia piped up in the back seat before Robyn could say anything.
“What do you think?” Joy asked Robyn specifically.
“Sounds good, Subway?”
“Got it. Know of one?”
Robyn directed them and they were soon at one of the small strip malls that carried the chain. They went in and placed their orders, Joy paying before Robyn could even pull out her wallet. They each carried their bag and soda out to the car and settled in as they munched, talking over the day they had experienced and each sharing her perspective.
“I remember that one band back in the early eighties…girls used to strip down to their underwear and dance to their music,” Julia confided, which caused Robyn to choke on her sandwich. Tears were rolling down her cheeks before she got her breath back. Joy was grinning ear-to-ear at her chagrin. She had enjoyed Julia very much that day, glad that the Alzheimer’s was not so far along that she’d lost what reality she had and that she had not forgotten Robyn.
As Joy finally started up the car and drove them home, she smiled at Robyn, a twinkle in her eye over the special day. They let Julia keep her hat and her water bottle as she made her way into the house.
“I better settle her in for the night,” Robyn confessed. “Do you want to come in?”
“Sure. Did you still want to go back?”
“I’d rather go for a walk on the beach or something, if that’s okay?”
“Sounds great,” she answered as she followed them into the small two-bedroom apartment. They entered through the kitchen at the side of the building. The room was a little dingy, with a seventies style veneer on the counter tops and matching table as well as painted yellow cabinets. It gave Joy pause as her parent’s place had been like that, they had slowly updated it as she grew up.
“Here’s the living room. You can watch TV if you…” Robyn told her, but left off as Joy shook her head.
“I’m fine. You do what you have to do.” She sat down on a plastic-covered brown couch. This too looked like it had been preserved from the seventies, maybe the early eighties. She smiled up at Robyn who was helping her mother to her room. She wondered what Robyn had planned to do about tonight. Did she have a sitter? Just then, the front door opened and in walked a black, spike-haired woman of about thirty-five. “Hi,” Joy greeted her, trying to stand up, but slipping on the plastic-covered couch.
“Don’t get up,” she said as she came over, hand outstretched. “I’m Callie.”
“Joy,” she answered back, smiling her welcome.
“They back there?” she tilted the spikes toward the back hallway the two women had disappeared down moments before. Her nose ring tilted too. Her lips were outlined in black as were her eyes. Her eyes looked black too…she seemed to be wearing a great deal of black.
It seemed to Joy the woman wore and imbued the word black. She wore it, she looked it, and she embodied it. “Yeah, we just got here a few minutes ago,” she admitted, never letting on how ridiculous she thought the woman before her looked. She was far too old to be wearing something a rebellious teenager might wear.
“Yeah, I saw you pull up,” she answered. “I live over there,” her head tilted the other way, her spikes and nose ring going the other way.
“Oh, that’s convenient,” Joy said in return. “I mean, that’s nice that you can help out.”
“Well, I knew Julia and then watched her raise the kids. I try to help out when I can. We’re all good friends,” she answered as she eyed the blonde, wondering based on what little Robyn had told her about her. “Are you the Joy Parker that the TV stations were looking for a few years ago?” she bluntly asked. She’d wondered when Robyn enthused about her and told her the name. She peered at her as though trying to remember or recall what she had looked like.
“I do not know, am I?” she hedged, not exactly sure, but if it was what the woman was inferring, she did not want to know.
“Yeah…yeah, they were looking for that chick that won…Oh, my God, you won the Powerball, didn’t you?” she asked excitedly.
This time Joy did manage to get up off the slippery couch, but only barely. “Yes, but shhh,” she put her finger up to her lips. “I do not spread that around.”
“They were looking all over for you,” she continued excitedly as though Joy hadn’t said anything. “They had your picture on…” she trailed off as she remembered something. “Wasn’t your family looking for you? Offering a reward…” she trailed off again. “Didn’t they say you needed mental help or something?” she now sounded worried, even unconsciously taking a step backwards.
As Joy stood up, she towered over the much shorter woman. “Look, I do not tell anyone about the win. Yes, I am her, but I’m not nuts,” she tried to assure her, smiling slightly to disarm her.
“You sure?” she asked, as though affirmation would do it.
Joy chuckled. “I assure you, I’m as sane as the next gal.” She spread her hands out to show she was not holding anything but her keys. “I would appreciate if you did not tell anyone. I prefer to keep my private life, private.”
“What about Robyn?” she asked, sounding defensive, as though Joy had insulted her or something.
“She and I are pursuing a relationship,” she sounded prissy. “Eventually, I will tell her.”
“But not now?” she sounded suspicious now.
Joy shook her head. “I’m not sure when the best time is. She knows I’m heading up the foundation and running things at the site where we are building, but I’m sure she’s guessed I have money by now.”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “She has.” She looked around the apartment and then back at Joy. “What do you want with her?”
Joy smiled. She had asked herself that very question many times. “I want her friendship first. We are seeing where this goes from there,” she replied honestly, but could see that Callie was still unconvinced. “It’s all going to take time, but we have time.”
Callie was not reassured, warily assessing the millionaire standing in her friend’s shabby and outdated apartment. She had to have an ulterior motive, she just had to. Just then Robyn came down the hall.
“Oh, already met?”
“Just,” Joy said with a smile. “Is your mother all set?”
“Yes, I got her teeth brushed and she’s changing into her nightclothes. She wants to say thank you and good night if you’ll hang on, and then we can get going,” she told her, returning the smile. She sensed the tension in the room, seeing Callie looking suspiciously at her friend. “What?” she asked looking directly at the woman.
“What? Oh, nothing,” she hedged, not wanting to upset her. “You two going back to the lakefront?”
“No, we decided we had enough bands today,” Robyn answered for them both as Joy nodded. “We did get great parking though,” she smiled back at Joy who laughed at the little joke.
“What am I missing?” Callie asked, bewildered.
“Joy has an apartment down there and we parked in her garage and then walked down to Summerfest,” the brunette told her.
“Oh, must be nice,” she said, sounding just a tad spiteful to Joy’s ears.
Hearing a bit of sarcasm and knowing Callie, Robyn laughed it off. “It was nice and convenient. We didn’t have to pay for parking. It was a zoo down there and mom did really well; she had a marvelous time.”
Before Callie could re
spond, Julia spoke up from the hallway, “I did have a marvelous time, it brought back so many memories. The bands were great!” she enthused as she came slowly out into the living room in a nightgown, her robe untied in the front.
“Mom, you need to close this,” Robyn said affectionately, helping her tie it closed.
“Ah, we’re all women here. Who’s gonna see anything?” she dismissed it.
“Well, you are going to shock Joy,” she teased her mother affectionately.
Joy smiled as Julia looked over Robyn’s shoulder at her and returned the smile. “I really did have a good time. Thank you for inviting me,” Julia told her.
“The pleasure was mine,” she answered, in her well-modulated tones.
“We better be going, Mom. You have a nice evening with Callie,” Robyn said to leave everyone on a positive note.
“Bye now,” Julia called to Joy as they made their way out the front door.
Joy held out her elbow for Robyn to take as they made their way to her car. Robyn spoke up as Joy unlocked the door to let her in, “You okay?” she asked, concerned. She had sensed something between her and Callie, and it didn’t set well with her.
“I’m fine. I’m so glad your mother had a good time,” she assured her to distract her from the turmoil that Joy was feeling. She helped her into the car, handing her the seat belt as she had many times, but closing the door a little too forcefully. As she walked around the car to her driver’s side, she wondered how she could tell Robyn her story before Callie took it upon herself to tell her.
As they drove back towards the lake, taking a different route, they stayed well north of the festivities down by Joy’s apartment and that part of the lake. They got out to walk hand in hand along the moonlit beach.
“Gawd, this is so romantic,” Robyn enthused, swinging Joy’s hand. She was feeling so good. Her mother hadn’t been that ‘with it’ in so long. It was almost like the mom of old and she had loved it. She felt like crying at the loss of the woman she had always known, but today was such a gift and she owed it all to this tall blonde she was with.
“Yes, it is,” Joy agreed, glad she had had enough time with her own thoughts to carefully mask how upset she had been earlier. Callie didn’t know the whole story and it was not her place to tell Robyn, it was Joy’s. But tonight, was not the night, not when Robyn was so obviously happy. She buried her own feelings deep, as she had for years, again feeling like the outsider she was. Callie was part of Robyn’s extended family. She would be believed over Joy if she got the story out first. Right now, Joy wanted Robyn to be happy and enjoy the night. “It’s very romantic,” she repeated the words back, turning Robyn towards her, bending only slightly to take her in her arms and share their first kiss, their first real kiss other than the pecks after dates. Robyn’s lips were warm and welcoming, and when Joy tentatively licked at them, they opened readily and they deepened their kiss. The warmth of their breath intertwined as their tongues did the same. Slowly they took the extended kisses, one turning into many, their hands pulling each other closer as they shared the warmth of their bodies.
They only pulled back when they heard, “Look, it’s girls!”
By mutual agreement, they slowly started walking down the path along the beach again, away from the annoying interruption and back towards the car. Their hands held each other, closer this time, as each thought over the kisses they had just shared.
“Are you all right?” Joy murmured to the smaller woman.
“I’m fine, although I’d like to find that pinhead and smack him around,” she replied with a laugh.
Joy laughed too. She had had similar thoughts, wondering if the kisses could have gone further. She looked around into the dark, well, maybe not on a public beach. They walked farther, past the duck pond, past the boat landing, and then the boat harbor. Next, they went onto the park path along the great boulders that kept this section of the lake from taking away the beach. They were both chatting, feeling warmer towards the other after their shared day and kisses.
“I wanted to start in all four places, but unfortunately the contractors can only start on the second one before winter. We’ll begin housing some of the workers soon,” she enthused, talking about the project enthusiastically.
“I’d love to help. I’ll apply for the position next week,” Robyn told her. She really believed in the project and Joy would be great to work for.
“You do not have to unless you want…”
“I want to. Besides, I bet you pay better than the state,” she teased.
Joy laughed with her, enjoying their conversations. “Say, I do not want anything at work to come between us,” she commented. “I really enjoy where this is going,” she mentioned quietly.
“I do too,” Robyn answered just as quietly. “I’d like to see where it goes a little faster,” she sounded like she was complaining.
Joy stopped and looked at Robyn in the lamplight of the path. “Have I been going too slow?” she asked, concerned.
Robyn shrugged. “A little, but I thought of it like you were courting me. It was sweet, but a little slower than most lesbian relationships.”
“Was I supposed to ask you to move in with me after our second date?” she asked, knowing that age-old joke about U-Hauling.
Robyn nodded, laughing. “At least. Could I see it tonight, maybe?”
“Actually, I was hoping we’d end up…” she began, but was interrupted by some night revelers. They began to turn back towards the car once again before she continued. “I thought we’d watch the fireworks from my balcony,” she finished.
“Oh good, I didn’t want to assume anything. I thought for a minute there you were going to say you hoped we’d end up in bed.”
Joy slowed again and looked her in the eye as best she could with her height and the light from overhead. “I did not want to rush you,” she said quietly, her heart rushing.
“I didn’t want to rush you either,” Robyn admitted, touched at how sweet this woman had been.
They began to walk again, perhaps a tad faster, towards where the car was parked. “I do have a confession,” Joy began awkwardly.
Robyn immediately thought back to the tension she had sensed in the living room with Callie and wondered if this was about that.
“I’ve never been with a woman,” she said quietly, almost barely a whisper.
“Never, as in never?” Robyn asked, surprised. She knew how old Joy was and was in fact planning a surprise for her upcoming birthday.
“Is that okay?” she wondered, feeling awkward and hating it. She could have in Europe, she had plenty of offers, both male and female, but none had felt right. Robyn felt…right.
“Just so you don’t have any preconceived notions that I know it all,” Robyn said, almost flippantly and then immediately regretted it. “I mean, we’ve taken it slow. We’ll take that slow as well. When you’re ready,” she added softly, not wishing to sound like she was in a rush to move their relationship there. Now she understood why Joy had moved so slow.
Joy smiled. She could sense she had flustered Robyn too. She felt that awkwardness receding, her own natural confidence returning as she escorted her to the car. They resumed their easy conversation, Robyn telling her what she’d like to see for the new tenants about to move into some of the finished homes on the property, and asking Joy about what she wanted to see done.
“Well, we have a couple of levels. Those singles who need a place can have the tiny homes or a small apartment, there will be a choice. Everyone is expected to help with the community gardens as well as the hydroponic gardens,” Joy enjoyed talking about the project and Robyn enthused whenever they did. They’d kept away from the subject for a long time as they got to know each other, but today had been such a good day on so many levels, they added to it by relaxing their guard about the work that had brought them together.
As Joy drove into the now familiar parking garage and found her parking spot, she backed into it again and set the par
king brake. When Robyn showed no signs of getting out of the car, she asked, “Shall we go?”
“I just want to try something first,” Robyn said, scooting up on her seat after releasing her seat belt so she could take Joy’s face in her hands and lean in to kiss her.
Joy responded immediately, feeling a lot easier about doing so after their earlier kiss. In the privacy of the parking garage, she pulled Robyn against her and returned the kiss whole-heartedly. It was deep, it was messy, and it was wondrous.
As Robyn slowly pulled back, looking down into Joy’s sparkling eyes, she smiled and leaned her forehead against her. Panting slightly, she said, “I just wanted to be sure that was not a fluke.”
Petting down Robyn’s back, Joy smiled in return, glad she had measured up. “No, no fluke,” she admitted. “No fluke at all,” she whispered as she kissed her again, and again, because she could…
“We better go upstairs or we are going to miss the fireworks,” Robyn finally murmured, the temptation to straddle the taller woman enormous, but she didn’t want Joy’s first time to be in a parking garage or in a car.
Joy really thought about stating they could make their own fireworks, here and now, but thought a flippant response was not a good idea, as vulnerable as she was feeling. It could be misconstrued. “Sounds good,” she said quietly instead.
Slowly, regretfully, Robyn got up from where she was lying across her and reached for the door handle.
Joy got up just as slowly and regretfully, but then, realizing Robyn was getting out of the car, quickly got up and out, closing the door and walking quickly around to meet her and reach out her hand to hold it. She pushed the button on her keys and locked up the car as they headed for the elevator, this time going up instead of down.
Robyn thought she had walked into a copy of some magazine. The room was modern, minimalistic, and pristine. The place gleamed with chrome, new appliances, and endless, spotless surfaces. “You rented this like this?” she asked, looking at the leather furniture and the modern appliances, TV and stereo system.
“Yes, is something wrong?”
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