Needing her alone time, Giselle sat on the sofa in darkness for an hour. Tired and distracted, she got a blanket from the bedroom and closed the door. Ian's snoring was powerful and very annoying. Her phone put a lofi tune on the speaker and she set it to shut off after 60 minutes automatically. Slowly sleep took her.
The alarm felt like a thousand fingers in a sea of bubbles. All of them popped at the same time. The room was bright and the day had started already. The brunette pushed herself up and the routine started. When she went into the bedroom to get dressed, Ian opened his eyes and sighed, "Are you already avoiding the bed?". Giselle offered him a frown and then a smirk, "Yes! By all means, yes!". "That's a rude way to start a morning", he complained, but he didn't like her response either, "You were snoring. Loud enough to be heard on a helicopter landing pad. While the chopper is taking off!".
Ian climbed out of bed and grimaced at her before heading into the bathroom, "Alright, I get it, sorry". His wife stared after him with her towel wrapped around her waist, trying to decide between the cream and the black bra.
Breakfast felt like the cold war. They just ate. Ian's grumpy attitude from their dinner invitation persisted and Giselle didn't engage him. The prior evening she would have. Now she was tired of it, especially since he woke and passed judgement on her decision to sleep elsewhere.
On her way to work, she sent a text to Laury.
Giselle: "Morning! Mind if I take you out tonight? I need to rant, minimum distract myself!"
The response didn't arrive and she kept staring at the display in frustration. Her bus stopped on time and she went into Dean's attire for the gentleman through the side entrance and opened the door timely. Laury arrived 15 minutes late, out of breath and her hair looked like a mess. "Rough night?, Giselle giggled and leaned over the counter to eye her coworker from top to bottom. "Very funny. I'm starting to think I might be better off dating women...", the woman responded and sighed. "That bad, huh? I can tell Annie that you're available", the brunette grinned, but Laury just held up her hand and showed her the middle finger. Following up on her message, she said, "Sounds like we both need a break. How about we enjoy the evening sun and I'll hear all about what caused _this_". Her hand gestured a circle toward and around Laury's face. "Are you asking me out?", the woman's face lit up and a hint of a smile crept onto her lips. "If you wanna call it that? I asked you via text, earlier", Giselle explained and Laury quickly checked her phone and nodded, "Sounds fair, you're paying!". The brunette shrugged and then both women went to work.
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It wasn't a particularly busy day. Mr Dean arrived later in the afternoon and tasked Giselle with updating the computer in the office. An update had gone stuck and she was forced to call tech support. The hotline kept her in a queue for an hour. She was bored enough to doodle. When everything was sorted and updated, the desk looked like a modern piece of art. Bursting out into laughter when she realized what she had done, she took a picture, put her masterpiece into the trash and helped Laury close up.
A couple of minutes later, they entered an Irish Pub with an open window front and countless fans spinning the air around the establishment. A window table for two was free, it was theirs now.
After a waitress chewing irritably on a gum took their order with a smacking noise, Giselle turned to her coworker, "Tell me what's up?".
Laury had to yell the words, sometimes even scream. Today was karaoke night. Both had forgotten that. Young and old, bolstered by a glass of Guinness, went up to the stage and gave their best. Well, it was more like the worst to barely mediocre. From Celine Dion to Jon Bon Jovi. It was all there.
After an hour they gave up and went out. A stroll in the warm summer evening. The sun was about to set. Laury hooked herself with an arm at Giselle and then her heart emptied into a neverending monologue. The brunette got to hear about failed relationships, about a spiteful sister that won't talk to her, about the latest fight of her parents, about the stolen money and about all of her friends from graduation already living in properties with their own offspring. Giselle wanted to talk about her problems, but when they stopped at the parking garage, she hadn't said a word for over an hour.
When Laury stopped walking and turned to face her, the woman met a tight, hearty embrace and Giselle's soft voice soothed her, "It's alright, Laury. I'm here for you".
When she felt her coworker's nails dig into her back, she knew that tears were rolling down the cheeks. She held the woman close, pulled the face against her neck, listened to a quiet sobbing and waited patiently, not once relaxing the embrace.