“What about your company?”
“It’s my dad’s company, and he’s still in charge.”
“But he couldn’t get you a job?”
“We… had a disagreement.”
“Disagreement?”
“I finally came out to my family. I even introduced them to my fiancée, thinking everything would be fine. They loved me, and I was their only daughter. But no, it wasn’t fine. I was supposed to marry a nice guy from their church, who runs in their social circles. I wasn’t supposed to be gay. I definitely wasn’t supposed to be in love with a woman I plan to marry.” Laurel held up her hand, and Harlow saw the modest ring. “I should’ve come out to them sooner, I know. You felt lied to when I asked you to move in with me, and I treated you like my roommate and asked you to play the part whenever anyone from my family was around. I know you thought I needed to tell them, and we fought all the time because of it.”
“You also cheated on me, so there’s that.”
“I’m still sorry about that. I’ll never forgive myself for it. You were my first real girlfriend, and when I met someone else who liked me, I was very, very stupid, but things weren’t working with us anyway by then, and I think we were just trying to be nice to each other by not ending it.”
“Maybe, but I didn’t deserve that.”
“No, you didn’t. And I haven’t cheated on anyone else since. Not that that makes a difference to you, but it’s true. My family didn’t like me being gay, and my dad decided that he didn’t want me to take over the company just yet. He still hasn’t retired. I didn’t care at first because I had a job anyway, but when I got laid off, I asked him for anything – not even management or leadership, just anything, and he said no. My brother told mehe’d hire me on when Dad retires, but I’m convinced that my father, who had always talked about early retirement, will now hang on until he’s ninety just to prevent that. I didn’t see it coming, and maybe I should have, but I work here now. We’re going to have a small wedding because we can’t afford much, and we live in a one-bedroom apartment that sucks, but it’s also kind of great.” Laurel smiled.
“Itis?”
“Yeah. When you moved in, I was in a three-bedroom townhome owned by the company, and it never really felt like mine. We’re still only renting the apartment, but we found it together and bought cheap furniture that we picked out. It’s nice, having that with someone I love. The small space forces us to spend more time together. You and I never had that in a giant house.”
“Then, I’m happy for you,” Harlow said.
“I’m still trying to get out of here, though. The smell in this place… I have to touch all the shoesafterpeople wear them and spray them with this disinfectant, but you know it doesn’t get everything out of there.”
“Thanks; I’m about to put a pair of those shoes on. Can I get a size eight, please?”
“I’ll spray them again for you just in case, but make sure to really clean your feet in the shower later. Are you wearing thick socks?”
“I’m wearing normal socks,” she said a little laugh.
“Hey, how areyou? We’ve only talked about me. How’s Larissa?” Laurel asked before she turned to reach for a pair of shoes in a dark-blue, red, and white pattern with black laces and held them out in front of her as if they required a hazmat suit to handle.
“She’s good. Why?”
“And how are you two doing?”
Laurel sprayed the shoes and scrunched up her face in disgust, which had Harlow laughing and rolling her eyes.
“We’re both good.Separately, we’re both good.”
“Oh. She’s with someone?”
“No. Why?”
“Areyou?” Laurel asked.
“No, I’m single.”
“So, not Samantha?”
“We used to date, but it’s been a long time. I think we’re going to be actual friends now.”
“Do you know why she doesn’t like to be called Sam? I called her that once, and she corrected me.”
“She just doesn’t like it. Never has. I’ve only ever used it when I was in a hurry. Sometimes, there were glares in my direction, but she let it go. I don’t think there’s a story there, though.”
