“Shit — Juniper!” Jules groaned as she sat up. “You’d think it was a baby elephant up there, not a five-kilo cat.”
Catherine chuckled. “I told you, you can hear everything!”
“Oh my God! Yeah, you really can,” Jules grimaced and laughed. “He’ll be hungry and wondering where I’ve got to. Do you mind if I…”
“No, not at all. How about you go see to Juni, and I’ll make us some breakfast?”
“Sounds perfect.” Jules leaned in and kissed her again.
Catherine watched as her neighbour pulled on her underwear, and an idea came to her that was uncharacteristically springing out of her mouth before she’d even thought it through.
“Seeing as we left him on his own all night, why don’t you wedge our doors open when you come back down?”
Jules cocked her head. “You wouldn’t mind if he came exploring?”
“Technically, Juni stayed over before you did.”
“Ha, yeah, okay… and you’re really okay with that?”
Catherine slowly nodded as if weighingthe idea. “Yeah, I am. More than okay,” she said and realised she meant it.
“Alright, let’s give it a go.” Jules’s smile didn’t budge as she threw on her clothes. Catherine was sure she had the same silly grin plastered on her own lips.
Dressed but gloriously dishevelled, Jules crawled up the bed and placed a soft kiss on Catherine’s forehead. “I’ll be back soon, lover,” she purred.
Catherine’s heart stuttered at Jules’s choice of word.
It was new; it was all so new, but it felt good; everything so far with Jules felt good.Less thinking, more feeling,Catherine reminded herself as she gripped the front of Jules’s shirt and stole another kiss before she left.
Excitement fluttered in Catherine’s stomach as she busied herself preparing breakfast. Hopefully, she wouldn’t disappoint Jules with her lack of culinary skills, but she couldn’t really fuck up scrambled eggs on toast too badly. She whisked the eggs and dropped a quick text to Penny.
Jules stayed over!!!
Penny:
OMG! That’s amazing. Proud of you x
She’s bringing the cat over for breakfast!
Penny:
I think that’s the most lesbian thing I’ve ever read… And I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere about eating pussy x
Penny followed up with a string of confetti emojis, thenan aubergine and a splash. Catherine laughed, slipping her phone back into her dressing gown pocket just as the front door opened.
“Hey, I’m back,” Jules called out.
Catherine met her in the hallway. Jules had removed last night’s makeup and tied her hair back. Anticipating the unspoken casual-cosy dress-code, she’d changed into a well-worn sweatshirt, paired with pyjama shorts and socks. Jules smiled and glanced down at the furry grey bundle nestled in her arms.
Warmth spread through Catherine like wildfire, her insides aglow — because this was it, this was everything, all at once.
Maybe it was too soon. Maybe it would all go tits up, but she owed it to herself to take a chance, and so far, Jules had been a pretty safe bet.
SIX MONTHS LATER
Catherine buckled her seatbelt and looked at the empty seat beside her. A steady stream of passengers boarded the plane, their hurried footsteps thudding through the cavernous cabin, passing by the premium seats and into the endless rows of economy.
Catherine glanced at her phone; ten minutes until the scheduled departure time. After switching her phone to flight mode, she dropped it back in her bag, severing the last tendrils of connection with the outside world. Not that she was expecting to hear from Jules, anyway.
