Where Shadows Linger (Intertwined Souls Series Book 2)
Page 12
Eva took a drag of her cigarette. “We’ve been through too much to keep secrets from each other.”
Chapter Thirteen
Zoe whistled her favorite song as she walked out of the restaurant and into the alley with a bag full of kitchen waste. Glancing up at the expanse of sky, she smiled. She leaned against the wall of the restaurant and closed her eyes. Eva came into her mind and how she made her feel that morning. Eva making love to her was better than she imagined. Eva was a gentle lover—not that Zoe had anyone to compare with—but Eva was gentle, patient, and loving. The way Eva looked in the throes of passion, how her light blue eyes had darkened, and the feel of her hands on Zoe’s body made Zoe involuntarily shiver. She finally understood what the fuss was about. She felt different, but wasn’t sure why but everything was felt different. Zoe closed her eyes and lost herself in the memory once again.
“Zoe!”
Zoe jumped in surprise at the sound of Elena’s voice interrupted her rewind to her morning. “El!”
“What are you doing?”
“Taking out the garbage.” Zoe replied and held up the bag with the refuse.
“How long is it going to take you to take out the garbage?” Elena asked rhetorically. She took the bag from Zoe’s hand. “What is wrong with you today?”
“Huh?”
“You’re off with the fairies since we left home. You’re not concentrating on anything, Zo. You’ve been grinning like a Cheshire cat and confusing Mr. Livermore!”
Zoe smiled. “I have things on my mind.”
“Yes? What things?”
“Good things.”
Elena stood with her hand on her hip and waited for Zoe to elaborate. Zoe gazed at her with an ever-widening grin. Zoe looked at the restaurant door for a moment before she leaned in and whispered to her friend. “I’m not a virgin anymore, El.”
Elena gazed back at Zoe with a puzzled expression. “You were a virgin? I mean yes you were before you met Eva but-“
“Until yesterday I was still a virgin.”
“Now you’re just being silly. You’ve been with Eva for two years and you’re telling me she didn’t...um…you know whatever lesbians do.”
Yes how did lesbians make love? Now I know! Zoe thought to herself and burst out laughing. She put her arm around Elena and kissed her on the cheek. “You are so funny.”
“Zoe, did you hit yourself on the head?”
“No,” Zoe giggled and whispered into Elena’s ear, “I did it.”
“Really? After two years? You mean the separate bedrooms isn’t a ruse?”
“Nope, it wasn’t a ruse.”
Elena paused for a moment. “Is that normal not to have…um…sex…for so long?”
“It’s a long story…”
“It’s that ‘off-limits’ about Eva thing again right?”
Zoe sat down on covered garbage bin and regarded her friend for a moment. “It’s not my place to tell you about Eva’s past, El. If it were my life, I would tell you about it but I can’t with Evy.”
Elena sat down next to her and tapped her on the knee. “I know. One day Eva may trust me enough to tell me.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
The two friends fell silent for a moment before Elena turned to Zoe and asked, “So what is it like?”
Zoe’s face creased into a wide smile. “It was great!”
“Yes I take it you liked it from all the smiling you’ve been doing. Did it hurt?”
Zoe shook her head. “No…I was nervous but it was really wonderful.”
Elena put her arm around her friend. “I’m really glad you had a wonderful time. One day I’ll have to tell you about my first time which wasn’t great at all.”
“Oh?”
“Hm yes but I’m not going to do that now. We need to get back to work,” Elena took Zoe’s hand and pulled her up from where they were sitting. Zoe opened the door to the alley. She was about follow Elena inside when she heard a sound.
Zoe turned but didn’t see anyone behind her. With a shrug, she wiped her hands on the apron around her waist.
A very quiet meow made her stop and look down. Staring back up at her was an older kitten, its black hair matted to its body from the rain. It looked at her with such a pitiful look she couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. She went down onto her haunches and picked it up.
“Hello, little one,” Zoe cooed. “You look so lost,” she said as the kitten meowed. She looked around the alley to see if there were any other kittens that had been dumped, but she couldn’t find any. “I think I’m going to take you home, give you a bath, if you don’t scratch me to death, and something to eat, because you are all skin and bones.”
“Zoe, who are you talking to?” Elena asked as she came out of the restaurant again. “You can’t be serious!”
Zoe grinned and nodded. “It...” She stopped and held up the cat for a quick inspection under its tail. “She is so cute!”
“She is a cat,” Elena said with some distaste.
“Well, she’s not a dog.” Zoe cuddled the cat to her chest. The cat immediately began to purr, much to Zoe’s delight. “I’m going to take her home.”
“That cat’s got fleas,” Elena said.
“El, she looks so lonely. She looks like she’s a refugee from some camp.”
“That’s not far from the truth,” Elena muttered and peered at the kitten, who had closed her eyes and settled in Zoe’s arms. “She’s a wild cat.”
“Doesn’t look wild to me.” Zoe smiled at the cat. “I love her eyes.”
Elena snorted.
Zoe responded with a gentle laugh. “Her eyes remind me of Eva’s.”
“I hope you don’t tell Eva that she has cat’s eyes, because I don’t think I would find it romantic if someone told me my eyes looked like a cat’s.”
“They’re the same color.” Zoe looked into the cat’s face and said, “I think I’m going to take you home, Ourania.”
“Ourania? What does that mean?”
Zoe smiled. “It means sky in Greek. Her eyes are as blue as the sky.”
“You are hopeless,” Elena said with a shake of her head. “I bet Eva takes one look at the flea bag and tells you to take it away.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Don’t you have to ask her if you can keep it?”
Zoe held the cat protectively against her chest. “No. Eva’s not my mother, you know.”
“But don’t you have to clear it with her first?”
“What?” Zoe frowned, not quite understanding what Elena was getting at.
“You know how she is supposed to be your head...”
Zoe could not help giggling. “My head? My head is on my shoulders, although I do love the head on her shoulders.”
Elena rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. The man is the head of the house.”
“All right, but what does that have to do with this cat?”
“Well, when you take her home, what will Eva do?”
Zoe smiled. “Oh I know what she will do. That’s easy to figure out. Eva will fall in love with her.”
“How do you know?”
“Evy is just a gentle heart.” Zoe tapped the side of her head with her free hand. “Eva is going to see this little soul and will fall in love.”
“You are so sappy.” Elena shook her head. “Hope she’s not allergic to cat hair.”
“Wait until you have gone from ‘heavy like’ to ‘love’ and then tell me about being sappy,” Zoe said.
“Right, and I suppose this man who I’m going to fall in ‘heavy like’ will fall out of the sky?” Elena asked.
“Not unless he jumps out of those planes, but one will come along.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.” Elena chuckled and put her arm around Zoe. “I wonder if Mrs. Jenkins likes cats.”
Zoe merely laughed and held the cat to her chest. “Come on, let’s get our coats and take Ourania home.”
***
“One of these days I’m going to have to go out with Mrs. Jenkins’ nephew,” Eva muttered as she entered the apartment after having been stopped once again by their landlady. She stopped and looked down as a cat appeared from her bedroom and lay down in front of her.
Oh!” Eva looked down at the cat. “Where did you come from?” She went down on her haunches and picked up the cat, who did not object but started to purr, making Eva smile.
“I knew it.”
Eva looked up and saw Zoe leaning against the bedroom doorframe. She was grinning. She came up to Eva and kissed her on the lips. “Well, hello. I told Elena you would fall in love with her. This is our newest family member.”
“What’s her name?” Eva held up the cat and gazed into its eyes. “She has blue eyes.”
“Yes, I noticed that.” Zoe smiled. “Her name is Ourania. Ourania, meet your second mama, Eva.”
“I like the name.”
“So can we keep her?”
“Of course we can. Why can’t we?” Eva asked, a little confused by Zoe’s request.
Zoe merely giggled. “Something Elena said today.”
“Yes? What did Elena say?” Eva held Ourania in the crook of her arm. She took Zoe’s hand, kissed it, and led her to the sofa.
“She asked me if you were my head.”
It took a moment before Eva started to laugh, startling the kitten, who looked up quizzically at her new mistress. “Oh my goodness, that was funny.”
“Well, you are, sort of.”
“What? No, I’m not.”
Zoe rested her head on Eva’s shoulder and sighed. “You are older than me and you tend to be more worldly…”
“Um, I don’t think that’s what Elena meant, love. We both decide. I don’t like the talk about who is in charge. We both are.”
Zoe gazed up and smiled. “Forget about that. I’ve been thinking about this morning all day.”
“You have? What happened this morning?” Eva grinned and then tenderly kissed Zoe on the lips.
“Were you alright today? Nothing hurt?”
Eva shook her head. “Nothing hurt, but I wouldn’t have minded staying in bed with you. I kept reliving in my mind and it doesn’t compare to the real thing.”
“I told Elena.”
“You told your best friend we made love?”
“Well she asked why I was in such a good mood and I told her. That’s okay I did that, right?”
Eva nodded. “Yes that’s more than alright, love. She’s your friend.”
“Oh, I do love you,” Zoe murmured and snuggled up against Eva. “Can we do that again tonight?”
Eva couldn’t help but laugh at the question which was put to her so innocently that she wanted to just kiss her partner. “Yes, we can.”
“Can I make love to you; I think I’m a quick learner.”
Eva fell back onto the sofa and laughed as Zoe buried her head against her chest and giggled. “Um…yes…”
They both sighed at the same time. Eva kissed the top of Zoe’s head. “You can do whatever you want to me.”
“Oh I know that,” Zoe quipped. After a beat she said, “Do you have to go in tonight?”
“Yes, I have to. I don’t want to but...”
“Evy, you have to leave this job. I can’t stand the thought of you in that dump. It’s terrible for you, terrible for your back and just a horrible place to work!”
“Hannah came by in the morning.”
“Are you changing the subject?”
Eva shook her head. “No, love, I’m not. It’s related-”
“Oh? Did you call her? So there is something wrong?” Zoe asked as she let go of Eva and turned to face her.
Eva shook her head. “No. She wanted to talk to me about something and I told her what happened this morning.”
“Was she happy?”
“Not as happy as I was,” Eva said and waggled her eyebrows, causing Zoe to fall back onto the sofa and laugh. “Did you really enjoy it? It was just so amazing to make love to you.”
Zoe nodded vigorously. “I enjoyed myself so much I think making love to you every morning should be the way we start our day.”
“I think that’s a very good idea,” Eva whispered before she kissed Zoe tenderly. “I was expecting something bad to happen, but nothing did.”
“I love Hannah and I think we should name our first born after her.”
Eva’s eyebrows rose at the suggestion. “Unless someone has performed a miracle, we can’t have children. Do you want children?”
“I would like some, but I’m not sure how we do that without..um.. you know—”
“I know we can’t, but I don’t think we should worry about that at the moment, right?”
“Not at the moment,” Zoe replied and shook her head.
“You don’t have to skirt around the issue about children, Zo.” Eva put her arm around Zoe’s shoulders.
“I know, but I sometimes forget.”
“You forget that I’m a woman?” Eva asked jokingly, which had the desired effect of making Zoe giggle. “One day we will have children, I’m sure of it. I know you love children and would love to have them but—”
“I know, Evy, and the idea of having sex with a man makes me ill so let’s not talk about this especially since I made love to you!”
Eva nodded. “I don’t want to change the subject because I would really to repeat it but can we talk about my job?”
Zoe groaned loudly. “Not unless you are quitting, because I’m not changing my mind about you working in that dump.”
Eva tried to hide the smirk, but failed on seeing Zoe’s perplexed look. “What would you say if I told you I’m going to listen to you?”
Zoe stared up at Eva for a moment. She took the kitten from Eva’s lap and put her to the side. Ourania meowed her displeasure. Zoe hitched her skirt up and straddled Eva’s lap. She cupped Eva’s face with both hands and gazed into her eyes. “Say that again?”
“I said, what would you say if I told you that I’m going to listen to you?”
“Did you get fired?”
“No, I didn’t get fired.”
“So making love is all it takes for you to listen to me?” Zoe asked in amazement, making Eva laugh. “Really? That’s all it takes for you to listen?”
“No.”
“Are you teasing me?”
“No, love, I wouldn’t do that, but I am leaving. As I said, Hannah was here shortly after you left and she told me that the Interpreter Division was looking for interpreters. She showed me a pamphlet and they were looking for Greek, German, and Italian interpreters.”
“Did she? I love Hannah. Have I mentioned how much I love that woman?” Zoe exclaimed. “You are perfect for that job since you can speak those languages fluently.”
“That’s what Hannah said. I know you asked her to try and convince me to stop.”
“I told you I was going to.”
“I know. Hannah thinks it’s very different that we don’t have secrets and we tell each other everything.”
“Doesn’t everyone? That’s what love is about, isn’t it? You love someone so much that you tell them what’s in your heart.”
Eva smiled broadly at Zoe’s romantic notion of what love means. “You are priceless.”
“Too late to throw me away,” Zoe quipped. “So what happened about the interpreter job?”
“I went for the interview today.”
“Wow. That was quick.”
“I start work in two weeks as the German interpreter,” Eva said before being engulfed by an exuberant Zoe, who punched the air in triumph.
“Why two weeks? Why not now?”
“I have to give notice to the factory, love. That’s the law. I just can’t walk out on them.”
“Yes, you can. You go into the office and say ‘I’m leaving,’ and off you go.”
Eva shook her head. “No, that’s not how it works. It’s only two weeks. I can handle another two weeks.”
Eva met Zoe’s eyes and smiled. “I’ve got something else to tell you. I told Hannah about Kristallnacht.”
“Oh, you did? I know how scared you were of telling her. What did she say?”
“She said I did it because of Greta. I wanted her approval and she understood why I did it,” Eva replied softly. “She didn’t react the way I thought she would.”
“She knows you now, Evy, and you’re not a Jew hater. She can see that.”
“Hm, but telling a Jew that I burnt down a synagogue to impress my girlfriend isn’t all that great.”
“Firstly,” Zoe took hold of Eva’s hands and held them, “you didn’t burn down the synagogue; you watched it burn. That’s not the same. You weren’t there out of hatred and malice. You were a lovesick teenager.”
“You are far too forgiving.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. You were my age, and it would be something that I would have done if I had been in your shoes. You don’t think about what is going on around you, but instead you are worried about losing the girl.”
“You wouldn’t have thought about the burning building?”
“Oh hell, no. If I was losing you? I wouldn’t care about the building,” Zoe said emphatically. “You cared what this Greta person wanted. I’ve never met her nor am I likely to meet her, but I don’t like her.”
Eva shook her head. “She wasn’t in your league.”
Zoe tilted her head a little and regarded Eva for a moment. “She was better than me?”
Eva realized how Zoe must have taken her last comment and shook her head. “Oh, no, no, no, love, no, not at all. I meant that she could never be in your league. I doubt very much she had the courage to go through everything you have endured. She was full of her own self-importance.”
“Wow, already sounds like a stupid woman.”
“Shallow and vain, and those are two traits you will never have,” Eva replied. She stroked Zoe’s cheek with the back of her hand. “You are not Greta. You will never be like her.”
“Did she have red hair?”
“No, brown. Gray eyes.”
“Pah! That relationship was doomed from the start,” Zoe jokingly replied, making Eva smile. “She wasn’t a redhead so that explains everything.”