Laura had to pull on the handle with both hands to fully shut the door on her way out of the landlord's office. As the door finally oozed into place, Laura could see the girls in the office watching her and giggling. She sighed, and prayed that if her own apartment door ever fell into such disrepair, the on-site management wouldn't be so nonchalant about getting it repaired.
With her new mailbox key in hand, Laura walked from the landlord's office to the nondescript row of metal cubbyholes that served as a minimalist unloading area for the unremarkable wages of her fellow students and tenants: the mailbox. Fortunately, the tiny metal doors on these boxes opened without any problem, and inside her own such chamber, no bills awaited her. Instead, there were a number of coupons for Omaha Steaks addressed to Willy Thornton, two catalogs for companies that sold personalized checks, and an old issue of Modern Bride that almost took up the entire mailbox. She managed to wedge the magazine out of the mailbox eventually, almost destroying it in the process, and took the mail up to her apartment.
Closing the door behind her, Laura set the old mail in a sofa chair, and reached up to turn on the light in the kitchen. It was just that time of the morning when her apartment was completely lit: a light on in the kitchen, and sunlight through the window flooding the living room, making everything warm and cheery. It was a perfect time to be productive.
With that, Laura picked up a notepad and a pen, and began looking around the kitchen, writing down what she intended to buy at the grocery store. Fresh vegetables, for one... she would need potatoes, and a head of Romaine lettuce... hmm, mashed potatoes would be good for dinner; how about meatloaf? Ground chuck, ketchup, margarine, tomatoes for a salad... With her kitchen bare, she needed a little of everything. Fortunately, she had plenty of time to shop today, with little to do until classes began the next week.
She chewed thoughtfully on the cap of her pen. It would be nice to do some shopping for clothes today, too; she wouldn't mind getting a few new outfits for the start of her first term at Hiller. Instead of shopping for groceries, why not make it a day out? She'd spend some time at the local mall, which she hadn't yet visited; maybe she'd even dine out for lunch. It sounded like fun-- especially if her friend Janice was available.
Laura grinned and went to find her phone. She hadn't heard from Janice in a couple days, ever since they went to meet Ms. Dorman. That had been a remarkable experience... After Laura and Janice had made love for that first time, after Janice had held her as she slept that afternoon, after Laura had awoken that evening still wrapped in her friend's embrace, it seemed to her that their friendship was stronger than it had ever been, and she had been very much looking forward to spending more time with Janice here at Hiller. But for two days now Laura hadn't heard from her at all, despite the cheery message Laura had left on her machine the day after.
Unfortunately, Laura's luck didn't appear to be turning around anytime soon. Laura had reached the residence of Janice McCann, who was not home right now; if she were to leave a message at the tone, her call would be returned as soon as possible, and if she was a telemarketer then Janice wanted her to stop calling this residence, and to have a nice day, thank you, beep. Laura left a message.
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"Hey, Jan; it's me, Laura... um, hey, I'm going shopping today for some clothes, and some groceries, and other things I need. Wanna go? I'd love it if you could come, but if you're busy, that's fine. Call me when you get this, OK? I love ya-- bye!" Click.
Janice couldn't bring herself to pick up the phone. That made three times now in the past two days. Whenever Laura's name showed up on the caller ID display, she became so nervous that she couldn't even reach for the receiver without shaking. A week ago, she would have bear-hugged Laura with reckless abandon; now, she couldn't even call her. Everything had changed when they had made love.
She was so jealous of Laura. Janice knew her better than anyone; she knew that for Laura, everything stemmed from love, and all love was the same. To Laura, who wasn't even a lesbian, sex was just a way two female friends showed their affection for each other. But for Janice, who was bisexual, friendship and sex were completely different things. She couldn't take Laura as a lover and expect everything to be the same as it always was, only with some sex whenever Janice wanted it. But Janice knew that was exactly how Laura saw it, and it had surprised her how frustrating that was.
"I love ya-- bye!", she had said. Laura could say that to anybody, and mean it. There wasn't a shred of pretense or dishonesty about the girl; she genuinely liked everyone, and she genuinely loved her friends. Janice had always loved her for that, and yet now, she wanted more-- no, she needed it. The thought of having anything less than Laura's greatest love and devotion after what they had shared the other day was unbearable. It was the single greatest danger that had ever faced their friendship... and Janice couldn't even pick up the phone.
She needed to talk this out with Laura. She owed it to Laura to tell her what she was feeling. She knew that Laura would understand, and would listen to her.
Janice slumped against the wall, cursing her own cowardice.
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After taking a shower and slipping into a light green dress for the day, Laura sat and waited, occupying herself with cartoons on TV. Half an hour went by before she decided that Janice was not going to call. Disappointed, Laura turned off the TV and headed out to complete her shopping.
Later that afternoon, the apartment door swung open again, and Laura entered with plastic grocery bags looped around each arm and a renewed purpose. Setting down her belongings, she trotted back down to her car to get the rest, contemplating her plan to cook a delicious meal for herself and Janice that evening. If she had to she'd go to Janice's apartment and cook it there; it didn't matter, as long as she could do something nice for her friend.
She laid down the last of the groceries on the table, and picked up the phone.
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The phone was ringing. It was Laura, again. Janice's heart skipped, and again she felt the familiar wave of near-panic-- but it was time to stop acting foolish. She picked up the phone.
"Hello?" she said.
A brief silence. "...Oh, you're home! Where have you been?; I've been trying to call you--"
"Oh, uh," Janice said, "I've been... looking for a job. I got your messages... sorry I haven't called back."
"Oh, that's OK. I'm just glad you're home! I was gonna invite you over for dinner. I'm making meatloaf..."
