I watched as she removed the coffee pot to hold a cup under the stream of coffee, not wanting to wait for the entire pot to be done. She repeated the motion with two more cups, handing one to me and one to her mother. We sat across the small kitchen table from Mrs. Montego, both of us waiting for the inquisition that we knew was coming.
“So, how did this happen?” she finally asked. “You two have been at each other’s throats since you were in kindergarten. I thought you hated each other.”
“We were assigned to work on a project together,” Julia said. “And well, one thing led to another, and we realized that there’s an attraction there now.”
That was good. Sticking close to the truth was always the best plan.
“Well, we all look forward to hearing about it over dinner tonight.”
“What?” Julia and I spoke in unison, then turned to look at each other before facing her mother again.
“You’re coming to dinner at our house. Your parents will be there too. It’ll be just like old times, except you two won’t be glaring at each other the whole time.”
“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Julia mumbled just loud enough for me to hear.
“I’m just so happy.” Mrs. Montego leaned forward in her chair, her eyes shiny like she was trying not to cry. “When you two get married Phoebe and I will be sisters, just like we always dreamed of.”
“Whoa Mom, hold on there. Just because Chris and I are… hanging out doesn’t mean we’re going to get married.”
“Well, not right away of course,” her mother said. “These things take a while to plan. Now I know we were going to brunch Julia but since you’re busy with your girlfriend, I’m just going to head to the market and pick up some groceries for dinner tonight. I want to make something special to celebrate.”
She jumped up with a spryness that was surprising for someone her age, then pulled each of us into a tight hug before hurrying out the door. The front door closed behind her and Julia and I both sat in complete silence for a couple of minutes, shellshocked.
“I really need to change those locks,” she finally mumbled.
“Does she come over like that often?” I asked.
“Well, she grew up here, so I think she feels entitled to even though it’s technically mine now.” Julia sighed again. “I’m going to need some pancakes after that. Do you want some pancakes?”
“Do you have bacon?”
“Of course,” her tone implying that it was a stupid question.
“I’ll help.”
We worked together to whip up our breakfast, then worked out a plan for finishing the grant application as we ate. With the tension finally dissipated between us, we were able to easily resolve the eligibility questions we’d been fighting about yesterday.
“I’ll send you the participant selection plan, and you can send me the training benchmarks,” Julia summarized. “Then I’ll compile everything and send it to you by tomorrow afternoon so we can do a last review together on Monday morning before sending it to Gina, does that sound okay?”
“Sounds good.”
After we finished breakfast and divvied up the rest of the tasks for the grant application, I went downstairs to gather my stuff while Julia put the dishes in the dishwasher. I stood awkwardly in the kitchen doorway, wondering if I should hug her or something. Now that the glow of all those orgasms had faded, I didn’t quite know how to act around her.
Julia moved past me, her breezy personality back, and headed towards the door.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you tonight at my parents’ house for the grand inquisition.”
Okay then, I could take a hint. She was ready for me to leave.
“Should we go over there together?” I asked. “It might look weird if we come separately.”
“Oh yeah, you’re right.”
“I can’t hear that enough from you,” I deadpanned.
“Haha. Okay, why don’t you come here at six and we’ll drive over together?”
“Sounds good. Then we can figure out anything else we need to iron out in our story.”
