Crossing Boundaries

 by Sarah

The drive towards the small townhouse was rather quiet, and the evening was dark and cold. The silence was a pleasant one though, and the two women who were sitting in the car enjoyed feeling comfortable with each other once again, after weeks of fights and disputes.

The one driving was a tall, curly-haired blonde with her blue eyes glued to the road in front of her. The redhead sitting in the front seat next to her was several inches shorter, with her hair cut in a feminine, but short crop. Her green eyes were observing her friend while she was driving, and she kept clasping and unclasping her hands.

“Kim?” she said tentatively, breaking the comfortable silence.

“Yes Kerry?” the blonde replied and took her eyes off the road for a second to look at her passenger.

“I’m glad we’re friends again” Kerry said softly, after holding her breath for a few seconds.

Kim turned to her properly and smiled.

“So am I, Kerry”.

Kerry smiled and leaned back against the seat. She had always loved driving at night. The darkness surrounding her, the feeling of the car moving, the lights from the streetlamps passing by... She closed her eyes to rest for a while, and when she opened them again she noticed that the car had stopped.

“We’re here” Kim told her, and pulled the key out of the ignition. They both stepped out of the car, and walked the short way up the townhouse. The snow was falling in white flakes around

them, and reminded Kerry that it hadn’t been more than three days since she’d sought Kim out at Doc Magoo’s. It had just started snowing then. She’d asked Kim not to leave, even though they had been fighting all day, because there were so many things she had yet not told her. Kim had surprised her in so many ways those past two months. First they’d hit off as friends, working together at the hospital and having lunch together in the cafeteria. Kerry had enjoyed Kim’s company and the blonde seemed to feel the same. Then one night Kim had changed the rules. She was interested in Kerry; she thought Kerry had the same intentions. But that wasn’t what Kerry wanted, she just wanted to be friends, she had never been interested in women.

And so their friendship ended, only to be revived again, and culminated with a desperate kiss; a kiss that Kim had initiated, and which Kerry had broken. But for a brief second, she’d kissed Kim back. It had haunted her from that day and she had refused to talk to Kim, until that one night at Doc Magoo’s when she had pleaded with Kim for a second chance. Some things were still left unsaid.

 Kim was already waiting for Kerry by the door. It always took a few extra seconds for Kerry to climb stairs since she walked with the aid of a crutch. She raised her head to look up at the blonde, who was fiddling around with her purse.

“Can’t find your keys?” Kerry chuckled as she climbed the last stairway.

Kim turned around, and for a second she seemed startled, but soon began laughing too.

“I’m really terribly sloppy – I forget things all the time! But I’m sure I didn’t forget my keys at work... Oh there they are!” she cried out happily and pulled up a shiny key from the depths of her black purse. She shot off a smug smile before turning around to unlock the door, and Kerry couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of the seemingly so childish woman. Sometimes it was so great to spend time with someone who was that light at heart.

“Welcome to 305 Temple Street, the domains of Doctor Kim Legaspi” Kim joked and waved Kerry inside as she opened the wooden door.

“Why, what an honour, Doctor Legaspi” Kerry replied with a smile, and bowed her head just to pull along with the joke.

The first thing that caught her eye was just how much the small house reflected Kim as a person. There was stuff everywhere – cleaning utensils hanging on hooks from the wall, as well as paintings; the bureau was overloaded with decorative little statues, framed pictures, and seashells. The hallway led directly into the kitchen which sported a pretty kitchen-island in the middle, the curtains hanging above the windows were small and yellow with a pattern of red squares, almost as if it were a kitchen on a farm. It was altogether very homey.

Kim had taken her coat off and hung it up on a rack to the left of the door.

“Can I take your coat Kerry?” she asked and stretched her arms out towards the redhead, prepared to take the robe from her companion almost like a real gentleman....woman.

“Oh thank you....” Kerry said and shimmied out of her coat, though naturally she had some difficulty with handling coat, crutch, and purse with just two hands, but it worked. She handed everything but her crutch to Kim who carefully hung it up on the rack. She then proceeded to take her shoes off but Kim, who had just finished hanging her clothes up, spotted her and started giggling.

“What?” Kerry asked, in that tone that was so characteristic for her. High-pitched, though still deeply in her throat, with a tad of a timbre at the first syllable.

Kim just smiled at her and put her right hand on Kerry’s arm.

“Well, now that you have kicked yours off, I guess I will have to join you and tie my own shoes up” she giggled once again, and followed Kerry’s move.

Kerry just stared at her, wondering what was so funny, but one never knew with Kim. She tended to leave Kerry abashed at least twice a day.

When they had both finished taking coats and outer wear off, they walked together into the kitchen. Which basically meant taking six steps forwards.

“I’m going to make us both some coffee” Kim told Kerry, and started opening lockers, taking out coffee beans and filling the machine up with water. She spilled some of it out over the sink, and couldn’t help but let out a small “damn!” before she turned around to Kerry with a small smile.

“I’m kind of clumsy” she said, and Kerry, who was busy trying to figure out what she was doing there in Kim’s house, smiled back at her from standing behind the kitchen island, before returning to staring at her feet. Kim fiddled around for another few minutes, and then finally pressed the button on the coffee maker.

“There” she exhaled, and slapped her hands together. “Let’s go sit down, this machine is slow enough to impress a slug”.

Kerry couldn’t help but laugh at the silly joke. Kim’s humour was incredibly bad, but she still made her smile. The blonde gently took her under the arm and led her into a small room to the right of the kitchen. Kerry assumed it was the living room since there was a couch and a TV in there, but it was no larger than a bedroom, or an office. She felt a strange tingle where Kim’s hand held her arm, and it made her heart pound harder when she thought of Kim touching her bare skin. She shook her head at it. It couldn’t be like that. She was giving her blonde friend a chance, but it was not more than that. Right?

“Well, this is my living room” Kim stated. She let go of Kerry’s arm and almost slumped down onto the white couch. “I’m exhausted” she told the small redhead who was still standing up, staring at the tiny couch. There was barely room for two. They’d have to be very, very close.

“Come sit down” Kim said and patted the seat next to her. “The coffee won’t be done in another five minutes.”

Kerry propped her crutch up against the table next to the couch, before sitting down beside Kim. She stroked her hands over her lap and looked down at her hands, and then to her left where the other woman was sitting, seeming so relaxed. Her breathing was heavy though and she seemed to be lost in thoughts for a while, before turning her head to look her friend in her green eyes.

“It’s been three days” she said finally.

“Three days?” Kerry asked, and frowned, not understanding what Kim meant.