Chapter 3
She stormed through the heavy, hostile door, strode past Jimmy the doorman, and darted across the lobby for the elevator.
"Miss! Miss! Do you..."
The elevator doors had shut tight just as Therese's hands had clenched tightly into a fist. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirrored wall of the enclosed space. She had to quickly look away for there was too much contempt staring back at her.
The elevator dinged signaling she had reached the 8th floor.
8B Aird, glaring at her from just below the peephole of the grayish white wooden door. Therese pressed the buzzer without lifting her finger. The sound was so offending and deafening, her ears hurt.
A moment later, the door opened and Therese hurled herself into Carol, backing the older woman to the wall of the dimly lit foyer. She grabbed the back of Carol's head with both hands and pulled Carol toward her. She kissed and kissed and kissed Carol, not passionately, but sloppily, forcefully and furiously. She was furious with herself. Furious because she had found someone else attractive. Someone other than Carol. Furious at how undisciplined she had allowed herself to become. She was furious with Carol. Furious with Carol who vanished all those months ago, who refused to answer her phone calls, and shattered her belief in true love. Furious with Abby who doubted her genuine feelings for Carol. Furious with Harge who put Carol in that predicament. Furious was all that she felt toward everything. Furious was the only feeling left in her.
Carol remained motionless yielding to whatever Therese was doing to her. She accepted Therese's passionless, sloppy, forceful, furious kisses on her mouth and she kept her eyes closed. She loved her too much to make her stop. She simply loved her too much. Even when she sensed a metallic taste on her own lips, even then, she did not stop Therese.
As her fury tamed itself, Therese, so emotionally depleted, physically drained, pursed her lips. Her breathing hitched when she realized she had been injured or had injured someone. She blinked before pulling away, suddenly aware that she was with Carol. Carol was right there. And Carol was the object she had been inflicting pain on. She had taken out her fury on the woman she loved and it was now too late. Tears were trickling down Carol's pale face and for Therese, that was the most heartbreaking sight.
"I..." She was not able to continue. So she salvaged what she could still salvage. She brought the side of her face to Carol's cheek and removed the tears, gently brushing her cheek against Carol's cheek. "I'm sorry....I'm sorry......sorry." And all those tears that had, up until then, been denied an outlet, fell. They fell and they fell. Therese, the distressed griever, and Carol, her wailing wall.
"It's alright. It's okay. Shh....shh." Carol gripped Therese's small waist with one hand and made soothing circular movements on Therese's back with the other. Whatever the reason that made the younger woman so distraught, it could wait. Carol could and would willingly wait because for now, she only wanted Therese to be, to just be.
"Taxi!" A cab pulled up to the front porch of the apartment building. Jimmy was assisting an elderly man into the vehicle when someone brushed past him from the side, nearly shoving him off balance. The person disappeared behind the door, and into the lobby.
"Christ! What is it with people today?" Jimmy muttered to himself. He took several large strides toward the lobby entrance.
"Hey! Stop right there!" But there was no one. The elevator had ascended with the floor indicator showing 2, then 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. It stopped at 8.