Photographs

Not a person in the bar was sitting as the notes of Jimmy Buffett's "I will play for gumbo" filled the air. The crowd was a decent sized one - fifty or more people just from a quick glance - but there was still space to dance. And yet, Jocelyn and Tammy were standing real close together, some part of their body touching at all times as they danced along.

"I will play for gumbo!" The whole bar sang in unison.

Tammy and Jocelyn looked at each other as they sang the line, hips swaying in perfect unison before they decided to dance back to back.

Jocelyn couldn't tell whether the heat on her face was from blushing, the alcohol, or the bar itself anymore. The butterflies in her stomach though? Those were from Tammy's lingering looks and touches on her since they had arrived at the bar a couple hours ago. She couldn't help but wonder if Tammy felt the same way from the lingering touches and looks she had been giving too.

Everyone cheered for the band as the song came to an end. Jocelyn exhaled contently and laid a hand on Tammy's bare arm. Her touch was soft but it immediately drew the woman's attention.

"Gonna catch some air," she said.

"Mind if I join?"

"'Course not."

Her rule when going out was to never be far from whoever she was out with. Jocelyn took her by the hand and led the way out. She sighed in relief as the quiet New Orleans air wrapped her in a welcoming hug. Even Tammy sighed beside her, leaning against the wall around the corner from the doors. Their intertwined fingers led Jocelyn to lean against the wall beside her. She glanced at their hands, soaking in the simple touch that many took for granted. After a few moments, she slowly squeezed Tammy's hand. She smiled to herself when she felt her squeeze back.

"What are you smilin' about?" Tammy asked.

Jocelyn could hear the smile in her voice but still looked at her so she could see it. She loved that smile and the warmth that spread in her chest when she saw it and when she could hear it in that New York accent.

'You,' she wanted to say. There wasn't enough alcohol in her system for that straightforward answer though.

"A woman," she said instead, a familiar warmth rising in her cheeks. "Trying to find a way to tell her I like her."

Tammy raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Tell me more."

The lingering looks and touches between the two of them tonight gave her a good idea of who the woman in question was, but maybe that was the alcohol talking. Tammy noticed how they both got more physically affectionate as alcohol got into their system.

Her gaze dropped to Jocelyn's mouth as she worried her lip, fighting the urge to stop it with a kiss.

As much as Jocelyn liked the thought of listing off the things she liked about Tammy, she knew that stalling would cause her to eventually lose her nerve.

"I met her at a lesbian bar a few months ago while she was out with a friend," she paused when the butterflies in her stomach got too intense, rubbing her stomach through her shirt as if that would settle them. "Recently, she found some old photographs in my desk and listened to me talk about my ex."

She watched Tammy's eyes light up as the lightbulb went off in her head, her lips forming a small 'o' before breaking out into a smile. She felt Tammy's hand pull away and her arm wrap around her waist, pulling them away from the wall but closer together.

"I had a feeling you had a crush on me," Tammy admitted eventually, shrugging her shoulder. "I didn't start callin' you 'baby' at work for nothin'."

"So you did like making me blush," Jocelyn attempt to accuse her was ruined by the chuckle that followed.

"I'm gonna exercise my right to remain silent," Tammy replied with a smirk.

Jocelyn playfully rolled her eyes as she wrapped an arm around Tammy's midriff and used her free hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, cupping her jawline as their lips met. Her imagination of how soft Tammy's lips were didn't do justice compared to how soft they actually were.

Their soft and slow kiss didn't stay soft or slow for long as both women simultaneously tilted their heads to deepen the kiss, hands working together to press their bodies together as much as their clothes would allow.

When forced to pull away for the sake of their lungs, they leaned against each other's foreheads.

"Can I take you for dinner and drinks?" Jocelyn asked softly.

The audible rumble that came from both of their stomachs prompted them both to laugh.

"As a self declared foodie, you had me at dinner," Tammy smiled.

Hesitantly pulling away in preparation to start moving, Jocelyn asked, "Know any good places? I'm still new here."

"There's a great place a couple blocks from here."

Tammy nodded in the general direction of the restaurant and started walking that way, her arm never leaving Jocelyn's waist.

They were barely across the street when Jocelyn broke the small silence that had drifted between them, "Mind if we take a picture?"

Tammy looked as her briefly as they walked. "'Course not."

She was always down for capturing memories. They stopped long enough for Jocelyn to pull out her phone and take a selfie of the two of them. As they continued walking, Tammy thought back to the pictures that got them in this situation in the first place.

"What are you gonna do with the pictures I came across?" She asked.

"I'll never get rid of them," Jocelyn admitted. "I know that likely sounds weird since people don't usually keep pictures of their exes, but those pictures and the memories of that time of my life are special. They'll be put away somewhere safe."

It was time to stop mourning a relationship and a life that she would never have. It was time to move on and fully embrace what she had now, which was a job she loved in a city she loved and surrounded by people she was proud to call family. For her, the picture of her and Tammy documented a new beginning that she was excited to explore, no matter where it took her.