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“Hey Grace.” Will says, looking up from the counter where he’s adding spice to a dish. “The rest of your boxes should be just outside your room.”
Grace begins to walk towards the hallway, grabbing the two small boxes that were left from the pile that was once there. “You know, I’m really going to miss living with you.” She says, walking towards the kitchen table where Will was now eating.
Will looks up at her. “Well with your track record, you’ll be on my doorstep in a month.” Grace chuckles despite herself, giving the man a slight push to his shoulder. He takes a bite of his food and swallows. “You and Karen are really serious, huh?”
Grace shrugs and can’t help but smile, thinking about how the promiscuous woman she once knew is now willing to settle down with her not-rich boss. Karen had nothing to gain from Grace, unlike every other relationship the woman has had, all she wants is the love Grace has always been willing to give. “No, I just wanted to move into a Park Avenue manse.”
Will rolls his eyes, but still grins at his best friend. “Well if you ever need me, you know I’m here. She may just be harvesting you for your life’s blood. You never know with the Disney villain type.”
Grace purses her lips. “Thanks, Will.” She leans down to kiss his cheek before heading towards the door. “Driver is waiting for me, so I better get going, he’s like a hundred so he doesn’t have much time left.”
“See ya.” Will says, waving.
Just as the door closes, it’s pushed open aggressively by another person. “She’s gone, and she took her box. How are you holding up, buddy?” Jack says sympathetically, walking quickly over to Will to stroke his hair. “I know breakups are hard. Especially when she leaves you for a woman, but to be fair, you were half way there.”
“Hello?” Grace calls out, holding her boxes in one hand as she opens the door to the manse. “Karen, I’m home!” She places her keys on the table near the door. “Kaaaaareeeennn.” Grace coos, beginning to walk up the stairs towards their bedroom. Perhaps she had gone out? Though it’s not like Karen to leave without telling Grace, she may not be great with phones at work, but knowing how anxious Grace can get makes the other woman always update Grace on her whereabouts.
The door to the master bedroom was open just a crack, warm jazz music seeped into the hallway. Grace could hear the feint sound of Karen’s voice singing along to the song as she peeked through the door, holding her hand over her mouth at what she saw. Grace’s clothes were scattered all over the bedroom from the moving boxes and Karen was dancing around, floating like a school girl with a crush, singing along to the cheesy jazz song.
“You were meant to be loving me baby, baby oh
Somebody loves me, I wonder who
Maybe it’s you”
She twirls, dressed in a mix match of Grace’s clothes that are too large for her, the pant bottoms dragging against the floor and the sleeves going over her hands. She throws one of Grace’s scarves over herself and puckers her lips in the mirror. It reminded the redhead of when she would try her mother’s clothes on when she was a little girl. The dark haired woman seemed so content and innocent, a contrast to her usual cold and cynical self.
“Somebody loves me, I wonder who
Maybe it’s
Baby it’s
Maybe, baby, that somebody is you..”
Grace finally decides that she had stalked her girlfriend long enough, pushing open the door slowly, though Karen doesn’t notice her immediately, still swaying with her music. The readhead reaches over to the record player that was sitting on a small table near the door where a vase of flowers normally sits. She gently takes the needle off the record, making the music stop and a curious Karen turn around.
“What? What’s going on, what’s happening, what- Oh no.” Karen looks like a deer in headlights as she stares wide-eyed at Grace.
The redhead has never seen the woman caught off guard, it always seemed like she was one step ahead of her no matter what she did. This was glorious. And, adorable. Grace couldn’t help but have a wide smile plastered on her face. “Karen-“
Karen’s face is a bright red as she hurries to remove Grace’s clothes from her body as if they were burning her skin. “I wasn’t- I was just seeing how uhm-“ Karen paused for a moment, cogs turning in her head. “I was just taking one last look at your clothes before I threw them away. I mean- no girlfriend of mine could wear off the rack clothes like… These.” The woman remarks, now standing in just Grace’s large pajama pants.
Grace walks over to her shirtless girlfriend, looking down quickly at her brassiere lined with Swarovski crystals (just an old bra she wears around the house), and places a hand on the brunette’s red cheek. “Karen, if you wanted to try on my clothes you could just ask.”
Karen pulls away, huffing. “Fine, you caught me.” She walks towards the mirror to look at herself again. “I just wanted to wear… Poor people clothes again.”
Grace raises a brow, intrigued at where this was going. “Why? You have the best wardrobe in Manhattan, why would you want to wear my- poor people clothes?”
The other woman responds with a sigh. “Ever since my first marriage, I’ve had to keep up with the image of a rich housewife. I always had to look prim and proper, smiling by the side of whatever husband I had. I mean, I like being filthy rich as much as the next woman but…” She pauses, turning around to face Grace again. “Sometimes I just want to feel like I did when I was younger. When I didn’t have to care about what uppity Park Avenue thought of me.” She looks down, smiling ever so slightly. “And you’re the only person that makes me feel like that. Like I’m young again. I don’t have to impress you.”
Grace’s eyebrows were furrowed at this point, listening intently to the sweet words of the other woman. The vulnerability that Karen was showing was nothing that Grace has ever seen before, and it made the redhead’s heart swell, knowing that she could make Karen feel like this.
“I mean-“ Karen continues, her voice less genuine. “Why would I need to impress a woman that proudly wears these.” She picks up one of Grace’s skin tone bras that probably came in a three pack.
There’s the Karen Grace knew. She grabs the bra from Karen, her face flushing slightly, and drops it onto the ground. She walks over to the record player and places the needle back onto the record, turning around while puckering her lips. “How about we be two normal women-“ She heads back to Karen, grabbing her hand and kissing the palm. -in normal clothes-“ She gently takes Karen’s other hand, prepping the two into a dancing position. “-dancing in their giant Park Avenue manse?”
Karen looks into the other woman’s hazel eyes. “I think I’d like that, Grace Adler.”
The two begin to sway to the song. “It’s my pleasure, Karen Delaney.”