3 AM
Therese had gone home with Carol to her new apartment after the Oak Room had emptied out. She wasn't kidding when she'd said it was spacious; it made her apartment look like a trash can.
"I didn't think you'd come," Carol said. Her voice was still laced with disbelief, as if this was all a dream.
"I missed you too much," Therese confessed. "I've felt so selfish lately. I know you love Rindy, and I know that staying with Harge was the only way to be with her, but I still felt deserted. And then you asked me to meet you, and I then I just felt-"
"Pissed off?"
"Yeah."
"You know I had to try for Rindy's sake."
"Of course; I'd never hold that against you. When you said you loved me, I got scared because I've never been in love before and it felt so real and...What I'm trying to say is, I love you, too."
"You do?"
"Yes. Honestly, I don't know how I couldn't."
Carol's eyes shined brighter than usual. "I was hoping you'd say that." She closed the gap between her and Therese and joined their mouths together again at last. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Those words had never felt more sacred.