Chapter 14 Chilling With Friends

Author's Note: I added a photo on my Pinterest page of how I see Trevor in my mind.

The ladies decided to take the next morning off so that they could organize the itemization of the things in their apartments they wished to keep as opposed to what they wished to give to charity. Hildy's apartment was a one bedroom small space that she kept sparsely furnished. The only items she wanted to hold on to were her stereo, music, library and the artwork that graced her walls. She did not have any pieces by world renowned artists but the pieces she did have were soul stirring and beautiful.

Most of the morning was spent at Kami's apartment where the decision of what to keep and what to donate to charity took more thought. The penthouse apartment that was going to be their new home from next week was more than twice Kami's present apartment and could more than accommodate all of her things. But she was cognizant of the fact that this new life she will be building with her lover must have balance. She felt it was important to choose new pieces of furniture together and not just shift her things from one part of her building to another.

In the end she decided on keeping all her computers and related equipment, musical instruments, library and the library shelving because the shelves were crafted in teak wood and looked beautiful. She also kept all her cutlery wares, and collection of pots, and all her kitchen gadgets as she had a weakness for mechanical gadgets. By noon they were finished with their task and decided to visit a few of the Home Depot stores in Manhattan to see if what they had to offer was what the ladies liked. The ladies could have visited the store's online page but Kami liked to get a feel of things by seeing them and touching them if she could rather than just looking at an uploaded photograph.

The sparseness of Hildy's apartment was a testimony to how much she detested shopping. If she needed to purchase an item; for example a new coat, she walked into the store selected the coat, went to the cashier paid for it and walked out. She was never the kind of woman who found pleasure in walking up and down, and up and down again, in the mall or the streets looking for a coat or anything for that matter. In the past she could not understand why so many women wasted time and energy as she saw it, flitting from store to store only to come back to the original store to buy what they should have bought there in the first place.

However, after coming to know Kami, Hildy began morphing into a dutiful spouse without even realizing it. Whenever Kami wanted to do anything that involved shopping Hildy was right by her side without complaining. On that particular morning she began walking up and down and up and down again with her lady while they looked at appliances and every imaginable thing one could need to set up a lovely home. After a few hours of comparing and contrasting the various brand names they settled on the look they wanted to create in the penthouse. Kami took a few photos on her cell phone and sent them to her grandmother because Nana organized a coordinator for the various work crews in charge of preparing the apartment for the couple. They knew Nana would forward all their photos and ideas to the person in charge of getting everything organize.

The ladies eventually made it to the office by mid afternoon. Kami continued working on the article for the magazine from the previous day and Hildy organized some outstanding paperwork. By 5:30 the guys were ready to head to Applebee's for the after work early dinner Jim and David organized that included Trevor.

The team decided on the Time Square branch of the popular restaurant as it had a spacious upper level and would provide the group with enough room to relax comfortably without feeling crowded by the other patrons. As they all left the office, Terry hailed two taxis because one would not have been able to transport them all.

"I wish we had our own taxi so I could have some privacy to just hold my lady on the way to the restaurant", Kami thought but she was well aware that the afternoon rush hour could be brutal in Manhattan when it came to getting a taxi. If she told the team to go ahead and she and Hildy waited back, there was no telling how long they would have a stand outside in the chilly December air before a cab came. So with a sigh she climbed in the back seat of one of the taxi, sandwiched between Hildy and Jim, while Terry, Abbi, Edgar and David were in the other car.

Hildy heard her sigh and looked at her intently, then leaned over and softly asked "Are you alright?"

Kami leaned into her lover and gently nodded.

Jim did not notice the exchange as he was looking out the taxi's window. "I hope Trevor is on time", Jim mumbled softly to himself as he continued to gaze out the window. Hildy turned to him and asked "remind me again why we are including Trevor in our after work lime?"

"Because he is living in la la land. After all this time he still thinks he has a chance with Kami. I do not want to tak to the back of his head to knock some sense into him so this is the next best thing". Jim said as he turned and grinned at the ladies. For the first time since she knew Jim, Hildy wondered how he and Trevor became friends so she asked him.

"Let's see….I met Trevor in college many years ago. I was several years older than a lot of the students in my cohort. When I graduated from high school my parents could not afford to send me to collage and taking out a loan with no means to pay it back was not a realistic option. Eventually, years later I did attend but by then I looked like my classmate's older uncle," Jim chuckle at the memory.

"After being out of the education system for a long time it was challenging to get back into the swing of things. As the semester progressed I began struggling with a few courses and Trevor agreed to do some private tutoring and help me with my more challenging courses. Even though I am several years older than him we became friends. We both liked sports and he was an easy going guy to socialize with"

"Sounds like you two have a solid bromance going on there my friend" Hildy smiled as she spoke.

"I guess you can say that" Jim responded with a bit of uncertainty in his voice.

As Jim reflected on his friend's words he wondered "Do my friends think I am gay as I am not in a relationship with a woman and I sometimes hang out with Trevor?"

He cleared his throat as he said "We are good friends but we are not like bosom buddies. I just wanted you to know that".

Kami give her lover a quick look that said "Jim is uncomfortable with the bromance comment".

Hildy looked right back at her with eyes that said "I know that is why I teased him, ha ha".

Kami gave her lady a poke in her side after reading her eyes, the poke elicited a broad smile in return.

They all soon arrived at the restaurant and made their way upstairs as they began chatting. They ordered some non alcoholic drinks and waited for Trevor.

Abbi missed lunch that day and after waiting for a few minutes she decided to go ahead and order a portion of boneless wings and a Caesar salad. Edgar took a look around at the other patrons and deeply inhaled the aroma that wafted over to their table. He decided to follow Abbi's example and order his meal. He ordered a sirloin steak with steamed broccoli and garlic mash potatoes.

"I guess we all might as well order our meals because Trevor is not always the most punctual person". Jim called the waiter back over and everyone placed their orders. More steaks were ordered along with some cedar seasoned salmon and an assortment of vegetables and salads. As the team sat back and relaxed the gentle teasing began among the guys.

Kami smiled as she listened to David turn his teasing to Abbi. Even though the food had not arrived as yet David told her she did her tutor proud. When Abbi did not catch the joke, he pointed to Edgar because everyone knew Edgar's stomach always had room for more food. Abbi's appetite rivaled Edgar's and the two of them always had a glow on their faces when they spoke to each other about food or new restaurants they discovered.

As the bantering continued Kami placed her hand on Hildy's thigh and just left it there. Hildy was so in tuned with her partner that she knew Kami felt a little tired and just wanted to curl into Hildy's side. As their work family continued to laugh at silly jokes Hildy placed her hand over Kami's as she gently squeezed it.

Hildy leaned over to her ear and whispered "As soon as we are finished eating our meal lets excuse ourselves even if the guys want to stay back and lime". Kami turned to her and nodded. Just then Jim spotted Trevor standing near the entrance to the upper level. He stood and waved him over.

Now the family knew Jim and Trevor were friends because Jim mentioned his name once in a while but no one had ever actually met him before. Hildy got a glimpse of him a couple of times as she and Kami were leaving Kami's building as they hustled to work but she never really got a good look at him. As all eyes turned in the direction of the entrance they all collectively had a surprised look on their faces.

The men in the group were taken back by how big he looked. Trevor was way over six feet tall and had the physique of a body builder. Abbi on the other hand just stared as she thought Trevor looked like an Adonis. But Hildy had a different reaction. As Trevor smiled at their group while he walked over, Hildy observed that he had beautiful eyes. Those same eyes were trained on her woman with a look that was unabashed in his admiration for what he saw.

Hildy knew that Jim joked on more than one occasion that Trevor was smitten with Kami but she never took it seriously. Her woman was gorgeous and both men and women found her attractive. However seeing the obvious admiration in Trevor's eyes as he looked at Kami made an annoyance rise from deep within her. Hildy was not accustomed experiencing the feelings she began to feel as she looked at Trevor. If she had to name some of them she would say she felt territorial, possessive, guarded and suspicious and these feelings surprised her.

He sat down on the chair that was left vacant for him between Jim and Abbi as introductions were made. Jim called the waiter over as he explained to his friend that they already ordered food as the team was famished.

"The traffic was brutal man as I tried to get a taxi to come over here" Trevor explained. Everyone mumbled "No problem", as he placed his dinner order.

"Hi Kami, how was your day at work?" Trevor smiled as he asked.

"It was good as usual", Kami replied with a smile. Now this smile was not the all encompassing smile she reserved for Hildy but rather her regular smile. Anyone on whom the regular smile was bestowed would feel special because Kami had a pureness of soul that came out in her smile. She had a heart that was touched by love and her peaceful inner being showed on her face especially when she smiled.

As Trevor looked at her, he mistakenly thought that her smile held some secret message of love from Kami to him and he grinned like a silly school boy. Everyone at the table noticed and they looked from Trevor to Kami to Hildy.

David mumbled with a smirk "Hmm, I wonder if this was such a good idea?"

In an effort to distract him from making puppy eyes at her lady, Hildy asked; "So Trevor, Jim told me that you are a physical therapist? Where do you work?" Trevor spent the next several minutes telling the team about his job and the satisfaction he derived from working with accident victims as they transverse the path to wellness and mobility once more.

The various foods arrived and everyone dug into their meal. Every time Trevor asked Kami a question or tried to ask her a question Hildy found a subtle way to turn his attention off of Kami and onto anything else. Kami stole several glances at her lover as she frowned slightly. It took her a little while to figure out what was going on but then the light bulb went off and she realized that Hildy did not like Trevor showing her attention.

That knowledge was surprising because Kami had never encountered a reaction from Hildy like that before. Sometimes while they walked the streets of New York City together, men would whistle at Kami or make flirtatious remarks as she and Hildy walked by but Hildy never seemed to mind. As a matter of fact Hildy felt proud that Kami was at her side, especially when folks realized they were a couple. She had an extra strut when the admirers on the streets picked up on their body language that said Kami was her woman.

That is why Hildy's reaction to the gentle interest that Trevor showed was surprising. As Terry looked at the scene in front of him he understood what was going through his baby sister's mind. He felt that Hildy's reaction to Trevor was because Trevor was not some anonymous man on the street who complimented her lady. Trevor lived in Kami's building and will continue to live there when they moved into the penthouse in a few days time.

Abbi and the guys kept the conversation going on general topics as they enjoyed their meal. After awhile Abbi asked Edgar if he got the tickets to the Nicole C. Mullen concert he wanted to take his wife Dani to. This lead the conversation to various plans everyone had for next week as it was the week before Christmas.

Kami smiled at her friends as she shared that there was a possibility her parents may visit over the holidays. On hearing this news her work family all voiced their hope that her parents would really make the trip.

As Trevor listened to Kami speak about her parents' potential Christmas vacation, he thought to himself "Kami will probably be very busy with her family once they arrive and won't have much time for socializing. If I want to have a date with her it will have to be before her time gets taken up with family".

He kept trying to come up with a way to get her alone to ask her out on a date. But as the meal was drawing to a close he realized his opportunity was slipping away. Trevor decided to grab the bull by the horns and make an advance on the lady of his dreams.

"Kami, I know this is not the ideal circumstance under which I could ask this question but what are you doing Saturday night? Maybe we could take in a Broadway show? I hear that music in Cats is really good. What do you say?"

Kami felt Hildy's thigh muscles tighten into a rod of steel. She knew she had to sooth and relax her lady before she said something to Trevor, so she gently rubbed her thigh before speaking.

All eyes around the dinner table were trained on Kami and Hildy.

Kami cleared her throat and looked Trevor directly in the eye as a she said; "Thank you for the invitation Trevor, that was very kind of you. I would not be able to attend Cats with you or any other play for that matter because I am seeing someone".

Trevor looked at Kami as disappointment spread over his face. Then maintained his eye contact and said in soft but persistent tone of voice that was also totally delusional "Until I see a ring on your finger Kami, I am going to continue asking you out with the hope you will say yes. I know if you give us a try we can have a future together".

All the men at the table sat up straighter in their seats at that declaration as they all said one after the other; Terry - "Hey dude!"; Edgar - "Didn't you listen to what she just said?!"; David - "Are you delusional or something?!", and finally Jim said "Trevor, pull your head out your butt, the lady is not interested!".

Hildy was doing her best not to lose her temper and Abbi said a prayer that they won't make a scene in Applebee's .

Kami said in a stern voice to her neighbour "Trevor you are not listening to me. Let me make it clearer for you to understand. I love someone, I am in a committed relationship and I am not interested in dating you or anyone else". Everyone held their breath and waited for Trevor's response

"Kami, no one knows what the future holds. You are a lovely lady and if I were your guy I would want to spend as much time with you as I could. Even when you are socializing with your friends I would love to be a part of it. Yet here you are, and the love of your life is somewhere else while you have dinner with friends". Trevor proclaimed in a frustrated voice while gesturing with his long arms.

Everyone collectively gasped as the young man put his foot, his hands, and his entire body in the hole his mouth made when he spoke so foolishly.

"That is it!", Hildy said in a low powerful voice that broke no argument. Trevor was taken aback by the seriousness in her voice and the steel in the dark green eyes that seemed to pin him to his chair.

"I am going to say this once and I need you to listen attentively because obviously you have attention deficit problems. Kami is in a committed relationship. The person who you indirectly accused of neglecting her is right here and you are looking at the person. I am Kami's life partner. I am not going anywhere; we are not going to end our relationship to give you an opportunity to have a date with Kami. Get over it Trevor!. Kami is not interested in you. We are lesbians; we are not interested in men in a romantic way. Make sure you understand what I am saying to you. Kami is not now, nor will she ever be dating you. And if you ever try coming on to her again I will personally deal with you in a way that will have you taking a long leave of absence from your job as your body heals! Do I make myself clear?"

Trevor looked at Hildy with his mouth slightly open and then he looked at Kami as if to confirm that what Hildy said was true.

Instead of confirming Hildy's words, Kami placed her hand on her lover's jaw and slowly turned her face to look at her. She saw the anger, jealousy and possessiveness in Hildy's eyes. Kami deliberately leaned in to her lady's body and placed a passionate kiss on her mouth as everyone at the table watched on. Kami felt the tension in Hildy's body and she changed the tone of her kiss and Hildy's body immediately began to relax. Then Kami entered her lover's mouth and took possession of her partner's tongue in a way that caught Hildy by surprise. Everything around her faded as she felt heat rise from her toes to every cell in her body. Hildy softly moaned as her lover electrified all her nerve ending.

When the kiss finally ended, Kami and Hildy looked at Trevor as he lowered his head and said,

"Well I guess that is that".

"Yes it is" Hildy said softly as she stood pulling Kami to her feet.

"Guy, we will see you all at work tomorrow God's willing. Trevor I am glad we cleared up the misconceptions you had"

And with that they ladies left the restaurant hand in hand.