7/4: cherry leaned into fairouz’s shoulder, hoping it could hide the blossoming purple bruise on her cheek. “i want to take you somewhere,” fairouz murmured, her hand reaching up to play with cherry’s hair, “can i?” cherry looked up at fairouz, eyes wide and unblinking. she stared up at the beautiful contradiction that entered her life, seemingly out of the blue, and managed to overturn everything she had worked so hard for; at one time, cherry would’ve felt bubbling resentment, but now that faint feeling was mixed with another stronger, overpowering feeling. a confusing one – maybe her mother was right, she thought as she resisted the urge to smile. “cherry?” fairouz asked, worry evident in her tone. she let go of cherry’s hair and absentmindedly started stroking cherry’s face. cherry winced in pain from the bruise and fairouz’s eyes widened at her misstep. she quickly withdrew her hand. fairouz started. “sorry for-” “no, no, i’d like to go,” cherry said, unable to suppress a grin. “really?” fairouz asked incredulously, and cherry could swear she saw her cheeks redden under her unwavering gaze. cherry nodded. – they walked side-by-side, fingertips brushing as they made their way through the crowded evening streets. “where are we going?” cherry inquired curiously, shooting a quick glance at fairouz. “you’ll like it,” fairouz responded, briefly gazing upon cherry with fondness in her eyes. cherry felt her heart thump against her chest and she fiddled with her choker, trying to avoid feeling… whatever she was feeling. they kept on walking, both caught up in their own feelings. cherry saw a tall, slender woman in a black miniskirt and a lacey black tee walk past them, and she felt a question run through her but stop at her mouth. her mouth dropped as they stopped in front of a tall, brown establishment similar to an apartment with loud music coming from the inside. in old-timey serif, the sign wrote “henrietta hudson, bar & girl.” girl?, cherry wondered. must’ve been a typo. “what is this?” she asked aloud. “this,” fairouz said, a tremor running through her voice. she had been dreading sharing this with cherry for fear of her reaction. “is where i bartend. it’s a… queer bar.” loud music played from inside the bar.
