“You still want to do this with me?” I asked carefully.

` “To be completely honest I considered just loaning you my car.” She confessed. “But then after I had a chance to think things over I realized that I have been behaving very badly today. I was put off by what I heard you say to your boyfriend. I shouldn’t have been. It is none of my business … it was that this morning … I … well that is not important. I also realized that I need to stop over reacting to every innocent gesture. It’s just that after last night I felt confused. Instead of realizing that you and I were comfortable with touching one another in a friendly manner before all of this happened … I over reacted.” She seemed relieved at having explained things to me finally.

“I do not think you over reacted.” I said sincerely. “Well maybe just a little. But I did not help matters any. Look I’m the one who started all of this.” I put my hand up stopping her from interrupting me. “Enough. I’m sorry and you are sorry. Let’s try to do what we promised each other this morning. I want our friendship back and so do you. I don’t know about you but I am getting a headache from all of this drama. A drunken make out session isn’t worth all of this stress.”

She smiled sweetly at my declaration. We began to walk away when I touched her arm. I was pleased that she didn’t flinch are make any attempt to refuse my offer. “Allison in regards to your behavior, you need to remember that I have seen act much worse than this.” I teased her.

“That is right.” She laughed. “I keep forgetting that you got to see me as the lawyer bitch. Tell me something back then I didn’t make you cry did I?”

“As a matter of fact you did.” I admitted. “But I did manage to hold off until I was safely away from you. How did you know?”

“Back then I made everyone cry. Even my own Mother.” Allison admitted with a dejected shrug.

We drove into town to the futon shop and I looked around. I had to budget everything very carefully since I would not receive my first paycheck until the end of the month. A polite young salesman showed us around. I could tell by Allison’s demeanor that shopping was not one of her favorite things to do. I on the other hand loved to explore and take my time. I curbed my usual prowling and selected a simple full sized model. The salesman looked at me oddly and suggested that perhaps a queen size or perhaps a king size would be more suitable. I explained that a full size was more than suitable for myself. Politely pointing out my height or lack there of.

It was when he cast a shy glance over to Allison that it dawned on me that he thought that we were a couple. I held back a laugh thinking that if his assumption were correct than yes, we would definitely require a much larger mattress. I was about to correct his error when Allison whispered to me. “How tall is Peter?”

“A little taller than you. Why?” I whispered my reply not wanting to embarrass the poor sales boy any further.

“Then I think this guy is right.” Allison explained. “With your build the full is all right for just you, but what about when … you know?”

“You are right. I didn’t even think about that.” I confessed.

“Why would you? When you are my height you think of these things.” Allison teased me as she patted the top of my head to stress her point.

I informed the salesman that a king size would be more appropriate and was relieved when he confirmed that the model I had selected was available in that size. The model I had chosen was a simple wood frame that could be pulled down easily. This way I would not have to go to great lengths each morning and evening. With one tug the futon snapped down into a bed and with a simple push it instantly converted back into a couch.

While the futon and its mattress were being loaded into Allison car the salesman suggested that we look around at some of the covers they had available. As we sorted threw the various designs I leaned over and whispered to Allison, “You know the salesman thinks we are a couple.”

“I know.” She giggled. “Does that bother you?” She asked quickly.

“No.” I answered honestly.

“How about this one.” She said holding up an ivory colored cover with a simple floral design.

“Perfect.” I smiled. “What size is it?”

“Full.” She frowned and we both began searching for the correct size. In our search our hands touched and I felt a spark race through my body. Neither of us moved as our eyes met and our breathing became labored. It was the briefest of moments but the intensity of the innocent touch was almost over powering. Allison slowly pulled her hand away and crossed her arms in front of her. I paused for a moment to catch my breath and then proceeded to resume my search. Finding the correct size I walked over to the counter and paid for my purchases.

After we departed the futon shop we proceeded to browse through every shop Main Street had to offer. Everywhere we stopped people greeted Allison. As she introduced me I realized that Haven was a very small town, populated mostly by students and members of the faculty from the University. I could tell by the expressions on most people’s faces that they were already assuming that Allison and I was a couple. It bothered me that people just assumed that because Allison was a lesbian that meant since we were out shopping together that we must be lovers. It wasn’t the assumption that I was lucky enough to have this woman as my lover. But it was the narrowed minded assumption that a gay woman could not be just friends with another woman.

Allison of course true to her nature took every opportunity to make it perfectly clear to everyone that she was just showing her new friend around town. It was more than apparent to me that Allison had been down this road before. “I need a break.” Allison whined. “Let’s go in here my feet are killing me.” Needing relief from all of the walking we had down I saw no reason to argue with her suggestion. I waved packages towards the doorway and we entered the little ice cream parlor. Like everything else in town it was a throw back to another era. With it’s art deco lighting and furnishings it took my breath away. I groaned when I noticed that it was also packed with people.

“This is the only place in town to get ice cream.” Allison explained noticing my dismay. “Fortunately it is great. Look I think there is a booth opening up.” We moved quickly and grabbed the booth as soon as the two young gentlemen who had been occupying it stood.

“Good work.” I complimented her.

“I had no intention of standing outside.” Allison griped as she discreetly slipped off her high heels. “It’s not usually this busy during the week but with classes starting tomorrow everyone is out running last minute errands.”

“How can there be only ice cream place in town?” I asked in amazement recalling how small I had always viewed New Haven to be.

“Haven is a small town.” Allison stated simply. “There is only one ice cream pallor, one Chinese restaurant, one bakery, one drug store, etc. Every couple of years or so some big chain tries to move in. They never survive. Sometimes I think that this town is stuck in some kind of Normal Rockwell painting. After all of those years with the hustle and coldness of living in New York City I have really come to love the quiet of this little town. And if I get bored with the crickets chirping I can always head down Rte. 128 and go into Boston. And of course this time of year a trip to Salem is always a lot of fun.”

“The Witch City?” I could barely contain my excitement. “How far away is Salem? I am really looking forward to spending sometime there. The history is fascinating.”

“Salem is only about fifteen minutes away by car. I could take you there some weekend. I know which tourist traps to avoid.” Allison offered.

“I would love it.” I responded gleefully.

“Unless of course you wanted to go with Peter.” Allison added sullenly.

“Peter.” I sighed. “Here we go again.”

“Stephanie don’t.” Allison cautioned as she rubbed her eyes. For the first time I could see how withdrawn she looked. The dark circles under her eyes caused my heart to drop. “I mean it Stephanie.” Allison said firmly as she looked deep into my eyes for the first time since last evening. They were bloodshot. Has she been crying? What have I done? “Look I owe you an explanation. Well not an explanation really just that I should make a few things clear about myself. We have a few moments before our waiter will get a chance to make his way over here. Why don’t I try to fill you in.”?

I nodded in agreement anxious to have some insight into this woman who had captivated me. “You know about Chris.” Allison began slowly. “Well as I said this afternoon we worked together. What hurt me the most was when I realized that most of the people I worked with must have known that she was running around on me? To know that my colleagues just turned a blind eye to it and probably gossiped about it behind my back really hurt my feelings.”

“I can understand that.”

“What you don’t understand and what Maureen does not know is that in the end I probably hurt her more than she ever hurt me.”

“That I don’t understand.” Now I was really confused. Chris cheated on her betrayed her trust and left her open for gossip in her workplace. How could anyone hurt someone more than that?

“After we split Chris wanted a second chance.” Allison explained. “When I flatly refused she began to drag out our break up. We had lived together and there were details that needed to be taken care of. Chris was in no hurry to close our relationship. I don’t know maybe she thought given enough time she could win me back. At that point I just wanted out. Finally one night in a moment of anger I admitted to her that I was never really in love with her. That our getting together had more to do with timing than with passion. I know this is going to sound cold but she simply fit into my life plan.”