Special Someone

Houston, Texas

It was hot. Really hot. She’d never experienced heat like that before, the intense humidity making it hard for her to breathe. She heard the rustling of keys, then a bark, and the voice of the person she was going to fall in love with. She just didn’t know it yet. 

“I’m so sorry, there has been an accident on the I-45. I hope you haven’t been waiting out here long.” Julianne pulled her into a hug, her skin cold from the AC in her truck. A friendly dog tried to jump up at her. Not a very big dog, a boxer maybe, but before she could react Julianne pulled him back. 

“That’s Samson.” She could see the affection in Julianne’s eyes as she bent down to pet the dog’s head. “He’s excited to meet you, so he forgot his manners.”

She held out her hand to let the dog sniff her. He gave her a lick and looked up at her.

“And he’s already in love with you.” Julianne joked. 

She grabbed her suitcase, took one more glance at Houston Airport, and followed Julianne back to her car. 

“It’s 11 pm, and I’m sweating.” She complained as she lifted her bags and placed them in the trunk. “I think I’ll have to stay inside for the next three weeks.” 

“We’ve got a pool in the backyard, so maybe you’ll expand your radius by just a little bit, Lizzy.”

Lizzy. No one back home in Norway called her that. They all used Elli as a short form of Elisabeth, though she’d never liked that. 

“I think I can make an exception, then.” Lizzy buckled her seatbelt and turned around to face Samson, who was lying down on a towel that was spread across both back seats. She reached out to scratch his chin, and with sleepy eyes, Samson placed his large head in her hand. 

On the drive over to Julianne’s apartment, Lizzy was going through the memories of the past nine weeks in her head. Just sitting here in a truck in Texas, with a girl she had only met 8 weeks ago. Two people from opposite ends of the world.

They had just worked at a summer camp together, all the way up in Pennsylvania. When their contracts ended, Lizzy still had a month left before her visa was going to expire. She went to Maryland for a week to visit some family. One night, Julianne had texted her, asking if Lizzy would like to spend the rest of her vacation down in Texas with her. Since she didn’t have any other plans, Lizzy agreed.

At first, Lizzy didn’t even like Julianne that much. She was loud and liked to share her opinion on anything with anyone, her strong Southern accent overpowering everybody. But then, she got to know a different side of her. Towards the end of week six, there had been a heavy rainstorm that hit the camp, making it impossible for the kids to participate in any of the activities that were usually being held outside. Some of the younger campers were starting to get irritated and whiny when Julianne came up with some kind of scavenger hunt that led through the entire office building and affiliated dining hall. Sophia, the camp’s leader, and the counselor’s supervisor had been more than impressed by Julianne’s ability to handle 20 of the youngest kids almost entirely by herself and keep them busy for hours until it was safe to go outside again. 

When the campers went to bed that night, Julianne and Lizzy had taken a walk down by the water. After a while, they sat down in the sand, water splashing onto their bare feet occasionally. Lizzy opened up to her, about her emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend, who had trashed her self-esteem. It was easy talking to her about it, Julianne herself had had her fair share of unhealthy relationships, or situationships, as she called them.

Lizzy remembered Julianne looking directly into her eyes that night, tilting her head to the right, and saying ‘You do know you’re very pretty, right? I mean, I’d totally try to get with you if you weren’t straight.’ That had stuck with her.

“Whatcha thinking ‘bout?” 

Lizzy turned her head back to Julianne, needing a second to become fully present in the moment again. 

“Our conversation down by the lake that one night. I think you’ve managed to put a tiny bit of confidence back into my body.”

They pulled up to the apartment building where Julianne was living in. 

The heat felt like a punch in the face as soon as Lizzy opened the door. She’d almost forgotten about that.

“I’ve put some towels on the top shelf in the bathroom for you, figured you might wanna take a shower before going to bed.” 

She felt the remnants of the day still on her body, so the showered was much needed.

Twenty minutes later, Lizzy walked into the bedroom, scrunching some leave-in conditioner into her long hair. Julianne was sitting in bed, reading something on her phone. 

“I hope it’s okay with you to share my bed. My couch isn’t big enough to comfortably sleep on.”

“Sure thing.” Lizzy yawned, and laid down next to her, tucking herself under the covers. 

Julianne turned off the fairy string lights above her bed, and the room became pitch black. There was no light from anything. Not from the window, nor the hallway, just darkness; it was calming. Lizzy felt Julianne getting comfortable next to her, whispering, “I’m glad you're here.” 

Lizzy woke up and turned over, but Julianne wasn’t in bed anymore. Making her way to the kitchen, she threw on a sweater and put her hair up into a messy bun. Samson came up to her, wagging his tail. “Hi, baby.” She pet his head, before taking a closer look at the kitchen and living room. There wasn’t much space, but the large windows made the room look bigger. 

“Good morning, sunshine!” Julianne gave her a bright smile and handed her a steaming mug. “I’ve already put in milk for you.”

They took their coffees outside. On Julianne’s balcony, there was a daybed, barely big enough to fit them both. Samson wanted to get in between them, but Julianne put him back inside, closing the door on him.

“So, we’ve got two options. Option one: get some booze and spend the day by the pool right here. Or, option two: get some booze, go over to my friend’s house, and spend the day at his pool.” Julianne was squinting her eyes, trying to look at her. Lizzy noticed some freckles on her nose and suddenly felt an unfamiliar urge to touch Julianne’s face. Had she always been this pretty?

Julianne raised her eyebrows, still waiting for an answer. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t mind meeting some of your friends.”

“Sweet. I’ll text him that we’ll be over later.”

Lizzy was overwhelmed by the number of different liquor brands, flavours, and sizes. She didn’t know what to look for, so she just followed Julianne around, who stopped in front of the hard lemonade section. “I usually get Mike’s. Either black cherry, or just the regular one. Should we grab a bunch of those?”

“Um, yeah, sure, let’s do it.” They each grabbed two six-packs and made their way over to the check-out area. 

Back in the truck, Julianne asked Lizzy to grab her sunglasses out of the glove box, and when their hands touched for just a brief second, Lizzy got that feeling again. The same feeling she had this morning when she looked at Julianne’s sun-kissed face. 

Later that night, the drinks were flowing, the music was blasting, and it was still so hot. Lizzy was thinking about how she never wanted this night to end. To never have to go back home, back to school, or do anything other than sitting right by this pool, feet in the water, drink in hand. 

“Need another drink?” Julianne had snuggled up behind Lizzy, putting her arms around her. 

“I’m good.” Lizzy placed her hands on Julianne’s and was taking in the moment like a gulp of fresh air.

Julianne suddenly gave her a push, and Lizzy went underwater. Julianne jumped in right next to her, and when they both got back up, Lizzy was about to ask her what that was for, but before she got the chance to speak, Julianne had put her lips on hers, and Lizzy felt like she was falling, not ever wanting to reach the ground again. 

The following week, they spent most of their time inside Julianne’s apartment, just the two of them. Snuggled up on the couch, watching movies, eating take-out, and talking until the sun was starting to rise again. It would have been perfect, hadn’t there been this constant thought in the back of Lizzy’s mind: 

I will have to go back home soon.

I will have to go back home soon. 

I will have to go back home soon. 

She tried ignoring it as best as she could. Neither bringing it up, as it would be a reminder of their limited time together. 

One evening, Julianne just got out of the shower, she asked Lizzy if she wanted to go out.

“You mean on a date?” Lizzy felt her heart beating faster in excitement. 

“Yes, you can call it a date.” Julianne’s smile was so beautiful, Lizzy had to pull her closer and kiss her.

They decided on playing pool at one of the Billiard Halls and off they went. Julianne parked her truck, quickly jumped out and made her way over to the passenger’s side. She reached her hand out to Lizzy to help her to the ground. Once Lizzy took her hand, she didn’t let go until they reached the building’s entrance. 

It all felt so right. Being here, in Texas, with Julianne. And Lizzy was thinking to herself, ‘Don’t fall in love’, even though she knew it was already too late. 

They had a good time, playing pool, and chatting with one of the employees, Julianne knew from High School. When Lizzy went to the bathroom, she heard the guy asking Julianne, ‘Is she your new girl?’ Lizzy couldn’t hear Julianne’s answer to that, but the question itself made her smile. 

Back at the apartment, Julianne went to the kitchen to fix them both a drink. Lizzy lit some candles and placed them on the small table on the balcony. The Citronella smell was disgustingly strong, but it was the only thing that kept the mosquitos away. 

“Here you go.” Julianne handed her a glass with red liquid in it. “Vodka Cranberry.”

Lizzy took a sip before looking Julianne in the eyes. “Do you think it was meant to be?”

“You mean us?”

“Yeah.”

Julianne took her time to answer. “I’d like to believe that, yes.”

Lizzy felt a sadness in her heart, she had never felt before.

Julianne must have noticed, because she put their drinks down on the table, and pulled her closer. Lizzy put her head on Julianne’s shoulder, smelling her hair, that fresh rosemary scent. She knew, whenever she was going to smell rosemary again, for the rest of her life, it would remind her of that night. 

Julianne gave her a kiss, then another one, and finally, she laid down, pulling Lizzy on top of her, so that she was resting her head on Julianne’s chest. Julianne put her legs around hers, and Lizzy couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. 

“I don’t want to leave.” She whispered. 

“I know.” Julianne was stroking her back. 

“I’ve never felt like this with anyone, ever.”

Julianne gave her another kiss on the top of her head. Jokingly, she replied, “Well, that might sound a little selfish, but I hope you won’t ever feel that way again with someone else. I want to stay your special someone.”

Lizzy had to laugh, as she was wiping away tears. 

They stayed like that for another hour, mostly in silence, while trying to soak in as much of each other as possible. 

It was close to midnight when they went back inside, leaving their unfinished drinks on the table, and making their way over to Julianne’s bed. 

Two weeks later

Lizzy woke up feeling sad, a different kind of sad than the kind she had been feeling the past few days; a very deep sadness. 

Five more hours. Five more hours and they would have to leave for the airport. She was not excited to see the George Bush Intercontinental Airport sign again. Her flight was scheduled for 8 pm that night.

Julianne was still asleep, so Lizzy got up to give Samson his breakfast and get started on coffee. She gave herself time to fully feel all the sadness inside her while watching the coffee drip into the pot. When it was done, she forced herself one more time to forget about leaving and make the most of their last day together. She heard Julianne getting out of bed, but she didn’t come to the kitchen right away. 

“I’ve made coffee!” Lizzy called out to her. 

“Be right there.” 

Lizzy was pouring her second cup when Julianne finally joined her. 

“You alright?” Lizzy noticed something different in Julianne’s face, but couldn’t tell exactly what it was. 

“Yeah, all good.” She didn’t kiss her like she’d done every morning for the past three weeks. She just grabbed her mug and sat down in the old armchair, as if she didn’t want to sit anywhere, Lizzy could join her. 

“Okay, what’s going on?” Lizzy couldn’t hide her insecurity very well. 

“I just don’t want to make this any harder.”

“But we’ve only got a few hours left, shouldn’t we use that time… together, I mean… like, being closer together?” She didn’t want to sound desperate, but she could feel the tears filling up her eyes again.

“Trust me, all I wanna do is grab you, and lock us up in the bedroom.”

“This sounds like the best kind of kidnapping.” Lizzy tried to make a joke, but Julianne wasn’t laughing. She wasn’t even smiling.

“Look, I know, we’ve both been avoiding talking about what’s gonna happen to us after today, but I think we should make sure we’re on the same page.”

Lizzy nodded slowly. “I know.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, I just… I mean, we should be realistic here.”

Lizzy could feel the tears on her cheeks now. When had she become so emotional?

Julianne continued, “We will both go back to school next week, and as students, neither one of us will be making enough money, to go see each other regularly. Plus, there is the seven-hour time difference, so I just don’t think this could work out in the long run.”

“But we could-” Try, she wanted to say, but her voice broke. 

Julianne got up now, pulling her into a hug. Lizzy didn’t want to ugly-cry in front of her, but she just couldn’t help it. 

They arrived at the airport at 5. Enough time to drop off her luggage, go through security, and to say goodbye. Lizzy’s eyes were red. She was wearing her glasses, since the contacts would have already been flushed out of her eyes by now. 

There was a moment of silence before Julianne reached into her purse and handed Lizzy a handwritten letter. This time, Lizzy didn’t even try to stop the tears from falling. 

The seatbelt sign light finally turned off, and she reached for her bag to grab the letter. She couldn’t help but notice that the letter was folded so perfectly; What a small detail, but it made her think that she took the time to do it nicely, that she cared about how it looked. 

“Dear Lizzy” was written beautifully on the front. She opened the letter and began reading:

I know you must think that saying goodbye wasn’t hard for me, but believe me, it was. 

It’s just that I went through something similar once before, and know how much worse it would get, trying this long-distance thing, until eventually having to admit, that it just doesn’t work out the way we wanted it to. 

I loved every second we spent together, and I will cherish those memories for the rest of my life. You know, I believe in parallel universes, and who knows, maybe in another life, we are already happily married. 

I love you.

Julianne

PS: You are my special someone as well