Chapter 7

As Liz was fastening her seatbelt in the passenger’s seat, Sarah said, “How tired are you?”

Liz raised an eyebrow and replied, “Why? What do you have in mind?”

Sarah blushed. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

Liz continued, “Pray tell, what did you think I had in mind?”

Sarah gave a weak smile and said, “Probably something about my apartment?”

Liz placed her palm on Sarah’s thigh and said, “Yes, go on.”

Sarah’s blush deepened, but she composed herself and said, “What I meant was if you’re up to going somewhere first?”

Liz moved her palm a little higher, and drifted it closer to Sarah’s inner thigh. “That depends,” Liz answered. “I’m pretty full right now, but I could be up for a little exercise. To help me digest my food, of course,” she added with an innocent batting of her eyelids.

Sarah said, “There’s this place just outside the city that I want to show you. It’s a little remote, though.”

Liz answered, “Oh? You like doing it outdoors? I didn’t peg you as that sort, but I could be up for it, maybe.” Liz’s palm started stroking Sarah’s thigh gently, causing Sarah to gasp.

“Erm, no. That’s for later, at my place,” Sarah said quickly. Then, she realized what she said, and covered her mouth with her hand and looked down in shame.

Liz moved her hand from Sarah’s inner thigh to Sarah’s chin, and lifted it up. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, sweetie.”

Sarah turned her head to face Liz, and Liz leaned forward to kiss Sarah. Sarah also leaned into the kiss and they shared a tender kiss that soon became passionate and almost frantic.

Honk! Sarah leaned a little too far to her side, and pressed on the car’s horn. Embarrassed, they both quickly scrambled back to their seats. Then, they started laughing.

“Oh my gosh,” Liz said. “I feel like a teenager.”

Sarah replied, “Do you think they heard?”

Liz glanced at the apartment building. She thought that she saw some window blinds move, but she couldn’t tell if that window was Janice’s. Shrugging, she said, “Who cares? We’re adults.”

Sarah giggled. She placed her palm on Liz’s thigh and stroked it a little. Then, she moved both her hands onto the steering wheel and said, “Okay, let’s go!”

As Sarah was driving out of the suburb, Liz quipped, “So, John, Jenny, and ... Janice, huh?”

Sarah gave a weak smile and said, “Yeah ... we were a big fan of alliteration back then. John, Jenny, Janice, and J-”

Liz interrupted, “It’s okay, you don’t have to say that name if you don’t want to.”

Sarah replied, “Thanks. I wish everyone would just forget that I was ever called that, but that’ll never happen.”

“Well, Sarah,” Liz started, emphasizing Sarah’s name. “Besides Janice, does anyone not call you Sarah?”

“Oh, yeah, plenty of people,” Sarah answered in a sad tone. “There’s her, her parents, her whole family really. And also lots of people at work.”

“What?” Liz exclaimed. “Isn’t that workplace discrimination?”

“Well, it is, and it isn’t,” Sarah said. “We don’t have anti-discrimination laws for LGBTQ people here in this state.”

“What about HR?”

“They’ll probably just shrug and say they can’t do anything about it. My manager is fine, and he will tell people off, but HR doesn’t care, really. They just want to make sure no lawsuits happen, and guess what, I can’t file one here,” Sarah said bitterly.

“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry,” Liz said.

“It’s ok. Most of the people I work with on a day-to-day basis are fine. It’s only a few people that steadfastly refuse to call me Sarah or use the correct pronouns.”

“How does that work with new hires then? I imagine they must get confused why some of your colleagues would misgender a woman,” Liz said.

“I suppose they do, and then they ask around, and find out that I’m trans. It’s also painfully obvious once they find out. The look in their eyes are different, and they treat me differently,” Sarah said sadly.

“You must wish you could move somewhere new then,” Liz said. “I guess you stay here for the kids?”

“Yeah, basically,” Sarah answered. “I couldn’t live without them, and as it is, I only get to see them once a month. If I moved away, Janice would surely petition the court to reduce the frequency of my visits even more.”

“That bitch!” Liz exclaimed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Sarah said. “She really is a bitch sometimes.”

“Your son, John, he’s so sweet,” Liz said, changing the topic.

“He is, isn’t he?” Sarah answered. “He accepts me fully, and I don’t even know why or how.”

“It’s because he loves you, and he has your sweetness in him,” Liz replied with a smile.

Sarah blushed again. “Little Jenny is really close to him too, so I hope she’ll be as sweet as him as she grows older.”

Liz nodded, and thought back to the dinner when she and Sarah had served the kids turkey and gravy. It had felt like they were the kids’ parents, and Liz basked in the memory of that feeling.

“We’re here!” Sarah declared, as she brought the car to a stop on the side of the road.