Little Disquietude by C. E. Case Page A

gotten a crick in her neck. In the shifting around, her hand
had traveled to Sophia's lap, and settled on Sophia's thigh. Sophia
had squeaked. No one had shushed them, but Sophia had blushed and
refused to look at Leah for the rest of the act.
    Their eyes met in the light. Leah smiled. She
leaned in and Sophia leaned in to meet her. They pressed their
foreheads together, noses not quite touching. Sophia whispered,
"You're fun."
    Leah had to bite her tongue to keep from
asking, "Is that all?" She instead asked, "What on earth happened
in the first act?"
    Sophia blinked. "I have no idea."
    "It's in the playbill," Adam said.
    "Do you need more champagne?" Leah asked,
turning around, keeping her hand in Sophia's.
    "I had more than enough. Do you want to get a
hotel room tonight?"
    "Adam," Leah said. "Sophia's right here."
    Sophia giggled. She leaned around Leah and
peered at Adam.
    "The four of us," Adam said.
    "Kinky," Sophia said.
    Leah tugged on her fingers. "I'd rather go
home, if Sophia's up to driving. Be in my own bed."
    Adam smirked.
    Sophia leaned back in her chair.
    "You can join me," Leah said, and Sophia
blushed and swatted her away. "Too much?" Leah asked.
    Sophia shook her head.
    Leah leaned closer and asked, "Not
enough?"
    Sophia squeaked. She closed her eyes.
    Adam smacked Leah.
    "Sorry, sorry. Aren't you glad we drove
separately?"
    "I know what I'm doing," he said.
    Leah whispered to Sophia, "We could just go
make out in a pretty velvet stairwell or something for the second
act."
    "Someone will ask us about the opera," Sophia
said.
    "We can Google it."
    The house lights flashed.
    "Too late," Leah said, "If we made a run for
it, we'd be crushed by the wave of drunk people returning."
    "It's just like NASCAR after all," Adam
said.
    Ward vaulted into his chair and said, " Die
Fledermaus !"
    Leah flashed him a gang sign.
    "Oh, look, chemistry," Adam said.
    "Fuck you," Ward and Leah said together.
    The opera began.

Chapter Sixteen
    "Sure you don't want to stay?" Adam asked as
they walked to the car. "It's a glittering city."
    It was. The lights reflected off the
skyscrapers and created a gorgeous, if small, skyline. The bank
buildings rose out of the ground and beckoned. But Charlotte was
not old New York, and there wasn't enough cold in the warm reds and
pinks and faint blues. There was no water, black and murky, to
capture the light and reflect it, to make it all seem colder, more
distant. Looking out from the parking deck at downtown, Leah felt
she could be anywhere.
    She had laughed so hard she was soundless.
Her face hurt from smiling. She hadn't breathed for long moments.
Sophia kept poking her and she'd laugh all over again. But now
streets below were just streets. The opera didn't change that. She
said to Adam, "I want to go home."
    "We have to do that little musical first," he
said.
    She saluted. He and Ward got into their car.
Leah watched them drive away silently, and then turned to Sophia.
"I want to go home with you."
    "You'd rather go to the roach motel than your
place?"
    "You have a more comfortable bed," Leah said.
She closed her eyes, imagined falling onto crisp, clean sheets, the
too-soft mattress, the puffy pillows, and Sophia's scent, drifting
over her. She inhaled and opened her eyes.
    Sophia studied her with furrowed brow, a
slight pink tint to her cheeks.
    "To sleep. All I can think about is sleep,"
Leah said. Her cheeks burned. She glanced at Sophia's car,
picturing the long drive ahead of them, wishing it was over.
    Sophia's frown deepened.
    "Shutting up now," Leah said.
    "Bitch."
    "Diva."
    "One note actor."
    "Which note?"
    "I'll, uh, let you know when I actually see
you perform," Sophia said. Leah moved closer to her for each word,
and now could lean against her, with Sophia's back to the car.
Sophia licked her lips nervously, and hesitated.
    Leah brushed her lips across Sophia's. Her
hand trembled as she clasped Sophia's fingers, balancing herself to
lean in for a second, deeper kiss. Her