don’t ogle women.
“ You are an amazing artist,” Hope said straightening back up and turning to Carrie. Carrie brought her eyes up quickly. “How come you don’t do this full time?”
“Because I like to do things like pay my bills and buy groceries,” Carrie laughed. “It is really hard to make a living just doing art. So I have a day job, but my art is how I keep my sanity.”
“Sanity is highly overrated,” Hope grinned. “I gave up on it years ago.”
“You are so funny,” Carrie said. She enjoyed Hope’s humor as well as her company.
Hope continued looking with great interest at each piece of art in the room. “Very nice,” she said when she had examined the last of it. She brought her eyes from the art and looked at Carrie. Carrie blushed when she realized she had been studying Hope the whole time Hope had been studying her art.
“Um, should we have dessert? I made red velvet cake. We can have it in the living room.” Carrie busied herself stacking the loose drawings on the table as she talked, glancing up once again at Hope.
“I love red velvet cake. Keep feeding me like this and you’ll have one chubby woman as your model.”
“I doubt that. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable in the living room and I will go get it ready for us. Would like some coffee, too? I have decaf.” Carrie shut the lights and the door as they left the room.
“Decaf would be good. Let me help you.” She followed Carrie back into the kitchen. “What would you like me to do?” Hope asked as Carrie measured the coffee into the coffee maker.
Carrie pointed to the cupboard to the left of the sink. “There are small plates in there and the cake is on the counter in the corner. There is a cake knife right next to it. You can cut us both a piece of cake.” She continued making the coffee.
Five minutes later the two women walked into the living room, each carrying a piece of cake and cup of coffee. They sat across from each other, enjoying their dessert and each other’s company. The conversation ran the gambit from Carrie’s art to Hope’s son to Carrie’s favorite hand lotion.
“I am going to try that lotion,” Hope said. “I am constantly washing my hands, seeing I have my fingers in people’s mouths all day long.”
“Does that have something to do with what you do for a living or is putting your fingers in people’s mouths just a hobby?” Carrie asked with a straight face, but a smile in her voice.
“Yeah, I just do it for fun,” Hope grinned. “I’m a dental hygienist, so it kind of comes with the territory. I went back to school when my son started kindergarten. I wanted to do something that wouldn’t take forever to get my degree and would bring money into the house. It definitely isn’t my passion.”
“What is your passion?” Carrie asked.
“I guess that would be writing?”
“Then why don’t you write?”
“I went to college with the intention of majoring in journalism. I really wanted to be a writer. I dropped out after my first semester because I was pregnant with Derrick. I got married five months before he was born. I put my career goals on the back burner so I could take care of my child and new husband. My ambitions took a back seat to their needs. I figured that being a dental hygienist would be a good choice because I knew the hours would allow me to be home with my family at night.”
“And what about now?”
“Now?” Hope repeated. “Hmm, now I guess I am just where I am. I haven’t really thought about it much.”
“Do you still write?”
“I write poems and short stories, but I don’t ever do anything with them. I haven’t even showed them to anyone. They are just written in notebooks stacked in my closet. I haven’t written in probably a year or more. I just haven’t had anything inspire me lately.”
Carrie put her coffee cup on the end table. She slipped off her shoes and pulled her feet up under her. “I would love to read
“ You are an amazing artist,” Hope said straightening back up and turning to Carrie. Carrie brought her eyes up quickly. “How come you don’t do this full time?”
“Because I like to do things like pay my bills and buy groceries,” Carrie laughed. “It is really hard to make a living just doing art. So I have a day job, but my art is how I keep my sanity.”
“Sanity is highly overrated,” Hope grinned. “I gave up on it years ago.”
“You are so funny,” Carrie said. She enjoyed Hope’s humor as well as her company.
Hope continued looking with great interest at each piece of art in the room. “Very nice,” she said when she had examined the last of it. She brought her eyes from the art and looked at Carrie. Carrie blushed when she realized she had been studying Hope the whole time Hope had been studying her art.
“Um, should we have dessert? I made red velvet cake. We can have it in the living room.” Carrie busied herself stacking the loose drawings on the table as she talked, glancing up once again at Hope.
“I love red velvet cake. Keep feeding me like this and you’ll have one chubby woman as your model.”
“I doubt that. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable in the living room and I will go get it ready for us. Would like some coffee, too? I have decaf.” Carrie shut the lights and the door as they left the room.
“Decaf would be good. Let me help you.” She followed Carrie back into the kitchen. “What would you like me to do?” Hope asked as Carrie measured the coffee into the coffee maker.
Carrie pointed to the cupboard to the left of the sink. “There are small plates in there and the cake is on the counter in the corner. There is a cake knife right next to it. You can cut us both a piece of cake.” She continued making the coffee.
Five minutes later the two women walked into the living room, each carrying a piece of cake and cup of coffee. They sat across from each other, enjoying their dessert and each other’s company. The conversation ran the gambit from Carrie’s art to Hope’s son to Carrie’s favorite hand lotion.
“I am going to try that lotion,” Hope said. “I am constantly washing my hands, seeing I have my fingers in people’s mouths all day long.”
“Does that have something to do with what you do for a living or is putting your fingers in people’s mouths just a hobby?” Carrie asked with a straight face, but a smile in her voice.
“Yeah, I just do it for fun,” Hope grinned. “I’m a dental hygienist, so it kind of comes with the territory. I went back to school when my son started kindergarten. I wanted to do something that wouldn’t take forever to get my degree and would bring money into the house. It definitely isn’t my passion.”
“What is your passion?” Carrie asked.
“I guess that would be writing?”
“Then why don’t you write?”
“I went to college with the intention of majoring in journalism. I really wanted to be a writer. I dropped out after my first semester because I was pregnant with Derrick. I got married five months before he was born. I put my career goals on the back burner so I could take care of my child and new husband. My ambitions took a back seat to their needs. I figured that being a dental hygienist would be a good choice because I knew the hours would allow me to be home with my family at night.”
“And what about now?”
“Now?” Hope repeated. “Hmm, now I guess I am just where I am. I haven’t really thought about it much.”
“Do you still write?”
“I write poems and short stories, but I don’t ever do anything with them. I haven’t even showed them to anyone. They are just written in notebooks stacked in my closet. I haven’t written in probably a year or more. I just haven’t had anything inspire me lately.”
Carrie put her coffee cup on the end table. She slipped off her shoes and pulled her feet up under her. “I would love to read
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