Part 1

New York 2000

The traffic was getting to Jo Polinaczek, and with a funeral procession tying up traffic, she seemed as frustrated as the drivers around her. She looked at the passenger seat to see her better half, Blair Warner, lost in her thoughts.  The two women had been together for the better part of twenty years and this was the first time that they had encountered a dry spell in their relationship. Blair had graduated from law school and decided to work for her father at Warner Textiles, whereas Jo had joined the NYPD. The two had encountered difficulties initially when they got together but after all these years of playful banter and passionate arguments, which was the driving force in their relationship was now causing distance with one another. Jo was worried. Blair was still beautiful to her and Jo was hopelessly in love with her. Which lead to her fear that Blair no longer felt the same.

“Jo, could you drop me off at the office?” Blair said suddenly. “I really want to get through some paperwork that Dominic prepared for me.” Jo cringed when she heard the name Dominic; he was the handsome law clerk/personal assistant to Blair. Blair had hired him nearly six months ago and the two became inseparable as they worked on a merger that occupied most of Blair’s time. Jo felt really lonely at home despite the fact that Blair always came home by eight o’clock in the evening. She would snuggle next to Jo and work on her laptop while Jo watched TV. Blair had noticed that Jo went out more but when she returned she often found her asleep with her glasses on in bed and whatever she was reading thrown around in a messy pile. Jo had begun to drink at a bar outside of the station to give her liquid courage to go and face Blair as she seem to fade away a little bit more each passing day.

“Sure, do you want to meet up for dinner?” Jo had said it a bit too eagerly, which was not missed by Blair. Blair turned and looked into Jo’s eyes and caressed her cheek with her hand, and then said without hesitation. “Can we make love tonight instead?” Jo nearly braked hard at the request as it had been nearly six months since they had sex. Blair had been too busy and not feeling up to the task and the nights that Jo tried to initiate some kind of intimacy, Blair would simply dismiss or feign some type of head ache. “Uh, sure.” It was the first thing that came to Jo’s mouth, and it was the least romantic acknowledgement ever. Blair reached over and gave Jo a passion filled kiss that left them both breathless. Blair smiled as she ran her hand through Jo’s hair. “Just know I love you.”