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“What do you mean?”
“You seem—different.”
“Vanilla almond milk latte, please. Small.” I hand my card to the barista and shrug at her comment. “Nothing’s changed. At least not that I can think of.”
I feel bad. I’m not exactly lying to her, but I’m certainly omitting the fact that there’s been some major developments between Cyrus and me. Oh, and the little fact that I propositioned him last night. My cheeks flush with embarrassment as I recall the way I was so shamelessly flirting with him. The cocktail I had with Forrest before Cyrus arrived went straight to my head… as did the celebratory shot of tequila Forrest insisted we take. By the time the second cocktail was in me, I was feeling pretty damn confident to offer up such a bold idea.
“You’re blushing.” She points at me after placing her coffee order. “See, this is what I mean… there’s something going on in that head of yours.”
“Uh…” My mouth hangs open like a fish and I truly have nothing to say.
“Oh, oh! Is it Forrest? Did you guys?” She wriggles her eyebrows up and down at me.
“No, we did not. We did have a celebratory cocktail and shot the other night though, after the piece he did on Mr. Gates went live.”
“A shot, ohhhh.” She elbows me teasingly. “Someone’s getting wild. You guys hanging out again?”
I shrug again. “I’m not sure, no plans yet. He was pretty flirty with me at the bar and he told me to call him before he left.”
“He left you there?” Her excitement morphs into annoyance.
“Oh, yeah, he had to go to his parents’ surprise anniversary party that he was throwing with his siblings. I knew before we met up that he couldn’t stay long. It was still a good time.”
There’s nothing I want to do more right now than pull Serenity into a quiet corner and share all the dirty little secrets between Cyrus and me like we’re little schoolgirls again. But I know that he would be upset if I shared those intimate details and truthfully, a big part of me wants to keep them for myself for as long as I can… maybe forever. I’ve never been the girl who’s had secrets, fun little stories that I could think about when I’m all alone. Something about it feels so… thrilling.
“What about you? How are things going with Jarrod? Aren’t you guys about to celebrate two years soon?”
The barista calls our names and we grab our coffees before heading over to a table by the windows.
“We are. Things are going great. We’ve both been so busy though, it just feels like we haven’t been spending as much time together. Kind of bums me out.”
“Well, the good thing is you’re in your final semester of grad school and he’s about to be matched for his residency, right?”
She nods, taking a sip of her coffee. “That’s been weighing on me too actually.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, odds are, he won’t be matched here in Chicago. I mean, he could be but you’re rarely matched to the one you want. I just—I’m happy to go wherever he goes. My job can be fully remote, but I’ll miss you.” Her mouth droops into a frown.
“Oh, Serenity.” I reach out and grab her hand. “I’d miss you too, so much, but we don’t know where he’ll end up just yet. Besides, I can fly to you, you fly to me. Nothing is going to change between us.”
“I know, it just sucks. You and I have been together at least every other day for the last six years. It’s the end of an era.” She sighs dramatically and it makes us both giggle.
“Seems like we should live it up then, huh?”
“What’d you have in mind, miss birthday girl? You ready to have some fun this weekend?”
“So ready! I’m thinking we actually go out to a club for once. I think the last time we did that was like three years ago, maybe? You were still single, remember? Because that weird guy in the banana costume wouldn’t leave you alone all night.” We burst into another fit of giggles as we try to piece together that night.
“I’m so down. Let’s get ready at your place since Jarrod will be on call. Any ideas on where you want to eat?”
“Sushi-san,” we both say in unison, referring to our favorite go-to sushi restaurant.
“Oh shit, we better leave now or we’re going to be late to class.” Serenity hops out of her chair and grabs her bag as I do the same. Little butterflies are already forming in my stomach at the thought of seeing him again.
* * *
All through the lecture I feel like I’m trying to walk a fine line between acting normal and casually trying to catch Cyrus’ gaze to toss him a flirty smile. But the reality is, I feel like I’m either looking embarrassed, my eyes darting weirdly around the room to avoid his gaze, and then overcompensating by staring way too hard at my screen like I’m trying to shoot lasers out of my eyes. By the end of the class, I’m relieved.
