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I glance to the side, the information taking a beat to settle until…my eyebrows rise. “Did you send them your portfolio?”
Her face twists, and she nods. “It was horrible and I’m never doing it again, not ever ever. But…I did it.”
I yank her against me and wrap my arms around her, careful not to spill the coffee she’s holding in one hand.
“I’m so proud of you,” I say, pressing a kiss against the crown of her head. “Seriously. So proud. No matter what they say.”
“They’re going to say no,” she mumbles into my chest. Then she pulls her head back and looks up to meet my eyes, even though the full weight of her still leans against me. “Or if theydosay yes, it’ll just be because I’m a Mitchell.”
“Hey,” I say, my brow furrowing. “That is definitely not at all true.”
She raises an eyebrow.
“Okay, so the second part might be a little bit true, but that doesn’t mean you’re not incredibly talented.”
Busy laughs and tucks herself against me again before letting out a long sigh.
“If nothing comes from it, it’s okay,” she tells me. “I just want to know I tried.”
I nod and kiss her head again. “Exactly.”
We continue strolling down the block toward one end of Main Street, admiring all the Halloween décor in the front windows of each of the shops before crossing the street and heading in the opposite direction. Junie is on a playdate with Leo this morning, so we have a blissful few hours just the two of us and nowhere in particular that we need to go. We’ve justbeen drinking coffee and wandering around downtown after my stupid therapy appointment ended.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t stupid. It was actually a lot better than I assumed it would be, and I have Busy to thank for that, for pushing me for the past few weeks, ever since that incident with the sander. It’s something she’s been bringing up regularly ever since we first started dating back at the end of summer, saying how important it would be for me to process all the emotional and physical challenges that are coming.
“But I don’t want to just constantly worry about the future,” I told her one day. “If I’m always talking about what’s going wrong, it’s all I’ll think about.”
Busy pinned me with a look. “But isn’t it all you think about anyway?” When I didn’t respond, she gave me a pinched smile. “At least if you tried going to therapy, you’d feel less like you were carrying it all alone. And maybe you’d have someone giving you a better perspective on things as they change.”
She doesn’t realize that I haveherfor that. Thatshe’sthe one who makes me feel like I’m not doing it all on alone.
We’ve only been together for a few months, but the way having her and Junie around has completely reshaped how I feel about each and every day is just…mind-blowing. My shoulders don’t feel so weighted down with the worries I carry. I didn’t know I could experience this much joy on a regular basis, assumed it was only for obnoxiously positive or rich people.
But apparently, it’s also for me.
“Have you decided what you want to be for Halloween yet?” I ask her, my eyes snagging on a sign for the annual Halloween Spooktacular.
“I was thinking I’d go as a cat.”
I chuckle. “Where did that come from?”
She shrugs. “I love cats, and it’s the easiest costume in the world. Wear all black, put on some makeup for the nose and whiskers, buy ears and a tail. It’ll take me five minutes.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“No, I’m smart. The last thing I want to do is spend weeks planning a Halloween costume. I don’t have the time for that.”
When I don’t say anything, she stops and stares at me.
“You’re one of those people, aren’t you? How long have you known what you were going to be for Halloween?”
I rub my tongue along the ridges of my teeth. “Since last year.”
At that, Busy tosses her head back and laughs. “Oh my god, I love it so much. What are you going to be?”
“Nick and I are going as Harry and Marv fromHome Alone.”
“That is incredibly niche.”
