“Oh, for sure. Hold on.” I switch to speaker so I don’t chew in her ear. “Mmm. These are fucking delicious!”
“Your burnt tacos?”
I groan around another bite. “I threw the burnt one away!” I say after I swallow. “This one is perfection.”
“Sure, Jan.”
“Keep it up,” I say. “I’ll cook for you, and you’ll see how great I am.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”
I laugh, and we continue on like this, talking and teasing each other until her movie ends and I pretend mine did too—even though it ended fifteen minutes ago—then we pick out something to start at the same time and watch it together.
Interstitial 5
Saturday, February 28th, 2026
Photo attachment of a white coffee table. A game of Settlers of Catan is set up.
Harlow (5:37 p.m.):
Call me Shepherd because I’m about to open up a sheep factory.
Lily (5:40 p.m.):
Ughhhh I’m so jealous!! I love Catan.
Harlow (5:42 p.m.):
Really? We can play later?
Lily (5:53 p.m.):
Oh sure. Let me just hop on a plane
Harlow (5:58 p.m.):
No silly. There’s an app where we can play online together. I’ll call you later and we can play.
Lily (6:05 p.m.):
Hell yes!! I’m looking up the app rn
Chapter Nine
March
Iknow some people hate phone calls, but I’m not one of them. You can get across so much information faster and with less room for miscommunication, plus it’s always nice to hear the voice of someone you miss.
Not that ImissHarlow.
It’s been three weeks since Valentine’s Day, and, while we still text daily, we now also talk on the phone a couple times a week, sometimes because we’re playing a couple games of Catan and sometimes to talk about our days. Again. No big deal.
I check the time as I slide into the driver’s seat of my Subaru and dial Harlow. I’m headed home from work and texted to see if she’s free because I have something important to ask her. But the second I hear her voice when she answers, my original question is long forgotten.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing.” Harlow sighs and doesn’t say anything else. I wait her out, and, finally, she explains, “Work stuff.”
