I was torn. Should I leave? Stay and keep being nosy? I was rooted to the spot. If they heard me pour a glass of water or shut my refrigerator door, they’d know I could hear them. Jessie probably thought I still was at the party. I couldn’t make out what she said back to him.
Then the yelling started. “We moved here for you, Jessalyn!”
“Oh, don’t kid yourself. It was for you. Stop gaslighting me! You were ready to leave me in New York.”
He yelled. And yelled. I heard her quiet, “I’m going to leave,” and his loud, “If you leave, don’t bother coming back.”
Then their front door slammed, creating a suction breeze in my apartment. Then the elevator dinged. I had a feeling where she was going. It was chilly out that night. I waited a few minutes, then grabbed the six-pack, a sweatshirt, and a blanket, and went to the roof.
I heard her before I saw her. “I don’t know, Mom. I think I just need to come home. Yeah, to West Virginia. I can’t afford New York.”
Sniffles, and sobs. “No, I only have my purse. I’ll get clothes when I get home. I don’t have my laptop. Can you book me a flight?”
I rounded the corner from the elevator bank and saw her, face puffy with tears, sitting in a pool chair on the phone. Her nice party makeup was smeared, her sweatshirt pulled down over her bare legs. “I need to go, Mom. Can you send me the flight options? Appreciate it. Love you, too.”
She hung up and leaned her head into her hands. I approachedher, knocking the cool beer bottle into the backs of her hands. She gave a thick laugh, taking it from me. She popped it open with her sweatshirt sleeve.
“Thanks,” she said. “I thought you hated these.”
“Felt like you needed one,” I said, trying to sound sympathetic. I spread the blanket over her lap. I opened a bottle and sat in the chair next to her, planting my elbows on my knees. “You okay?”
She took a long drag on the beer and stared at the pool. “I don’t know.”
We sat in silence for a while. I was good at this. I was good at being the breakup friend. I’d done it before for Kitty and was pretty proud of my performance. Sometimes, you’ve just gotta sit in the misery.
“I guess you heard,” she said.
“I heard,” I confirmed. “Are you going home?”
Jessie’s breath shuddered. “I think so. I don’t even know what I’m doing out here.”
I wanted to reach out and touch her, but I was part of the problem. I needed to give her space. “You’re working toward your dream, right?”
She nodded.
“Do you want to do this or go back to New York and do fashion?” I prayed the answer was the former. The thought of Jessie moving away was disturbingly upsetting. I shouldn’t be that upset at the thought of her leaving.
“This.” A sob broke loose.
“Don’t go then,” I said.
“I don’t have anywhere to go,” she said. “He threw me out.”
“You pay rent, Jessalyn. He can’t just throw you out,” I started.
Jess blew out a breath. “I’m not going back down there tonight.”
There was no way I was letting Jessie sleep on the roof with everything she was going through. “You can stay with me. As long as you need.”
“What?” She looked at me like I had three heads. “Mikey.”
“I’m not even home a lot of the time. I’ve got an extra bedroom. There’s no bed in it, but I can take care of that. I need to get one for guests anyway.”
“Mikey, no. It’s too much. I just need to rethink everything. I just need somewhere for tonight.”
“You probably can’t quit the show mid-season, can you? I know Kitty talks about stuff like that.”
She raised her eyebrows and rubbed her forehead. “Yeah, you’re right about that.”
