“In the kitchen, babe,” Zora shouted, a little too loudly for the small apartment. “How was work?”
“Oh, you know,” Audrey replied, exhausted. “Data, testing, the usual.”
“You’ve never sounded so annoyed by your own job.” Zora looked at her with concern as she moved into the kitchen and leaned against the counter.
“I still love my job. I was just… talking to Hallie earlier.”
“Naturally. How’s she doing?”
“Shit.”
“So, just like you, then.” She shook her head. “Just ask her to move here and be done with it.”
“Zora, she works in customer service. Living here is expensive. Plus, her whole family is there and they’re close. I can’t ask her to give up everything to try out whether we might have something.”
“Then, don’t for now. But at least put a label on it. I know you thought you couldn’t do the whole long-distance thing, but I’ve got news for you. You’realreadydoing it. And, if you name it, you’ll both feel a million times better.”
Audrey nodded slowly. She knew Zora was right. And, sure, things might still come up that scared her, but they talked consistently. Even without declaring what they were, Audrey wasn’t actually worried Hallie was going to leave her for someone else. Maybe they could make the whole thing work. Distance was hard but maybe it was manageable when both people were putting in the effort. Distance with her family was both necessary and left her feeling removed because nobody was trying—but they weren’t trying to include her when they were in the same place either. With Hallie, it felt inconvenient, annoying, but like something they could overcome. They texted, they called, they were parts of each other’s lives. And the distance didn’t seem to make a difference. They both still wanted to be together. She’d want to make it work no matter where Hallie moved.
Zora stood in front of her, clapping her hands down on Audrey’s shoulders. “Okay, it looks like you’re realizing I’m right, so, great news! I brought you an early Christmas gift to help.”
Audrey furrowed her brow. “What?”
Zora laughed and moved to pull out a haphazardly wrapped gift.
Audrey smiled down at the red and green wrapping paper. “You want me to open this now?”
“Oh, I absolutely do.”
There was something in her tone that told Audrey she might regret opening it in Zora’s presence, but she did as she was told and laughed in surprise. “Zora, what the hell?”
“What? It’s a great gift! I even charged it for you.”
“It sure is… something.”
She rolled her eyes and gestured to the box Audrey was holding. “I got the idea from telling you both about the woman I was seeing in New York. Believe me, stuff like this really helps shrink the distance between you.”
Audrey nodded. She could actually see that. And it wasn’t as though she didn’t want to try it out with Hallie. Still, it was one of the more… unexpected gifts she’d ever received for Christmas.
Zora pulled her phone out, grinning down at it as she typed quickly. “Okay, I just texted Hallie and told her to call you and to… enjoy herself. So, I’m going to go now and leave you to it. Have fun, babe!”
Audrey stared after her as she positively ran from the apartment, but it wasn’t long after the door snapped shut that her phone lit up with a call from Hallie.
Audrey’s stomach still clenched unpleasantly when her phone lit up with a call, but it was getting easier with the amount Hallie phoned her. Of course, not every call was from Hallie, but, for the time being, her family seemed to be giving her the silent treatment. If she thought about it too closely, it wasn’t easy to handle, but she was working through it in extra sessions with her therapist, and, honestly, it was better than the tirade of messages. It gave her time to sit in the two extremes of their behavior, neither of which were loving or appropriate.
“Hello,” she said warmly as she answered Hallie’s call. Their earlier conversation still hung over them, unfinished, but this distraction from Zora at least let them focus on something else for the time being.
“Is everything okay?” Hallie asked, relaxing into amusement when she heard Audrey’s tone.
“That rather depends on what you classify asokay.”
“Dr. Bee,” Hallie said, her voice unintentionally flirty, as though some part of her already knew what was happening just from hearing Audrey’s voice, “what’s going on?”
“Zora just presented me with an early Christmas gift.”
“Okay…”
“And, well, it’s more a gift for the two of us.”
