I’m still half asleep, with bedhead and puffy eyes from all of the crying I did yesterday, but a cold call from my friends is rare enough that I scramble to answer.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, holding the phone a couple inches from my face and squinting, since I didn’t even bother to grab my glasses first.
“Good evening, madam,” Sophie says. “Why do you look like you just woke up?”
“Probably because I just woke up,” I grumble, fumbling for my glasses on the nightstand.
“Oh, shit, that’s right. You’re like, nocturnal now.”
“Yup.” I find my glasses and push them up my nose. Sophie’s face comes into focus, grinning. “Why doyoulook like you’re up to no good?”
“Me?” she asks, too innocently. “I’m always up to good!”
“She lies,” Elaine says, poking her face into the frame.
Seeing the two of them together without me gives me a strange surge of mixed emotions. Fresh loneliness, an undeniable tug of envy… but mostly, happiness to see them, and gratitude that they thought of me even though I’m not there.
“Aww, look at you two,” I say, smiling. Heat pricks the back of my eyes, but thankfully, I think I cried too much last night to manage any embarrassing tears now. “What are you up to?”
“Just a little weekend trip,” Elaine says.
Again, I fight back a tug of bitterness. I miss those little trips away, going to concerts or the beach, like a weekend-long sleepover. “Where to?”
“Well…” Elaine taps her chin thoughtfully, and spins the camera. “Any guesses?”
It takes me a second to realize what I’m looking at: a house, modern and square and gray, and all too familiar.
“Wha…” I sit straight up and then scramble out of bed, almost falling over in my haste. “Is that…?!”
I rush to the front door, fling it open, and there they are, giggling like the evil masterminds they are. My best friends. I screech and throw an arm around each of their shoulders, yanking them in for a group hug. They embrace with just as much fierce affection, and then there’s yelling and excitement and a few tears shed.
“How are you here?” I ask, pulling back to wipe my eyes. “How did you know where to find me?”
“Well…” Sophie starts, exchanging a look with Elaine. “Your loverboy contacted us.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to refer to actual vampire nobility asloverboy,” Elaine says.
“LordLoverboy,” Sophie corrects in a mock-snooty tone.
I barely hear their playful bickering, though. “Claude…? Claude did this?”
“Well, I guess Claude contacted Benjamin, and Benjamin got him in touch with us,” Sophie says. “He wanted to surprise you, so he offered to fly us out. All expenses paid. Car service from the airport and everything.”
“He didn’t get into specifics,” Elaine says, “but it sounded like you needed company.”
“But what about work?” I ask. Another wave of tears is threatening to overtake me. “And… I’m sure you had other things to do this weekend, you didn’t have to do this…”
“Babe,” Sophie says, grabbing me by the shoulders and shaking me. “We’re here because we want to be.”
“I mean, I’m glad you’re here, obviously! But you didn’t have to drop everything and fly out.” I bite my lip to stop it from wobbling. “I’m fine. Really. And I know you both have your own stuff going on, so…”
“Nora,” Elaine says, somehow gentle and stern at the same time. “We’re your friends. Stop pushing us away.”
The words catch me off guard. Pushing them away? That’s never what I intended. I just didn’t want to be a burden. But… looking at them now, I imagine how I’d feel if they were intentionally concealing details of their lives from me. I’d be hurt, because Iwantto be there to support them. I see myself as a burden when I talk about my problems, but I’d never view them like that. I’d be offended if they thought I did.
I thought I was being selfless by keeping everything to myself. But really, all I was doing was keeping my friends at arm’s length.
After a deep breath, I nod and manage a watery smile. “Let me make some coffee,” I say, “and I’ll tell you everything.”
