I nodded, eager to recalibrate. “Let’s go to our sushi spot.”
I woke up to the alarm I’d set for 7 a.m.
I hit the snooze button on my phone, then glanced over at Charlie.
“Ugh, my train,” he groaned.
“It’s this afternoon,” I reminded him.
He had a three o’clock Acela to Boston. Perry was picking him up, and they were meeting his parents for lobster rolls.
These were the kinds of details I knew because I was his friend, his officemate, and now his lover.
He rolled over to face me. “Well, in that case ...”
We made love for the fourth time since we’d left the sushi bar, making out in the cab all the way back to my apartment.
I made coffee and checked emails while he showered. I had forty-two new emails since 10 p.m., all from Elinor.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered as I reached into the fridge for half and half.
“You say something?” Charlie appeared in the bathroom doorway, brushing his teeth with a towel around his waist. I felt myself blush. It was all just sointimate.
“They’re calling us into the office over the weekend,” I groaned.
He grinned. “What’s it like to be needed twenty-four seven?”
“We weren’t even supposed to clear conflicts until next week. Now we’reinterviewinghis chief of staff on Monday morning. Which means I need to read a fewthousandemails this weekend to be ready in time.”
“Christmas is canceled.”
I wondered what Christmas in the city would look like if Charlie and I had nowhere to be. Wish fulfillment had worked almosttoowell. I was living every associate’s high-profile client dream, and all I wanted was to spend the weekend with Charlie.
“What are your plans for New Year’s Eve?” he asked. I felt like he was reading my mind.
“No plans,” I admitted. “I’ll probably be at the office. Elinor didn’t mention anything about having New Year’s Eve off.”
“Well.Ifyou can escape, and I won’t hold you to anything—would you want to go to this horrible house party in Brooklyn with me?”
I laughed. “Who says no to that?”
“It’d be a lot more fun if you were there. We could make fun of all the vegan snacks and mocktails.”
“Your friends are sober?”
“It’s trendy. Just think about it,” he said as he disappeared into the bathroom.
All I could really think about was how quickly I could get to the office.
He reappeared behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Go get ’em,” he whispered.
He put on his glasses, grabbed his backpack, and tilted my chin up. He grazed my lips before leaning in for a slow kiss. I wished neither of us had anywhere to be.
“Hope we get to do New Year’s together,” he whispered.
An hour and a half later, I was the last person to walk into the conference room. On my way in, Elinor had sent an eight-hundred-page PDF that needed to be reviewed and summarized by the end of the day.
I spent the day tagging emails that were relevant to the senator’s chief of staff. At 9 p.m., Charlie sent a picture of the bar fromGood Will Hunting, with a beer emoji and the captionPerry’s local watering hole.
