Lucy:I'm okay. Glad you made it home safe.
Jake:I love you. That hasn't changed.
Lucy:I love you too. Talk soon?
Jake:Yeah. Talk soon.
Jake set down his phone and looked around his apartment. Four months. He had four months to wait and see if Lucy chose to come home.
Four months to wonder if he'd just lost the love of his life by being too noble.
Four months to figure out how to live with the uncertainty.
Marcus had said that not knowing was the hardest part. That at least a clean breakup gave you closure.
But Jake didn't want closure. He wanted Lucy.
And maybe—maybe—in four months, he'd have her.
Or maybe he'd just have the memory of what they'd been before Paris changed everything.
Jake went to bed at 8 PM (2 AM Paris time) and didn't sleep.
Through the wall, he could hear sounds from Lucy's apartment—a new tenant had moved in last week, someone Mae had found to sublet for the months Lucy was gone.
Someone else was living Lucy's life in Timber Falls.
Just like someone else (Amelie, James, Yuki) was living Jake's place in Lucy's Paris life.
Everything had shifted. Changed. Become uncertain.
And Jake had no idea how to find his way back to solid ground.
After Jake left, Lucy threw herself into school.
She arrived early, stayed late, volunteered for every extra assignment Chef Laurent offered. She worked until her hands cramped and her feet ached and she was too exhausted to think about Jake.
"You're going to burn out," Amelie warned one afternoon.
"I'm fine."
"You're working like someone running from something."
"I'm just focused."
"You're avoiding. What happened with Jake?"
Lucy hadn't told anyone about their semi-breakup. Hadn't known how to explain something she didn't understand herself.
"We're taking space," Lucy finally said. "Figuring out what we want."
"Space is code for breakup, non?"
"Maybe. I don't know."
Amelie studied her. "Do you want to stay in Paris? After the program ends?"
"I don't know that either."
