“I got in about thirty minutes ago. You were asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you. Did you hear the shower or something?”
“No. I just fell asleep with my phone, and it fell onto my chest. Scared me to death. Then, I realized what time it was and wanted to check on you to see if you were home.”
“I’m here. All good. Just getting ready to go to sleep.”
“With your computer?” Larissa asked as she sat down on the side of her bed.
“Searching for apartments before sleep,” she explained.
“Find anything?”
“Not yet. But I promise, I’ll be out of your hair soon.”
“You know you can stay here as long as you need to. I’m not trying to kick you out. I just can’t imagine you want to be here for too long.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You like your own space. Besides, it’s probably weird, bringing women back here.”
“I’ve never brought a woman back here.”
“I know. I mean that it’s weird, so you don’t.”
Larissa removed her glasses and wiped her tired eyes before putting them back on.
“You fell asleep earlier than usual. I expected you to still be working at the table or on the couch when I got back.”
“I didn’t feel well after you left. My head started to hurt, so I took a bath and tried to get to sleep early. A lot of good that did me, huh?”
“How’s your head now?” she asked and shifted in order to place her hand on Larissa’s forehead. “You’re not warm.”
“I’m okay. I already took something for it, so the headache is gone. Just tired now. I should get some sleep. Oh, and I hope it’s okay: I scheduled the first interview and reserved the conference room with your membership info.”
“Yeah, that’s the point,” Harlow replied.
“Can you be there?”
“For the interview? Yeah, sure. Just let me know when, and I’m there unless I have to work.”
“They’ll all be after your work. I want you to be there. This was really your idea, Harlow. I want you to be a part of it, but I also don’t want you to have to do any of the work, you know? I’m hoping it could be kind of fun for you. It’s not the going-out-to-the-bar-and-meeting-women fun, but maybe it could still be a fun thing for us to do outside of the house. I know I’m a pretty boring friend.”
“You’re not boring,” she said. “I have fun sitting on the couch while you work and I watch a movie, Lou. I wanted you to go out tonight because I worry about you. That’s all.”
“I know. I promise, I’ll try, okay?”
“Okay,” Harlow replied, nodding. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I will. Don’t stay up too late,” Larissa told her. “I worry aboutyou, too, you know?”
When Harlow smiled at her, Larissa stood and left the room, closing the door behind her. Harlow opened her computeragain and saw that there were nineteen results from her search. She’d start there.
CHAPTER 5
“Hi, Samantha. How have you been?” Larissa asked.
“We’re in here,” Harlow told her and placed her hand on Larissa’s elbow.
“I can’t say hello to Samantha and thank her for–”
