“And?”
“Dating someone who lives in the same building is like dating someone from work. You don’t shit where you eat—and she can’t stand the sight of me anyway, so it’s irrelevant.”
Laura nodded thoughtfully, then leaned on the ledge and picked at the chipped nail polish on her thumb. “You want my take on this?”
“Are you suggesting I have a choice?”
She let out a crack of laughter. “Here’s the thing,” she said. “Her behaviour is determining yours, and that’s what’s making things weird. Stop tiptoeing around her. Treat her the same way you do everyone else, and she’ll either adjust—or she’ll have to tell you outright why she doesn’t want to be your friend.”
“You think so? She can barely throw two words my way.”
“I do. I know she can be a little anxious, but she has a backbone, too.”
I couldn’t deny I’d been holding back around Sadie, but I’d never had trouble relating to women before, so the lack of connection couldn’t be entirely my fault. “I’ll think about it,” I said. “It’s been like this from day one, so it’ll take some time.”
“Well, time is something we’ve got plenty of right now.”
Or not. We could all be dead by tomorrow. “Are you pushing me to do this purely for entertainment purposes?”
“It’ll be more fun to watch than all the doom and gloom on the news, but no,” she said. “There’s never been a better time to chase happiness, don’t you think?”
“Maybe,” I said begrudgingly. With the rising death toll, it might be smarter to avoid building new attachments.
“Why don’t I head downstairs and leave you two alone? Try talking to her when she's done and see how it goes. I have faith in you.”
I sighed. “At least someone does.”
Laura patted my cheek as she sidled past me. “Take it slow. Friendship’s the goal. Be your amazing self and all the pieces will fall into place.”
“Right.”
Or I’d monumentally fuck it up.
At this point, it could go either way.
Two
sadie
My heart kept beating faster as the conveyor belt slowed, and by the time I stepped onto the tiled floor, I was on the verge of palpitations.
With every part of me taut and ready for confrontation, I turned and faced Theo. He hadn’t moved from the spot where Laura left him, hands deep in his pockets, expression unreadable.
When I didn’t immediately bolt for the door, a flicker of surprise lit his features, and he pushed off the boundary wall. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” I lowered my headphones, my smile disappearing as fast as it came. I should have been messaging my sister and making sure the violence in America hadn’t impacted her, but I left my phone tucked in my pocket. “So… I need to apologise,” I said. “I didn't mean to be rude. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
With rumpled hair the same shade as toffee and a permanent dusting of stubble on his jaw, Theo looked like he’d just rolled out of bed at any given time of the day. Paired with relaxedjeans and an oversized black tee, he gave off the vibe of someone completely comfortable in his body.
Rather than making me earn his forgiveness, a hint of humour passed over his features. “Makes sense in a pandemic,” he said. “But you were like this before everything went to shit.”
“I know, it’s just… whenever I try to say something, it always comes out wrong.”
He came closer, but not tooclose, taking careful steps as if he didn’t want to frighten me. His hesitation might have been funny if I could have gotten over myself. “Only with me though, right?”
“Not only you... but only you in this building.”The words slipped out before I could stop them.
He halted a couple of metres away, and a line formed between his brows. “I don’t know what that means.”
