I’d heard his easy laughter in the common areas of the building more times than I could count, but I’d never been the inspiration for it before. “I’ll try not to be a cactus anymore,” I said, amusement tugging at my mouth. The breeze reminded me of my damp workout clothes, and the urge to call my sisternagged at me. “I need to go get cleaned up,” I said, “but it was nice finally talking to you.”
“Likewise. Don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t.”
Theo’s gaze lingered, and the corner of his mouth lifted. “We’ll see.”
Nerves stirred in my stomach, and I gave him a small smile, afraid to ruin our tentative beginning.
I didn’t know if his eyes were on me as I walked away, and it took every ounce of restraint not to turn my head and find out.
As soon as I pushed through the rooftop door, the memory of our banter faded, and I jogged down the dimly lit steps, my heartbeat quickening to match my pace.
No matter how much I’d enjoyed our conversation, I couldn’t think about Theo anymore.
I needed to know Ava was safe.
I stood at my lounge room window and stared at the message thread on my phone, willing those three little dots to appear. I hadn’t spoken to my sister for almost a week—officially the longest we’d ever gone without communicating.
She was okay as far as I knew, but the distance between us made it hard not to worry.
I let my gaze drift to the street four floors below.
A chill hung in the late autumn air, and a few stubborn leaves clung to the trees. The row of single-storey houses opposite sat still and quiet, with cars parked in driveways after the owners had been stood down from their jobs or succumbed to the virus.
Mrs Chapman was no longer letting her poodle crap outside our building. There were no men in Lycra cycling in a pack to take over The Cosy Brew on the corner. Kids had stopped passing by on their way to school.
A single plastic bag floated through the air, catching on a branch before it continued its journey.
After living pandemic life for so long, the ghost town feel should have been normal. But I hadn’t adjusted—and I wasn’t even close to accepting it might stay this way.??
Out of habit, I checked my phone again, then sighed and bypassed the green velvet couch on my way to the kitchen.
As I filled the kettle and waited for it to boil, the thud of heavy bass kicked in nearby, right on time. I dropped a tea bag into the vampire-themed mug Ava had given me and smiled. “There he goes again,” I said to my empty apartment.
Theo and I were the only two residents left on our level. He had the music taste of a tween girl and threw dance parties for one a few times a week, often belting out lines that made me laugh. The sessions?went on for half an hour or more at a time, and I missed the activity as soon as it stopped.
We hadn’t seen each other since our chat on the rooftop a few days ago, but not because I was avoiding him this time around. We just hadn’t been in the same place at the same time.
I poured boiling water into the mug and recalled the way he’d stepped in when he thought Dustin was crossing invisible boundaries. He didn’t need to get physical to make Dustin back off, but I knew he would have gone there if it had escalated.
All of this for a woman who wouldn’t even speak to him until now.
What did that say about Theo?
God, what did it say aboutme?
While the tea steeped, I leaned my hip against the bench and tapped the banking app on my phone, staring at a pile of money just sitting there with no purpose.
It was crazy keeping it all to myself when I knew someone who needed help. Theo's tattoo studio had been shut for a couple of months now, and it wouldn't be opening again anytime soon. I puffed out my cheeks and released a loud breath, entering the amount in the blank field. It didn’t mean I had to follow through. I could just spend a few minutes standing on the precipice and see which way my gut took me.
I dropped Theo's name in the reference field and moved my thumb over theconfirmbutton.
This was something you did to help a friend, not an acquaintance—and usually after they’daskedto be bailed out. But Theo wouldn’t ask, and Dustin would continue making him out to be a failure for his missed payments.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I tapped the screen and let out a little screech.
Too late to change my mind now.
