A heart emoji? That was a first. She barely had time to stare at the message before her buzzer rang.
He’d sent her Indian food.
Good lord, it was exactly what she needed.
Violet poked her head out between her curtains when Audrey opened the bag. Their apartment was immediately flooded with the heavenly aroma of spices and garlic.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second, hold up—” Her roommate slid down and bounded over to peer into the bounty. “Holy shit, did Theo get you Atithi?!”
“Looks like it.” Audrey tore into a piece of garlic naan and sobbed. It melted in her mouth. “Violet.Violet.How did he know?!” she wailed as she took another bite.
“Oh my god, how much did he order?! Give me one of those!” Violet snatched a samosa straight out of Audrey’s hand, but she didn’t mind. There was a whole carton of them, plus chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, butternut squash soup, lamb kebabs, basmati rice, daal, mango lassi, and two servings each of kheer, gulab jamun, and rasmalai. Looked like he’d deliberately sent enough for Violet too.
It was so good, Audrey cried real tears into her lassi.
Audrey| THEODORE HENRY SULLIVAN
Audrey| Keep giving me food like this and I’ll be in grave danger of falling in love with you forever
Audrey| Are you going to make me marry you just so we can share your Postmates account?
Theo| Great, so the plan is working?
Audrey| You might get more than you bargained for, though
Audrey| Violet just informed me that she and I are a package deal and she’s moving in with us
Theo| Great, so the plan is working.
The dots appeared again, disappeared, and then nothing.
Audrey waited.
It took another solid minute for his last text to come through.
Theo| Now go enjoy your food and study for your test.
Theo| Goodnight, sweetheart.
Huh.
That last text had taken him an awfully long time to type.
Theo didn’t justwalk her to the subway after work the day of her exams. When Audrey stopped at the top of the stairs where they usually kissed goodbye, he shot her a mischievous look and tightened his fingers between her own. “Come on—what are you waiting for?” he said with a slight tug. “Don’t want to be late, do you?”
“Are you coming with me?”
“Yeah.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded, the mask shifting up on his face from the grin he surely wore beneath it. “You’re mine for the whole long weekend after your exam today.Mine. Did you think I was going to let any second of it go to waste?”
They’d made these plans after he’d shown her his studio since she’d taken the rare shift off on Friday knowing she’d probably be wiped after her tests, and even though she’d been lamenting the loss of tomorrow’s income, she hadn’t known Theo would be making up for it quite this much.
He went with her all the way to the lecture hall, and when she turned to look at him with wide eyes and a sick feeling in her stomach before going in, he lowered his mask and gave her a reassuring nod.
“I’ll work out here while I wait for you,” he whispered, bendingin close to her ear and running his hands along her arms. “Just breathe and take your time, okay? You’ve got this. Imagine passing with flying colors and walking the stage in a few weeks.”
