“I’m not taking payment,” she snorted. “You’re my friend. Just focus on landing on your feet.”
“Mm…” I picked at my sleeve. “I feel like it’s going to be hard getting a job… I haven’t had anything real in a while.”
“You have any idea what you’re thinking of?”
“Don’t know… I’d love to get something in marketing again, but I feel like I missed my opening with it.”
“Missed it?” She frowned at me, and I shrugged helplessly.
“I mean, I had an internship. If I’d put more effort in then, I probably could have leveraged it and gotten my foot in the door in a nice career. But… well, you know. Sawyer didn’t like the idea of me getting too into a big career that would take all my time.”
She narrowed her eyes. “He told you that?”
“He made plenty of money,” I said. I didn’t know why I was defending him. “Between the two of us, him doing his job and me working part-time was plenty.”
“And he was being petty because he didn’t want you to make more money than him. Didn’t want you to be independent.”
“I… I don’t know.”
“What a dick.”
I was being unfair to him, I knew. But I couldn’t let my mind drift down that road. I was taking in the scenery, and Daniela was right that it was beautiful. I sipped my tea, looking out to the distance, and Daniela stretched her legs out in front of her, drinking her tea and setting it down in her lap.
“Well,” she said, “I bet you can find something. You can take your time and just focus on job applications. No need to worry about making it up to me. I just like being there for my friends.”
So she said, but I couldn’t take my thoughts off it, so once we were back in the house and she’d headed back to her home office, I went and took a shower while dwelling on the thoughts, and I wound up back in my little basement room, looking at the number Jade had left on a scrap of paper in the brown paper bag.
I just figured maybe… if Daniela wasn’t going to give me an opportunity to make it up to her, I had to make my own opportunities. And it sounded like things with Jade didn’t need to be as difficult as they were.
What if there was something I could do? If I could help smooth things over… and maybe Daniela and Jade could start talking again.
Jade didn’t want to talk to me. I still reeled from her shutting me down at the party last night, when I’d been stupid enough to tell herwe could be friendsand she looked at me like I was a freak for asking. But she’d said Cat would like me.
Daniela hadreallybeen into Jade—Candle Girl as I’d taken to calling her when Daniela was being coy about her name—fora while. We’d had long calls analyzing every little bit of their interactions, and I’d been so invested in them getting together. It was probably me not knowing how to mind my own business, but I just wanted them to get together. To get past this thing that had happened and finally admit how they felt about each other. And then I’d be able to leave this place feeling justified about my time here.
I sent a text to the number.Hey, Jade gave me this number, is this Cat?
I felt energized enough that I was able to put on a nice outfit and do my makeup, take some time styling my hair, starting to feel slightly more human, and by the time I finished, I had a reply.
hi!!! is this Alyssa?
I got a nervous flush at the thought of Jade and Cat talking about me. I guess… maybe she’d had to explain the cut on her face. I sat on the edge of the bed, texting back.Hey there! That’s right.I put her number into my contacts, and she responded by the time I finished.
yayyy it’s so nice to meet you! have you been talking to Jade?
Jade? I laughed nervously.She didn’t seem interested in that, just gave me your number. She said you’d like me. No pressure, I guess.
She sent back a line of question marks, and then,she gave you my number but not her own?
Had she been expecting Jade to give me her number? I couldn’t puzzle out why. It should have been obvious to both of us that she wouldn’t want to chat and hang out with me. I still felt like crawling into a hole when I thought of that look she gave me when I’d saidwe could be friendslike a moron.
She wasn’t really looking to chat,was what I settled on sending. She sent back an angry emoji.
that woman,she sent.she promised me she was going to go talk to people!!
I stared at the phone.Am I not supposed to have your number?
I’m at work but let’s get coffee after I’m done.
