“I hate that you’re leaving,” Cherry said, looking up at him. “I miss you so much when you’re gone.”
Tom dropped the socks he was holding into the suitcase and stepped closer to her.
“I miss you the second I wake up,” she said, “before I even open my eyes. The room sounds wrong without you.”
He brought his other hand to Cherry’s face.
“Every room of the house is wrong without you,” she said. “I work too much, and I listen to podcasts I don’t care about. And I talk to Stevie about you. About what you might be doing. And whether you miss us.”
“You talk to Stevie?”
“I tell Stevie everything.”
He laughed.
Cherry tilted her head up farther. She made her neck long. “I hate when you leave. I hate everything that makes you go. I hate bookstores. And foreign editors. I hate librarians.”
He slid his hand under her jaw, cupping her chin. “Why haven’t you ever said so?”
“I didn’t want to make you feel bad.”
“This makes me feelgreat,” Tom said. He lifted her head up a little higher. He kissed her.
Cherry put her arms around his hips.
When Tom pulled away, he kept hold of her jaw. He stroked the top of her cheek with his other hand, with his thumb. “I know you don’t need me,” he murmured. “You’ve got it all under control.”
Cherry shook her head. Careful not to shake him off. “I need you,” she said, “tokeepit under control. You’re my other half.”
He kissed her.
“You’re the half with all the vital systems,” she said. “Cooling and life support.”
He kissed her.
“I hate it when you leave,” she said.
Tom pushed her back onto the comforter. He held on to her jaw.
Cherry kicked his suitcase off the bed—with malice.
“I’ll come home early,” he promised, unbuttoning her dress, pulling off her tights.
“Are you going to cancelThe View?”
“FuckThe View. Jesse Plemons can go onThe View.”
Tom left her bra on. He liked her bras.
“Is he nice?” Cherry asked.
“Who?”
“Jesse Plemons.”
“Yeah, he’s nice.” Tom was pulling his T-shirt over his head. It was a little big on him. All his old clothes were a little big on him.
“How’d you get so skinny?” she whispered.
