*
I smoothed the wrinkles from my skirt and frowned into the mirror on the café wall. The outfit that had saidprofessionalin Niklas’s bedroom mirror now looked overdressed and uncomfortable. But maybe the uncomfortable part wasn’t visible to anyone but me. I had picked up some boxes of clothes from my parents’ house after dinner, but opening them was a disappointment. Could my tastes change over the span of a summer? Apparently so. My former wardrobe now felt frumpy and outdated.
And meeting up with Jess wouldn’t help.
I glanced up at the door and saw my friend’s bright pink hair and wide grin.
“Caroline,” she called across the room, and I remembered all the reasons why I loved Jess. Instead of agonizing over every decision, Jess simply tried everything. And from the smile that still came so freely, I figured it worked for me.
After we had hugged and kissed and ordered pastries much too decadent for 9:00 am, I sat back down in my chair and re-smoothed my skirt.
“Where have you been? Slaving away at the mall studio?” asked Jess.
I smiled. “I quit a few months ago.”
Jess’s carefully painted eyebrows flew up. “A new job? One that doesn’t involve screaming babies?”
“Sort of,” I said, turning my laptop so Jess could peek at the screen. “I worked on this.”
“Fantastic,” Jess whispered, slowly scrolling through the expat life articles I had queued up. “Hey, that’s Veronica!”
I nodded. “She was my first interview.”
Jess clicked on another story and took a bite of her chocolate cake.
“Great project,” she finally said. “Must have paid a lot to get you to all those spots.”
I snorted. “Not really.”
“So how’d you fund a trip to a place like this?” Jess pointed to the story I had done in Tokyo.
“Mmm… it’s complicated.”
I tried to ignore the blush creeping up my neck, but Jess didn’t miss it. She let out a loud laugh.
“That sounds like the sexy kind of complicated,” Jess mock-whispered. “Did Brad finally take off that suit and show you a good time?”
I shook my head. “I’m not with him anymore.”
Jess pumped a fist in the air. “Yes! Yes!” Then my friend’s mouth dropped open. “Someone else?”
I waggled my eyebrows. “I told you it’s complicated.”
“What kind of complicated?”
I chuckled. “The hot Swedish hockey player kind of complicated.”
Jess buckled over with laughter.
“Caroline, I didn’t know you had it in you,” she said, shaking my head. “Though there was that time sophomore year when—”
I put up my hand. “No. Don’t remind me.”
Jess set her hands on the little café table and straightened up, all business now. “So your travel job is over, and you’re looking for more sexy jobs to fit your new, sexy boyfriend?”
“Not quite,” I sighed. “More like I’m dying for another sexy job, but it’ll probably make things more complicated with my new, sexy boyfriend.”
Jess tilted her head to the side. “Why?”
