“You still sleep here like twice a week,” I pointed out.
He kissed me on the cheek. “And now every night.”
We went into the building and headed up to our new floor. When the condo underneath Kai came up for sale, it seemed obvious that I should be the one to buy it. That afternoon, Kai and Shawn were already busy moving things in from the floor above when we arrived, and Shawn greeted us in the elevator with a cart.
The new condo was unsurprisingly just like the old condo, although with a wider living room and windows in different places. Already, it was filling with our energy as our friends hurried around, depositing the combination of my things and River’s things throughout the home.
I could have sworn I was flying, I felt that good. For so long, I’d been convinced I was going to screw this whole thing up. I thought I’d lose River, and Kai, and the business and the life that we’d built together. But it had finally come together, everything aligning in a way I hadn’t even known I needed.
I followed Kai back to his condo to grab some more things. When I saw that we were there alone, I caught his arm.
He turned to me, a sad smile on his face.
“I know I’m just going to be downstairs, but I’ll miss it here.”
“Yeah, it won’t be the same without you around.”
“Ten years of being roommates.” We stood there a second and each slid an arm around the other’s shoulder. A part of me was sad to know that Kai was going to be living by himself, but I knew with me, River, Cass, and Shawn around, he’d have plenty of eyes on him.
And between the four of us, we might even find a way to get him his own partner.
“Love you, Leo,” Kai said.
“You too, Kai.”
When we got back downstairs, Cass was unloading takeout from his favorite Thai restaurant on the counter while Shawn and River lay collapsed on a couple of armchairs. Kai and I pushed some boxes around and made a dining space in the middle of the living room. Soon, we were all relaxing, eating, and laughing together.
I lingered by the kitchen for a minute to study the scene, gratified by how easily everyone in our little group fit together. Now that I was taking regular breaks from work, my relationships with everyone had grown much deeper. It was true that Kai, Shawn, and Cass had been the most important people in my life for many years, but something was different now. I was learning to slow down, to pay attention to each of them in different ways. I read all of Shawn’s latest writing and kept up on the highs and lows of Cass’s new band, and I’d even started taking intentional one-on-one time with Kai again. Even when we just sat around the condo talking, the conversations were deeper, and I remembered parts of our personalities that had seemed to drift away when our lives were hyper-focused on the firm.
I went to grab some waters, and when I came back, Kai and River were teasing Shawn and Cass.
“Why would I rush our engagement?” Shawn laughed. “Being engaged is fun, and you only get to do it once.”
Cass shrugged as he addressed the twins. “I would have gotten married the second he said yes, but I’m not in a hurry. He’s already sleeping in my bed every night. That’s all I really care about.”
Kai glanced at me and then gave Shawn a funny look that I didn’t understand. “Hey Leo,” he said, a little too loudly. “You know what I’m going to do the second I get home?”
I dropped down on the couch beside River and pulled him close. “What’s that?”
“I’m going to do all the dishes except for one, and I’m going to leave that dish dirty in the sink all day tomorrow.”
I laughed and grabbed my head. “No!” I jokingly cried out, then kissed the top of River’s head. “You’ll never do that to me, will you?”
River laughed and cuddled closer. “I saw the way your eyes bugged out when there were dirty dishes in the sink at my apartment. Don’t worry, babe, I’d never betray you like that.”
Everyone started talking over each other, joking around about our different quirks and weird habits. It was the kind of teasing you could only do with people who truly loved and understood you, and even though I realized I was the butt of the joke more often than anyone else, it felt good to laugh with them all.
My friends and family accepted me for who I was, just like I accepted them.
Once everyone finished eating, I grabbed my glass of wine and held it in the air. “I have a toast,” I said. “And an announcement.”
River looked shyly toward the floor, but when I grabbed his hand, he turned his eyes back up to our group. “Is this okay?” I asked him quietly.
He nodded, then rose to his feet, pulling me up with him. “It is with some sadness,” he announced, “that I inform you all I am leaving Silver Lining for good.”
Cass and Shawn were both surprised, but Kai just smiled to himself, having heard part of this news a couple of days ago.
I squeezed his hand in my grip. “I will be very sad to lose the best executive assistant our firm has ever employed, but I’m glad to inform you all that the Pittsburgh Film Festival has offered River a generous package.”
