“Well, then I better tell Cam to start looking for jobs in San Fran.”
“Stop. You can’t uproot your entire life to follow me.” As much as I wanted to beg him to, I knew that was selfish. Cam and Leo had a great life in Brooklyn. They both had jobs they loved and a large group of close friends.
“Why not?You’removing for family, and you, my sweet, are the only family I have.”
I leaned across the bed and wrapped my arms around Leo’s neck. As I hugged him tightly, I felt myself welling up, but quickly blinked away the tears.
“Uh, oh, you need me to get you some feeling antihistamines?” Leo loved to tease me that I was allergic to emotions.
“So funny.” I smiled as I leaned back and continued packing up my nightstand. Most of my belongings were going to charities, but my most personal items I was boxing up and shipping to California.
“So, any luck on the job hunt?”
“Not yet. I have three in-persons this week. I’m hoping I get offered a contract.” I’d done a handful of Zoom interviews and had three follow ups.
Two were public schools and one was private. I honestly didn’t have a preference. I’d worked in both. From my experience, the pay was better at the private school, but dealing with the parents was more of a nightmare. They were involved, which was great, but sometimes they were too involved. Helicopter parents were a problem.
In public schools I felt like I made more of a difference and didn’t have as much pushback from parents. But I didn’t have as much support in the classroom. My second year of teaching, I ended up spending nearly half of my salary on supplies. I had to get a second job bartending just to make ends meet.
“And what are you going to do about living in the same town asThe Elephant?” he whispered the nickname.
Before I could answer his question, there was a knock at the door.
I hopped off the bed. “That must be Trent.”
He was supposed to have been there four hours ago but had gotten held up in a meeting. Our plan was to order in and spend my last night in Brooklyn together.
“Ugh, I gotta piss.” Leo stood, went into the bathroom and shut the door with a little more force than was necessary.
I knew what my GBF was doing in there and I doubted it was relieving himself. He was meditating. He always did that before he faced people who “worked his last nerve.” As much as I would love it if Trent and Leo got along, I’d accepted long ago that was never going to happen.
After dozens of failed attempts at fostering their relationship, I’d given up completely. They were just too different. If I was being honest with myself, it did bother me. I’d already allowed my father to ruin one relationship in my life. I wasn’t going to let my best friend ruin another.
I opened the door and was faced with a massive bouquet of flowers and my stomach dropped.
“Oh wow!”
The bundled pedals lowered revealing a delivery person with a rainbow mohawk and brow ring.
“Peyton Russo?”
“That’s me.”
“Sign here.” He handed me the digital clipboard and I wrote my name with my fingertip.
I handed it back to him and he turned and walked down the hall leaving the gigantic vase and floral arrangement sitting on my doorstep. I bent down and hefted it off the ground. It had to weigh forty pounds.
I walked into the kitchen and set it down on my small bistro table. The floral arrangement ate up the small space, filling it entirely.
“What in the name ofBeyoncé?!” Leo walked into the room making the sign of the cross. “Who died?”
My relationship, I thought silently.
There was a card stuck in a pitchfork in the center of the arrangement, but even before opening it, I knew what it said. Still, I lifted the envelope from between the stems.
“Who are they from?”
“I’m guessing Trent.”
