Simone didn’t move. Didn’t rescue me.
“And I told him to get more,” I said. “I gave him reasons. Made it sound practical. But that’s not why I said it.”
“Why did you say it?”
I opened my mouth, closed it, then tried again.
“Because I didn’t like what one meant,” I said. The words settled between us.
Simone leaned back just slightly, watching me like she already knew the rest but was letting me say it anyway.
I swallowed. “One meant he’s already figured it out,” I said. “What his life looks like. Who’s in it. What fits.”
My voice dropped.
“And I’m not in it.”
Silence held for a beat. Not heavy, just honest. Simone nodded slowly.
“Okay.”
I stared straight ahead. “I don’t like that.”
“No,” she said. “You don’t.”
I shook my head, a small laugh slipping out. “I really don’t like that.”
Simone watched me for a second longer, then exhaled like she was done letting me ease into it. “Nova.”
The way she said my name made me look at her.
“You are in love with that man.”
I closed my eyes. “That feels… like a very strong statement.”
“It’s a very overdue one,” she said.
I opened my eyes again. “He’s with someone.”
“I know.”
“And she’s apparently good for him.”
“I know.”
“And I’m not about to be out here acting like somebody in a Tyler Perry third act,” I said. “That’s not happening.”
That got the smallest flicker of a smile out of her.
“I know that too,” she said. “You don’t move like that.”
I held her gaze. “So what am I supposed to do with this?”
She tilted her head, considering me in a way that felt a little too accurate.
“You sit with it,” she said.
“That feels like a terrible plan.”
