“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Meredith says as she opens her front door.
“I have missed you, bestie.”
She opens her arms, and I wrap mine around her. We do that rocking hug that girls do, holding on tight, our weight shifting side to side.
After a minute of this, she steps back with a huge smile. “You look amazing.”
“As do you.”
“Come in, come in.”
I haven’t been here since they moved in three years ago. “Wow,” I say when I enter the living room. I came shortly after they bought it and it was painted very dark, making the rooms feel small, but now it looks as though it doubled in size.
The walls are white and beautiful wood beams stretch across the vaulted ceiling. It’s stunning.
“We’ve worked hard and done a lot of DIY-ing, but I’m happy with everything so far.”
“It’s beautiful, Mer. Truly.”
“Thank-you. I found that I stress paint.”
I’ve never heard of that before, but it’s better than me with stress eating. At least it’s more productive. “That must be fun for Jake.”
She laughs and then sighs as she flops onto the couch. “He gets over it. Although, two weeks ago I woke him up as I was painting the guest bedroom. Please, sit.”
I sink into the plush sofa beside her. “I can imagine he loved that.”
“He did not, but he puts up with me. Now, tell me all about you and New York and your mother…?”
Oh, my mother. “She’s the same. New York is amazing, it’s unlike anywhere I’ve ever been. I really love it, and I have the most amazing and unhinged roommate there ever was, but she keeps it interesting.”
“Do you remember the girl we lived with sophomore year? Arianna.”
I groan inwardly. “Yes, I remember the girl who tried to beat you with her curling iron.”
That was the worst year we had. After that experience, we decided no new roommates and it was just the two of us. It worked much better for everyone.
“All because I ate her sandwich,” Meredith muses. “If only I could go back in time and have those issues be what I worried about now.”
There’s something in her words that pulls at me. I may not see her often, but Meredith is my best friend and that’s the second comment that has me wondering why she’s so stressed. “Are you okay?”
Meredith’s eyes meet mine. “Me? Yeah!” She shifts forward. “I’m fine. I was just being dramatic.”
“As much as that’s a very Meredith thing to do, I call bullshit.”
She reaches out, taking my hand. “I promise, I’m fine. It’s been a lot of…change in the last year. Jake and I have been trying for a baby, and it’s been hard because it’s not working. You know me, I am…a ‘work hard and get it done’ girl. I don’t like failing at anything.”
I shake my head. “You’re not failing.”
“I know. Jake tells me the same thing, but I had a plan, and I like things to go the way I want. It’s…just everything. Jake’s parents are getting divorced, which has been stressful for him because his mother wants him there all the time to help—he’s there now. Then you know my drama last year in taking that DNA test to see if I had the BRCA gene only to find out so much more, like my dad wasn’t my dad. So, I stress paint and remind myself it’ll be fine. Now, I need to focus on someone else’s drama—spill it.”
I jerk back a little. “I don’t have drama.”
She laughs, head falling back, and it’s very clear she doesn’t buy it. I guess that whole intuition thing I have about her, it goes both ways.
Well, shit.
I can’t talk about this. It’s…wrong, and I kissed him again yesterday. Like a freaking idiot who just can’t seem to stop doing it.
