“Don’t look so excited,” Lili teases. “My friends play nice.”
“Wasn’t it his birthday last week?”
“He’s a Cancer-Leo cusp,” she clarifies. “He requires multiple parties.”
“Should I pick up Pabst on my way there, or is it microbreweries only now? Macrobiotic beer?”
Lili rolls her eyes. “Very funny. Yeah, stop by Souen on your way over, would you?”
“I’ll do my best.” Grabbing his own phone off the bedside table, Aleksandr slides it into his suit’s inner breast pocket as he leans down to kiss her again.
It’s a warm, quick kiss—his hand cradling her face for a moment, thumb brushing over her cheekbone—but Lili grasps the lapels of his suit, deepening it. Lingering, his tongue traces the edge of her teeth, and she sighs into his mouth. Something kicks up in her: a spark that should be dull, but stayssharp, constantly, around him. The scent of him in the morning, familiar now; the warmth of him, something she keeps waking up to.
His phone buzzes: a text, work.
“Go,” she says, reluctantly pulling away. She presses one last kiss to his lips, chaste. “Go, you’ll be late.”
“Late is for employees,” Aleksandr says, straightening up. Lili rolls her eyes again, but smiles, watching as he heads for the door: the line of his back, the fit of his suit.
Out of sight, she hears the ding of the elevator, as she gets out of bed.
“Have a good day!” she shouts after him, walking into the bathroom to take a shower.
Another laugh, his, and the distant sound of the elevator sliding shut, as she grabs her toothbrush from the cabinet, still smiling to herself.
She listens to music on the train, watching the city flicker by over the bridge as she heads into Brooklyn on the J: blue sky, reverse commute, the old Domino Sugar factory. She takes the Marcy station stairs down two at a time, almost skipping.
Amina(8:34 a.m.) anyone coming over soon? we ran out of coffee beans
James(8:34 a.m.) help
James(8:34 a.m.) please
James(8:34 a.m.) i am not above begging
Jackie(8:35 a.m.) sorry, won’t be over until pm, on a shoot
James(8:37 a.m.) help
James(8:37 a.m.) i can’t see straight
Lili(8:38 a.m.) omw!
Lili(8:38 a.m.) i’m stopping for coffee and can get beans
Lili(8:38 a.m.) anyone want food or smthing?
James(8:39 a.m.) should we get food?
James(8:39 a.m.) like food for the party i mean
James(8:39 a.m.) like provisions
Amina(8:40 a.m.) ha no, ppl can feed themselves
James(8:41 a.m.) what if people get hungry!?!?!
Amina(8:41 a.m.) they can order a pizza
