Page 18 of Smoke and Glitter

Then I stand and go find my clothes.

By the time I'm dressed, Sam has pulled on one of his black shirts. He walks downstairs with me, through the narrow stairwell and into the empty club. Vibes looks different again without people in it, the stage dark and the long bar waiting for another night. Our footsteps follow us all the way to the front.

Sam stops with one hand on the latch.

"You working tonight?"

"Until seven or so."

"Come by after."

I look at him. "I might."

"You will."

"I might."

He opens the door before I can smile, and the crisp Chicago air blows straight into the room.

I step onto the sidewalk and pull my orange coat closed. When I turn back, Sam is still standing in the doorway with one shoulder inside the club.

"Autumn."

"Yeah?"

For a second, he doesn't say anything.

I wait.

His eyes stay on mine long enough that I think this might finally be the conversation we didn't have over breakfast. Then his gaze drops to my coat.

"Wear something warmer next time."

I look down at the orange wool. "You don't like my coat?"

"I like your coat." His eyes come back to mine. "It's not a warm coat."

A laugh slips out of me. "Goodbye, Sam."

"Later."

He stays in the doorway while I start down Milwaukee.

I make it half a block before I hear him again.

Wear something warmer next time.

It felt different standing in front of him.

Out here, I'm not sure why.

Sam takes care of people. I've watched him do it since I got here.

I pull the coat tighter and keep walking.

After a night in his bed, a morning in his kitchen and most of the day in his shirt, I shouldn't care whether something as small as that belongs only to me.

By the time I reach the corner, I've decided it means nothing.