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Justine, Eli, and Alannah’s simultaneous reactions overlapped each other.
“A shame,” from Justine.
“A mercy,” from Eli.
“Boo,” from Alannah.
“Let’s circle back to the topic of unfettered access to my home,” Molly said, glancing between Justine and Eli. “Any chance one of you knows how to get into my spare room?”
“Not a clue,” Eli said.
Justine remained silent for a beat too long before saying, “No.” Another prolonged beat. Then, “Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?” Molly asked, eyes narrowed. “This is my apartment. I should be allowed to access a room in my own home. It’s absurd that it’s been kept shut from me this entire time. You realize that, right? Absurd.” Molly’s voice pitched with frustration.
Eli cut in with an answer just as Justine opened her mouth.
“You’re right, Molly. You are. I really don’t know much about it, and I don’t have a key. If Justine does, or knows how to get in, that’s news to me. But why not ask Aster?”
Alannah sat up, freeing Justine to stand and start not-quite-pacing but clearly debating with herself and shifting as she did. Molly dragged in a deep, slow inhale before she answered.
“I did ask, and he’s being impossible about it. He’s in denial, and that seems to bring out his unfortunate inner control freak.” She took another breath. “What aren’t you telling me, Justine? This is getting to be genuinely unsettling.”
Justine looked down at the carpet. At the coffee tables. At the stack of books to her left. Then at the one near her feet.
When she finally looked up, she blinked rapidly, nostrils flaring.
“Shit,” she said. “I made a very serious promise to Aster that I wouldn’t go against his wishes on that stupid fucking room. And now I’m experiencing a lot of regret about it.”
“Can’t possibly be as much as me.” Molly’s skin felt tight.
“It’s not my place. And I promised.”
Molly felt dumbstruck, as if her autonomy was being held hostage by the people in her life who were meant to be her support system.
“Then I guess we don’t have anything else to discuss,” Molly said, briefly concerned she might crack a molar with how forcefully she clenched her jaw.
A stunned silence settled like dust around them. Alannah squeezed her hand, offering a quiet apology that she couldn’t do more, that this hadn’t helped.
Eventually, Eli rose with Pawntès. He made brief eye contact, shrugging with the cat in his arms. She didn’t have the mental energy to discuss his cat-sitting plans, so she simply said, “Take him.”
She let her head fall into her hands, exhausted from being at odds with everyone in her life.
Justine paused. For a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of moment, she let her manicured hand rest on Molly’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. And then, “It smells atrocious in here, by the way.”
And with that she left, following Eli.
As the day wore on, Molly felt restless beneath her stress headache, bored without her cat, and frustrated with the people in her life so insistent they were doing her a favor by ignoring her wishes. Alannah had only been able to stay for a short time after Justine and Eli left, having to return to her family and confessing that it did, indeed, stink like rotten eggs in the apartment, and it was aggravating her nausea.
So rather than sit alone at her kitchen table, staring at the bowl of orange-flavored taffies in search of some sort of understanding, Molly decided to act.
She arrived outside Aster’s tutoring business unsure what she planned to do. Only that she needed to get out of the apartment, and she needed to talk to him. Her tense nerves jumped at the soft tinkling above the door that announced her entry.
She’d yet to visit Aster’s work, and the interior took her by surprise. It more closely resembled an Ivy League library than the bright, fluorescent-lit learning center she’d been expecting. It bore the hallmarks of Aster’s fastidious organization and penchant for elegance, right down to the group of antique-looking carrel desks designed to replicate a very specific kind of study experience that Molly knew all too well. All things considered, she shouldn’t have been surprised in the slightest. Pride reached out and enveloped her; it was such a lovely place.
And at this hour in the late afternoon, blessedly empty.
Molly’s heart stuttered when Aster emerged from an attached room, clearly expecting a customer and finding her instead. His features lit up with his smile, warm and longing. Then, as if the memory of their argument that morning had stepped out of the back room behind him, weariness slammed over his features.
