Page 72 of Lost Love on 6th Street

“It’s not like you’re going to give up on looking for a job.”

“True.”

“Not like I’m going to leave you alone,” she says.

I laugh. The levity is much needed. “True.”

“So, you have friends. You have a goal. The worst that can happen is a year in a city I think you like, right?”

Love. I love Austin. Fell in love with it through Luke’s eyes. Though the weather is less than to be desired for a Chicagoan like me, I love it here. I like the people. Like the culture. Love the music and the history.

It’s only been two months, but it feels like home.

I can settle into that. Accept that. But there’s another truth. Something I have only whispered to myself in the dark of night. Alone. Where no ears can hear but my own.

“I don’t want him to break my heart,” I say. “I like him so much.”

Jolene reaches across the table and grabs my hands. “Honey, love is such a bitch sometimes.”

I laugh though tears fill my eyes.

“You can’t predict it. It’s kind of like a period.”

“Oh my god, Jo.”

“What! I’m being honest. It’s natural, sometimes it hurts, and it can be annoying, but—” She pauses. “Okay, I guess the upsides are limited. But you have permission to eat lots of chocolate. That’s the best.”

“So, if I follow your logic—”

“Never said it was logic.”

I grab Jolene’s hands tighter. “Love is like a period. It makes you bleed out, and it hurts, but you get chocolate out of it.”

“Eleanor. Fuck my stupid metaphor. Love is natural. Love is supposed to happen. And sometimes it hurts. But that’s what makes it love. It wouldn’t be anything if we didn’t know we could lose it.”

Her words hit me like a gust of wind.

“As long as it’s not toxic, and as long as everyone is doing their best, that’s just what love does. So, you can run back to Chicago and avoid the possibility that things will work out, or you can fucking run right into the fire.”

“So, now love is a fire?”

She throws her hands up in frustration. “Okay, this is the last time I help you!”

“I’m joking! I’m joking!”

Jolene leans back in her seat, arms crossed over her chest, eyeing me. “So? What are you going to do?”

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out to find a text from Luke. The phone number for the owner of the building he told me about.

Something washes over me. Contentment.

It’s all aligning. This is what’s supposed to be. Fear shouldn’t pull me away.

“I’m going to stay.”

Jolene woops in delight.

I tap the number and put my phone against my ear.

---