Page 34 of Love in Focus

Kiara and I make a face at her.

“Babe!” Kiara exclaims, at the same time I say, “I don’t know, an actually healthy and happy relationship? A job assignment that doesn’t involve working with my unfortunately sexy ex?”

Val holds out a hand. “Wait, hear me out. Are you even ready to get into another serious relationship, though? After what happened with James? I mean, come on, Gemma. It’s been barely over a month, and you dated him for seven years.”

Just the sound of James’s name makes my jaw clench. But I see Val’s point.

She takes one long good look at my thoughtful expression. “It’s like what we talked about yesterday. Just have funwith it and go with the flow. Is she the type to get attached easily?”

I think back to what Celeste told Gretchen. “No, from what I’ve heard, she’s the opposite. She doesn’t do relationships anymore, apparently.”

“Then that’s perfect!” Val exclaims. “Come on, if James already has a sexy rebound, why can’t you have one, too?”

I spend the rest of the day thinking about what Val said as I go about my usual Sunday routine of checking out apartment listings around the city, shopping for groceries, and doing laundry whenever my friends aren’t using the washer or dryer. Every time I finish a task, I check my phone, hoping to see an email or a message from Celeste.

Nothing.

Since I only know her number from college and I most certainly don’t want to send her an email about what happened between us today, I message her on KakaoTalk before I’m about to go to bed.

Hey, I write.Sorry about earlier. You left your shirt here. And your bra. I’ll give them to you the next time we see each other.

The little “1” disappears almost instantly. For a split second, I’m afraid Celeste will ghost me like she did many years ago. But then she replies,Thanks.

I wait for her to say more, but she doesn’t.

Well, I guess that’s that.

Did you like it as much as I did?I type, and then delete almost immediately.

I groan, lying face down on Clementine. The orange sofa thankfully does not have to be Febrezed.

Burrito jumps up onto the couch, rubbing his head against my legs. I sit up and gently grab him, in desperate need of some cat therapy. Many head scratches and purrs later, I check my phone to see another message from Celeste.

See you later, Gem.

It’s a simple enough sentence, but it’s enough for me to fall asleep with a smile on my face.

On Monday morning, I submit everything from the first session to Evelyn for review. Evelyn responds not even fifteen minutes later withThis is beautiful. Excellent work. Looking forward to seeing the others.

I send a quick message to Celeste.

Hey, Evelyn loved what we did for the first part. She said keep up the good work.

Celeste responds with a thumbs-up emoji.

And listen…I add.I’m sorry if what happened yesterday made you uncomfortable. It won’t happen again, I promise.

Not even a minute after I press send, Celeste replies withDon’t be. I started it.

My face heats up, like we’re making out on the sofa again. I let out a quick breath and get up from my desk to grab some water. When I come back, I’m surprised to see I’ve received another text from Celeste.

Were your friends mad?it reads.

Oh. No? They were amused. We laughed it off.

That’s good,Celeste replies.I was embarrassed.

I hesitate, and then send Celeste an emoticon of a cat gaping in surprise.I know, me too. Is that why you ran off?

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