Page 3 of Weekends with You

“This is it, then?” He gestured to the open bay, pushing his sleeves to his elbows and exposing tan forearms.

“Yeah, just that, but Raja and I can take care of it. You really don’t need to, I mean, thank you for coming down, but you didn’t—”

“Lucy is terrible at accepting help,” Raja said, interrupting my rambling, though I’m not sure this overshare was any better. My blush deepened, and I shoved an elbow in her ribs. “But I’m not keen on carrying anything heavy,” she continued, “sowe do need you lot after all.” Her smile was saccharine, but we all fell for it anyway.

“Lucy,” Jan said, lugging the last of the boxes from the truck, “are you anything as annoying as Raja? Because if so, I might just leave everything here on the pavement.”

“How dare you?” she said, swatting his arm. “Lucy is an angel, most of the time. You’ll love her. Probably.”

“I’m standing right here, you idiot,” I said.

“Aye, someone who snaps back at Raja. It’s a shame I’m not around more,” Henry said. “We’d really get along.” The sun turned his eyes from sage green to a shimmery jade, and I opened and closed my mouth without thinking of a reply. Thankfully, Raja spoke again before I had time to say something embarrassing. I blamed my dry mouth on the stress of the move.

“All right, enough,” Raja said. “Get this shit inside so we can have a drink to celebrate.” Henry and Jan shook their heads and muttered to one another, and we followed them inside.

The elevator slowly rattled up two stories before opening its rusted doors and spitting us out directly into the apartment. A sliver of late-afternoon sun bathed the concrete in a buttery hue, reminding me of marigolds wrapped in silver paper.

The warehouse was a lot to process as a visitor, and even more overwhelming as a new resident. Raja must have sensed my unease, because she looped her arm through mine and dragged me into the kitchen. “The boys can drop your luggage, and we can get started on a cocktail.”

“When am I meant to unpack?” I laughed, trying to sound like I didn’t care, but I did. Very much. If I was to get an ounce of sleep tonight, I needed to be fully unpacked and settled in my new space.

“After the cocktail, duh.” She grabbed two glasses, and I felta pang of disappointment that it wasn’t four. “Sit,” she said, and I obeyed.

I hopped onto the counter, careful not to hit my head on the shelves of fermenting jars or tattered flags from various European countries hanging from those shelves. The cherry-red appliances needed a cleaning, but the mismatched pots and unruly ferns hanging from the rafters gave the place a boho lived-in look that people paid decorators to achieve.

After pouring unidentifiable clear liquids into a jar with the juice from a few limes and some vigorous shaking, Raja handed me a cocktail, and we toasted to my new home. I tried to forget the long night of unpacking ahead of me and focus on how good it felt to be Raja’s roommate again. Silver linings weren’t really my thing—I preferred to just feel how I felt—but this one was undeniable.

“So,” I said after a sip, “is it usually this quiet?” I peered out from the kitchen to see if anyone else was home, but it was hard to tell.

“God, no,” Raja said, nearly spitting her drink onto the floor. “It’s a madhouse. Proper carnival. But on Sunday nights, especially after Warehouse Weekends, you can hear a pin drop. Everyone’s recovering, pretending to prepare for the workweek, bingeing trash TV, or sleeping.”

“Warehouse Weekends?”

“Yeah,” she said, as if it were obvious. “Haven’t I told you about those?” I shook my head, hoping she really hadn’t and it wasn’t that I’d just forgotten. “We do them once a month, usually when Henry is home, so we have a full house. Even though we all live together, we hardly see each other, like, in a social way, so we pick one weekend a month to spend together as a flat.”

“That is... surprisingly really cute.”

“I thought so too! Not everyone was on board when I first proposed the idea, because Cal and Margot pretty much hate fun, but now it’s a hit.”

“How do you decide what to do?”

“Each month, someone else picks the plans. We have a rotation. Alphabetical, per Liv’s request.”

I nodded for long enough to make it seem like I was processing, when in reality I was killing time before asking what I really wanted to know. “And why is Henry only home once a month?” I hoped I sounded casual.

“He’s a music photographer, which I’ve definitely told you, because he goes to the best gigs and I’m jealous even though I would never want that job, and he’s been doing this thing where he spends every month in a different venue. Keeps the room in the flat, though, because it’s cheap and he comes home for one weekend every month. Doing a weird soul-searching thing, trying to decide where he wants to live, I don’t know. It’s all veryEat Pray Love,” Raja explained, without taking a breath.

I nodded along again, actually processing this time. “So since he’s home this weekend, that means he’s gone again for the month?”

“That’s usually how it goes!” Raja swallowed the remainder of her drink and shot me a quizzical eye. “Any other pressing questions about Henry’s job?”

Yes, a million, actually,I refrained from saying aloud. “No, uh, sorry. Just strange, is all.” I looked around the kitchen instead of meeting her eyes so as not to give myself away. “All right, then,” I said, rinsing my glass in the sink. “Off to unpack.”

“Find me when you’re done and I’ll give you the lowdown on everyone else. It’s a lot to remember, so be prepared.” Rajaplanted a kiss on my cheek and sauntered off in the direction of her room, and I slipped into mine, undetected by Henry and Jan. I was anything but prepared to process more roommates tonight, so I intended to make the unpacking last until Raja went to sleep.

As soon as I laid eyes on the heap of luggage in my doorway, I was sure that wouldn’t be a problem—I’d be unpacking until the next Warehouse Weekend.

My room was at the end of the mezzanine, between the bathroom and Liv’s room. I hadn’t yet met her, but the fairy lights around her doorway told me we’d get along just fine. I separated my clothes from the boxes filled with my other belongings and got to work.

---