Page 38 of Weekends with You

He rolled his eyes, bringing a hand to his chest like my mother did when she was disappointed.

“Patience,” I said.

“I’m choosing to remain optimistic, because the answer isn’t ‘no.’”

“But it should be.”

“But it isn’t, is it?” He stepped a bit closer, shrinking the gap between us.

“No, I suppose it isn’t,” I said, my voice hardly above a whisper. Had he been across the room and had I had a blindfold on, I might have been firmer. But alas, he was inches from me, smelling of shampoo and cinnamon, looking down at me through soft, pine-green eyes. I would’ve had to be a saint to resist, and even then I think I would’ve risked being shunned.

I was going to have to do some soul-searching of my own in these few weeks if I wanted to make sense of any of this. My head was screamingno, no, no,but the rest of me was on strike. It might have even been unionizing. Henry and I had only been in the city at the same time for a total of nine days, and I was already losing my grip.

“You should go,” I said, putting distance back between us. “You don’t want to be late to your parents’.”

“Right, then.” He grabbed his luggage, noticeably disappointed the moment was over. “I’ll see you for New Year’s in a few weeks.”

I wanted to tell him how much I wished those weeks would pass in the blink of an eye, but I knew that wouldn’t be helpful to either of us. I was going to have to play it cool if I wanted the upper hand, which I needed to keep my feet on solid ground, so I said a casual goodbye and omitted anything about wishing he would stay.

He disappeared into the elevator with nothing more than a light kiss on my cheek and a wave to whatever roommates were left in the kitchen, and I watched the doors as the elevator carried him out of sight.

January

Hey guys—bad news. Well, good news. But also bad news. Got the last-minute opportunity to shoot a massive holiday festival this weekend in Zurich, but that means I’m going to miss Warehouse Weekend.

I read Henry’s text so many times, the words became gibberish. I watched the rest of the conversation roll in, frozen with my phone in my hand, while I waited for the bus.

Raja:you’re going to miss New Year’s?

Liv:I can’t believe you’re bailing on a major holiday.

Henry:I’m so sorry. I’ll be home for February, promise. X

Margot:Congrats on the opportunity, Hen. Well done.

Cal:Second that. Congrats, mate.

Finn:remember us when you’re famous you lucky bastard

I wanted to join in congratulating him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it quite yet. I needed to finish being selfish and wallowing in my own disappointment first. The bus pulled up to the stop, and I contemplated getting on and just riding aimlessly around the city until the sting wore off. One look at the crowd on the bus, however, convinced me otherwise.

I looked at my phone again to see if anyone else had replied in the group message, only to see that Henry had sent a separate text just to me.

Not sure if you saw my text in the group, but I wanted to apologize. I hope you understand. x

I stared at it for a while before I answered, hovering my fingers over the keyboard and considering my words.

Congratulations on the opportunity, Hen. Best of luck! Xx

It wasn’t much, but it was the best I could do. Any more would have given away my disappointment, and I had no interest in exposing myself.

As soon as I got home from work, Raja called me into the kitchen.

“Want to order in tonight and watch a film or something?” she asked by way of a greeting. “I could go for a beer on the couch.”

I’d wanted to be alone tonight, but suddenly a beer on the couch sounded much better. “Count me in.”

“Good,” she said, looking me over from head to toe. “You look like you could use one.”

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