Page 39 of Built to Fall
Of course there were pictures.
I arch a brow. “And how often do couples lookfineright before they explode?”
She looks up sharply. I didn’t mean it as an accusation, but the words land a little too close—a dart hitting just shy of the board’s center.
“You don’t think—” she hesitates, then glances at the door. “Idon’t think they’d break up. Not now.”
Do I see Jack and Kara being together forever? I’m not sure, and that feeling is telling. The fact that I even have to think about it probably says more than any answer I could give.
Every time I’ve noticed Jack being in our apartment, it’s only because I hear him and Kara bickering about something. Their opposing personalities don’t seem to serve them very well.
Usually, their fights are about Kara’s partying tendencies, or how busy she is, or Jack’s tendency to stand down instead of speak up when it comes to dealing with someone as abrasive as Kara.
Let’s just say, it doesn’t give me the utmost amount of hope. Not in the way Meredith and Braxton do.
Which is why I shrug, picking at the edge of a napkin.
Eden is still contemplating. “I don’t know. I think ifNoteshas wind of it, something must’ve happened.”
“That much is obvious.”
Eden doesn’t get a chance to respond before the girl behind the counter clears her throat gently. “Hi. Sorry. Are you guys ready?”
We jump, too preoccupied to remember we’re standing in the middle of an ice cream shop.
I blink harshly, yawning. For the past few days, my memory hasn’t been as sharp as it normally is. My brain has been in a fog, and I’m not naive. I know it’s because of my lack of sleep, but it also feels entirely out of my hands.
My sleep schedule will fix itself in time, but for right now, I’m forced to endure. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. It’s a flawed rationale, but it’s all I have to convince myself.
“Whoops.” Eden gives the cashier an apologetic smile as she steps forward. “Sorry about that. Can I please get a scoop of strawberry cheesecake in a waffle cone?” Then she glances back at me.
“I’ll have a scoop of peanut butter half-bake, also in a waffle cone, please.”
The cashier types our orders into the computer, and Eden quickly hands over her card before I get the chance. It would annoy me, but I’ve grown used to it. She isnotoriousfor not letting anybody else pay.
“I have my own money, you know?”
Eden’s still looking down at the article. I bet she’s read it ten times by now. “You know that’s not what it’s about. I just like taking care of people.”
As if that isn’t obvious from how she always takes the lead with cleaning our apartment, leaves sweet notes for everyone on the fridge, and is the first to check if everyone’s eaten. Her caretaker instincts are strong. It shocks me she doesn’t want to be a teacher or some kind of healthcare worker.
I guess, in a way, she still is helping people by doing interior design—catering to people’s every request, making sure every detail is perfect.
“Wait.” I pause and look back at Eden as my ice cream cone is passed over the counter to me. “Is Kara still meeting us here?”
“Yeah. She texted me saying she got held up at her shoot in the city, but that was a while ago. She should be here any minute.”
It’s hard for me to imagine traveling back and forth from New Haven to New York City as much as Kara does. Thenagain, if I were being offered tens of thousands of dollars per photoshoot, I think I could make it work.
Eden and I take a seat in one of the corner booths next to the window so we can hopefully see when Kara is walking in.
The late-afternoon sun filters through the glass, casting warm, golden rectangles across the marble table. I swipe a bit of ice cream off the edge of my cone before it drips, still distracted by what Eden read.
“Do you think she’ll say anything about it?” I ask, not looking up.
“I mean, she kind of has to, doesn’t she? She can’t expect us to not have seen the article.”
I’m not sure how accurate that is. For the time we’ve lived with her, Kara has very rarely confided in us. I don’t think it’s on purpose, like she’s avoiding something. I think it has more to do with how self-assured she is.
