Page 55 of It Couldn't Be You
She moaned all angsty and dramatic, as if in romantic anguish. “I don’t even know what to do.”
“What feels right?” I asked simply.
“Seeing him tomorrow feels right,” she said after a beat. “I’d be a fool to do anything but give it a chance.”
“I think so too. I’ve never heard you talk about a guy like this.”
“I can’t believe it…” she trailed off. “I’ve known him twelve hours, but I can’t imagine not talking to him now.”
“Crazy how it just takes one person to show up and change everything.”
“One person, one day, one cup of coffee,” she said, sounding like the tagline of a rom-com.
“Well, tell me everything about Canada Man. What’s he like?”
Twenty
Jordan Boyfriend <3
Hey, I haven’t heard back from you since I sent my last message. Just wanted to say hi and that I’m thinking of you. Hope you’re doing well?
Me
Sorry I got busy that day and forgot to reply. I’m doing well! Things are looking up in the job world. Hope you’re good too.
Jordan Boyfriend <3
I’m doing pretty good. Work is good, business is good. I’ve been missing you. I drive by Coffee & Commas and think about popping in like every day. Maybe I will. I was remembering last Feb when you tried skiing- how you never gave up until you got it perfect.
Jordan Boyfriend <3
Do you remember how my whole family was calling you Snow Bunny?
Me
I remember. Great memories!
Jordan Boyfriend <3
So many great memories.
Jordan’s text came in while I was in a blur of packing and planning for my weekend trip to Oklahoma. I tried to be lowkey about it, like a casual friend replying to another casual friend’s third—or fourth—message. I quickly replied without letting myself overthink it. But he sent another message. Then another.
I remembered that trip last February. The moment I read it, images of snow falling on us as he spun me around in his thick arms, hot chocolate with his family around a crackling fire, how he called me Snow Bunny while I learned how to ski, and I called him Coach. It all came back.
What else came back? How could someone go from your everything to someone you were praying didn’t pop by your place of work? How you can be talking about forever, kissing in the snow, and a year later be living with a giant empty space in your life that you’re trying not to feel. An empty space in your dinner plans, your text threads, your lunch breaks, your very brain space, your considerations, and comforts.
But it was a space I was getting used to…even liking, to be honest. A space didn’t have to be lacking just because it was empty. I was starting to view that space as potential. I was starting to view it with creativity and even hope on my better days. Until I was sitting by a half-packed suitcase rereading his messages. His last message came through, and I purposely didn’t reply.
I tried to go back to packing. I tried to regain the excitement and glee I had been feeling until my phone pinged. I didn’t, but I tried.
Somehow, I was able to get Katie to leave the coffee shop for a couple of days and go with me on my weekend trip to Oklahoma. She said she wanted something to take her mind off Terrence flying off to Canada at the end of this week, anyway. Luckily a flight to Tulsa, Oklahoma wasn’t too pricey, and she didn’t have to pay for a hotel since she was just going to stay with me in my room which was covered by the magazine.
During the flight, I read the list of article requirements that came with the sponsorship by the Littleton’s Board of Tourism that had made the deal—photo requirements, places I needed to see, etc. This kind of writing felt so foreign to me. I found myself starting to anxiously begin writing the article in my mind, even though we hadn’t even touched down in the city yet.
We landed in the Tulsa International Airport and rented a red Jeep Patriot and drove it all the way to this little town in Oklahoma. We were booked in a local boutique hotel. We gushed over the handwritten welcome note waiting on the desk and the goodie back sourced from Littleton’s shops and local businesses. And the hotel clerk chatted with us right away and had her own list of recommendations to add to my own to-do list.
Once we had dropped our bags in the room and changed clothes, Katie looked to me and asked, “So what do we do now?”
