Page 16 of Unconventionally, Elle
"You think?" I asked. "Like, Eat, Pray, Love kinda shit? Leave, start over, and figure out what makes me happy?" I laughed into my wineglass.
She rolled her eyes. "Not quite. I don't see you making it very long in India."
"Me either." I grinned. "It's too crowded and I enjoy a hamburger every now and then."
"Elle, where is your happy place? Did you ever have one?" she asked.
I immediately thought of the Boston condo and of Jude. Jude was my happy place, my safe place.
"I think this is your moment. You don't have children; you don't have a boyfriend." She wiggled her eyebrows and bumped her shoulder into mine.
"Whoa, whoa, watch the wine, lady." I moved my glass out of the way. "It's kinda hard to find a boyfriend when you never leave the office." I rolled my eyes and exhaled loudly as I flopped back onto the couch.
"True, true. But now you're done with the office. No more corporate, isn't that what you said? You aren't tied to Louisiana. Where are we going?" Her cheeks were flushed and her words slightly slurred.
Jude was gone. He'd left to follow his career and was in New York City with a new woman who called himbaby. I didn't have authentic friends here. They were all coworkers, and many of us were in different parts of our lives. Most of the women had young children, and it was difficult to find common ground or respect with the men. For the rest of the evening, Rach and I envisioned what my new life could look like.
"Okay, okay, how about I'm an influencer in Los Angeles?" I pursed my lips and made a duck face. "I would love to go to all of those red-carpet events. Maybe I'll meet Henry Cavill and live happily ever after!" I threw my arms open and flung myself into the back of my couch, making kissy noises.
Rach cackled. "Stop! Wait, how about you're a dog walker in Miami?"
I snorted my wine through my nose. "Fuck!" I laughed as the wine dribbled down my chin. "No. I want to be a Gilmore Girl, not a Golden Girl!"
"How about a small-town newspaper reporter? Maybe we can find you a real-life Stars Hollow!"
Now this conversation was getting ridiculous. "Find me a Logan Huntzberger and I'm there."
She tilted her head and quirked her lips. "No Jess? I always thought you'd be team Jess since you love writing so much."
I shook my head and let a mischievous grin spread across my face. "Nope, always team Logan. I felt bad that he was pressured to work in the family business and how his dad was so controlling of his future. He never really had a say in his life, and it was sad. I'm a sucker for emotionally damaged men."
"Because of course you are." She lifted her glass to mine, and a soft clink filled our silence.
"You know, I've always wanted to live somewhere with four seasons again. I miss that about New York City."
"Why don't you go back to New York, then?"
"You know why." I lifted an eyebrow and stared at her.
"No, seriously, I don't. Oh. Oh, wait." Realization dawned on her face, and she nodded in understanding. "That's right. Jude went to New York. Have you talked to him lately? Is he still there?"
I hadn't told the girls about my embarrassing call to him over the weekend and planned to keep it that way. "No, not too recently. He texted me about his mother a few weeks ago before that meeting, but that's it." I shrugged and looked away, back to the TV. Rory was having dinner with her grandparents, and Logan was with her.
"I've been thinking about a condo my grandparents left me in Boston."
Rach stopped her wineglass halfway to her lips. "Oh, Boston? I didn't know your family had a condo there."
"Yeah, Grandma left it to me in her will. It's the top unit in an old brownstone on Commonwealth. We used to stay there for holidays when I was a kid."
"Shut up. Your family owns a condo in Boston? What the hell are you still doing here? Why did you never mention it?"
"Trust me, I've asked myself that same question. And I don't know, I guess I never really thought about it. It's been occupied by a tenant for years. I never considered using it myself, but I got a letter last month from the tenant, an adorable elderly lady, and she's moving in with her daughter, so it's going to be available."
"So, wait." Rachel readjusted in her seat and took a quick sip of her wine. "Are you telling me that you have a rental property in Boston and you were still working your ass off here?"
I shrugged. "You remember when I got the call about Grandma Di?" I asked with an ache in my heart.
"Yeah, I remember." Rach furrowed her brow, and her sympathetic expression made me look away.
