Page 66 of October
“Why? I’ve told you. I’ve been honest, India. I–”
“I know,” India replied. “But I can’t just give up on us, Fin. If you want to explore this with Molly, fine. You’re technically single.”
“I’m not exploring anything with Molly, India. It’s not like–”
But before Finley could finish her sentence, India was leaning in. Finley knew what was about to happen, so quickly, before it could, she jumped off the sofa, knocking the empty beer bottle off the table and onto the floor, where it let loose the small amount of beer onto her carpet, and took three big steps back toward the TV.
“What the fuck, India?!”
“You’re not together yet. You said it yourself.”
“Are you kidding me?” she asked and shook her head. “Did you honestly come here to try to get me to sleep with you when you know I’m dating Molly?”
“No, I didn’t know you were dating Molly when I asked you if I could get my stuff this morning. I foundthatout later.” India stood up and wiped at the invisible wrinkles on her perfectly starched pants. “I was going to kiss you, and if that led to something else, so be it. I wanted to kiss you. I miss kissing you, Finley.”
“India, can you just take your dress and go, please?” she said and looked down at the bottle on the floor. “I have to clean this up.”
“I just don’t get it.”
“What?”
“What happened with us; I don’t get it. I know we’re not perfect. I’m not an idiot, Finley. But I was yours, and you were mine. We were going to figure it out. We always figure it out.”
India turned and walked toward the bedroom, where she disappeared after turning the light on because she knew exactly where the switch was, where the closet was, and where the dress was hanging. Seconds later, she returned to the living room after leaving the light on, but at least she was carrying the dress she wanted.
“I’ll just go. I need to not be here right now.”
“Okay,” Finley said. “Are you okay to drive?”
“It was half a beer.”
“I’m just checking.”
“I’m fine. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, I guess.”
“Yeah, okay. Bye,” she said.
When the door closed, Finley went to it and locked it. Technically, India still had her key, but there was a dead bolt that Finley flipped. She didn’t expect India to just walk in, butshe also hadn’t expected the woman to try to kiss her, either, so she would be extra cautious and hope India had gotten it all out of her system.
Finleydidunderstand. As she climbed into bed later that night, she thought about how hard it had been to grasp their relationship ending for her as well. She’d washed her sheets three times before she finally couldn’t smell India on the fabric, but accomplishing that goal had also felt strange and unfamiliar because that scent had been in her life for years. She kept staring at her ceiling, trying not to think about the past and focus on the future, and her phone beeped. Finley rolled her eyes, expecting it to be India with something else for them to talk about, but then she smiled when she saw it was Molly instead.
Molly Jewel: I just wanted to say goodnight. You’re probably still up, building a whole computer or something, but I’m about to go to sleep, so I wanted to say goodnight. Hope that’s not lame.
Finley thought about how best to respond and decided to just call her instead.
“Hey,” Molly said when she answered.
“It’s not lame. It’s cute,” she replied and rolled onto her side.
“Yeah?”
“Yes,” Finley said with a smile still on her face. “You’re about to go to sleep?”
“Yes. I’m exhausted. We had a workers’ comp issue that I had to take care of tonight. One of the sales guys got drunk at their happy hour thing and decided it was a good idea to smash a beer can on his face. He broke his nose.”
“No. Seriously? They have beer cans at happy hours?”
“That’swhat you took away from what I just said?” Molly asked through light laughter.
