Page 50 of On the Line
Boston Common is a fifty-acre park smack dab in the middle of Beacon Hill. During the American Revolution, it played host to British troops. Now, it was a great green space in the middle of a concrete jungle.
Boston Common had a beautiful public garden, the Frog Pond on which people liked to skate in the winter, and several statues in monument to people like George Washington, Wendell Phillips, Charles Sumner, and Edgar Allan Poe, plus a Boston Massacre/Crispus Attucks Memorial.
Lexie wandered the fringes of the Common, slowly making her way down the sidewalk along Tremont Street, searching for somewhere to have dinner.
The options were limitless within these few square miles, but Lexie found herself craving pizza and steered herself into Sal’s Pizza.
After she gorged herself on two slices of extra cheesy pepperoni and a couple glasses of beer, fighting off advances from men who wondered why she was here alone, Lexie caught an Uber back to her hotel and fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow.
The next day, she made her way back to the Common, this time walking the entire perimeter, interviewing local shop owners, taking notes on the picturesque streets and buildings, and making a list of her favorite things in this area of the city.
From there, she spent the next week traipsing across the city, checking out the museums and historic districts. She walked King Street—now State—where the Boston Massacre took place in 1770, and down to Congress Street to check out the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.
As it was December, she couldn’t attend a game at Fenway, but she did walk by, taking pictures and imagining what this section of the city must be like on those hot summer days when the Sox were playing.
On the West End, she bought a ticket to the Golden Bears game that night in a moment of what could only be described as pure insanity. They played the Florida Thunderhawks and won by two goals. Lexie had to admit, without the added pressures of cheering for the Warriors—or more specifically, her friends that played for the Warriors—she enjoyed herself.
Maybe she was becoming a hockey fan after all.
After that first week, she spent some time visiting a few of the bigger colleges and universities within metro Boston. The number of private, public, specialized, and research facilities in the area totaled a staggering forty-four. Still, she chose to focus on the major ones, like Berklee College of Music—where she bought Berkley a souvenir t-shirt—Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis, Harvard, Northeastern, and the University of Massachusetts. Both she and Amelia agreed that it was in their best interest to highlight the social scene at the local level, but academics as well.
Everywhere she went, she took photos. Of beautiful architecture and snow-covered streets. Of children walking hand-in-hand with their parents, bundled up in thick coats and scarves and mittens.
Of couples enjoying the magic of the holiday season.
Every time she encountered a pair strolling along the powder-dusted sidewalks or pausing outside an eatery to steal a kiss before popping inside for a meal, a sharp pang echoed through her chest.
She could’ve had all of that anddidhave all of that. As hard as she fought it, her relationship with Mitch had been the best thing that ever happened to her, and she had planned to spend forever with him.
Unfortunately, she could never get out of her own way, and now here she was, in a romantic city like Boston, nostalgic for everything she’d lost, for everything she’d thrown away.
Despite the melancholic ache that had set up camp in her chest thinking about Mitch, she felt more at ease, more clear-headed than she had in months. She couldn’t help thinking thatthiswas what she was meant to be doing—not jetting across the country on the whims of someone else, trying to convince annoying brainiacs to take jobs, but exploring new places and sharing those experiences with others.
Those two weeks flew by, and Lexie was not looking forward to going home and facing all that awaited her there.
She had just touched down in Detroit and turned her phone on when Berkley called.
“I literallyjustlanded, Berk,” Lexie said, exasperated. The weather had kept them grounded from takeoff in Boston far longer than she would’ve liked, and now all she wanted to do was get home and take the world’s longest, hottest bath.
“Since you freaked out on us last time for not telling you, I wanted to give you a Mitch update.”
Lexie’s heart sank as her pulse sped up. If Berkley was calling about Mitch, it wasn’t good news.
“What’s up?” She asked, struggling to keep her voice steady.
“He had a bit of a setback,” Berkley said.
“What kind of setback?”
Berkley’s frustrated sigh blew into Lexie’s ear. “I don’t know, Lexie. I’m not Nate. You know my eyes glaze over when anyone starts talking about medical shit. Something to do with the broken vertebra. He had to have surgery to repair it.”
“When?”
Berkley didn’t answer for long enough that Lexie knew this wasn’t a recent development. Her anger spiked. “Damnit, Berkley. When?”
“Last Tuesday,” Berkley said quietly. “And before you start shouting at me, I wanted to tell you right away. The boys made me promise not to say anything until we knew he was in the clear.”
“Berkley…” Lexie said, heaving a deep breath. “Last Tuesday was six fucking days ago.”
