Page 110 of When Stars Collide
“I appreciate transparency.”
“And I appreciate it when people wear pants when they walk around my apartment.”
“That was like a half-dozen times. Tops.”
“A half-dozen times too many.”
“Okay, so back to why we’re here,” Jo continued. “I’m— Christ, I’m not good at this. Look, I really care about Madison.”
“Wow, that’s saying something for you.”
“I know, right? It’s a weird feeling. But Maddie and I have been talking, and we feel like maybe we should take our relationship to the next level and move in with each other.”
“Oh.” This time, I was genuinely surprised. “As in she moves into our apartment?”
Jo chuckled. “No. More like I move into her apartment. She lives closer to my office. It would cut my commute in half.”
I nodded, trying to absorb everything I’d just heard. “I’m happy for you. Jo, that’s great.”
I was happy for her, truly. What I wasn’t looking forward to was finding, interviewing, living with, and getting to know a whole new roommate. It had taken Jo and I weeks to get comfortable with each other enough to finally get to know and then eventually become friends with each other.
“Really? You’re not upset that I’m moving out?”
“Why would I be upset? It’s not like I expected we would live together for the rest of our lives.”
“I know, but now you’re going to have to find a new roommate.”
“Which can be done in an hour online. It’s New York. People are always looking for places to stay.”
Jo relaxed her shoulders, visibly relieved. “I plan on staying the next two months like we agreed when I moved in, and after that, I’ll pack up. Just don’t rent my room out before then.”
“No promises.”
“Ha-ha. Who knows, maybe we’ll both be moving out in two months.”
“What do you mean?”
“Things are going well with you and Phineas, aren’t they?Play your cards right and you’ll be moving into his ultra-fancy digs in no time.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I answered her, my eyes wandering to the window and the pedestrians outside.
“What’s wrong. Are you two still a thing?”
“Y-Yeah. We are … a thing.”
“Okay. You know you can talk to me, right?”
“I know, Jo. Thank you.”
“How did she take the news?”
I looked over my shoulder to see Madison walking toward our table, wearing the same pink shirt she’d left at our apartment while she was holding Jo’s hoodie hostage.
“She took it so well your girlfriend is speechless,” I answered.
“I knew you would. Jo was so nervous to tell you. She’s intimidated by you, you know.” Madison took a seat next to Jo, squeezing her arm playfully.
“Madison,” Jo hissed, her face reddening.
