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He looked at me like he'd wait for me forever.
Maybe he would have waited for me to throw away everything in my life to be his sidekick. But I'll never be happy like that.
I'm still on the couch, turning everything over, when Athena gets home from her group project. She's soaked wet from the rain.
Still, her eyes go straight to me. She hangs her coat on the rack, plops on the couch next to me, and slides her arm around me.
"You hanging in there?" she asks.
I nod. "Tell me I'll stop missing him eventually."
"You will, but it might take a while."
"You didn't have to add the part at the end."
She laughs. "You'll stop missing him eventually."
"When is eventually?"
"Just before never."
I pull my shit together enough to get through school all day Monday, then my Skype interview Monday evening. The lab is in Newport Beach, a twenty-minute drive from my parents' place. The drive takes a hell of a lot longer on busy summer days, but it's right across from the beach.
That's practically paradise.
The woman who will be my supervisor, if I take the job, is smart, dedicated, and funny as hell. I can tell I'll learn a lot from her. I can tell I'll enjoy working with her.
It's a perfect opportunity. It should be a great fit. Still, when she offers me the job, I ask for a week to decide. I'm not ready to make any major life decisions right now, not with my heart this broken.
Tuesday is a wonderful blur of school.
Wednesday is my birthday. The words Happy Birthday mock me as I scroll through my text messages on my phone. It's worse on social media. There must be a hundred people I haven't spoken to in years wishing me a happy day.
There are a few old friends I miss. I have to smile when I see a text from Joel.
Joel: Happy Birthday, Valentine. I recommend spending the day in your birthday suit with an attractive man in his birthday suit. Or in a business suit if you're into that kind of thing. Might make a nice change from the tattooed rock star type. Don't open the present I sent with company. I couldn't torture anyone enough to find out your preferred mode of sex toy, so I sent a mélange of options. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.
There's a text from Ethan too. Just Happy Birthday, Violet. No details, no embellishment, no promises to fix this.
I'm not sure if I should be flattered or annoyed. I'm not sure what to say in response.
Before I can figure it out, the fire alarm starts beeping. I smell smoke.
"It's okay, I swear," Athena calls out from the kitchen. There are footsteps, then she's pulling open my bedroom door. "So it turns out I don't know how to make pancakes properly." She grabs a notebook and fans the fire alarm.
"Here." I open the window in my bedroom then push past her to open the window in the living room. The kitchen is a verifiable mess of batter and charred pans. "You've never been much of a chef."
"Everyone starts from zero." She takes a pot and puts it in the sink. "I'll clean this, I swear, but later. Let's go to breakfast. I'll buy you pancakes."
"I'm gonna grab a bagel on the way to class." I step into my bedroom to change into my clothes.
"No class. It's your birthday. Happy birthday, by the way." She comes into my room, waits until I'm dressed in black jeans and a black corset top, and throws her arms around me. "Yes, you're coming with me."
"I am?"
"You don't go to class in those look at my boobs tops." She steps back with a smile. "Oh, makeup, right? I'll give you fifteen minutes, then I'm dragging you to breakfast."
"Not sure I'm in the mood."
