“I really don’t think that’s true.”
I backed out of the drive, careful not to hit the other car there besides Phil’s; presumably it belonged to the nurse he had staying with Ethel whilst we were on our trip.
“How’s Ethel doing?” I asked, and Phil told me all about her physical therapy and her memory specialist appointments. He looked exhausted just talking about it.
“How areyoudoing?” I asked, and this time he just scoffed.
“Oh me? Better than ever,” he said. “I’m perfect.”
“You didn’t seem so perfect the last time we talked.”
“Yeah, well, that was a while ago,” he mumbled. I wracked my brain, but I realised he was right.
“Shit,” I said, “is Adam’s stag really the last time we had a proper chat?” That had been almost two months ago.
“Well, you’ve been a bit busy,” Phil said. “You’ve fit in a whole relationship cycle in that time.”
“Oh fuck off,” I said, rolling my eyes. But I knew it was just a defence mechanism.
“Sorry,” he said. “Honestly, I’ve been better. I’m just tired, you know? My whole life is medication schedules and therapy rotations. That’s why I was so glad for the costumes as a distraction. And now that they’re done…”
It sounded like Phil was dealing with the same thing I had been, when I’d been dreading all the admin Dad was chucking at me. But Ethel wasn’t a job. He couldn’t just quit. She was everything to him.
“You should talk to Amy,” I said, thinking about how she’d helped me. “She’s only working part-time at the moment, and she’s pretty good with that kind of thing.” She’d recently started working as a virtual assistant, which made me happy; if she was getting a job, maybe it meant she was planning to stick around.
Phil turned to me and grimaced. “I sort of already have,” he said. “And I’ve got a whole windowsill full of crystals at home for Ethel to show for it.”
I chuckled at how unsurprised I was. Part of me was even … relieved?
“I’m not gonna pry,” I said, “but just be nice to her, okay?”
“Ew, Jack,” Phil said, then slumped down in his seat and pulled out his phone.
I didn’t know how the weekend would go with Morgan. I really did want things to be okay there, and if I could have snapped my fingers and had her back, I would have. But for the first time since the breakup, driving from Phil’s to Chloe’s, on my way to have a new adventure with my friends, I knew that I would be okay without her. It may only come in crumbs for a while, but I’d find happiness again. And that was enough to keep me going.
Chapter46
Morgan
Igrunted as I lifted my bag from the carousel at Charlotte Douglas International Airport a few days later; I was surprised it hadn’t been overweight when they weighed it at Heathrow with my chain mail knocking around inside. We’d all talked a big game about packing carry-on only, but it turned out two costumes each meant a checked bag each, too. And an extra one for Phil, who had constructed a lute out of cardboard and had to carry it on as his personal item so it wouldn’t get crushed in his bag.
Given that it had been my first ever flight, I’d felt significantly less anxious than I’d expected to. I was nervous about seeing Jack; we were three weeks post-breakup and had yet to actually speak out of character. There was also a bit of bumpy air over Nova Scotia that had me gripping the armrest. But despite those hiccups, the frenzy of the past week won out, and I’d actually spent most of the flight conked out next to Grey, who read the book I’d brought for myself.
“Our car pickup was supposed to be an hour ago,” Grey whined, tugging at the short strands of their green buzz cut. Fatima shushed them for the tenth time since we’d got off the plane and knocked their hand away.
“I told you,” she said, “they have our flight info. They know the flight was late. It’ll be fine.”
But despite her reassurances, the moment we all had our bags, Grey started speed walking towards customs. They shouldered past an old couple clearly on holiday and practically stepped over a toddler who wandered out in front of them, on a mission to make sure our “large SUV” wasn’t given away to someone else.
As we walked, I gravitated towards Chloe whenever I could, avoiding falling into step with Jack. Not that I didn’t want to know how he was, or tell him how I was. With everything that had been going on, everything I’d decided, all I wanted was to tell him. I wanted him to be proud of the fact that I’d managed that hike all on my own. I wanted to tell him all about my plans for the move, and to have him help me pick out furniture. I wanted to tell him that his opinions mattered to me, and they weren’t an imposition.
But I hadn’t had the chance. And if I knew what was good for me, I wouldn’t manufacture one.
“I’m so tired,” Chloe said with a yawn. “It’s like ten at night back home.”
“Says the girl who plays video games until two am every night?”
“Fair point.”
