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1
CHARLOTTE
Idid it.
I’ve finally arrived in my new, temporary hometownof Seattle after three long days of driving by myself. As soon as I can get myself a new job that returns me to my old life, and also figure out a way to unload the pricey condo I never should have bought, I’ll be out of here. But for now, I’m thrilled to get to live in the same city as my lifelong bestie again, if only for a few months.
Buzzing with excitement, I burst through the front door of Captain’s, Tessa’s downtown bar, and immediately scan the place looking for her.Captain’s is a popular hot spot, so it’ll surely be packed later; but at this time in the afternoon, it’s easy to spot Tessa Morgan—Tessa Rodriguez, when growing up with me—standing near the bar. She’s chatting with one of her employees and looking equal parts Argentinian assassin, badass businesswoman, and pregnant supermodel.
I take two bounding steps into the trendy space before planting my feet like a gymnast sticking a landing and shriek, “Let’s get this party started, Crazy Girl!”
Tessa’s dark eyes abruptly shift to me, and the moment she beholds my beaming, ecstatic face, she whoops, throws her armsup, and bounds gleefully toward me, her adorable baby bump leading the way.
As Tessa makes her way toward me, I launch enthusiastically into the silly dance moves we choreographed together as tweens at a birthday sleepover. Later that year, we performed the routine at our sixth-grade talent show, much to the mortification of both sets of our older brothers, and we’ve been performing the dance, ever since.
Despite being in her place of business, Tessa stops short before reaching me and enthusiastically mirrors my gyrating, flailing movements without missing a beat. Although Tessa, unlike me, is making our ridiculous choreography look graceful and sexy, while I look like a clown on cocaine who’s been shot out of a cannon. But that’s per usual. Tessa’s always been the effortlessly elegant, mysterious brunette of our duo, while I’ve always been the comedic relief—a high-energy redhead who telegraphs every emotion on her expressive face and who’ll do basically anything for a laugh.
Midway through our routine, we both dissolve into laughter, meet in the middle, and fall into a warm embrace. “Welcome to Seattle, Nut Job,” Tessa whispers into my hair.
“I’m so excited to be here with you, Crazy Girl. I’ve missed you.” Even though I won’t be here long, I know whatever time spent here will be exactly what my bedraggled, paranoid, sleep-deprived soul needs. God, I’ve missed this woman. When I got laid off from my job as a flight attendant last month and lost the perk of free flights, I could no longer hop a free flight to visit Tessa and her family on a whim. Such a bummer. Due to that specific loss of benefits, and the loss of my job and income in general, and also combined with the heightened anxiety I’ve caused myself by doing that idiotic, stupid thing the day before my layoff, and this has been the most stressful, isolating, and nerve-wracking period of my entire life.
“Are you feeling any better?” I ask, touching Tessa’s blooming belly. She’s been feeling acute morning sickness with this, her third pregnancy.
Tessa nods. “Now that I’m in my second trimester, I’m sure I’ll feel much better soon. That’s how it went with Zach and Claire, so I’m hoping this one follows suit. How areyoufeeling?”
She’s referring to my lay off and the lack of progress I’ve been making with my job search. Tessa doesn’t know about theothermajor stress I’ve been under—the one I caused myself by making that colossally stupid mistake, and I’m hoping to keep it that way. If I tell Tessa about the mess I’ve made, she’ll try to fix it for me. Because that’s what she does. And there’s no way I’m going to drag anyone I love into this particular mess of mine, especially not someone I love as much as Tessa.
“I’m feeling a lot better,” I lie. “Now that I’m finally here with you.”
“How long do you think you’ll stay?”
“However long it takes to get a new job and/or fix up the condo enough to sell it for a profit or rent it out at a rate that makes sense with my mortgage payment. I’m guessing no longer than a couple months.”
Tessa pouts. She’s tried to get me to move from our hometown of LA to her new city many times over the past six years. But like I keep telling her, the rainy, gloomy weather in Seattle isn’t my jam. Not to live in, anyway. I love pulling out a fashionable raincoat when visiting Paris or London. Bad weather is glamorous when traveling. But in my real life, give me all the Southern California sunshine, please.
“Have you gotten any interviews yet?” Tessa asks. She knows I’ve been submitting applications right and left.
“Nope. Nothing yet.”
“Hang in there. I’m sure your dream job is right around the corner.”
God, I hope she’s right. As excited as I am to spend some quality time with Tessa and her family, I can’t wait to get back to my old life and put this entire chapter of my life behind me.
“Have you eaten yet?” Tessa asks. “If not, let’s have lunch.”
“Awesome. I woke up crazy-early to drive the last leg and didn’t stop to eat. I didn’t even stop to pee, so I’d better get to a bathroom or we’re going to need a mop.”
Tessa chuckles. “I’ll grab us a table.”
I gallop toward the restrooms, while Tessa heads in the other direction toward the table area. When I emerge a few minutes later, Tessa’s sitting at a table in the back. As I walk toward her, I look around nervously for a certain someone I’d rather not run into today. To be clear, I don’t want to run into Brody the Bouncer ever again, but if Imust, I don’t want it to be when I’m sleep-deprived, makeup-less, and dressed in sweats. If ever I see that ghosting motherfucker again, I want to be looking fine-as-fuck and fuck-you-fierce.
Why, oh, why did I drunkenly send Brody that stupid text a few weeks ago telling him I’d been laid off and was coming to live in Seattle for a few months? By then, he’d already ghosted me, quite effectively, so why’d I think he’d care about me coming to his city? I swear, if that moron thinks I bought my condo to temporarily live nearhim,rather than my lifelong best friend, I’ll die of humiliation.
“Crisis averted,” I say, as I slide into a chair across from Tessa. “I made it to the toilet, like a big girl.”
Tessa snickers. “There’s no need to look around the place like a bank robber casing a joint, babe. Hans is working tonight. Not Brody.”
“Thank God.”
