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Her muscles stiffened in surprise, not easing up even as her head whipped from one side to the other and she registered Rea on her right and Malik on her left. They both looked tired from their long shifts, but alive, alert, and more than a little amused at Katie’s reaction.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, still tense, but walking with them without much fight.
“We’re taking you to O’Sullivans,” Rea said, grinning.
“Oh, I don’t really feel up to it. I’m tired, it was a long shift—”
“Sounds like a ton of excuses to me,” Malik said, shooting Katie a knowing look.
“As if you’re not tired?” She shot him a bewildered look in response.
He laughed. “When are any of usnottired? Welcome to adulthood. But that’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
“Yeah,” Rea agreed easily as they all huddled closer together against the bitterly cold evening. “You’ve hardly been there all week.”
The streetlights glistened in the layer of frost that was already building up on them. Katie could only imagine how much of an ice rink the city was going to be in a few hours. Luckily, the gritters were already out and the area around the hospital was well covered. The last thing anyone needed was someone coming to the hospital only to sustain extra injuries on their way in, slipping on ice.
“I’ve been there every day,” Katie protested indignantly.
Rea rolled her eyes. “Not physically. Of course you’ve been there physically. But there’s something off. And, since you haven’t found a moment to talk about it, we’re helping create just that moment.”
“You really don’t have to…”
“We know that. Just like you don’t have to tell us what’s going on. You can come to O’Sullivans, eat jalapeno poppers, and go home with your secrets intact. But, we all know that whatever’s been bothering you will keep eating you up, and your approach is, as usual, to try working yourself into oblivion.” Rea looked at her like a principal scolding a schoolchild. “But, as your friends, we’re going to do everything in our power not to let you destroy yourself like that.”
“Oh, but there are other ways you’ll let slide?” Katie smirked, shooting for nonchalant and unbothered.
“No,” Malik said quickly. “But they’re not even close to being a thing right now, so we’re worrying about what you’re actually doing.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“Sure you’re not.”
“What did you have for dinner last night?” Rea asked, too much weight in her tone for the question to be casual.
Katie winced. “Chips and dip.”
They both shot her identical looks. The kinds of looks that said they’d already known the answer, were worried about her, and that they were right all at the same time.
Katie sighed, looking up at the glowing green sign outside O’Sullivans as it came into view. “Okay, fine. Maybe I’ve been a little off my game.”
“Only personally, thankfully,” Rea pointed out. None of them needed to think about the consequences if they were off their game at work.
Neither of them seemed interested in pushing Katie too hard while they were still out in the cold, and, while Katie thought it might actually be nice to talk about what was going on, she wasn’t ready to volunteer it either, so they walked the last few feet in silence, huddling in their coats and ready to be out of the cold.
Katie wasn’t even sure exactly how to explain it. Her closest friends at work noticed she was off, they’d known she was overworking and under caring for herself. And it wasn’t even over anything worthy. If something objectively bad had happened, maybe that would be excusable, but, in Katie’s case, she was just being a coward and worrying about having ruined her friendship with Maggie. She knew it shouldn’t be bothering her so much—it was her and Maggie. They were going to be fine. But still, she couldn’t help it. Maggie was the best thing in her life. Katie didn’t want to risk that for anything.
Plus, there was the whole…feelingsthing that the Christmas tree farm had uncovered.
They’d been to that farm before. They’d done the tree picking, they’d done the drive, and the decorating, they’d exchanged gifts, hung out, and done everything best friends did. And then they’d almost kissed and everything seemed different. Everything seemed like it was in technicolor, like Katie had been watching the world in black and white for years without realizing.
Howhad she not realized?
She’d been so caught up in work, and what she thought her life was supposed to be, and repressing her feelings so hard even she didn’t know they were there. So, when they hit, they hithard.
But, the more she’d thought about it, the more apparent it had become. She liked Maggie, way more than she liked her friends. Way more than just a best friend. Leaning in to kiss her had felt like the most natural thing in the world.
The three of them ordered hot drinks and food at the counter and settled themselves into a table. The place wasn’t empty, but it wasn’t too busy. Given how early it got dark, and how busy everyone was at this time of year, stopping into O’Sullivans’ in the early evening wasn’t on everyone’s to-do list, Katie supposed.
