AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, nothing like that. But it’s like you and your billionaire job. It’s a cushion and an opportunity. We both can figure out what it is we really want to do.”
“I thought you had everything figured out already,” I told her.
She laughed. “I wish.”
“Same.” Except I did know what I wanted to do, at least with my life at the moment, and for now that was all I needed. I wanted to write, and I wanted Gabriel to text me back.
“So tell me more about Gabriel’s reaction to the photo of your kiss.”
I showed her my phone, how the texts had just stopped.
“Does he do this a lot?” she asked.
“Ghost me? Kind of. It’s like he doesn’t care that he’s leaving me hanging.”
“You said he has trouble with social interactions, right?”
“That’s what he hired me for.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know how to express what he’s thinking.”
“Shutting me out is not the way to deal with that.”
“I agree. Maybe the kiss being out there freaked him out somehow, because it is totally going viral.”
Or maybe it freaked him out because it was proof that our ski trip and everything that happened during that trip was real.
“It didn’t mean anything.” I said. But it wasn’t Juno I needed to convince…I had to convince myself.
“Okay.”
Juno’s expression was pretty much the same one she always put on—a smile that said everything was fine, that she had everything under control, and that no matter how many stupid lies you told to her face, she’d believe and support you.
“Let’s do your thing,” I told her. “What are we filming today?”
“I’ve planned something easy, so everyone from all skill levels can follow along.”
Juno’s definition of easy and my definition of easy were completely different. I nodded.
“Ricotta pancakes with raspberries and walnuts,” she said.
“Raspberries for the whole Valentine’s thing.”
She nodded. “Everything for Valentine’s until February fifteenth, when we move on to St. Patrick’s Day.”
“Will I get to dye your hair green?”
“Only the ends.”
I grinned at her.
The lights and phone stands were already set up all around the kitchen. We fell into our easy rhythm, her working her magicturning creamy goop into perfectly shaped hearts, me making sure every detail was caught on camera.
Morgan texted when I left, asking if I wanted to get together after she got off work. I said no, because I wasn’t sure I could see her right now. If I did, I’d spill the whole story about Gabriel, including every sordid detail, and she’d microscope the crap out of it in a way Juno hadn’t.
I loved and needed that scrutiny at times, for sure, but I couldn’t handle it right now.
On my walk, and on the subway ride home, I got this weird feeling that someone was following me. It was a prickling, nagging sensation from the tips of my toes to the back of my neck. But no one bothered me, and I didn’t actually see anyone being a creeper. It was probably all in my head. My creeper-dar, just like all of my other senses, was thrown off by the weirdness of the weekend.
