Page 66 of The Interns

She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes drawn to their intertwined hands. The watch on his wrist read eleven-thirty. She didn’t want to spend their last hours in a crowded bar, sharing him with the rest of the world. For one last night, she wanted him to be all hers.

* * *

Maya woke up not by the sunlight shining through the windows or an alarm clock sounding, but with a start. That nagging internal clock that had been on a countdown to the end of their time together finally sounding in the form of a deep, sharp sense of dread in her chest. She didn’t have to look at the clock to know that it was absurdly early. The sky was still pitch black and only the crickets chirped outside because even the birds weren’t foolish enough to be awake yet. As much as she didn’t want to, she needed to get up because she had an afternoon flight and owed her parents the final few hours of her time in town.

But those arms that had been wrapped around her all night long and that sweet, handsome face sharing her pillow made it so hard. She lifted her hand to his cheek, cupping it as she regarded him with a sad smile for just another minute. She traced her hand up over his forehead and raked her fingers through his messy curls. This was going to be so incredibly hard, and it started now.

“Hey,” she whispered as she continued to gently comb her fingers through his hair.

His eyes fluttered open and he frowned, knowing what this meant. “Hey,” he whispered back, his voice thick with sleep.

“I need to get going.” He started to pull the sheets off of him, but she moved her hand over his to still him. “Don’t get up.”

“I’ll see you out,” he said, beginning to move the sheets again.

She gave him a sad smile and shook her head. It had to happen at some point, and she’d rather this be the image lingering in her mind instead of the sad sight of Reed in her rear-view mirror, standing there alone as he watched her drive off.

He nodded and pulled her closer to him, then cupped her cheek with his free hand and leaned in to kiss her goodbye. Their lips pressed together tightly, breathing each other in and savoring the feeling of coming together like that for perhaps the last time. After a few moments, they broke apart, resting their foreheads against one another’s, delaying the inevitable just a little while longer.

She pulled away from him first, taking another long look at his face before slipping out from under the covers and sitting up on the edge of his bed. She reached down to the floor and picked up her bra and panties. After sliding them on, she walked to the center of the room where her dress had landed the night before. She slipped it on and stepped into her heels. When she reached the door, she glanced over her shoulder at him lying in bed, the white sheets strewn over his middle, leaving his chest and legs bare. She gave him one last smile and he did the same.

This was goodbye.

33

Maya

Section 9-609 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) permits the secured party to take possession of the collateral on default (unless the agreement specifies otherwise):

Maya’s attention drifted to the phone lying beside her on the bed. Focus. She took a cleansing breath, forced her eyes back to the laptop, and tried again.

Section 9-609 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) permits the secured party to take possession of the collateral on default (unless the agreement specifies otherwise):

She dropped her head into her hands, the string of words still not taking hold in her brain and forming into the concept she needed to learn for her upcoming exam. She looked down at her phone, this time giving into the impulse to pick it up even though there had been no alerts in the few minutes since she last checked it. She unlocked her screen and went to her messages, looking for his name which had now fallen behind several others. Two weeks and no contact with Reed. Getting back into her routine after the holidays was always difficult, but this time it felt like torture. Just a quick hit, she told herself. And then she would focus again.

December 30, 3:43 PM

Maya: What are you wearing?

Reed: damn Maya

Maya: Tomorrow night. To the bar.

Reed: same thing i always do

Maya: :)

Maya: But what are you wearing now?

Reed: come on over and find out

Maya: Packing a bag as we speak. See you soon.

The same heat blazed a trail from her cheeks to her toes just as it had the first time she’d read it, but it cooled just as quickly with the realization that this was only a memory. There was no half-dressed Reed on the other end. She set the phone down then blinked her eyes a few times to reset. Focus.

34

Reed

---