Page 120 of A Temporary Forever

Cora

???

Saar

You’re all on a differentcontinent :-(

Me

FaceTime later?

You’re irreplaceable.

As a dancer?

As a teacher?

As a lover?

As his wife?

And why, suddenly, do I really want the latter to be true? Because the latter feels like the truth. Deep in my soul, I want, I need that to be true.

Caleb and I need to talk. I need to lay my cards on the table and tell him how I feel. There’s always the risk that he might not feel the same. But I need to rip off the Band-Aid before I’m in too deep.

Merde. I’m as deep as I’ve ever been. There’s no way I can protect my poor heart anymore.

“Could you maybe frown less?” Lily lowers her phone, startling me.

“Sorry, I was thinking about… a bill I forgot to pay.” I swirl a spoon in the glass mug in front of me.

“No,” Lily cries.

“What?”

She’s been trying to snap a few candid but glamorous pics of the bistro’s life, and I’m more distracted than helpful.

“We wanted to feature the beautiful layers of the latte.” Cora sits beside me. “Why don’t we take a break, Lil?”

Lily joins us. “No problem. I have other pics I can start with, but you, Celeste, with your looks, you’re just so real and beautiful.”

I grin. “Do continue.”

We laugh.

“So how is Sanjay working out?” I ask.

“He’s great, actually. I really hope he sticks around.”

The door chimes, and I glance up and shriek. “No way. Why didn’t you tell us?” I jump up and Cora turns.

Saar laughs and runs toward us. “I missed you, bitches.”

“But your text…” Cora pushes off her chair.

“I tricked you. Surprise!” She cheers, spreading her arms above her head.

We all hug and squeal like teenagers.

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