Page 2 of One More Weekend

It was all I could hope for.

I climbed the stoop of her apartment building in a few steps, my finger finding the buzzer to the second-floor unit without my eyes having to check.

The door unlocked with a loudbuzzinstantaneously.

She’s waiting for me.My cheeks flushed at the thought.

As I walked up the steep, crooked stairs to the doorway right at the top, I took in a deep breath.Everything’s going to be okay.

It wasn’t until Clay swung the door open that I knew something was wrong. Chewing the inside of her cheek, Clay smiled gently. “Hey, come in.”

My forehead wrinkled as she gestured for me to walk past her sans welcome kiss. I swallowed hard. Was she just nervous about comforting me?

I tried not to get in my head, it had been a long day and I certainly wasn’t thinking clearly. Still sore from crying, my eyes scanned the apartment. It was unusually clean which meant one of two things: Clay was trying to surprise me or she was anxious.

The door clicked closed and Clay let out a sigh. “Sorry about your job. That really sucks.”

I felt the lump in my throat regrow in an instant. “Thanks. It really does. I have no idea what I’m going to do.”

Clay leaned against the dining table smashed up against the one bare wall in the crowded galley kitchen. Her long, lanky arms strained as she went back to chewing her cheek.

“Is everything okay?” I asked. I hadn’t even taken off my shoes yet.

Looking down at her hands, Clay shrugged. “I’m really sorry, Jen. I was planning to do it today and then… your job…”

“Wait, what?” My eyes flicked across her face, trying to figure out what the fuck she meant. Because by the second, I was becoming more and more convinced that my girlfriend was breaking up with me.

“I think we should break up.” Clay lifted her arms, crossing them across her chest.

My jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”

Lifting herself off the table, Clay started pacing. “Yeah, I am. I’ve wanted to for a while but there wasn’t a good time.”

“And now is?” It was impossible to stop myself from gawking at her audacity. My mind raced with questions. “How long is a while?”

Clay licked her lips. “Well I thought about it in February but then it was Valentine’s Day. And then your parents were coming to town. And then your internship got really busy. And now this. I had to pull trig eventually.”

The laugh rose from my chest before I could stop it. “So you wanted to end things two months after we went official? Clay, this is embarrassing.” I couldn’t stand the thought of standing in the boiling-hot apartment a second longer. She hadn’t even put in her air conditioning yet.

But from the look on her face, I could tell Clay thought I was more embarrassing.

I moved toward the door and grabbed the handle, stopping in my tracks as I considered this. “You met my parents, knowing you were going to break up with me?”

“I didn’t want to ruin their trip.” Clay shrugged.

It was the second time today that I refused to let someone see me cry over them. I ripped open the door and took a step before Clay raised her voice. “Wait, grab that box, it’s got all of your shit in it.”

My jaw dropped as I looked to my side. Sure enough, sitting right by the door was a crappy U-haul box with my name on it. I’d walked right past it.

I reached down, gripping the thinning cardboard in my hands. Looking down at it, I rolled my eyes. “The least youcould have done was organize it, asshole.” And just like that, I slammed the door closed behind me.

As I nearly ran down the steps and back down to the streets of Brooklyn, my mind raced. I’d somehow lost my job and my girlfriend in a matter of hours.

How the fuck am I going to pay rent?

2

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