Page 26 of One More Weekend

But the water moved, drawing me to the railing. I peered into the water where dozens of koi swam under the small building, whole wood supports went deep into the water and the ground below it.

“Wow.” My jaw dropped as I watched the fish move around each other.

“Right?” Sy leaned over the railing next to me, her eyes darting from koi to koi, their bright colors drawing our attention.

Ever since Sy had taken me to explore the city I felt like my vocabulary had become dominated by the word “wow.”

We watched the fish for a while before Sy led me deeper into the gardens.

“So, how goes the writing?” I raised an eyebrow at her silence. “Don’t think I haven’t stopped paying attention just because I have a lot going on.”

Rolling her eyes, Sy gazed off to the open meadow stretching out in front of us. From here, you could almost pretend you were in the middle of a field upstate – no honking cars or yelling pedestrians in sight.

“It’s going. I try to write in my breaks but it’s harder than I want it to be.” Sy confessed, tucking her hands into her pockets.

When we’d graduated, Sy refused to get an office job. She had taken her professor's advice:you can’t be a barista forever, so you’ll be forced to write to get out of it.It worked for the firstyear or two, enough money and energy to pay the bills. But rent-stabilized still meant yearly increases.

So Sy took another gig. And then another. And then another. At this point, her schedule was more packed than Taylor Swift’s PR team.

And over the years, Sy’s word count just kept dropping.

Sy shrugged. “I don’t know, I just need to find a way to make more and work less.”

“That’s the dream.” A laugh rose to my lips as we turned down a new path, weeping willows lining each side that led to a gorgeous, glass conservatory.

Smacking her arm harder than I meant to, I smiled. “What if I take over your cleaning until the lease ends or at least until I get a new job? Maybe you could use the extra time to work on something?”

Sy tilted her head, immediately suspicious. “You hate cleaning.”

“And I love you.” I smiled, the words burning a hole in my chest. Something about it felt harder this time, despite the fact that we’d said ‘I love you’ every day since we’d made our agreement.

Biting her lip, Sy nodded. “Maybe, but if I want to clean, I’m allowed to.”

“Done.” I wiped my hands together, cleaning them of the problem as we kept strolling.

My chest hurt as we wrapped our way around the cafe area outside the conservatory. If I left, there was no way Sy would have enough free time to write. And then what would she do? Of course she would figure it out. But I couldn’t help but hate leaving her to figure it out.

17

SY

As we passedthe rock garden, I felt like maybe we’d finally gotten over the strange vibe from the weekend – replaced by the fresh air of the park.

We’d already walked for two hours, pausing in every section to smell the flowers while I talked Jenna’s ear off. Ever patient, she listened to my diatribes about each garden with the attentiveness of a saint.

And now, we rounded the corner of the Bluebell Woods.

I watched Jenna look up into the canopy, the towering, ancient trees drawing her blue eyes up. “So, I know we talk about your job hunt a lot. But like, how are you feeling about the Clay breakup?”

A part of me didn’t want to touch the topic, especially now. But she was best friend and heartbreak – even if the girlfriend was a fucking dick – sucked.

Jenna groaned as she crossed her arms. “I mean it sucks. But Clay wasn’t going to be my person, we all knew that. I just feel embarrassed more than anything.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Nodding, I twiddled my fingers at my side. It was obvious that she wasn’t ready to date again, not afterspending all of Friday night at my side instead of looking for a hookup.

Jenna was never one for hookups though, always looking for something more serious no matter how hard she tried to have her “ho era.” Meanwhile, it was almost impossible for me to commit to someone.

Hell, my friendship with Jen was the most commitment I’d had in my entire life.

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