Page 133 of The Future Play

These last couple of months have been busy and chaotic, but I don’t ever want her to doubt how beautiful our future will be, so I hold her close, running my fingers through her hair and whispering how much I love her in hopes that I can calm her restless heart.

20

EYES SHUT

Amanda

“Hey, Amanda?”

A pretty girl with long, light brown hair smiles sheepishly at me.

“Hi. Paige?”

She sighs heavily and drops into the seat across from me at the little café tucked just inside a hospital.

“Thank you for this.” She grabs the coffee cup in front of her and takes a sip. “It’s rare I get out of the NICU these days, and when I do, it’s never to do something for myself.”

“How’s your little one doing?”

“Getting stronger every day. Hopefully, we’ll be home by the end of August.” She sniffs, then waves her hand. “Anyway, what made you reach out?”

I’m not sure exactly why the event planner who planned most of the gala is the first friend I’m trying to make here, but there was something about the vibe of her work that made me feel like we’d hit it off. And when I look at the clearly exhausted woman across from me, I feel a certain kindred spirit with her. Our exhaustioncomes from two different places, but both of us have prioritized ourselves last.

“First, I wanted to let you know you did a phenomenal job planning that gala. It was easy for me to walk in and pick up the pieces. I made sure your business cards were set out along with mine because you deserve as much—if not more—of the credit.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s what you deserve.” Because she needs to hear that. For very different reasons, this woman is holding her whole world together, and while I don’t know anything about her partner, I’m certain she still needs to hear that she’s worthy. “The main reason I reached out to you wasn’t that, though. Honestly, I’m new around here, and I don’t live here full time, so I don’t have any friends.” I clear my throat. “My therapist said to do something for myself because I don’t do that enough, so this is me reaching out. Not asking for anything, but seeing if you need a friend too. Based on how you work, I thought we might get along as more than just business associates.”

She swallows hard. “I’d really like that. I haven’t been here long either. My husband and I lived in Savannah until about six months ago. We moved up here for his job, and while I don’t regret it, my focus on rebuilding my business and then my pregnancy means I don’t have any friends here—or much of a support system. My husband is great, but he works a lot.”

“What does he do?”

“He’s a lawyer. Mostly deals with business and contractual stuff. He was the one who recommended me for the gala. But, uh… how did you end up here?”

“My boyfriend got called up to the Metros.”

“Oh. Wow.”

“Yeah. It’s been… busy. Lonely.”

“I understand that feeling. Some of the wives from my husband’s law firm have offered to bring dinner, but no one has met me where I am—literally. So, thank you.”

“I’m happy to do it. I’ll be back at college soon, but I’llprobably be around on weekends, and I’m happy to buy you a coffee and just relax with you whether it’s here—or hopefully at your house soon.”

“God, I hope so. I’d love that.”

“Good.” I blow out a breath. “There was one other reason I reached out. It might not be at the front of your mind right now, but I thought maybe we could team up. Not business partners or anything, but be each other’s backups or in case of emergency person for our businesses.”

“That would be… amazing. I haven’t had a lot of time to think about my business lately, but when I have, I’ve been worried.”

“We can talk about all that later, but let me know if there’s anything hanging over you still that I can help with. For now, let’s get to know each other?”

“Sounds great.”

I spentthe subway ride home going over my calendar and to-do list.

I leave to go back to school in a week-and-a-half. Jamie is traveling for the four days before I leave. He’ll be back the night before I leave. I was supposed to go with him—even though he won’t be pitching—so we could have a little more time together, but now I’m not sure I can do it.

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