Page 9 of Roommating

I chuckle. “But I did.” I suspect I’m supposed to be embarrassed and possibly ashamed by my ignorance, but I’m mostly humored by Adam’s reaction.

We stop at the light on University and Fourteenth, and Adam gently nudges his hip against mine. “You have so much to learn about music. It’s a good thing I’m here.”

As the light changes and we cross the street toward the apartment, I hope he can’t see the goofy smile on my face.

Chapter Five

We get home right as dinner is ready. I set the table, and a few minutes later we’re at the circular kitchen table enjoying a home-cooked meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and white asparagus.

Across from me, Marcia takes a sip from a glass of red wine. “Did you see Adam finished putting together the bookshelf?”

I swing my gaze to the right and meet Adam’s eyes for a beat. “I did.” My feminist side is still bummed that our combined efforts weren’t enough, but my lazy side is happy it’s done. “We should post an updated video.”

“Did you upload the original one?” Marcia blinks slowly. “I don’t think I’ve ever used ‘upload’ in a sentence before.”

Adam glances between us, his fork with a bite-sized piece of medium-rare roast beef an inch from his mouth. “What did I miss? What video?”

“I captured Marcia placing the first book on the shelf for my Insta. Or rather, Itriedto, but then the shelf came crashing down with the book on it.” I open my phone to the camera roll and play the video for Adam.

As he watches, I hear my own voice saying, “Momentous momenthere” and cringe. My voice sounds completely normal to me as I’m speaking, but on video it’s so husky, almost crackling. It takes me by surprise every time.

“I didn’t share it,” I tell Marcia. “But if we film again, I can post them simultaneously. First as a fail and then as a success.”

Adam glances between us. “You guys do this often? Post videos on Instagram?”

Marcia waves her fork. “Sabrina does. I just act in them.”

Adam gawks. “Act?”

I shrug. “I get more likes when I post something with Marcia than I do solo.”

“Young people are fascinated by anyone over sixty. They think we’re ‘cute.’” Marcia rolls her eyes.

“They like you because you’re a breath of fresh air,” I say, quoting a comment I got on my last Marcia video word for word.

Adam studies me. “Are you an influencer or something?”

I throw my head back and laugh. “Not even close. I have less than a thousand followers.” I laugh again. “My close friend Carley is though. Well, she’s technically a theatrical makeup artist, but she’s taken her expertise to TikTok and Instagram and taught me some tricks to at least make my grid more appealing.”

I met Carley at summer camp when we were thirteen, but we lost touch. We ran into each other at Trader Joe’s a few months after I moved to the city, and our friendship continued where we left off, as if the ten years we hadn’t seen each other had never happened. I’m so grateful we did, since New York can be a lonely city of eight million.

“How is Carley?” Marcia asks.

“She got her first off-Broadway show!” She’s only worked off-off-Broadway until now, and I’m so proud of her.

Marcia raises her glass. “Cheers to her! Soon she’ll be on Broadwayusing Patti LuPone for her old-lady makeup tutorials and won’t need me anymore.”

Adam’s eyes bug out. “This just keeps getting more and more interesting. What is this about makeup tutorials?”

I clamp my lips together to repress a laugh. The look of absolute bewilderment on Adam’s face right now is adorable. “Carley does makeup videos where she gives advice on how to apply certain makeup techniques depending on your age. She uses Marcia sometimes for boomers.” I smile fondly at my roommate. “The one on how to make blue eyes pop got close to ten thousand likes!” I turn to Adam. “Marcia was the model for that one too.”

Adam shakes his head again. “My grandma, the model.”

Marcia snorts. “Yes, the scouts forVogueAARP edition will be knocking on my door any minute now.”

Adam’s own blue eyes twinkle. “You two seem to have a lot of fun together. Sabrina told me how you found each other, but I still don’t know why you were on that app in the first place. You dodged my questions all day.”

Marcia purses her lips. “I did notdodgeyour questions. I was just more interested in hearing aboutyou.”

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