Page 58 of Party Favors
What else?I don’t want to let thefun, fun, funpart of me dictate this.
That was the piece that kept getting stuck in Amanda’s mind, but it was suddenly knocked loose. Wren thought she was only worth a good time. She’d been told that, had felt it in others’ actions. Then Amanda had spent days telling her how fucking fun she was! Amanda had probably made Wren worry this was all a nightmarish repeat.
Amanda ducked under the tape to get out of line and whipped out her cell phone.
Amanda:Hey! Just so you know, that part of you that is wild, that likes to dance and go streaking and flash me in a karaoke bar. The part that gave me the best sex of my existence. That FUN part? I LOVE THAT PART.
Amanda:If you were in front of me, I’d be yelling that. I love that you’re fun. That is not a part of you I’m going to write off. It is THE REASON I want to be with you. It’s why, after a total of three days, I want to move across the country and open Myrna’s Closet by Mount and be with you!
Amanda:OMG, I’m not sure if I’m making sense, but you make me so happy. You made me feel free and like myself for the first fucking time in my adult life. That light in you is the reason I want to be with you. And not in the short term. Not temporarily. Not as fuck buddies or a fling. I don’t need time. I don’t need for the sex haze to wear off. I know what I want.
Amanda:I wish you were here so I could say this to your face. I got out of line and everything. I wish I’d thought of these words before you’d left.
Wren:William’s turning the car around. I’ll be there in two minutes.
Amanda:William?
Wren:I asked him to follow us to the airport so I could cry in his car on the way home.
Amanda:Oh God, Wren.
A tear dripped off Amanda’s chin, and she laughed. Only finding the right thing to say to Wren via text was verythem.
Amanda saw Wren storm through the door by the check-in desks. They hurried toward each other. Wren barreled right into Amanda’s arms, and she didn’t want to lose her chance to say her piece, so she started babbling.
“I want this. It’s okay if you don’t or if you’re not certain. I can wait you out, Wren Rebello. But the very thing you’re worried about, those facets of yourself that others have written off, they are some of the many, many, many reasons that make me care for you.”
“Are you sure?” Wren asked, her face buried in Amanda’s shoulder. “Please be sure. For so long, I’ve felt like one of those cheap party favors. Fun for a moment, easily discarded. I couldn’t handle it if you viewed me that way.”
“Oh, Wren. VIP party favors from here on out.Youchanged my life. I want this new life, not the stale, stagnant one I’ve been sleepwalking through. It doesn’t have to be immediate. We can go slow, take our time, but this is the endgame. That’s my goal. You’re the endgame.”
Wren laughed and squeezed Amanda harder. “Samesies.” She lifted her head and looked right at Amanda. “You still have to get on the plane, though.”
Amanda nodded. “Yeah. I do. But I’ll be heading back here eventually. To be with you.” Amanda thumbed the tears off Wren’s cheeks.
She felt aglow with possibility, a buffet of opportunities laid out in front of her. If this was what taking control of her life was like, she wanted to do it every freaking day.
Wren lifted Amanda’s palm and kissed it. That was where she’d kissed Amanda at midnight too. It felt like a sign of good luck and good fortune.
Amanda hugged Wren close again. “This is going to be a very good year.”
Epilogue
One Year Later
Wren:Are you at the shop?
Wren had left her apartment and was supposed to meet Amanda at Mount, but she knew her girlfriend. Recently, it had been nearly impossible to pull Amanda away from her as-of-yet unopened vintage clothing store.
Amanda:Shit. Yes. I lost track of time. Just need to change clothes. I’ll meet you outside.
Wren smiled at her phone. Even after a year, texts from Amanda made her chest flutter.
Wren:Sounds good.
Amanda was working remotely for Ellis International Products, but she also had a permanent booth at a flea market downtown, where the hipsters ate her wares up, and was only one month away from the grand opening of Myrna’s Closet. She was working her ass off.
Mount and Myrna’s Closet were only a few blocks from Wren’s apartment, so it didn’t take her long to turn the corner and see the colorful storefronts. Amanda was leaning against the orange wooden door of Myrna’s wearing a gorgeous pale-blue silk jumpsuit with wide legs. It seemed like something out of the ’70s, which meant it probably was. There was a long line of people on the other side of the street waiting to get into Mount.
