Page 65 of Absolute Certainty
SAHAR
Ooh, what’s the movie? And sure, I don’t have anything scheduled on that day.
JAY
Franklin Street.
That sounded familiar.Where had she heard that title before? She exited out of the chat and opened the IMDb app, searching. The poster jogged her memory.
She went back into her messages.
SAHAR
Oh! Sam and Priya recorded an original song for this movie. I got a snippet of the demo, and it was glorious.
JAY
Ah, shit, they did? That makes sense. I know Sam because of Pete. I met him at his party a few years back.
SAHAR
Small freaking world. But cool, I’ll be there!
JAY
Excellent. Alright, sunshine. Try to sleep.
SAHAR
You too! Goodnight!
A part of her brain wanted to ruminate over why he’d asked her. A logical part assumed it was because they were building some sort of friendship within the industry. Another, also equally logical part could accept what Willa and everyone saw, which was that Jay was interested in her. Whatever that looked like for now, the beginning wasn’t a problem. It was the middle.
The last time she’d gone out with Martin flashed before her eyes.No.The real reason she broke up with him—the hurt that kept tearing into her mind at random intervals. The way Martin had looked at her, like she was some sort of rat, crossing his pristinely trimmed and manicured path with its filthy claws.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and read Jay’s text over again.Alright, sunshine. Sunshine. This was the fifth time now.Why was she even counting?
Heaven help her, she could hear the word fall from his lips, soft and honeyed still through his deep bass.
If she fell for him—if she allowed herself to jump as quickly as she often did, his eventual resentment would shatter her. It’d be the very thing to guarantee that she would never bounce back. She was sunshine to him now, but everyone drew the curtains closed at some point. Everyone longed for rain and cold weather when the sun overstayed its welcome.
But good lord—she wanted to just—giveherself up to him, even if it would all be fleeting. Yet, maybe, if there were no commitments, there’d be no heartbreak. Except, she’d read the stories before; she knew how the wordsone timecould actually be synonymous with forever. But maybe they were wrong. Life didn’t always imitate art or vice versa. It didn’t have to.
Human beings had choices.
And at the moment, what she should have been choosing was to focus on falling asleep.
15
SAHAR
Two guests ahead of her at Amanda’s Coffee were ordering with Dahlia, as Jay had his back turned, right arm moving, likely writing something.
Today, July 10th, was Willa’s birthday, and they had a two-show Wednesday, plus a girls’ brunch planned for tomorrow afternoon. Eager to add on to the gift she’d homemade, Sahar had texted both her and Ethan to let them know she’d be getting coffee.
She glanced around the space, forcing her eyes away from Jay’s broad shoulders and back. He had no right to lookthatgood from behind. Most importantly, she had no right tostare.
Sahar had always noticed the vinyl records hanging on the side wall, but she’d never really lookedat them before. From where she stood, she could make out Robbie Williams’Life Thru a Lens,The Beatles’Abbey Road,and Death Cab for Cutie’sNarrow Stairs,among others. Upon detecting movement in front of her, she averted her gaze back to the registers, and as though on cue, Jay did the same.
