“Present company excluded of course,” he continued with a wink in her direction. “Good to see you, Cass. ” He smiled, shoving a monster-sized sub sandwich into his mouth.
I laughed and my body welcomed the emotion, embracing it like an old friend it hadn’t seen in years.
“There’s the smile I love. ” Dean nudged my arm with a grin.
“Are you still working at that magazine?” Cole asked, flicking an unopened bag of chips across the table.
“Yeah. They extended my internship another semester. ” I smiled, feeling the excitement course through my veins as I talked about my passion.
“And they’re sending you on an assignment!” Melissa squealed.
“They’re what? You didn’t tell me that. ” Dean cocked his head to the side as his face pinched a little.
“She just found out, Dean, don’t get all pouty about it. ” Melissa pretended to whine and he threw a grape at her.
I nudged Dean with my arm. “I think it’s a test. They said they want to see what kind of emotions I can evoke in readers with my pictures. ”
“What kind of what?” Brett’s mouth twisted in confusion.
“You’re such…an idiot. ” Cole teased, shaking his head.
“They said they wanted to see how I viewed the world. ” I shrugged my shoulders. “So they’re giving me a chance to show them. ”
Cole leaned over the table toward me. “That’s so cool. Do you think they’ll hire you?”
“I don’t know. I guess if they like what they see, but I still have a lot to learn. The photographers they have on staff are mind-blowingly talented. I only hope I’ll be that good someday. Plus, their main offices are in New York. The only people they have in LA are the head of sales, a research and development exec, some freelancers, and me. ”
“Would you move to New York?” Brett looked stunned, lettuce and meat falling out of his open mouth.
My eyes met Melissa’s as curiosity crept across her face. “Why not? You only live once, right?”
“Because it snows there, that’s why not!” Melissa shouted and jutted out her bottom lip.
“New York seems pretty cool. ” Brett shrugged before finishing off a sports drink and tossing it toward the plastic can a few feet away. When it hit the edge and fell to the ground, everyone at the table broke into laughter and shouting about how much Brett sucked.
I almost felt normal.
And then the moment passed.
Jack was engaged to marry someone else. He had sex with a strange girl without using protection. Something he had never done before us.
Us.
“Hello?” Melissa waved both arms like she was signaling a rescue chopper.
“I’m sorry, what did I miss?” I asked and the table roared with amusement once more.
I glanced at my phone, noted the time, and started to gather my things. “I have to go. I have class in ten minutes and it’s on the other side of campus. ”
“I’ll walk you. ” Dean stood as I did, his actions causing the table to fall silent as we left.
“You don’t have to walk me to class, Dean. I’m fine. ”
“I know, but I wanted to talk to you,” he said, each step perfectly timed with mine.
“What’s up?” I glanced sideways at him as he tugged at his brown hair the same way Jack used to do.
“I just wanted you to know that I’m going to the wedding. ”