Eastern Lights (Compass 2)

Whatever kind of life you have left.

At that moment, I felt nothing but regret for wasting more than a year of my life with that man. I couldn’t believe I’d ever fallen into his arms. The truth was, I had only stayed because I loved his parents. I loved the idea of family. I loved feeling as if I were a part of something concrete.

I’d fallen in love with a lie in order to hold on to the idea of fake dreams coming true.

“You okay?” Connor said, coming into the living room.

I turned to face him and nodded. “I hate him.”

“Good, because I do, too.”

27

Connor

“What in the world…” Aaliyah words fumbled out of her mouth as we stood in my apartment. It was the first time she’d been over since she decided to become my roommate, and the movers were just now starting to bring things inside. She turned around and faced me, stunned. “Connor. What the heck?”

“I figured we should’ve switched bedrooms. This one is bigger.” I’d moved all of my crap out of the bigger room, because I knew it was better suited for Aaliyah. She could easily spread out in the king-sized bed and relax to the fullest extent, which she deserved. Plus, the whirlpool tub was better in the master bedroom, and I figured she could use some peaceful nighttime soaks to unwind from the craziness of her current life.

“There’s no way I’m taking the master bedroom. It’s yours.”

“Well, I already switched all of my clothes over to the other two spare bedrooms so, unless you want me to do that again…which, please don’t make me do that again.”

“Why?” she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. “Why would you do that?”

“I wanted you to watch the sunrises and sunsets.”

She smiled and I loved that she was doing that. She walked over to the bed, where a large basket sat. Inside of the basket was a bunch of bath bombs, candles, and bags of Doritos along with a variety of snacks. I tossed in some of my favorites, too, to enhance the snacking experience. Plus, I tossed in a few blank notebooks and fancy pens, because what was a writer without a notebook and pens? Then, the television remote, because I figured that was the utmost important part of a bedroom experience.

On top of the basket was a note that read, “Welcome home, Roomie.”

Aaliyah’s fingers grazed over all of the items and she shook her head in disbelief. She then moved her stare to the two nightstands on each side of the bed that had vases filled with sunflowers.

“Those are my favorite flowers,” she said, stunned.

“Yeah. You casually mentioned it when you came to my office to give me roses.”

“And you remembered.”

I hadn’t enough nerve to tell her that I remembered everything she told me. From her favorite flowers to the wishes she’d written in Wish Alley two years prior. Aaliyah Winters was someone I wanted to remember for the rest of time. To that day, Halloween night was still one of my favorite memories.

“I’m having a hard time believing that I haven’t had a mental breakdown somewhere along the line, and you’re just a figment of my imagination,” she said.

I chuckled and crossed my arms. “Well, don’t become sane any time too soon. I kind of like existing in your imagination.”

“I like that you’re here, too.”

She walked around the bedroom, and then entered the bathroom. “Holy shit!” she came dashing out quickly. “Connor! Did you see that tub?!”

“Yeah, I saw it.”

“It’s a freaking swimming pool!”

“Don’t be dramatic. It’s more of a hot tub if anything.”

“There’s a TV hanging on the wall! Who has TVs in their bathrooms?!”

“People who exist in imaginary minds of a woman who is having a mental breakdown.”

“Don’t wake me up from this trip,” she joked, shaking her head back and forth. “This is too much. You’re too much.”

“My mother’s been telling me that since the day I was born. Now, let’s get all these boxes moved in, and then we can order in some dinner or something. We can even eat out on the rooftop if you want to watch the sunset.”

I turned to walk away, and Aaliyah called out to me. When I looked back at her, she stood still, and her brown eyes flashed with emotions as her perfect, full lips parted from one another. “Thank you, friend.”

“For what?”

“Existing.”

After the movers came and went, Aaliyah and I ordered food and headed out to the rooftop to enjoy dinner with one another. It didn’t take long for me to realize that Aaliyah was one of the healthiest people I’d ever come across, which surprised me a bit. Two years ago, she was downing chicken wings drenched in ranch as if she was a competitive eater, and now she didn’t drink or touch fried food. As I ate my burger and fries, she chowed down on a kale salad with some kind of lemony vinaigrette.