“Thank you.”
“Now I’ve gotta go… duty calls.”
“Have a good day,” I said. “Be safe.”
“Always am,” Seth replied.
A few minutes after Seth had left, I was just clearing up in the kitchen before heading in to work when Cory emerged from her bedroom. I knew she had been working late last night, so she hadn’t joined Seth and me for dinner. I had been vaguely aware when she had come home last night, but I had been too exhausted to register anything else.
“Oh,” Cory said when she saw me in the kitchen. “You’re here.” Her tone was not subtle at all. She was clearly annoyed to see me. “Where’s Seth?”
“He just left,” I said.
“Where’s the coffee?” Cory asked, turning to me with the empty pot in her hand.
“Ah… sorry, I poured the last of it for Seth.”
Cory slammed the coffee pot down on the kitchen table. “Fuck.”
I flinched at her raised tone, but I kept calm. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I can go out and get you some coffee.”
“Don’t fucking bother,” Cory said, in a dark tone. “I’ll get it myself.”
“Cory,” I said, not wanting my presence to cause proble
ms between her and Seth. “I’m sorry about this. I know my being here is an imposition—”
“And yet you keep coming back here,” Cory said before I could finish.
I paused for a moment, struggling to rise above and be the bigger person. “I won’t be here for very long.”
“Maybe not,” Cory responded. “But you’ll end up on our couch again at some point, am I right? Apparently, no one can stand to live with you for very long.”
I stared at her for a moment, imagining how nice it would be to clock her right now. Of course I would never do that… to anyone, but it was nice to think I could sometimes.
“I’ll get my things, and I’ll be out of your hair,” I said, in a clipped voice. “And don’t worry; I won’t ever crash on your couch again.”
“Can I have that in writing?” Cory asked, in a snarky voice.
I just ignored her as I headed into the living room to collect my stuff. My only options now were my mother’s place and Devlin’s. I had to head into work now too with my two carry-ons. Luckily, they were the kind you could wheel places, so it wasn’t like I had to carry two heavy bags all the way to the ice cream parlor.
I didn’t bother saying goodbye to Cory. She watched me leave in silence, and I didn’t even look back at her as I left. My head was a fog of worry as I headed to the ice cream parlor. Thankfully, when I got there, Jordan, the senior staff member at the parlor, allowed me to store my stuff at the back before putting on my apron and heading to the front of the house.
Two hours into my shift, I was still thinking about the fight with Cory and wondering what she would tell Seth. Would he be angry with me? Would she spin the story to make it seem like I had started something with her? I didn’t want to have to worry about that… I had enough to worry about with my schoolwork and my limbo living situation. I really hoped that Seth didn’t end up marrying Cory. If that happened, I wasn’t sure what I would do. Object at the wedding? It was a thought.
As my shift wound down, I heard my phone beep with a message alert and when I had a free moment I checked my screen and saw that Devlin had written to me.
“Hey, you,” he wrote. “The apartment feels empty with you gone. I know we haven’t lived together for that long, but I miss my roommate.”
I felt myself soften instantly and I sighed. I missed him too, and I wished that things were just simpler. Why did everything have to be so damn complicated? Before I could reply, I got another text from him.
“By the way… you look cute in that apron. Bubble-gum pink suits you.”
Frowning, I turned around and saw that Devlin was standing on the other side of the counter. “Hi,” he said.
I shook my head at him and smiled. “Hi,” I replied.
“Hope you don’t mind me showing up here,” Devlin said. “I just wanted to…”