I turn my phone off and grab a plastic freezer bag from the
kitchen, dropping his watch inside, before I knock on Claire's
open door. She's sitting in the middle of her neatly made bed,
still in her work clothes and glowering at her laptop.
"The guy from last night left his watch in my room," I say
to her without preamble. "I told him he can drop by and pick it
up. Is that okay?" I wait but she doesn't look up from the
screen. "Claire?"
"The hot guy you slept with forgot his watch. Got it."
"Thank you."
"How do you do it?"
I turn back at her question, already thinking about my
packing. "Do what?"
"Meet people so easily?"
At first, I think she's joking, but the look on her face is
completely serious. "I don't know. You talk, you drink, you
bring them home. It's not rocket science."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Pretty sure." I laugh. "Where is this coming from?"
She closes her laptop lid, shifting so she's facing me. It's
like she's about to launch into a presentation. "I think I'm
becoming a spinster."
"You're twenty-eight."
"Which would make me a spinster in Jane Austen times."
"And at thirty-one what am I? A crone? You've got
everything going for you. You don't need to meet someone."
"I know I don't need to, Sarah. But I would like to. Is that
so terrible? Does that make me a bad feminist?"
"Did your sister get engaged again? Is that what's going
on?"
"Mark's moving to Seattle."
I straighten in surprise. "Moving moving? Forever?"
Mark works on the floor above Claire. She's been obsessed
with him since before we even met. All I ever hear is Mark cut
his hair. Mark wore a new suit. Mark made eye contact. They
kissed once, years ago, after a late night of crunching numbers
or shredding files or whatever it is they do. According to
Claire, they never spoke of it again. Except she, of course,
never forgot it.
"A trial run for a few weeks while they open the new
office," she says. "But everyone knows they're going to give
him a good position there. He's so talented they'd be idiots not
to."
"That sucks."
"Not that it matters," she says firmly. "He has a girlfriend."
"Had a girlfriend," I remind her. "You told me they broke
up months ago."
"Yes, but it was serious. They were practically engaged."
"Practically engaged isn't actually engaged. You're too
scared to say anything to him." But she's tuned me out, the
glow from the screen illuminating her face as she opens her
laptop again.
"He's moving anyway," she mutters. "So, unless you can
teleport me to Seattle, that's not happening."
"I'll work on it." I lean against the doorframe, my own
troubles momentarily forgotten. "If the guy from last night
comes for his watch, I give you permission to flutter your
eyelashes at him."
I get a smile for that. A small one at least. "I wish I could
come with you to Annie's wedding. I bet there will be loads of
single men there. Men with beautiful accents and sparkling
eyes."
"Sparkling eyes?"
"Because they're so charming."
"You need to get laid."
"I know," she says sadly. "Maybe I'll ask your watch
man." She glances at me, narrowing her eyes. "What time are
you leaving?"
"Four thirty." I wince at the thought.
"I have to be up at six for my spinning class, so if you
wake me when you leave, I will kill you."
"Noted." I leave the watch on her dresser and close her
door. "See you next week."
"Bring me back an Irish husband!"
I get to work on the mess I've left my bedroom in,
knowing I won't have the energy to clean it when I get back. I
even put fresh sheets on the bed before I set my alarm. A few
years ago, I would have stayed up, but I can already feel last
night's activities catching up with me and I climb into bed as
my energy drops.
I turn my phone back on because I don't know how to
survive an evening without it but there are no more messages
from my one-night stand.
To distract myself, I reread the email from Annie, flicking
through the photos. Outside a siren wails and I glance to where my suitcase waits, packed and ready to go, and finally, finally
feel the first stirrings of excitement.
Screw Grayson. Screw Matthias and Harvey and the
beauty therapist who left my right eyebrow bleeding. Screw
cocky watch guy and my 4 a.m. start.
My best friend is getting married. I am going on vacation.
And I'm going to enjoy every damn minute of it.