Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
ANNIKA
It’s been three days since I accepted the job, and yet I haven’t mentioned it to Chloe.
I suppose you could say I’m avoiding the meltdown that will surely occur.
She was distraught when I brought up the idea of moving to a different apartment in the same neighborhood.
I can’t even imagine how she’ll react when I tell her I’m moving to a different state.
A part of me is so sad about it and wonders if she would want to move with me.
But I know that would never be the case since she is with Dane.
I’m actually moving, so I need to tell her.
I put a deposit down on a two-bedroom apartment that’s a block away from downtown and exactly a seven-minute walk to the photo studio.
I am starting to love small towns already.
That and my rent is the same as the share I pay now.
I’m so excited, but it’s bittersweet. Chloe has always been by my side, almost my entire life.
It feels like I’m about to break up with her.
I have a plan. I’ll take her out to her favorite restaurant.
Which is maybe a bad idea because then she’s going to relate it to negative memories.
Okay, maybe I’ll take her to my favorite restaurant instead.
We can have a girls' night, just the two of us. We can have a nice meal, and then I’ll tell her gently that I’m moving.
I have already worked out that she can come to visit me.
There are some flights from San Diego to a few nearby cities.
Or I can drive up to Portland when she wants to visit.
I’m willing to make it work to still see her.
I can’t survive without her in my life, either.
Milo's Kitchen is my favorite place to visit when I’m feeling a good treat-yourself moment.
It’s Greek fusion, and the atmosphere is fancy but cozy.
I’ve never felt out of place here, and the staff is always so nice.
The setup feels like you are sitting on a balcony in a hillside Greek villa, overlooking the crystal blue waters surrounded by blooming florals and crisp white architecture.
A mixture of wicker chairs with plush booths and marble tables with dim lights above keeps everyone cozy while they eat their falafel burgers and Greek tacos.
However, at this moment, I find myself grasping for comfort at how startled my best friend is at the news I just dropped on her.
“You’re moving? When? Why? How? Why? When?” Chloe’s eyes bug out of her head as she sits across from me at the table.
Thankfully, the hostess sat us in a corner booth so we can have a bit of privacy. I waited until after we ate our main course to minimize the hangry factor. But, of course, she’s still thrown off track.
“I know this is a shock, but the opportunity is great. I need to take a chance.”
“What about me? What about us? You’re going to break up this friendship we have?”
“No, not at all. We can still video chat every day. You can visit me. I’ll come to visit you. It will be okay. Chloe…I am so unhappy here.”
This strikes a chord. Her body language changes from angry and defensive to sympathetic. As if she didn’t even realize how unhappy I am.
“You’ve been hanging out mostly with Dane anyway. I think you two should consider taking your relationship to the next step. We both need to move forward.”
“I didn’t know you were unhappy.” I knew she was going to be hung up on that.
“Like I said, you’ve been hanging out with Dane, which is fine, but we haven’t had much time to talk about our lives.
This is the first time you and I have hung out in what, two months?
” I see her eyes start to glass over, which makes my eyes start to water.
I don’t want us to cry in the middle of Milo's Kitchen. “I don’t want you to be upset, but this is something I need to do for myself.”
She starts nodding a lot and dabs a tissue at the corner of her eyes. “I get it. I’m sorry for not being there for you. I just don’t want you to punish me by moving.”
“Oh my god, Chloe, I’m not punishing you!
I just said I needed to do this for me. This is an entirely selfish decision.
I’m sorry I didn’t try pushing you more to hang out and talk, and I’m sorry I’m moving.
I’m sad not to spend literally every day with you.
I don’t even want to think about what that looks like. ”
Our waiter puts down our dessert, and we eat our baklava squares in silence. Each of us waits until the other breaks the silence.
“I’m renting a two-bedroom. You can visit any time and stay as long as you want.” That perks her up a bit, and she looks up at me, grinning.
“I’m actually excited for small-town Annika. You always got so sunburnt living down here anyway. Maybe Oregon will be perfect for you.”
“I don’t really care if it is, but I’m excited to try something new.”
I fill her in on all the details. From my nightmares at work to the interview process and looking for apartments over the Internet.
She’s still in shock that she didn’t notice any of this, but I bring up that she was always with Dane.
She wasn’t around. My mom helped me a lot with apartment hunting.
I’d send her listings, and my dad was on the line when I called landlords.
I still cannot get over the support they are showing me.
I almost start crying again just thinking about it.
“Maybe it is time for Dane and I to take the next step. I could propose that he move in when you move out.” She gives me a huge sad face at that. “Actually, I just remembered, I forgot my work keys at Dane’s apartment. Can we swing by on the way home, and we can tell him your news?”
I doubt he’ll care, but I don’t protest. I’ll be going along with whatever Chloe wants to do for the next three weeks.
Dane lives above a pizza place in Little Italy.
I’ve only been here one time before tonight.
It was the second time Dane and Chloe broke up and I picked her up, so not the best memories tied to this studio apartment.
We can see his lights are on, so Chloe walks up the stairs and goes to let herself in.
She has a key to his apartment, which makes me wonder if she gave him a key to our apartment.
Thankfully, not something I’ll have to worry about for much longer.
I decided to hang out in the car, waiting for her.
I’m not too interested in going up and told Chloe I was feeling tired.
We can tell Dane the news tomorrow or maybe never. I bet he won’t even realize I moved.
I hear a shout followed by the roar of profanities and a crash coming from the apartment.
I don’t even think. I jump out of the car and rush upstairs.
The door is still open, and I can see Chloe waving her arms around and about to throw a book.
I grab it out of her hand and look over to see what she is angry about.
Dane and his ivory ass are in my face once again, but this time Chloe is not underneath him.
Instead, it’s another girl who looks petrified.
She is scrambling to pull a blanket over herself.
Chloe is yelling at Dane at the top of her lungs, calling him a man whore and trying to grab different objects to throw at him.
I pluck each object out of her hand before she chucks it.
“Will you just let me throw something at him?” She whips her head back to me before trying to lunge toward him, clawing her hands.
“No, he’s not worth it,” I shout, grabbing her waist, pulling her back to me.
Dane doesn’t even protest. He just stands there and shrugs, barely covering his junk with his hands. I’ve never been so baffled at how nonchalant he can be in every situation. His girlfriend just caught him cheating on her, and he acts like it was a simple miscommunication.
I pull Chloe out of his apartment and make a mental note to cuss out Dane tomorrow and collect her things. Chloe is limp and lets me lead her down the stairs and to my car. She’s fuming and crying. I can tell she’s not sure which emotion to let control her actions.
She slumps in the passenger seat of my car as we ride back home. I look over at her as she starts to mutter something. “I’m going to be alone.” I see a tear fall down her cheek. “I don’t have Dane. I won’t have you. Maybe I can move back up to Ojai and live with your parents.”
“No, you’re moving to Oregon with me.” I don’t hesitate. “We are going to start a new chapter together.” She turns to me, tears falling down her face as she reaches for my hand.
“But you said you were doing this for you, not for anyone else.”
“And I want you to come with me. A lot is going to be new and different. I can’t think of another person I’d love to share this journey with.
Take the week to think about it. But remember, every small town has a bookstore.
” I give her a little smile which perks her up, and I squeeze her hand. “We’re in this together. Always.”