2. Nina
Chapter two
Nina
Things got a whole lot worse when Lindsay hopped onto my bed with a squeal the next morning, waking me up. Or rather, propelling me sideways. I landed on the ground with an oomph , startled awake.
“Nina, oh my God, you won’t believe it,” Lindsay said. “Wake the fuck up!”
Groaning, I raised my head and untangled myself from the covers. “What the fuck, Lin? What time is it?”
Lindsay fell to the bed on her knees, eyes glowing, phone in hand, lips spread wide in a smile. “I got a job.”
I stared at her, barely processing her words. Wiping a hand down my face, I tried to clear the fog in my brain. “Lin, for the sake of cheese and rice, it’s too early.”
“I’m serious. I randomly applied for an assistant position online about three weeks ago, and I just received an email saying I’m hired! I start as soon as possible.”
She was serious. Blinking, I digested the words, along with the dread that was trying to force its way up my throat.
Lindsay applied for a job?
“You randomly applied?” I clarified, wondering how someone could just… apply for a position and get it. I might’ve never had a job, due to my parents’ wealth, but at least I knew it wasn’t that easy.
Lindsay bit her lip. “Okay. So, maybe there was one other interview… and a test.”
Right. Maybe.
“You didn’t say anything,” I murmured, getting to my feet.
She nodded, though her face had lost some of its excitement. “Yeah. I mean, I didn’t think I would get it. I didn’t want to raise my hopes for nothing. It was just… It’s crazy, really.”
“Yeah, crazy…”
Let me be honest. I wasn’t happy. I mean, she was my best friend, and I was happy for her , but I wasn’t happy . And it wasn’t by any fault of Lindsay’s. I was just too dependent. It probably spoke terribly of me as a person. I didn’t care, but it was true. I was reliant on Lindsay. I knew it; she knew it. Maybe everybody else did too.
“Aren’t you happy for me?” Lindsay asked, holding my gaze.
I tried to chuckle, sitting next to her on the bed. “Oh, silly. Of course I am. It’s great that you got a job. I’m just surprised, is all.”
My friend smiled warmly. “Thank you, babe. Me too. Fuck, it’s going to be insane. Moving to another city in such a short period, settling there for a while—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up.” I jumped to my feet, legs akimbo, eyes wide. “Did you just say you’re moving? To another city?”
“Yeah.” She visibly gulped. “Boston.”
I released a staggering breath. “What the fuck, Lin? We literally just moved in!”
“I know, but—”
I was losing it. “What about the business we wanted to start? What about the plans that we made?”
“Nina, calm down,” she tried to reason.
“But, you’re leaving New York. You’re leaving me!”
I didn’t mean to sound like a spoiled child who couldn’t handle the thought of being alone, but I was beyond caring.
We had plans. We talked about these plans for months, well before graduation. The only reason I’d agreed to move to an apartment with her and not back home with my parents was because we’d planned it together. We’d made a whole vision board and everything. And for fuck’s sake, we’d been here for less than a day, and now she was moving out?
It wasn’t fair.
At the risk of acting like a petulant toddler, I was very close to crying and stomping my feet.
Lindsay inched closer, her face a mask of regret. “Neens, I'm sorry. It just happened; I swear. I didn’t plan it. I didn’t even know that I’d get it. Come on. Don’t be like that. I was hoping you’d be happy for me.”
“I am—” The words died on my lips. Truthfully, I felt betrayed. Linsday had applied for a job behind my back, all the while deluding me into believing she was looking forward to starting life after college with me. If she actually was, she never would have even thought of applying for work without telling me, and all the way in another city!
So yes. I was spiteful.
Lindsay bit her lip. “I can stay if you want me to.”
And she would. If there was one thing I knew about my Lin, it was how selfless she was when it came to the people she loved. Wasn’t that why she’d stayed with that dumbass of an ex for as long as she did?
I was a tough person to please, but Lindsay always tried her best, making it nearly impossible to resist her efforts.
Obviously, this was something she wanted, otherwise she wouldn’t have even applied. How could I ask her to give that up without looking like a terrible person? I was selfish, but not with my best friend. Lindsay was everything to me.
Running a hand through my hair, I huffed. This was the worst kind of news to wake up to.
“No, do that,” I finally sighed. “It’ll take a little getting used to living here alone, but... I’ll be fine.”
Lindsay smiled shyly. “But you won’t be alone.”
My brows furrowed. “What do you mean?” Then it hit me. “Oh, fuck me.”
“Aw, come on, Neens. It’ll be great. Look on the bright side: at least you won’t be totally alone. Knox will be here to keep you company.”
I groaned, holding my face with my hands. “Shut the fuck up. This is all your fault. I’m gonna be stuck with your uptight brother.” My head snapped up. “When do you leave?”
Her hazel eyes sparkled with guilt as she bit the inside of her cheek. “One week. I was asked to start as soon as possible.”
Lovely. Not only was my best friend moving to a whole new city without me, but I was about to be stuck living with her brother, who hated humans. Just great. Fucking peachy.
But, there was nothing I could do. As a good friend, I had to support her, no matter how hard it was to accept.
There were few times in life when I’d had the opportunity to support Lindsay. It wasn’t a frequent occurrence, as she was pretty independent, but I liked being needed.
The most recent one was earlier this year, the last months of college, after Theo, her boyfriend of two years, broke up with her.
I’d always thought Lindsay was too good for him, and as much as it had hurt me to see her in so much pain, I was glad they were over.
***
We spent the next week doing everything and nothing at all, just like we used to. Even though Lindsay’s move out hung over us like a dark cloud, we threw our backs into decorating our apartment. We ate and laughed and watched movies together like we did in college. I tried to forget that in a matter of days, we wouldn’t be able to do this anymore.
The day before she left, I went into her room to help her pack. I didn’t dare ask how long she would be away. It was most likely that Lindsay didn’t know herself, and even if she did, it’s hope that kills anyway. I couldn't spend the next few months—or years—counting the days until she came back.
As a big girl, I had to pick up from wherever it was that we stopped and move on. I had to think of what I wanted to do with my life and start figuring shit out, just like Lindsay was doing.
Truthfully, in some reasonable part of my brain, I could understand why she didn't tell me about the job. I wouldn’t have taken it well. Working under another person always made me feel choked up. Growing up as a rich kid who has everything done for her will do that to you.
The ironic part was, I’d always wanted to be financially independent. Which, if you think about it, shouldn’t be too hard considering my parents’ affluence. But that was exactly the problem. I wanted to make my own money. I just didn’t know how to go about it.
And before you say anything like, Nina, try the fucking internet , keep in mind that not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, or techy, or some genius in finance like my parents.
I might not have known what I wanted to be, but I certainly knew what I didn’t want.
Still, the reality was, Lindsay only had a brother who worked hard to take care of their family and a mother who lost some of her spark after her husband’s death. I had parents willing to offer me a junior position with a starting five-figure salary in one of their many firms the second I agreed to work for them.
And while I knew I should be grateful that I wasn’t completely without options, I didn’t want my parents’ help. They might mean well, but it was their fault I was such a spoiled child. I couldn’t keep letting them do things for me. It made me, quite frankly, useless.
So, yeah. That was that. And now that Lindsay was leaving, I tried to convince myself this was a wake-up call. I needed to get the fuck up and do something with my life. Because as much as it hurt to admit, I was dragging Lindsay down.
Many hours later, Lindsay was fully packed. She commented about how much it sucked that she was leaving so soon without even enjoying our new apartment, and I non-verbally agreed because I didn't trust myself to not fall to her knees and beg her to stay.
“Shit. I need to call Knox. He doesn’t know I’m leaving yet. I can’t believe I forgot to tell him,” she said that night, grabbing her phone and typing away for a few seconds before holding it up to her ear and giving me a finger that said, Hold on .
We were sitting on her queen-sized bed, which would be moved to Knox’s new room tomorrow before he got here. There was no point in him getting a new bed when this one was readily available.
“Knox, hey,” Lindsay said.
I couldn’t make out his words, but his deep baritone drifted through the speaker and into my ears. Damn, he sounded even better than I remembered. Truly, the Colemans were blessed with superior genes. Lindsay herself was a smoke show.
“So, something came up,” Lindsay continued. “And I figured you should know. I got a job out of town and I’m leaving, like…soon. But don’t worry, you can still live here for as long as you want. Nina’s okay with it.”
She eyed me uncertainly, and I glared at her. That was laying it on thick. I was merely tolerating it. Now that she wouldn’t be here like we originally planned, I wasn’t so sure I wanted Knox to come at all.
For a few seconds, I didn’t hear anything, so I assumed he’d gone silent. Great. I had no doubt that he was already considering backing out.
Worked for me.
But the smooth sounds of Knox’s voice floated around us once again.
“Yes, I know,” Lindsay answered, “but I didn’t plan this. I’m sorry that I made you cancel your plans.” She went quiet again, releasing a sigh. “I’m telling you. Nina is stoked that you’re coming. You’re going to have so much fun together.” Silence. “Right. Or not.” More annoying silence, but somehow Lindsay was smiling softly. “So, see you soon?”
The dial tone beeped. That motherfucker hung up on her.
And I had no idea why Lindsay didn’t look pissed. If anything, she seemed pleased. She was obviously out of her mind.
Dropping her phone between her legs, she sighed calmly. “Well, apparently, he already canceled plans, and he can’t un-cancel them, so he’s stuck here for the meantime.”
“Yay,” I grumbled.
“Oh, cheer up. It’s not the end of the world. You make my brother sound like a morose dragon.”
I stared at her, not saying a word.
She shrugged. “He has his good days.”
“Sure. They just never happened when I was around. You realize he’s never spoken a word to me, right? Not even hi.”
Lindsay seemed positively surprised. “I hadn’t noticed, actually. But never mind that.” She waved a hand, ever the mediator. “Once you both settle into the roommate lifestyle, you’ll work things out.”
I didn’t believe her, not one bit. But I kept my opinions to myself. If Lindsay wanted to believe that she hadn’t just set the ball rolling for World War III, then she was either blind or just plain dumb.
Knox and I were too different. No matter what anyone wanted to believe, this was going to be a fucking disaster of epic proportions.