Chapter 10 #2
“Oh shit.” Chloe breathes out. “So you literally own this house?”
“Well…” I let out a nervous laugh. “Me and Adam.”
“Is this a joke?” she deadpans, looking very unimpressed.
“Chloe, I wish I was joking.” I cover my face and roll back onto the couch. “We found out on Tuesday.”
“June, this is insane!” Her eyes widen. “Do you realize how crazy this is? And when was the last time you two even saw each other?”
“I don’t know. Before I moved?” I shrug, acting like I don’t know exactly when the last time I saw Adam Harper was. As if it’s not burned into my memory, where we were standing, what we were wearing, the look on his face.
Chloe moved to Connecticut a year before I left New York, so I never told her the full story.
I haven’t told anyone the full story. I’m not proud of hiding what happened from Chloe, but I’ve done a good job of keeping Adam a topic that was off-limits, someone I always shrugged off if he ever came up in conversation.
Being in a new city with people who knew nothing about my history, I found it was pretty easy to erase him from my past.
As far as Chloe’s concerned, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue my acting career, and Adam and I went our separate ways.
“Damn, I mean, I guess it makes sense why it would be under both of your names…Do you need help or—”
“ Yes! ” I grab her arm. “I mean, if you don’t mind reading everything over. I just don’t know anything about all that, and I can’t afford anyone right now.”
“I got you,” she says, and squeezes my hand. There are perks to your best friend being a lawyer. Her posture changes, and she smiles. “Does this mean you’re moving back?”
“No.” I shake my head. “ No. This is temporary. We’re selling it the minute we can.”
“Right, fair.” She nods. I know she wants to ask me a million more questions, and I don’t doubt she’ll get to all of them. “So…how is Adam? I think it’s been literally years since he’s posted anything.”
Considering I don’t follow Adam anywhere, I wouldn’t know.
But I’m not surprised at his lack of a social media footprint.
He was always quite private. High level, I know Adam’s doing well for himself.
He looks great, he has a dream job and a woman to warm his bed at the very least. The funny thing is, while we’ve been living under the same roof for five days, I don’t actually know how Adam Harper is doing.
“Well,” I say. “He owns his own restaurant.”
“Which one?”
“Alden,” I say.
“He owns Alden?” Chloe rubs her temples. I don’t blame her. It’s a lot of information to process in sixty seconds. “Lucia and I went there for our anniversary. It was really good.”
“And I think he’s seeing someone,” I say as casually as I can. Because that text I saw last night is totally not a big deal.
“I see,” Chloe says, trying to gauge my temperature, but I’m fine. “Well, good for Adam. I miss him.”
“When…uh,” I say slowly. “When was the last time you saw him?” I know that even after I moved, Chloe and Adam stayed in touch. I never expected them not to, and I would never want them to put their friendship on hold on my account.
“God, I mean, I don’t know. A while.” She rolls her head back like she’s thinking. “It was probably only like a year after you moved. I was in the city and we grabbed lunch.”
“Oh,” I say as casually as I can. I remember her mentioning she saw Adam, but I hadn’t asked any questions.
“I’m obviously to blame too for not making more of an effort, but he really fell off the map after that,” she says. “Makes sense, though—he was probably focusing on opening a whole-ass restaurant.”
“I’m sure you’ll see him at some point. I don’t know what time he comes home but—”
“Home?” She raises an eyebrow. “Is he staying here too?”
My lips turn into an awkward smile. “Maybe…”
“I give up.” She throws her hands up in an exaggerated motion. “Girl, you need a newsletter.”
“It’s just for three more weeks,” I say.
“Are the two of you…good?” Chloe’s voice is now as serious as it ever gets.
“Yeah, we’re great,” I lie, but I’m met with another raised eyebrow. “You know, life happens, and we lost touch.” I shrug, casually trying to backpedal. “The same way you did.”
“Okay…” she says skeptically. She’s never pushed me on the topic.
Me moving across the country was too much of a distraction, her becoming a partner at the firm, me getting my first role in a movie, her getting married, her new baby—life did happen.
It was easy to move forward, at least on the outside.
“Anyway.” I smack her leg, trying to change the subject. “We’re in the city, you have a night away from Lucia and Teddy—I say we go out.”
“Absolutely! I need a glass of wine.” She stands up and grabs her purse. “I’m going to freshen up first.”
“Bathroom’s in the same place,” I say, pointing my chin past the stairs.
As she disappears, the front door opens to Adam, who’s wearing a plaid peacoat with a pair of Converses and a navy blue beanie.
“Hi,” he says softly.
“Hi.” I stand up. “I didn’t hear you come back last night.”
“Oh.” He takes off his hat. “I, uh, was held up and just ended up going back to my place.”
“Right…at work,” I say, wondering why he isn’t telling me the truth.
“Right.” He nods. “Anyway, I should—”
“Adam Harper?!” Chloe’s voice causes us both to jump back as if we’re two kids who got caught in a closet.
“Chloe Patel?!” Adam’s face breaks out into a smile that I have not seen in these past few days.
She’s already running toward him and, in one fell swoop, he effortlessly picks her up into a hug and twirls her around.
Their enthusiasm almost makes me feel left out, like somehow I’m the one who doesn’t belong in this picture.
“Look at you,” she says, stepping back and taking an exaggerated look at him from head to toe. “You look fine as hell—what have you been doing?”
He tries to conceal a laugh. “What about you ? What are you doing now? Are you still in Connecticut?”
“Yes, sir, and married.” She flashes her wedding band. “You have to meet her.”
“ And you’re a mom,” I say.
“Oh my God, congratulations, Chloe!” Adam gives her another hug, and this is the most alive I’ve seen him all week.
“I mean, I’m the one who should be saying congratulations to two new homeowners. ” Her eyes widen. Adam huffs out a laugh and looks at me, but he doesn’t say anything. “You have to come out and celebrate with us.” Chloe grabs his arm.
“Oh, Chloe, I don’t think—” I step toward her. As nice as this little reunion is, I’m not ready to pick up from where we all left off.
“It’s okay,” Adam says, putting a hand up to Chloe, sensing my hesitation. “I’m sure the two of you have a lot to catch up on. Besides, I have some things I need to do.”
“Okay, well, you both have to come over to my place then,” Chloe says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You’ll get to meet Lucia and Teddy! Tomorrow?”
“Oh,” Adam says, reaching for the back of his neck, and even through the layers of clothing he’s wearing, my eyes instinctively go to the line of skin exposed. He needs to stop doing that. “I’m working tomorrow.”
“Tuesday?” Chloe offers.
Adam looks at me, and for the first time all week, it feels like we’re in something together.
There are things like body language, looks, inflections that a person will carry with them no matter how much time passes.
In this moment, I know that Adam is looking to me for approval.
He and Chloe haven’t seen each other in years, and I’d be a monster to stop this from happening.
I give him a nod and he does a thing with his eyes.
Something that nobody would notice, but I notice, because I know him. He’s grateful.
“Tuesday’s perfect,” he says, looking back at Chloe.
“Yay!” Chloe quite literally squeals, which doesn’t happen often, and pulls us both into a hug.
Adam’s and my arms hit each other, and the impact goes straight to my chest. This is the first time we’ve touched in years, and I wonder if he reads into this mundane contact the same way I do.
She lets go and then grabs her coat. “Okay, well, Adam, you’ll be missed tonight. June, you ready?”
I nod and give Adam an awkward smile. In return, he gives me a tight-lipped one. Chloe leads the way out of the house and I make it a point to try not to talk about Adam for the rest of the night.
The whole “not talking about Adam” thing lasts a good forty minutes. We end up walking to our favorite speakeasy behind a coffee shop in Chelsea and ask for two cocktails. From what we remember, their fried chicken sliders were to die for, so we get an order and sit at the bar.
“June.” Chloe takes a sip of her martini, which has some crazy coconut-oil-popcorn taste, contrasting with my Moscow mule. “Can we be real for a second?”
“Aren’t we always?”
“What does this mean for you and Adam?” she asks.
“ Nothing, Chlo.” Chloe has always been Adam’s and my number one fan. She’s wanted us to be together ever since I can remember. “He has his life and I’m going back to LA in a few weeks.”
“You are aware he looks fine as hell, right?”
“Oh, thanks, I didn’t notice.”
“Like he somehow got more hot since I last saw him,” she says.
“Okay, I know, Chloe,” I sigh. “But it doesn’t matter. He’s seeing someone, remember?”
“I don’t think it’s anything serious,” she says, shaking her head confidently.
“What makes you say that?” I ask.
“Trust me—if he was with someone, he wouldn’t agree to live with you for a month,” she says. “There’s too much history there.”
“Well, whatever. It wouldn’t matter, because nothing’s going to happen,” I say, and she lets out a scoff. “What?”
“You can’t sit there and tell me being back here with him hasn’t rekindled any feelings.” She waves her hands around like she’s referring to a fairy tale.
“It hasn’t,” I say.
“You’re such a bad liar,” she says, laughing.
“Okay, maybe I thought about it— maybe, ” I say. “But that’s beside the point.”
“Why?!” She sits straighter.
“It’s just complicated,” I sigh, feeling defeated once the words come out.
“That’s a bad rebuttal.” Chloe puts her drink down, and there’s a flicker in her eye. “You two are like lightning in a bottle.”
Chloe’s right. What Adam and I shared was few and far between.
It’s a bond that happens once in a lifetime, if you’re so lucky.
Friendships like that take time and effort to build.
Relationships like that require trust, openness, and honesty.
They’re like beautiful trees with deep roots.
You don’t cut them and expect them to keep growing. It’s impossible.
“I guess you’re right.” I look at Chloe.
“Of course I am,” she agrees. “About what?”
I let out a breathless laugh and twirl my straw around my drink. My gaze stays fixed on the ice cubes slowly disappearing into the barely touched liquid. “I guess we were lightning in a bottle,” I say.
“Cheers to that.” Chloe holds up her glass and I give it a clink.
The thing about lightning in a bottle is that it’s a fleeting moment in time, a spark that’s rare and special…but it’s also impossible to re-create.