The waitress quickly took our orders, and promised to be back in less than ten minutes.
“So…” Ari said, smiling. “I actually have three sets of news, and I’m going to let you pick which one—”
“You look really fucking beautiful today.” I cut her off, looking at her and wondering why I’d never seen just how stunning she was before. “Really fucking beautiful…”
She blushed. “Thank you…” She was silent for a while before speaking again. “You want the good news, the bad news, or the great news first?”
“Bad news.”
“I ran into your ex, Emily, about half an hour ago and she yelled at me in front of everyone at the supermarket.”
“What did she say?”
“That she hates me, she hates you, she hates your tiny little cock…”
“Is it tiny to you?”
Her cheeks reddened, but she ignored my question. “She said that if we ever end up together, that she will personally crash our wedding…With a personal army of cats, I’m sure.”
I laughed. “What about the good news?”
“She tried to punch me and I took her down.”
“Are you being serious?”
“Of course not.” She scoffed. “Security took her down, but I did try.” She smiled at the waitress as she set down our sandwiches.
“Do I even want the great news?”
“The phenomenal news, excuse me.” She pulled a folded envelope from her pocket and slid it across the table. “Open it.”
I set down my napkin and pulled out the paper—reading a brief letter from Collège Culinaire de France.
“They are deeply sorry for the enormous error in the processing of your previous application and would be delighted and honored to have you in their newest cohort of classically trained chefs,” I read, genuinely happy for her.
“Read the rest…” She beamed. “That’s not even the best part…”
I looked over it and summarized it aloud. “Since there was a mistake and this is short notice, based on your talent and recommendation letters, they’re offering you a full scholarship if you confirm.
She practically squealed.
“Congratulations. I’m very happy for you.” I started to hand the paper back to her until my eyes caught the bolded line at the bottom. “It says you’ll need to arrive there June 16th, though. Is that right?”
She nodded, still smiling.
“That’s two weeks from now, Ari.”
“What?” Her smile slowly faded and she snatched her letter back. “No, it’s not. It’s…” She read the letter again and again. “I was reading it so fast when I got it this morning…I could’ve sworn it said July…”
“And it’s an eighteen month program with no extended breaks?” I read more of the fine print. “You only get five approved holidays…The first approved holiday is in six months.”
Her eyes met mine and neither of us said anything for a while.
I stood up and moved to her side of the booth. Her fingers effortlessly entwined with mine under the table, and I looked into her eyes.
“We’ll make the most of it.”
Track 19. I’m Only Me When I’m With You (2:22)
Two weeks might as well have been two seconds, and I was starting to wish that I hadn’t emailed the French school with an all caps “YES” before meeting with Carter. I’d been so caught up in the moment, so elated that my dream of studying under the best was coming true, that I hadn’t thought of what that would mean for us.
Whatever “us” was anyway…
We’d spent every waking moment together for the past several days. He helped me shop and get what I needed for the trip—even buying me a new suitcase and volunteering to ship whatever couldn’t fit. We’d taken advantage of each other’s bodies too many times to count, and most of our mornings were spent walking alongside the shore.
For years, I’d never understood what it meant when people said they felt like laughing and crying at the same time, until now.
I was standing in Margaritaville, waiting on Carter to return with our drinks and I was trying to hide the fact that I was a cesspool of emotions.
“Something wrong?” Carter handed me a beer.
“No. Just wondering why we always promise to come here last, yet we always end up here first.”
“Bad habit.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “What’s really wrong?”
“Nothing…” I lied. “Nothing at all.”
“Carter! Arizona!” Josh walked over, clearly buzzed within an inch of his life. “What are you two doing here? No, wait. Don’t answer that.”
“You guys want to bar hop with us?” The girl hanging on his shoulder asked. “We’re going to head down to 13th Street and try to make it back down here within two hours.”
“All cover charges are on me!” Josh made an offer we couldn’t refuse.
We left the bar, walking through the city’s balmy night air. I shivered when we made it several blocks down and immediately felt Carter placing his blazer over my shoulders.
“You know what’s going to be funny five to six years from now?” Josh asked as we stood in line at Club Red.”