You, Again(94)

It must be the recency effect. Once he completely moves on, Ari’s features will be added to the compilation. He has to believe that.

Eventually, the front door swings open, jingling the bell. Ari is holding a bouquet of wilted flowers and a giant bag of candy that must have been on sale for Halloween. She raises her arms to hug Briar, causing her stomach to peek out. He thinks of tracing his finger down that exact swath of skin.

Josh quietly shuts the door of the lowboy. He ducks into the back hallway, retrieving his phone before escaping out the back exit.



* * *





RADHYA PRODUCES A bottle of Casamigos Blanco from under the counter as Ari approaches, holding the flowers and candy in front of her like a physical buffer.

“Twattie,” Radhya says with a note of sentimentality in her voice, reaching for the flowers. Ari keeps her coat on, unsure if she’s welcome, but Radhya slides her a juice glass half-full of tequila in exchange for the Sour Patch Kids and flashes a slightly uneasy grin.

“Get over here, Briar,” Radhya calls across the dining room, pouring out another glass. “We had a line out the door. You earned a shift drink.”

Josh is nowhere to be seen. The whole thing feels so okay on the surface that Ari starts to believe that maybe it actually will be.

Briar walks past the counter, into the kitchen, returning with a plate of iced cookie pieces: broken black-and-off-white frosted circles. “I hoard the imperfect ones,” she says, pushing the plate toward Ari. “They’re chai-flavored. Josh’s idea. I like them better than the original kind.”

“Thanks.” Ari looks down at the icing, applied in pin-straight lines, while Briar fills Ari in on her new minor-celebrity boyfriend.

“So many reality stars try to move right into the influencer thing, but Ryan is so passionate about physical fitness? He’s creating this whole community. I’ve met so many great girls in Ryan’s jogging group. We all joined to watch his ass while he runs but I’ve made lifelong friends?” Briar retrieves some lime wedges from the beverage station. “Can I ask you, was Gabe upset when I hard-launched Ryan on my grid?”

Ari forces herself to bite into the cookie, which is a perfect balance of spicy and sweet. “I haven’t talked to him in a while, but I’m sure he’s slightly jealous of Ryan…and probably you.”

“Do you think Gabe and I could still be friends without it being weird? He encouraged me to take these storytelling classes and I think I’m really developing my craft—”

The bells above the door jingle. A tall woman with dark blond hair and a perfectly symmetrical face steps inside with all the confidence Ari hadn’t felt as she paced outside like a creep.

A second later, Josh enters, letting the door shut.

Ari swallows the rest of the cookie. It suddenly tastes like sawdust.

“I just wanted to stop by and say hi,” the woman says, greeting everyone with quick half-hugs, like they’re old friends. Ari quickly scans for an escape route (behind the counter? Under a table?) but it’s too late. “Hi!” the woman says cheerfully over the yacht rock blaring from the boom box. “I’m Harper.”

“Ari,” she chokes out, extending her right hand.

Harper’s palm is warm, like she’s just been holding hands with someone.

Which is fine.

Everything’s fine.

Josh stands several feet behind the woman, perhaps deciding whether to click continue or cancel on the whole interaction.

Ari pastes an enormous smile on her face to indicate just how fine this is. She pours herself a tequila refill. And then another.

Of course she’s a Harper. Of course she’s wearing a little black dress under her coat that shows off curves that Ari doesn’t quite have. Of course she has long, wavy hair and full fucking lips, and…well, honestly, had they met under another circumstance, Ari would be complimenting her handbag and buying her a drink.

Josh-and-Harper. A couple. Names that would pair well on a wedding website.

“I need to…b-be right back,” Ari mumbles, dropping the cookie on the counter and sliding awkwardly off the stool. She mentally selects a color scheme for josh-and-harper-dot-com as she makes her way down a narrow side hallway.

Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry.

The bathroom is back here somewhere, she’s sure of it, but her vision is a little clouded by the welling tears or the three rapid-fire shots of tequila. She feels along the side of a wood-paneled wall, searching for a swinging door…

…which she promptly stumbles into, landing on her knees. It’s probably really painful but she can’t feel anything. Thanks, tequila.

Still, she can’t quite get up. Maybe just a minute here on the floor would be good. Ari takes some deep breaths. She pushes her tongue to the roof of her mouth. She thinks about chonky cats calmly squeezing themselves into small boxes. Anything to stop the threat of tears.

By the time the door opens, she’s back on her feet and pretend-washing her hands. But it’s not Josh’s new girlfriend.

“Are you okay?” Radhya asks over the groan of the hinges.

Ari doesn’t look up. “Will you stop asking me that?” She stares at her hands, taking heavy breaths.

“I didn’t know Harper was coming tonight,” Radhya says. She stands in front of the mirror, trying to repair the damage done to her liquid liner by a night in a hot, stressful restaurant kitchen. “I’m not sure he did, either. They’ve only been out a couple times.”