All Chapters of One night wasn't enough : Chapter 31 - Chapter 36

She sits down like she has been here before.Not literally. She has never been in my studio. But she sits in the chair across from my desk with the ease of someone who makes themselves at home in rooms that do not belong to them. She crosses her legs, sets her bag on the floor beside her, looks around the space with a polite interest that feels slightly performative."Nice studio," she says."Thank you.""Very you somehow. Even though I've never met you." She smiles. "Caleb mentioned you were a designer. He said you had good taste."The mention of Caleb's name sits strangely in the room."How do you know Caleb," I say. Direct. I am not doing the slow approach with this woman. She showed up at my studio unannounced. She has been texting me from an unknown number. Direct is the least she owes me."We were close," she says. "For about a year. A while back." She says it simply, no drama attached. "We stayed in touch on and off after. The way you do with people who meant something.""You t

Lena sent me the profile link before she hung up. I told myself I would look at it in the morning. Fresh eyes. Clear head. Not at eleven at night sitting on my couch with cold tea and too many thoughts already competing for space. I opened it at eleven fifteen. Sandra's profile is exactly what Lena described. Public. Fully public. Clean, curated, the kind of social media presence that looks effortless because someone spent time making it look effortless. Recent posts first. Work events. A dinner with friends. A photo at what looks like a rooftop bar, three women laughing at something off camera, Sandra in the middle looking like someone who belongs in every room she enters. She is beautiful. Not in a complicated way. Just straightforwardly, objectively beautiful.I scroll. More recent posts. More dinners. A weekend trip somewhere warm. A work celebration. Normal life. Full life. I scrolled further. Further. There. The photos started appearing about two years ba

Saturday morning. Lena is at my apartment uninvited with coffee and pastries which means she has an agenda."You cancelled on Caleb last night," she says, settling on my couch."I was tired.""You were avoiding.""Same thing sometimes."She gives me the look. "Have you talked to him?""We texted.""That is not talking.""It is a form of communication Lena.""Maya.""What.""You cannot keep doing this. Avoiding him, avoiding Sandra, avoiding the whole thing." She opens the pastry bag. "At some point everything you are avoiding is going to walk through your front door."My phone buzzes on the coffee table.We both look at it.Unknown number.Lena raises her eyebrows.I pick it up.He met her Thursday. Coffee place on Michigan, north end. Eleven thirty. Two hours.I read it. Show it to Lena without saying anything.She reads it. Puts the pastry down."Thursday," she says."Yes.""The day before dinner.""Yes.""When he said old acquaintance not important.""Yes.""Two hours Maya.""I can