Page 132 of Tasty Cherry
Before I can respond, she writes again.
Brooklyn: Answer your door!
Brooklyn: Are you not here?
Me: I got sent to work off site. I was at Havannah’s deli.
Brooklyn: You’re not at the hotel? Did they kick you out of your apartment?
Me: No. But I lost access to the rest of the hotel.
Brooklyn: This is terrible!
Me: How did you find out?
Brooklyn: Owen and I worked housekeeping. When we got to laundry, everybody knew. Apparently Martina went with Raya to prep the empty apartment for the new guy coming, and you were in there????
Me: So Martina told?
Brooklyn: She didn’t know anything, but was asking who it could be. Then Ilsa said she saw you in HR. Then Aisha said she saw Raya put you on a shuttle. Then Sebastian disappeared, too, and it seemed everyone knew. I didn’t say a word.
Me: I believe you.
Brooklyn: Are you coming back?
Me: I’ll have to get clothes. But I’m working at the deli until who knows when.
We arrive at Sebastian’s. I type a quick gotta go, and we pile out of the car.
“Everything okay?” Sebastian asks.
“Everyone knows. All the pieces came together with us both meeting with Jessie.”
Sebastian’s face is grim as he unlocks the front door. “I think tonight calls for booze and takeout.”
“I’ll call for Chinese,” Arya says.
“I’ll get the glasses out,” I offer.
We all trudge into the house for a night of commiserating, since none of us know where we’re headed next.
42
SEBASTIAN
We all wake up with mild hangovers.
I drive Mila over to the hotel to shower and change for another day at the deli.
After she’s gone, I feel adrift. I circle the exterior of the hotel, knowing I have no access to any of the places I’ve become accustomed to. It’s surreal.
I drive to the outskirts of Boulder and hike a trail I used to love taking with Uncle Roger as a kid. It’s an easy one, not too taxing, and I appreciate the chill, the scattering of leaves, and the clean, crisp air.
When I get back, Arya is painting on the back porch, something abstract in blues.
“Good hike?” she asks.
“It was.”