Page 3 of Make Room for Love

It was surprisingly heavy. Mira put it on, trying to ignore her stomach fluttering at the novelty of wearing a stranger’s clothes. The jacket was an oversized cocoon on her, reaching the hem of her dress, and it was warm from the other woman’s body heat.

A sense of calm suffused her. For now, she was safe.

“Thank you so much,” Mira said. “Um, won’t you get cold?”

“Looks like you need it more than I do.”

All right, then. “Well, I’m ready to go.”

They started walking.The woman had long legs, and Mira had to work to keep up in her heels. “Um, thanks again for helping me. I’m Mira, by the way.”

“Isabel.”

“Nice to meet you.” Isabel probably didn’t feel the same way. She’d had her night cut short by a straight girl’s boyfriend drama. “I didn’t know he would be there,” Mira continued, grasping for something to say.

“You don’t have to apologize for him.” Isabel didn’t sound like she was trying to be reassuring. She was simply stating a fact.

And she was right. “I guess not.”

As they walked away from the clubs and bars, the music and laughter faded behind them. On this quiet residential street, the early autumn leaves rustled on the ground with every footstep. Isabel’s keys jingled on her carabiner.

Isabel didn’t seem bothered by the cold. She didn’t seem bothered byanything. She was one of those self-possessed people Mira had seen at the club who knew exactly what they wanted and how to get it. Mira couldn’t stop sneaking glances as Isabel looked straight ahead.

She’d gotten used to the silence when Isabel said, suddenly, “Do you live with him? Is that where you’re going?”

“What? Oh, no. No.” As much of a mess as her life was, it could be worse. “I broke up with him a few weeks ago, and I’m crashing on my friends’ couch right now.” Dylan had called her his girlfriend just now. The word made her stomach churn. How had sheactuallybeen his girlfriend for so long? “And I haven’t seen him since the breakup. I guess it still hasn’t gotten through to him that someone could leave him without his approval.”

Isabel snorted. “Sounds like it was about time.”

Mira smiled. It made no difference what a stranger she would never see again thought of her decision, but a weight eased within her all the same. At times in the last three weeks, she’d wondered whether Dylan had truly been bad enough to justify throwing away everything: a nice condo, a measure of safety, a promise of a future where she’d belong to him forever.

All of that had been based on wishful thinking and lies. He’d been cheating on her for months. Even so, when Dylan had been shouting at her tonight, she’d felt a flicker of doubt. Was she being unreasonable?

But now, walking alongside this stranger who had seen the worst of him, therealhim, it was hard to remember why she’d ever second-guessed herself.

They walked for another block in silence. Then Isabel said, “You said you’re staying with your friends?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you have a place to go after that?”

Isabel had a funny idea of small talk. “Um, not yet. I’m looking at apartments now, but nothing has worked out.” That was one of the things Mira was trying to take her mind off—trawling Craigslist, sending emails about the few places she could afford, and being ignored or rejected every time. There were two weeks left in September, and she couldn’t possibly impose on Vivian and Frankie beyond that.

Isabel remained silent for a few long seconds. Then she said, “I have a spare room in my apartment in Astoria. Just until my lease runs out. You can take a look if you want.”

“Oh, that’s— How much is it?” Mira couldn’t get her hopes up. She wasn’t going to be able to afford it on her grad student stipend.

“Let’s say eight hundred a month.”

“In a two-bedroom apartment?”

Isabel nodded.

That was suspiciously low. Mira had trusted Isabel out of instinct, but maybe she shouldn’t have. As if sensing her doubts, Isabel continued, “There’s nothing wrong with the room. It’s just small. I wouldn’t offer otherwise.”

It was probably better than the windowless bedroom Mira had lived in before Dylan’s condo. “How small is it?”

“You could fit a full bed with a little space to walk around.”