Twelve

Haley

Scott’s last week in Cambridge seemed to fly by for Haley in no time at all. Being both still free from any other commitment, they spent every minute available together—mostly in bed. But all too soon, the last day before the departure arrived.

Haley barged into her apartment, eager to grab a change of clothes and be back on her way toward Scott’s house.

“Hey, you’re alive,” Alice joked from the kitchen. “I’m making coffee, want some?”

“Hi… no, thanks. I’m just going to pick up a few things and go back to Scott’s place. It’s our last night together.”

“How’re you holding up?

“Super-duper,” Haley said sarcastically. “I’m kinda in a hurry… Mind if we talk another time? Tomorrow I can tell you all about how sad and depressed I really am.”

“Yeah, about that.” Alice stepped into the hall to face her. “I wanted to give you a heads-up…”

“About what?”

“Did you have anything special planned for tonight?”

“No, Scott and I are just going to hang out at his place. Why?”

“Good, because the guys are planning a send-off party, Jack told me about it.”

Haley didn’t think it possible, but her mood worsened dramatically. The last thing she wanted tonight was to party. Parties were for celebrations, and there was absolutely nothing to celebrate here. “A party?”

“More of a dinner, really. I told Jack to tone it down as much as he could.”

“Can’t you tell him to call it off entirely?” Haley hated the way she sounded super petty, and the fact that in the span of a week she’d become the neediest, clingiest girlfriend. But she couldn’t help being selfish. Scott was leaving and every minute they weren’t alone together felt like wasted time.

“Too late for that.” Alice shrugged apologetically. “Jack left only a few minutes ago, but he was going to give Scott a call.” Disappointment must’ve shown on Haley’s face, because her roommate hastened to add, “But I’ll ask him to book a table early and I’ll make sure they keep it short. I’ll also tell Jack and the others not to insist on going for drinks afterward. Sound good?”

Haley relaxed. Alice was only trying to help, and Scott’s friends had a right to say bye to him before he left. As much as she hated it, Haley would have to share. “Yeah,” she said, pulling Alice into a hug. “Sorry for being so snappish, I’m in an awful mood.”

Alice patted her back supportively. “I know, babe.”

Just as they pulled apart, the apartment door opened again.

“Hi, roomies,” Madison said, coming in. “What’s up?”

“I was telling Haley the boys are organizing a dinner for tonight to say goodbye to Scott.”

“Aw.” Madison unconsciously lowered her gaze to the floor for a second before staring back up at them. “Sounds fun.”

“Can you make it?” Haley asked, to let Madison know she was invited.

“Mmm… yeah, I’m free tonight.”

“Great. Can I also ask you a favor?”

“Sure. What do you need?”

Haley felt super shitty for what she was about to ask, but Madison was still one of her best friends. And they had an unspoken agreement not to let the fact that they both were in love with the same guy change their friendship. And if Scott were any other guy, Haley wouldn’t have had a problem asking her best friend for a favor… so…

“Can I borrow your car tonight?” Haley asked. Madison was the only one out of the three of them with a car. Her entire family was from Boston and she’d literally just driven a few blocks from home to come to Harvard. “I want to give Scott a ride to the airport; I would hate it if he had to take an Uber.”

“Yeah, of course.” Madison smiled, her cheeks reddening. “Do we need to drive tonight?” she asked Alice.

“No, Jack wanted to keep it walking distance.”

“Perfect.” Madison grabbed the keys from the small cabinet in the entrance and handed them to Haley. “The tank’s full, you should make it to Logan Airport and back without troubles.”

“Thank you.” Haley took the keys and hugged Madison. “You’re the best.”

“No problem.”

“Well, I’d better get going.” Haley put the keys in her bag so as not to forget them, then dashed for her room, saying, “I’ll see you both later.”

***

Less than an hour later, Haley was lounging on Scott’s bed, back against the wall, MacBook open in her lap. She was keeping him company while he packed. And to distract herself from the reality of Scott’s largest suitcase lying open on the floor, Haley was playing around with some data. The self-assigned task was to organize a large set of scattered figures into a statistical report that would make sense. Yeah, a geek at heart.

Haley was focused on a particularly dense section when Scott’s voice penetrated her concentration. “I know you wanted to spend tonight alone, but Jack called—”

“Alice told me about the party,” Haley interrupted. “No worries. You know who’s going to be there?”

“Just you girls and a few of the guys on the team, the ones still around.”

“Is David still MIA?” she asked.

“Yep,” Scott said, folding a sweatshirt. “Haven’t seen him or heard from him since our latest brotherly chat.”

Haley abandoned her numbers for a second to watch Scott. “It’s good that you finally discussed the Brigitte issue, though, isn’t it? It’s the first step to fix your relationship…”

“Brigitte isn’t the issue between us anymore… you are.”

“Then you have no issues at all because I’m with you and that’s never going to change.”

Scott squatted low, turning his back to her as he rearranged a few items inside his almost-full suitcase. “So that kiss really meant nothing to you?” he asked, almost casually. “Because David keeps hinting it was a big deal.”

Ah, the dreaded question had finally arrived.

Haley squirmed on the bed. Alice’s advice to play down the truth rang in her ears. But she’d promised to herself she wouldn’t lie to Scott. “I was caught up in it at the time.” She watched his shoulders tense. “But more in a fairy tale fantasy sort of way. It wasn’t real… And, honestly, I hadn’t thought about it in forever, because now I have you.”

Scott got up, a slight grimace on his face. His expression said he didn’t like what he was hearing, but he thanked her for the honesty.

“TMI?” Haley asked.

“No.” Scott walked toward her. “You kissed David. I don’t like it, but I’ll have to deal with it.” He leaned in to retrieve a stack of underwear from the chest of drawers near the bed, throwing a peek at her Mac’s screen as he bent. “What are all those numbers?” Scott asked, as if nothing of importance had been said, the let’s-change-the-subject subtitle all too clear.

“A baseline of data. I’m trying to build a sorting algorithm.”

“My eyes cross just looking at it. I’ve always hated calculus and math.”

“Maybe the theory, but once you see what you can do with all the formulas, it’s amazing. Like, here, take this data—when it’s raw and unprocessed, it’s pure chaos… but when the algorithm sorts and organizes the numbers, they begin to tell a story.”

Scott threw a skeptical glance at the sheet. “Sorry.” He shrugged. “Still looks like gibberish. I prefer stories told in words. Numbers were never my thing.”

Haley rolled her eyes, disappointed. Scott never shared her enthusiasm for computers and programming. And whenever he tried to enlighten her on the beauty of poetry, she often found herself half bored to death. The only novels Haley enjoyed reading were sci-fi sagas and the occasional vampire novel—books all too commercial for Scott’s literary fiction tastes—and she preferred to watch the movie versions of most books anyway. Both Scott and Madison would gag if they heard her say this aloud.

She pressed save and shut her laptop; it was getting too warm on her legs, anyway. Haley threw a wistful glance at the brimming case on the floor. “Almost done here?” she asked, tearing her eyes away from the suitcase and its implied meaning. Scott was leaving her… Tomorrow, he’d be gone. It’s only two months, she kept repeating to herself.

“Yeah, I need socks…” He took them out of another drawer and shot six balled pairs into the suitcase, basketball style—feet in a slightly staggered stance, body elongated, arms up, and six flicks of the wrist—sending all the tiny balls to land precisely in the center of the suitcase. He looked sexy as hell, like whenever he was on the basketball court. “…And I’m done.”

He smiled, and Haley couldn’t resist—she swung her legs off the bed and pulled him to her before he could go close the suitcase. She rested her hands on his hips, looking up at him. “So what’s the latest housing plan?”

“I’ve booked a Holiday Inn for tomorrow and Friday night. And I have six housing appointments scheduled; I hope to find a place before the weekend.”

“I liked the one near the beach.”

Haley had helped him sort through the Craigslist listings to choose which appointments to book.

“Of course you liked that one.” Scott dropped his hands on her shoulders, his thumbs caressing her trapezius muscles. “But it’s also the farthest away from the hospital, and everyone says traffic sucks in California.”

“It’s not like you’ll be driving.”

“No, exactly. I hope the condo two blocks from work will be cool.”

“The apartment-share with the residency student?”

“That one.”

“Aren’t residents supposed to be super busy and never at home?” Haley’s hands sneaked under Scott’s tank top and up his lower back. “Don’t you want to meet someone who’ll introduce you to loads of people? You don’t know anyone over there.”

“I don’t expect Dr. Allen to be a nine-to-five kind of guy; shadowing him will be worse than any residency. There won’t be much time for me to get social.”

“I wish I could believe you.” Haley pouted jokingly. “You’ll meet tons of blonde Californian beauties and forget all about me.”

Scott gently pulled at the ends of her just-above-the-shoulders bob. “Pity I have a thing for brunettes…”

“You do, huh?”

“I do.” Scott’s smile disappeared, and he became suddenly serious. “I’m going to miss you,” he said, dropping his forehead to hers.

“Me, too.” Haley lifted her chin to kiss him.

In a blur of passion and longing, they tore each other’s clothes off and rolled onto the bed, their limbs so entangled it was impossible to tell where one body started and the other ended…