If It Makes You Happy

by Julie Olivia

Hello, I’m your almost-thirty-year-old workaholic daughter/sister who can’t hold up a marriage.

HELLO?? HOW OLD IS THE YOUNGER WOMAN???

thriving with a woman the same age I was when we met.

Creep

Tracy is a viper and Michelle is a garden snake that wants peace. I can’t help but laugh a little.

A garden snake who wants peace lmao

The world tilts. It suddenly feels like I’m falling through the ground, straight to the center of the earth. God, she’s breathtaking.

I like his deadpan humor and his messy, complicated life. I like the fact that he needs touch as much as he needs oxygen. I like that he says what he wants and takes what he wants and doesn’t apologize for either. I like that, at the end of the day, he’s my friend.

And that—that right there—is the exact moment I know I need to kiss him. Because, despite Cliff taking a risk, he immediately backtracks when he thinks I’m uncomfortable. Because he’s that kind of friend. He’s that kind of man.

And I wonder if he was made for me, if he’s the only man who will ever see me. I don’t believe in destiny or stars, but I have to believe Cliff’s constellation would align right beside mine.