Happenstance

by Tessa Bailey

The sunflower mix is from Gabe. His card reads, You’re saving me tonight, I won’t forget it. The card that came with Banks’s roses says, I’ll take everything you’ve got, even the thorns.

“Gabe makes me wish for lazy Sunday mornings in bed with coffee and the smell of cinnamon in the kitchen. Sweet. Tobias is Saturday night. Strobe lights and moaning and…that tipsy feeling, like if you have one more drink, you’ll be sorry.” “And me?” “You are…” I swallow. Being open and honest to someone about how I feel on the inside is harder than I remember. I’ve been out of practice so long. “You’re real life. The place where I’m in my pattern and feel safe. You’re not a detour, you’re a path forward.”

“Maybe we stop bending to fit. Forcing things. Because something is out there hoping for you. Hoping you’ll arrive exactly as you are. That’s a fact.”

“None of it was real. You are what’s fucking real.” “I hate that I needed to hear you say that.” “I hate that I made you need to hear it.”

“And I’m all yours. I’ve just been practicing for the day I met you, love.” He pulls my hair with a hint of more authority. “Now you’re going to press that ass into my stomach as high as you can and take advantage of it.”

“I hereby call an emergency Tram Fam meeting. Elise’s apartment has been trashed and she won’t even let me hold her like a baby.”

Tobias continues to study me. “I’d say Banks feels the same as me. But I’m not sure about Gabe. He strikes me as a traditionalist.” He hums. “We can get him a dog.”