You, with a View

by Jessica Joyce

“So why aren’t you doing your photography thing full time?” Theo asks finally. I eye him, and the flake of bread caught in his chest hair. Disgusting. I want to pick that one up with my finger the most. “Because you can’t just do things,” I say. “It’s not that easy.” One eyebrow raises slowly, like a bridge lifting for a ship. “If anyone can just do things, it’s you, Shepard. You’ve been just doing things as long as I’ve known you.”

“I’m curious about something you said last time—that you didn’t get along at first. Obviously you ended up loving each other deeply if you were going to get married without Gram’s family’s approval. What changed?” Paul laughs. “Us. We realized that first impressions don’t dictate what the final impression will be. Once we opened ourselves up to truly knowing each other, it was easy to fall.”

“What?” I mouth. He shakes his head, and I watch, fascinated, as his lips pout around his response: “You.”

My tone comes out more accusatory than I want, but when Theo raises an eyebrow, I raise mine right back. I don’t know what it is about him; I want to fight. I want that spike in my blood reminding me I’m capable of emotions that aren’t heavy and flat.