4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

“ W ow,” Sam mumbled, looking down at Scarlett’s engagement ring. “It’s even bigger in person.”

“I know,” Scarlett replied with a grin, her hazel eyes sparkling. “I’m still not used to wearing it. It feels weird. But like—good weird? I would’ve been happy with anything, but Terrence wanted to go all out.”

Sam leaned back in the leather chair, the murmurs of people in the small coffee shop floating around them. “I still can’t believe you’re getting married.”

“I know,” Scarlett said, exhaling as she swiped her glossy, dark brown braid over one shoulder, the ends brushing against her fitted denim jacket. “I can’t believe I’m never gonna be single ever again.”

Sam chuckled. “Yeah, I sort of thought you’d never get married.” She reached forward, picking up her mug and taking a small sip. “I mean, who else is gonna take me to crazy beach parties every summer?”

Scarlett shot a mischievous look over the edge of her cup. “Oh, I’ll still be taking you. I just won’t take anyone home afterwards.”

Sam smiled, shaking her head. “Well, I’m happy for you. Terrence is a very lucky guy.”

“I know,” Scarlett said, taking another deep drink of her coffee. “So you’re for sure coming to the wedding, right? I know you’re busy with work and everything but—“

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

Scarlett paused before a genuine smile tugged at her lips. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said, setting the cup down and reaching across the table to give Sam’s hand a light squeeze. “I missed you. A lot.”

“Me too,” Sam replied with a smile.

She was glad. Really glad, actually. It wasn’t until she’d seen Scarlett that morning that she fully realized just how much she really missed her. Even if they called and texted, there was no substitute for seeing one of her best friends in person.

Sam took a sip of her drink, glancing once around the coffee shop before looking back at Scarlett.

And this time, she wore a new, almost teasing smirk.

“What?” Sam asked.

“So, who’s this Tiana girl?”

Sam cocked her head. “How did you—“

“Oh please,” Scarlett interrupted with a wave of her hand. “Jess tells me everything.”

Sam hummed, not entirely surprised. “She told you she showed up at my office a few days ago?”

Scarlett nodded. “Yeah, but that’s the boring stuff. I wanna hear about the apparently beautiful girl you had hanging off you.”

A dry laugh huffed from Sam’s lips. “I wouldn’t say she was hanging off me.”

Scarlett shot her a pointed look, one brow arching.

The coffee cup turned in her hands as she cleared her throat. “She’s a friend. We were really close when we were younger. Still are, I guess. We just don’t see each other much anymore.”

Scarlett stared at her, slowly cocking one eyebrow. “And?”

Sam chuckled, swirling her drink. “We had a thing for a little while when we were in a foster home together.” She paused, taking another sip of her coffee. “We hook up sometimes when we see each other. But it’s nothing serious. Never has been.”

Scarlett hummed, as if searching for a lie in her words. “Yeah, I’ve heard that line before,” she mumbled.

Sam smirked, keeping her eyes on the drink. “She’s a good friend. You’d like her. She kinda reminds me of you, actually.”

Scarlett smiled, taking a drink from her mug. “Well, then I can see why you’d like her so much.”

A loud group of people entered as Sam let out a soft chuckle.

Scarlett tapped the screen of her phone on the table between them. “Oh—shit,” she muttered. “I have to go. I have an appointment to go look at flower arrangements at one of the new places I found.”

“Fun,” Sam mumbled, taking another sip of her drink.

“Can you come with me?” Scarlett asked, standing from her seat.

“What?” Sam asked, frowning as she peered up at her from behind the cup. “Why?”

“Because,” Scarlett started, shooting her a look that left no room to argue, “I wanna keep talking and hear about all this new stuff you have going on.”

Sam grunted. “You mean you wanna keep grilling me about Tiana even though there’s nothing more to tell?”

Scarlett crossed her arms with a stern look. “Please?” she asked, in a way that was definitely not a request. “It’d be more fun with you there.”

Sam sighed quietly, checking the time on her phone. She’d already gotten the most urgent tasks done early that morning, so taking an extended break wouldn’t be the end of the world. Although Caleb might not agree.

“Fine,” she said, grabbing her mug off the table and downing the rest of the coffee.

“Oh, and—Jess will be there, too.”

***

“I know, I know,” Scarlett said as she rushed through the door, her shoes tapping lightly against the polished wooden floor as she hurried toward the front counter. “Sorry. We were having coffee, and I didn’t realize how late it was.”

Sam lingered near the entrance, letting the door swing closed behind her. The cool draft from outside faded away, replaced by the almost stifling humidity of the shop.

“It’s fine,” Jess answered, her voice drawing Sam’s attention.

She turned and found Jess standing near a table piled high with vibrant bouquets. Her eyes flicked to Sam, widening slightly in surprise before softening, and a small, easy smile formed on her lips.

“Hey,” Jess said, cocking her head slightly. “I didn’t know you were coming too.”

Seeing her the day before had felt different than she’d expected. Like a tiny thread had been tugged in her chest, and then it was just left dangling there, waiting to be unraveled.

Sam offered a quick smile as Scarlett strode ahead toward the front desk. “I didn’t know either until like ten minutes ago.”

Jess smirked, her head turning to where Scarlett now stood. “Well, I’m glad you’re here. I could use a second person to help keep her on track.”

Sam blew out a breath, nodding to where Scarlett was already speaking with an employee at the back of the shop. “You sure two of us is enough?” she muttered.

Jess chuckled, her eyes crinkling into a playful smile. “Probably not.”

“Guys, come on,” Scarlett called out, waving them over.

They spent a few minutes listening to the women explaining different arrangements and the logistics of having live versus fake flowers for different things throughout the wedding.

Then, when she was finished, she left the three of them to look over an assortment of beautiful bouquets.

Sam scanned over them, pointing out the few that caught her eye. Although she really had no idea what she was supposed to be looking for.

“So, according to Sam,” Scarlett cut in suddenly as she eyed one vase, “Tiana was not hanging all over her.”

Sam caught Jess as she stiffened before shooting Scarlett a mild glare.

Then she picked up a bouquet as she muttered, “Sam is also oblivious to women hitting on her.”

“What?” Sam jerked her head back. “That’s not true.”

“It’s definitely true,” Scarlett said as she ambled over to the next row of flowers.

Sam pursed her lips. “Okay, maybe it’s been true a few times before.” Scarlett gave her a pointed look, arching one brow. “But Tiana’s different. I’ve known her for like half my life. She’s like that with everyone.”

Scarlett walked further down the aisle, muttering something beneath her breath that Sam couldn’t quite make out.

Jess stayed close by, eyes trailing over the flowers before them. “You guys knew each other before high school?”

“Yeah,” Sam answered with a nod as she rested her hands in her pockets.

Jess hummed, tilting her head back as if thinking something through. “Did she know Liz, too?”

Somehow, in the few minutes since arriving, she’d managed to forget about Liz entirely. With how easily they’d slipped back into a sense of normalcy, she’d forgotten exactly how much had really changed.

“Uh—no,” Sam replied, shaking her head as she moved further down the aisle. “Liz and I were friends a couple years before I met Tiana.”

Jess nodded slowly, and Sam could see the wheels turning in her mind. She knew that look. It reminded her of when they’d first met and she would ask her questions about her past, careful never to push too hard. Which made it all that much easier to open up.

“We were in one of the same homes together,” she continued, giving Jess the answer to the question she knew she wanted, but wouldn’t ask.

“Oh,” Jess said quietly, glancing up at her with a slightly surprised look in her eyes.

Sam cocked her head. “Why do you look surprised?”

Jess shrugged lightly. “You never mentioned her before.”

Sam turned, looking back at the row of arrangements. “We don’t get to see each other often. She bounces around a lot. Never really liked to stay in one place for long.”

Jess nodded slowly, her lips tightening in the way they always did when she wanted to say something, but held back.

“What about these?” Scarlett called out.

Sam looked up to see Scarlett making her way back toward them with an enormous bouquet clutched tightly between her hands.

“Oh, those are gorgeous,” Jess replied, stepping around the end of the aisle toward her.

Sam looked them up and down, and although they looked almost the exact same as half of the others she’d pointed out so far, she nodded along anyway. “Yeah,” she said, trying to add some enthusiasm to her tone. “They’re great.”

The corner of Jess’ lips quirked upward as she shot her an amused glance.

“Ugh,” Scarlett groaned. “But it’s not exactly what I was picturing.”

“What did you have in mind?” Sam asked, trying to find any possible way to be helpful.

“Something with greenery,” Scarlett muttered, eyes narrowing as she twisted it in her hand, examining them meticulously.

Sam stared down, scanning the countless green leaves poking out of the bouquet. “Is that not what that is?” she muttered, throwing a nod at it.

Scarlett huffed, shaking her head. “Yeah, but—not like that.”

Sam arched a brow as she nodded slowly. She could understand some of the most complex software and mathematics problems known to man, but apparently figuring out wedding arrangements was where her brain drew the line.

“Right,” she muttered.

“What about this one?” Scarlett asked, holding up a new bouquet.

Sam held back from pointing out that it seemed to have even less greenery than the last one.

“Pretty,” Jess said with a nod, looking it over.

“Sam,” Scarlett said, glancing up at her, “what do you think?”

She cleared her throat, raking over it as she tried to find any detail that seemed different from the others. “Honestly? It looks basically the same as the others, but bigger. Too big. It’d probably block most of your dress.”

Scarlett cocked her head, peering down at it again. “Hmph. I think you’re right.” She set it back on the shelf beside her. “See. I told you I needed you here. You think of all the things I never would.”

Jess leaned closer into her side, lowering her voice as she whispered, “hope you cleared your afternoon. We might be here a while.”

Sam blew out a breath. “Pretty sure Caleb’s gonna call me any minute to come rushing back.”

Jess gave her a look, then glanced away, the muscle in her jaw ticking. “Guess some things never change.”

***

Three Years and Ten Months Earlier

Sam frowned, looking down at the text from Jess asking about their plans for the night.

She typed out and sent a quick reply, letting her know she’d be working late and wouldn’t be able to come over.

That was the third night that week she’d had to cancel. And although she knew Jess understood how busy she was, it hurt to go that long without seeing her.

The early mornings and late nights had begun to pile up. Every day it seemed like the already never ending list of things to do grew further and further. And each time she cancelled their plans, the guilt was almost unbearable.

But that wasn’t even the worst part. It was watching Jess try to conceal her disappointment that really twisted the knife.

Sam dropped her phone on the desk, forcing herself to ignore the now familiar surge of guilt in her stomach as she focused back in on the work she needed to finish that night.

The steady tapping of Caleb typing behind her drowned out her thoughts. And she couldn’t tell how much time had passed before she eventually heard the door to the tiny apartment creak open.

“Hey,” Jess said with a smile as she stepped past the threshold, balancing a paper bag beneath her arm.

Sam blinked once, then twice, as her tired eyes slowly absorbed the sight. Then a smile tugged across her face.

“You’re here,” she said, in more of a statement than a question.

“I hope that’s food,” Caleb mumbled from where he sat at the second small desk in the far corner.

Jess crossed the few steps toward Sam, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek before setting the bag on the desk in front of her.

“I figured you guys hadn’t eaten dinner yet.”

Sam’s lips curled into a contented smile. “Thank you.”

Jess rounded the back of the chair, running her hand up Sam’s arm and onto her shoulder before giving the tense muscles a gentle squeeze.

Sam leaned back, releasing a deep exhale as she rested her head against her chest.

“I’m glad you came,” she mumbled.

Caleb stood and strode toward them, plucking the paper bag off the desk.

Jess ran her other hand across Sam’s chest in a soothing motion. “Three days was too long to go without seeing you.”

Sam couldn’t help the way she stiffened slightly at the words, each one reminding her of the conversation she’d had with Caleb earlier that day. Reminding her of the near impossible decision she’d had to make.

Caleb shot her a weary glance, and by the way Jess’ hand stilled against her chest, she knew Jess had caught it, too.

He cleared his throat in an unusually awkward way.“I’m gonna go stretch my legs,” he mumbled. “I’ve been sitting at that desk for too long today.”

He made his way out the door, avoiding both their looks as he closed it behind him.

Jess remained still behind her, staring after him. “Well, that was weird,” she mumbled.

Sam shifted in the chair, running a hand across the back of her neck, her brain sprinting through the million different things she could say.

But in all those options, nothing felt right.

Jess weaved around the chair, brows furrowing slightly as she peered down at her. “What’s wrong?”

Sam exhaled slowly, but it failed to quell the anxiety bubbling up in her chest. “We’ve been talking more about the idea of going to Austin to sign that new client and work with their team.”

Jess’ throat bobbed as she swallowed.

She waited for Jess to say something. Anything.

But she remained silent. And within her eyes lay something deep. Some sadness that looked eerily familiar. Something she’d only seen once before.

The day she’d told her she was leaving for MIT.

“You’re gonna do it, aren’t you?” Jess whispered.

Sam closed her eyes, releasing a breath before finally looking up at her.

She nodded once.

“How long?” Jess asked, and the fragile tone in her voice instantly made her want to change her mind. To rush out and tell Caleb they couldn’t do it. That they had to figure something else out.

But she couldn’t.

They’d already had that conversation. And she knew how it would end.

They needed this. She needed this. She needed to make something of herself. And this was her chance.

“A few months,” she answered. “Maybe more.”

Jess nodded slowly, closing her eyes. “What does that mean for us?”

“Nothing has to change,” Sam answered, the words rushing out as if the speed would make them true—would cement them into being. “We can go back to how things were. We can—we can call and Facetime and—“

Jess shook her head, and the look on her face was all she needed to see to know the answer.

“I can’t,” she whispered. “I can’t spend another four years—”

Jess paused, tilting her head back as she squeezed her eyes shut.

And all at once, Sam felt the one thing she’d held onto all that time slipping away.

“I can’t do it again, living my life around texts and calls,” Jess whispered, opening her eyes to reveal two pools of wetness. “I can’t wait anymore.”