Chapter Eighteen

Gray had been willing to help Niko taunt Jenn because she was intrigued by the drama, but once things turned messy, she'd realized the fun of the moment wasn't worth it. Jenn had seemed genuinely upset, and clearly Niko's troubles were too complex for Gray to unwittingly insert herself into them. With four dates left, one of each element, Gray was determined to finish the challenge without instigating any more food fights. And since sexy times weren't in the cards with Scorpio, that meant Pisces would be Gray's last chance to sleep with a water sign before the end of the challenge. Gray could cross that bridge when she came to it. She had three more dates to find first.

A knock on her door interrupted Gray's scrolling through Sagittarius profiles on Mercurious. She opened it to find Robbie balancing a stack of boxes and plastic bins.

"Morning, Gray," Robbie said, his elbow resting on a box that, according to the outside, held a crib. "Sorry to bother you, but Cherry and I are switching out a bunch of River's baby stuff for toddler stuff and I was wondering if you had any spare room to store some of this."

Gray rubbed the back of her neck, eyeing the teetering pile. "I'm not sure. It's a little tight up here, but maybe I can move some things around. Isn't there space in the garage?"

"Yeah, but it's not temperature controlled," Robbie said. "And since we're hoping to use this stuff again, we don't want it to get damaged."

"Right, right," Gray said. "Yeah, of course. I'll make it work."

After helping Robbie stack the boxes against the wall outside her door, Gray entered her apartment and looked around, trying to decide how she could rearrange her things to make room for storage. But as she thought about squeezing the remnants of her Tulsa life into an even smaller footprint, a realization dawned on her: It was time to get her own place.

Living with Cherry and Robbie had been perfect for relocating to a new city on a short timeline. And since she'd moved directly from her parents' house to college dorms to her home with McKenzie, Gray wasn't sure she knew how to live alone. Having her friends just down a flight of stairs kept her loneliness at bay. Gray's hope that finding her soulmate and starting a family was right around the corner had made it easy to justify living off Cherry and Robbie's generosity. But her savings combined with her new salary was plenty to afford a place of her own. And with River growing up and another baby potentially coming soon, Cherry and Robbie needed their house back.

After shifting around the furniture in her room to clear a corner for River's things, Gray switched lanes from searching for a Sagittarius to searching for the perfect apartment. Her dating adventures had taken her to several interesting neighborhoods around town, historic and modern, trendy downtown and family neighborhoods. But Gray couldn't imagine living too far from her chosen family. She found several good options in neighborhoods near Cherry and Robbie's house, a few of which offered tours that very afternoon. After making a short list, she still had some questions about the local housing market and rental process. Her friends were busy setting up River's new toddler furniture. And in any case, Gray didn't want to make them feel like they had pushed her out, especially after she'd already responded poorly to Cherry's news that they were trying to get pregnant. So instead, she called her next-closest friend in the city.

Veronica picked up after only one ring. "Gray! I was just thinking about you."

"You were?" Gray said.

"I'm preparing some materials for next week's board meeting," Veronica said. "I was trying to figure out how to present the current student registration numbers and new state testing protocols without the whole meeting descending into chaos. I was wishing I could do that thing you do where you make problems sound like opportunities."

Gray laughed and settled into her favorite armchair. "Classic PR trick. Being a glass-half-full person is practically a job requirement. I can take a look at whatever you're working on, if you'd like."

"That would be helpful," Veronica said. "But hey, why did you call?"

"Well, I could use a little perspective from a New Orleans person. A New Orleander? A New Orleandickan?"

"A New Orleanian," Veronica said, a smile audible through the phone.

"New Orleanian, right," Gray said, smiling back. "I'm doing a little apartment hunting this morning and was wondering if you had any recommendations. Neighborhoods, apartment complexes, management companies, realtors. Any advice would be great, since finding a home in the Big Easy seems to be big hard."

"Gray," Veronica said, her voice serious. "I've been training for this moment my whole life. I scroll through Zillow to help me fall asleep at night. I'm literally watching HGTV right now."

"Really?"

"Really!" Veronica said. "Tell me what you're looking for."

With Veronica's enthusiastic support, Gray felt her stress melt away, the exact opposite response to their first conversation when Veronica nearly had her fired. They talked for a while about Gray's must-haves, budget, and ideal local amenities. When Gray mentioned some of the apartments she was eyeing, Veronica demanded that she send her the links, and soon they were flipping through online listings together, comparing pros and cons. Gray listed the units she was planning to tour that afternoon.

"Can I come with you?" Veronica asked.

"Oh my god, are you serious? That would be amazing," Gray said. "To be honest, I've never toured homes alone before. I was always looking with my ex."

"I hadn't either before my divorce," Veronica said. "It's definitely better to have a second set of eyes. And since Karys is with her dad this weekend, I'd love to have something else to do with my Saturday afternoon besides work."

"So it's a win-win," Gray said, suddenly looking forward to her search for a new home instead of dreading it. "I'll pick you up in an hour."

It was hard for Gray to believe how quickly things had moved once Veronica was involved in the apartment hunt. She'd come to understand Principal Veronica, Mom Veronica, and a bit of Friend Veronica, but Gray was surprised to find that Real Estate Veronica was a different persona entirely. She was optimistic, visionary, delighted by the tiniest details. Gray had never seen Veronica more amped up than when she was espousing the benefits of a good ceiling fan.

The decision to start looking for a new place in earnest had only struck Gray that morning, and by dinnertime, she'd signed a yearlong lease on a two-bedroom apartment with hardwood floors, exposed brick, and lots of windows in the Lower Garden District. The tastefully maintained historic building was on a shady oak-lined street tucked between an artsy antiques store and a vegan café. Veronica had somehow managed to negotiate the monthly rent down by two hundred dollars.

Later, as Gray and Veronica were enjoying banh mi at a small Vietnamese restaurant down the block from her new place, Gray was still marveling at the pictures she'd taken of the apartment during the tour. "Can you believe the breakfast bar?" Gray said, zooming in on a photo of the kitchen and showing it to Veronica.

"All the beautiful architecture of the French Quarter at half the price," Veronica said. "I told you we should look upriver. And it's only a ten-minute drive from my house."

Gray glowed, pleased that Veronica wanted her nearby. Having such a meaningful friendship after only a couple of months made Gray feel like New Orleans really could be her new home.

"So how'd that date go yesterday?" Veronica asked. "Scorpio, right?"

Gray took a bite of her banh mi and chewed over Veronica's question. "I think ‘bizarre' is the only word to describe it. Or maybe ‘farcical.'?"

As Gray told her the full story of her lunch with Niko, Veronica was surprised and delighted in equal measure. "I'm sorry for the wild ride, but I've got to say I'm enjoying living vicariously through you," she said when Gray finished. "All of the excitement without any of the personal drama."

"I'm glad someone's enjoying it, because I don't know that I'm much closer to finding my soulmate than when I started," Gray confessed. "I thought the answer would be clearer than this."

"Well, you're not done yet, right?" Veronica said. "What sign is next?"

"Sagittarius."

"Do you have a date with a Sagittarius lined up?"

Gray nodded. "Meeting tomorrow for coffee and a walk through Crescent Park around ten. Arielle. She's an interpreter, speaks like four languages or something. And she has a cute cat named Pistachio."

"Cute cats are always a good sign." Veronica looked at some of the jalape?os Gray had removed from her sandwich and left on her plate. "Can I have those?"

Gray nodded and slid her plate closer to Veronica, who swept them onto her own dish and popped one into her mouth. Gray flinched. "Wait, you're eating raw jalape?os just, like, by themselves?"

"Yes, they're delicious," Veronica said, her face entirely calm.

Gray knew if she'd bitten into a slice of raw jalape?o, she'd be crying in pain. "Just like that? Seeds and all?"

Veronica swallowed, shrugged, and tossed another slice onto her tongue. "I like the tingly sensation on my taste buds. What, you don't eat spicy peppers?"

"Sure I do," Gray said, immediately defensive. "Just, like, not on its own like that. Mixed into a stir-fry or on a pizza or something."

"Yet you pulled them off of your sandwich just now," Veronica said.

"Yeah, well, I don't look as cute as you when I eat them," Gray said. "You're practically glowing with Scovilles. I get all red and blotchy and teary-eyed."

"They're the best-kept secret of my beauty routine," Veronica said, striking a pose with her chin resting on her hand. At the uncharacteristic gesture, Gray wondered if her own goofiness was starting to rub off on Veronica. "Anyway, the dating challenge. I don't think I know anything about Sagittarius. What's their deal?"

"From what I've gathered, they like to go off the beaten path. Enjoy rooting for the underdog. Appreciate unique experiences and travel." Gray paused to take a sip of her smoothie. "And they're fire signs, like me. I've liked the first two fire signs I met, so I guess I'm expecting it to go well." She stopped short of explaining to Veronica that she'd had exhilarating sexual encounters with both fire signs, deciding it was a bit much for her straight friend.

"So maybe your third fire sign will provide some of the clarity you're looking for," Veronica said. "What's your sign again?"

"Aries."

Veronica nodded. "And what are Aries supposed to be like?"

"Go-getters. Competitive. Enthusiastic. Passionate."

"That sounds like you," Veronica said.

Gray sat up a little straighter, pleased. "What's your sign?" she asked. They'd talked plenty about astrology but not about where Veronica fell in the zodiac. "No, wait. Let me guess. Gemini?"

"What makes you think that?" Veronica asked, a playful look on her face.

"You're so different at work than you are now that I've gotten to know you outside of the school," Gray said. "Geminis are ‘the twins' because they're…What's a nice way of saying two-faced?"

Veronica laughed. "Multilayered? Full of surprises?" she offered.

"Exactly. Not that it's a bad thing! My best friend, Cherry, is a Gemini, and I obviously love the shit out of her," Gray said. "So am I right? You're a Gemini?"

Suspense built while Veronica drank from her Vietnamese coffee. Finally, she finished and shook her head. "Guess again."

"Damn." Gray thought for a moment before landing on a second hunch. "Are you an Aries like me?" Veronica didn't answer, instead gesturing for Gray to continue with her reasoning. "You're obviously a go-getter, considering you were made principal at such a young age. And I feel like we, you know, get each other. We have similarities."

A small smile curled Veronica's lips. "I agree that we ‘get each other.' But I'm not an Aries."

"Okay, okay, one more try." Gray reflected on the dates she'd been on so far. None of the people she'd met seemed much like the woman sitting across from her. Maybe she was one of the signs Gray hadn't yet dated or learned much about. "Capricorn? You could be an earth sign because you're so grounded, and I'm pretty sure Capricorns are also passionate about their careers."

"Nope," Veronica said.

Gray huffed out a frustrated breath. "All right, then, I give up. What are you?"

"Aquarius."

"Oh! I haven't gotten to Aquarius yet," Gray said. "But aren't they, like, hippies and free spirits or whatever?"

Veronica assumed a mock-offended expression. "Is my spirit not free enough for you?"

"I guess you were wearing tie-dye that first time I saw you in the park. Anyway, most of what I know about Aquariuses I learned from Hair." She sang a few lines about the dawning of the age of Aquarius until Veronica stopped her, laughing.

"You'll have to tell me what you learn about Aquariuses after your date," Veronica said. "Maybe they'll win the whole thing. Is it weird if I'm rooting for them?"

"Not weird," Gray said. "You've got to root for the home team. I'd be rooting for Aries if I hadn't already learned my lesson with McKenzie."

Veronica slurped the last of her coffee. "So when are you going to move into the new place?"

"The lease technically starts on March thirty-first, so I guess I'll try to move everything before my birthday on April fourth so I can wake up in my new digs," Gray said, mapping out the timeline in her head.

"Do you need movers?" Veronica asked. "One of the dads in the PTA owns a moving company. I bet I could get him to give you a discount."

"For real? That would be amazing," Gray said. "I thought I could make it to thirty before being too old to move my own stuff, but last time I pulled something in my shoulder carrying my dresser up the stairs."

"Save that energy for packing and unpacking." Veronica looked down at her watch. "You should probably get started now, since you've only got a little over a week. Mind dropping me off on your way home?"

Gray agreed, although she felt a smidge disappointed that her day with Veronica was coming to an end. They said goodbye with a hug once they reached Veronica's house, and Gray promised to update her on her Sagittarius date during their next meeting at the middle school. Somehow Gray seemed to actually look forward to Monday mornings now.