Victoria yawned into her fist. “I couldn’t sleep until, I don’t know, four in the morning. I woke up late and didn’t have time to wait in line for coffee, so I’m running on empty.”

Paula crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the door jam. “You’ve been running on empty for a decade.”

“Let’s skip the judgement today,” Victoria said. “I need positive energy only.”

“Alright then, I’m positive that you’re digging your own grave, kiddo. And with every shovelful, you become even more gleefully delusional. How’s that?”

Victoria let her head fall against her desk with a groan. If she had even an ounce of Paula’s confidence or a crumb of her bombastic attitude, she’d be making fearless decisions all over the place. “Keepin’ It Real Rules?”

“Exactly. You’re juggling the wrong balls.”

She snorted against the surface of her desk. “Never mind the other ones,” she muttered. “I’ve effectively dismissed those.”

“Things didn’t work out with Sweatpants Viking?”

Victoria shook her head. “I don’t think they did.”

The quiet pause made Victoria lift her head. She expected Paula to wear the “told ya so” expression she was known for, but found sympathy instead. Paula finally stepped inside, closing the door behind her. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head again, a lump forming in her throat. Victoria was forced to swallow it down because there was no time to deal with feelings. Not at Pembroke.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Victoria whispered. She rubbed the space between her brows and grimaced. The sudden lack of coffee was bringing on withdrawal symptoms, yet another wrinkle in her day.

“When you do want to talk about it, we can have another wine night with Reggi,” Paula said as she ran her fingers through Victoria’s braids. Paula only mothered her when she was heading straight for a meltdown. The last semester of their master’s program had been so terrible that, more than once, Victoria had found herself in Paula’s arms, breathing through a panic attack.

Perhaps this is not a good sign.

“Do you want to look through Instagram hairstyles to calm you down?” Paula asked. “You like looking at natural hair tutorials.”

Victoria nodded. “Yes, please.”

As Paula scrolled through afro puff, cornrows, and beautiful lace-fronts, she felt her heart rate slow. Victoria relaxed her shoulders and let her mind wander. Not surprising, she drifted back to John and the scene she had escaped. She’d hurt him. She had seen as much in his eyes, the way he’d frowned in confusion. He had reached out for her and she had swiftly moved away. She’d fled.