She shouldn’t have been surprised that everyone closest to her was concerned her breakup with Damian may have ruined her favorite time of year.

She was waiting on her apartment’s elevator when her cell phone rang. Cosima glanced at her phone and grinned when she realized her best friend, Audrey, was calling.

“Are you calling to do Dorothy Stratton’s bidding?” Cosima asked by way of introduction. She expected Audrey to beat around the bush, but her best friend chose to be straight up instead of pretending her mother hadn’t tried to launch a sneak attack. She appreciated the logic of her mother’s reasoning. If she was afraid or ashamed to open up to Dorothy, who else could she be honest with other than the woman who’d grown up with her, from pigtails to navigating the highs and lows of an adulthood nobody could ever be prepared for?

“I’m fine, Auds,” she said with a small chuckle. “Although I’m honestly getting kinda aggravated at how everybody seems convinced I’m lying or something.”

Her best friend laughed. “Being dramatic suits you. Keep it up. Look, I understand how frustrating it might be, but it’s not like you’d be acting any differently if you were concerned for someone you cared about.”

“I get that,” she said, stepping onto the elevator and pressing the button that would take her to the lobby. “But I’ve been patient explaining that I’m okay. Half the reason I’m choosing to spend Christmas alone is because I really don’t want to deal with the same concern you’re talking about. I don’t want people looking at me with sympathy-filled eyes over their glasses of eggnog, and I don’t want anybody to think I’m pretending to be okay when they see I’m fine.” She allowed her voice to soften. “Too fine, perhaps.”

Audrey didn’t speak right away. Cosima figured she was trying to take in that tidbit of information, so she waited in silence until her friend quipped, “You’re either in shock, or you’ve just accepted your relationship needed to be taken off life support at least two years ago.”

Cosima’s mouth dropped open. “Oh no, you’re dead wrong for that.”

Audrey didn’t backtrack, but Cosima hadn’t expected her to. Instead, her boisterous laughter filled the phone. She could imagine her friend sitting on her couch, braids pulled up into an updo, sipping on wine as she said, “I will always call a spade a spade, boo. Why are you getting at me for treating you the way you claim you want to be treated? No babying here…no tiptoeing. Just the truth. You know I have love for your ex, but I watched you guys be good until you were just…meh. I’m happy that both of you get to find your person.”