“They were at Sophie and Bee’s yesterday, they just showed up. I didn’t stay long.”

She imagined the scene: the cute, feminine apartment, the group gathering on their coordinated living room furniture. Maybe someone ordered takeout and Danial volunteered to go grab it, always so gallant with that sort of thing. And Daphne would have insisted on joining him, holding his hand on the walk up the block, helping him carry it back. And after they all ate, she would have sat on his lap on the overstuffed loveseat, resting her beautiful blonde head against his chest, the rumbling depth of his laugh vibrating against her when someone made a joke.

“Did they look happy?” She asked the question with an almost eerie detachment, her voice and mind once again separating as they had many times over the past few days.

“I wasn’t paying attention.”

“It’s okay if they did, you know.” She took a deep breath, so exhausted from hours of jagged crying that she could only feel hollow resignation. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Why are you doing this to yourself?” His brows knitted in a pleading, anxious way. “I’m really worried about you.”

Her eyes involuntarily darted away from his.

“You don’t need to worry about me.” She shook her head, taking a defiant swig of orange juice from her chipped glass. She had allowed herself a moment of indulgence, of reaching her hand to the hot stove of Danial’s happiness, but that would be the extent of it. It was time to reclaim herself. “I’m going to be fine.”

“That’s… good to hear.” Paul reached for his own glass, taking a nervous sip before continuing. “So, are you still coming to Dev’s graduation brunch tomorrow?”

“Absolutely fucking not.” The words came out in a half-laugh, startled at the implication. Turning again to face him, she added, “I’m not going to anything except my parents’ house for a few weeks, then Athens.”

“Athens… New York?”

“Athens, Greece.” She smiled.

There was another, brief silence, and Alex saw his face flicker through a series of emotions before settling on cautiously concerned.

“NPR is letting you intern from Greece?”

“No, I quit!” Alex rose to her feet, doing a delirious sort of dance in front of her armchair, bathrobe swinging to and fro.

“Holy shit, what?” He looked up at her, deadly serious. “You haven’t even started yet.”

“I sent them a note and told them I would be giving up my spot. I honestly couldn’t afford to live in the city and work for a stipend, anyway, so who gives a shit?” She walked over to the stereo, turning up the music and closing her eyes as she swayed along.