I sit on the couch, not knowing what to do.

“All set. You can take your luggage into your room, change, make yourself at home.” She smiles. “Have you been sitting there since I left? Make yourself at home, just don’t leave the terrace doors open because Marcel has Houdini tendencies. Are you hungry?” she asks.

“Not really,” I say.

“You have to eat something. A fainting employee is of no use to me,” she says with a wink. “How about a cold-cut platter, wine and for entertainment, a movie?”

“You’re going out of your way to be the perfect host,” I say.

“At least for tonight,” she says with a big smile. “Want to make a good first impression.”

I laugh. “That sounds great.”

“I’ll get the food ready. If you want to change, shower, unpack, we have time. When you’re done, can you pick the movie? I have all the streaming apps you could possibly want.”

I laugh quietly.

“What can I say? I lead an exciting life. The remote is there,” she says and points toward the table in front of the couch.

I take my suitcases to my room. Celine has changed the sheets, and there’s a pleasant coconut smell in the air—I see the plug-in air freshener by the door. There’s a set of brand new towels on the side of the tub in my en-suite bathroom and everything is so clean and inviting.

I must repay Celine’s kindness somehow. You don’t often meet people like her.

I take a quick shower, change and leave the unpacking until later. I choose three movies: Love Affair from 1939, The Last Time I saw Paris from 1954 and A Star is Born from 1937. She goes for Love Affair, which is my first choice too. We’re at the part where Irene Dunne is on the couch and I remember that was one of my crazy scenarios. What if something happened to Max and that’s why he didn’t come, and he didn’t call? Alisa told me it was doubtful, and she was right. Nothing happened. He just chose not to show up.

Alisa texts me. No news from me. Yet. How was your first day?

Good. Long. My feet hurt.

What are you doing?

Just finished dinner and now watching a movie.

Alone?

With Celine.

Aha. No news?

Not yet. Didn’t want to be too obvious and ask her anything just yet.

But you know you have to, right? Alrighty. Night night.

Both Celine and I cry at the end of the movie. We all have baggage, and as we grow older, it gets heavier. I wonder what her baggage is and why is someone like her single? She’s beautiful, kind, smart, successful. Compared to her, I’m a failure. A work in progress, as my mother says. I’ve been a work in progress for as long as I can remember.

Thirty-Three

June 6

Thursday at the café is the same as Wednesday. Both Celine and I work until ten, ten-thirty, then we walk home. David calls several times and texts everything from You’re making a mistake to I feel so betrayed, and What will I tell my friends and my family? Celine asks me if I want to talk about it, but I don’t. There’s nothing to talk about. Although, obviously, David disagrees. His last text message, late at night, has a different tone. He’s asking me nicely to answer. He says he wants to talk to me, and he won’t give up. I don’t reply.