Nearby, employees clocked out of their shifts. They carried the odors of their jobs with them, the sweat and stink of their labors, as they shuffled into their cars or walked the long paths down the dark roads. Their bodies sagged and heaved from the burdens of the day. Their feet shuffled against the dirt. They moved like ghosts in the distant periphery, visible only to those who believed in seeing. They would come again tomorrow, and the day after, but now they made their way home. Mira wondered if they turned to look at what was behind them. She wondered if they thought what they saw was beautiful too.

VII.

MIRA RAN OUT from under the tent, hoping to catch up with Jesse. His dark shadow walked on a path ahead of her and she rushed toward it. “Hey, Jesse, wait up,” she said, breathing hard when she’d finally reached him. She touched his shoulder, startling him around.

At first Jesse didn’t seem to know who she was. His face made a pinched look when he got angry, and she saw what he’d been trying to hide from the others, but then she caught his flash of recognition and his expression softened.

“Mira?” Jesse stared at her, his confusion fading. Up close, she studied the changes in the man Jesse had become. He was tall, almost six feet, but the way he hunched his shoulders made her wonder if at times he felt insecure over his height and the amount of space he took up in the world. He’d grown a beard. His skin was darker, tanned from working in the summer sun. His skin managed to be smooth and wrinkle-free, despite both of them nearing the age to begin to be concerned about such things. If he shaved she imagined people would assume him to be in college.

“The prodigal girl returns,” Jesse said.

Mira had missed his teasing. His mouth opened to say something else and she braced herself to hear a joke about her dress or the heels she could barely walk in, but he hesitated, appearing to change his mind. “What are you doing here, Mira?” he asked instead.

“I haven’t seen you in ten years and that’s the question you want to ask me? How about, ‘How are you?’” she responded, trying to keep her tone light in the hope they’d settle into banter. “Besides, Celine invited me, and I—”

“And you—” Jesse interrupted, frowning. “You should go on back inside to the party. It’s almost over. Don’t want to miss what you came for.”

“I’ve been searching for you all day. Since I got here. You really think I’m going to leave now that I’ve found you?”