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You look like you're settled in for a while, what's the plan? | killing time for an old friend who said two o'clock and it's now two forty-five. spotted a kid at the next table trying to build a castle out of sugar packets, really committed to the architecture, makes you wonder who taught him that |
wait you got what in the mail this morning? | wall street journal. mentioned our little app by name. |
did you even know they were looking at you guys? | not a clue. just woke up to my phone exploding. |
wait so how much extra did they give you? | enough that i did a double take on the bank app |
does that mean you're finally treating yourself to something stupid? | thinking about a mini fridge for the hotel room tbh |
so did anyone actually say anything or was it just the dead silence after? | nope. complete silence for like four full seconds then the project manager just goes 'well that was a nice break for some of us'. didn't even crack a smile. |
you think they'll ever let you live it down? | doubt it. debbie from accounting already made a snoring sound effect when i walked past the break room. fifty-three years old and i'm the office alarm clock now. |
oh god, what happened, you look rattled | some lunatic in a beat-up silver sedan nearly killed me on the way here, I'm not even joking, he swerved into my lane from the right and I had to stomp the brake pedal so hard it felt like the car might flip, and the worst part is there was a school bus right in front of me, like, maybe two car lengths ahead, and if I'... |
did you even get any sleep before the flight or were you just staring at the ceiling all night | nope, passed out on the floor actually. woke up to the boarding announcement and thought maybe the whole rejection was just a bad dream. nope, still real. |
you want me to grab you a coffee or something before we board | yeah maybe something with caffeine and like a lot of sugar. still can't believe i practiced the interview questions in the mirror for two weeks and it all just went nowhere. |
what happened earlier you looked kinda wrecked when you got on | snored so loud in the 3pm standup someone recorded it |
did you seriously just nod off on the bus too | oh god the meeting snore thing keeps replaying in my head |
you're just staring at people? | obviously. i think 12A is actually three raccoons in a trenchcoat |
what's got you looking at your phone like it just bit you? | some law firm emailed me at six in the morning. subject line just says 'urgent matter regarding your property' and now i'm standing here holding a juice box like it's a shield. |
you seem more on edge than the birthday kid hyped on sugar, what's going on? | woke up to a lawyer's email and my brain immediately went 'congrats, you're being sued for that time you returned a plant to home depot.' still don't know if it's serious or just a parking ticket from 1987. |
remember when you said you'd pack the kettle last so you could make tea till the end? | kettle's been in a box for three days. tap water's fine honestly. what's a little more suffering at this point. |
didn't you say the new place has a dishwasher though? | yeah well it also has a stack of boxes i'm using as a nightstand so the dishwasher can wait its turn. |
so what's the deal with the laundry pile i keep seeing in your stories? | it's basically a mountain at this point. both kids got sick at the same time and i just... stopped caring about sorting anything. it's towels and tiny socks everywhere. |
how do you even function when they're both down like that? | honestly? you just don't. i've been running on like three hours of sleep and a cold cup of coffee. the laundry's been sitting in the basket for days now and i keep telling myself tomorrow. |
wait what happened with the kids? | both of them came down with something at the same time. laundry's piled up to the ceiling and I'm just sitting here in the back of this car wondering if I've brushed my own teeth today. |
what went down tonight? | j-juggled two sick kids and a mountain of laundry. the washing machine's been running for six hours straight and I still can't see the floor of the bedroom. |
what's got you grinning like that all of a sudden? | you know that scratch ticket i threw in the glovebox like four months ago? the one from the gas station when we got those slushies? i just found it cleaning out old receipts and figured eh what's the harm and i swear to god i had to read it like six times because my brain just would not process the numbers. i was sitti... |
why are you just sitting in the car instead of coming inside? | because i think my brain short circuited for a minute there. remember that little lottery thing i did on my phone back in january? the one where you pick numbers and then forget you ever did it? well apparently it actually paid out and i only found out because i got this email that looked like spam and nearly deleted i... |
someone just buy your coffee or what? | yeah just a total stranger. made my whole week honestly. |
what's with the goofy grin over there? | some kid left a note with my latte. feels nice being seen like that. |
what were you doing out there on the bench this late, thought you had that big meeting tomorrow | counting the streetlights, one for every coffee today |
you look wiped, did you even eat anything before you left the house | cold pizza and pure spite, that's the fuel now |
remember that time you called your third grade teacher mom and the whole class laughed? | oh this was way worse because at least back then i could blame it on being a kid you know. on a zoom call with my boss and her whole team and i just looked right into the camera and said 'okay thanks mom love you' before i even realized what came out. the silence was like five full seconds and then my boss goes 'well t... |
didn't you do something similar at grandma's birthday party last year? | kind of but at least there it was just family and they still bring it up for laughs. this was my boss on a professional video call with like twelve people who all saw me freeze mid-sentence after i said 'thanks mom' to her. she just raised an eyebrow and went 'i don't think i'm old enough to be your mother but i'll tak... |
what are you gonna do when they're gone? | you know, i keep thinking maybe i'll just keep hiking this trail every evening like we used to. maybe that'll make it feel like they're just... late, you know? like they'll show up around the bend any second complaining about the hill. but it's already dark out here and the stars are wrong somehow. last week we sat on ... |
any idea what comes next for you? | honestly i've been thinking about that bench at the trailhead. the one with the loose board. we always said we'd fix it together. now i'm just staring at it in the dark like it's some kind of monument. my friend i haven't seen in years called yesterday and i couldn't even talk because my voice kept catching. i mean wha... |
wait, the whole suitcase with your dress and his tux in it? | yeah everything. shoes, my veil, his cufflinks. that bag had six months of planning in it and some luggage handler just yeeted it into a black hole apparently. |
so what did the airline say when you called? | gave me some tracking number and a promise to 'look into it'. like that's gonna undo the fact my wedding is in four days and i'm standing here in yesterday's jeans. |
what are you still doing up, it's like 2am | oh just watching him sleep. he's got his face all squished into the pillow and one arm hanging off the bed like a kid. it's the most ridiculous thing i've ever seen and i feel like the luckiest person alive right now. |
you're just standing in the doorway, everything okay? | yeah everything's fine. just can't stop looking at him. he does this thing where he sighs in his sleep and reaches out for where i should be. got that peaceful little smile going. makes me want to wake him up just to say thanks for existing. |
wait what happened? you look like you've seen a ghost | th-they gave me the director role. didn't even apply. |
you're white as a sheet, what's going on? | got a promotion. at three in the morning, apparently. |
so did the whole team hear you sawing logs or just the people next to you? | oh they all heard, no doubt about that. margaret from accounting tapped me on the shoulder and whispered 'you were really going for it there' and i wanted the floor to swallow me whole. seventy-three years old and snoring through a budget review. the worst part is i remember dreaming about my mother's meatloaf and appa... |
please tell me nobody recorded it for the company newsletter | not the newsletter but pretty sure greg from it got his phone out. saw him aiming it my way when i woke up with a snort. whole life flashes before your eyes in that moment, you know. twenty-five years of professional dignity gone because i had a late night with the crossword and one too many cups of tea. at least the d... |
remember how you said your mom used to call you every day at like noon? | yeah. now it's like three minutes if i'm lucky. just enough time to say she loves me and then she's too tired to talk. |
wasn't it you that told me about those three-minute phone calls with your dad? | yeah those were the long ones. now it's like thirty seconds of breathing and a 'love you bye' before i can even say it back. |
so is that your ride waiting out front or what? | nah that's just... my roommate actually. flew in from three states away. didn't even tell me. just showed up at baggage claim like it was nothing. |
you keep glancing at the window — expecting someone? | yeah. old friend from back home. been two years since i saw her. she landed an hour ago and i still can't believe she's actually here. like i'm gonna look up and she'll just be standing there. |
so which song did you absolutely murder tonight? | god it was that cheesy 80s power ballad, you know the one everybody thinks they know all the words to. i was so into it, belting out what i thought was the chorus, full eye-closed commitment, and then the actual words came on screen and i was just... completely off. my brain had merged like three different verses into ... |
did you at least recover or was it a full trainwreck? | oh it was a beautiful slow-motion trainwreck with no brakes. like i hit that wrong note and instead of fading out gracefully i just committed harder, started adding these dramatic hand gestures like i was feeling the fake lyrics deeply. there's a pause in the song where everyone's supposed to clap along and i kept goin... |
what are you gonna do about that mess on the rug then | oh i'm just gonna clean it up later. she looked up at me with those dumb eyes like she'd solved world peace. can't stay mad at that face. |
you think he knows he's in trouble or just clueless | absolutely clueless. trotted over with the whole roll of paper towels in his mouth like he was bringing me a gift. had to kiss that big wet nose. |
oh you've got that look again, what is it this time, is it another one of your three-am philosophy breakthroughs? | okay so you know how rain smells, right like that petrichor thing everyone talks about. i was standing under the shower head just now and thinking—what if buildings have a smell too, not just like wood or concrete but like a specific emotional smell that only certain people can catch. like your childhood home probably ... |
you're staring at the stars with that intense face, did you just figure out the meaning of life or something equally dramatic? | kind of but not really, more like a tangent—do you think pigeons ever get bored. like genuinely bored, not just sitting there looking dumb but like existential boredom where they're like what's the point of cooing again. because we think they're just living their best pigeon lives but maybe they have inner monologues t... |
wait, what happened? you look like you're about to explode | got front row tickets to see glass animals. literally refreshing the page for forty minutes and then they just appeared like a miracle. |
okay what's going on, you've got that grin | snagged front row for the band we've been obsessed with since college. my hands were actually shaking when i checked out. |
so what's your plan if she still doesn't show up in another ten minutes? | plan? what plan. honestly my brain is just running laps between 'call the school again' and 'maybe she's at a friend's house' and 'what if something actually bad happened' and then i start thinking about that one news story from last year and i have to physically shake my head to stop. like i know logically twenty minu... |
what're you gonna do, just sit here refreshing your messages? | pretty much yeah. like i could call her friend's mom but it's nine thirty at night and i don't wanna be that parent who freaks out over nothing. but also my thumb keeps hovering over the dial button anyway. it's this stupid loop where my brain says she's fine she's just being a teenager and then a second later i'm pict... |
dad, you look like you're gonna drool on that waiting room chair. that good, huh? | she's just... breathing. and it's the best thing i've seen all year. |
you're staring at mom like she's a painting in a museum or something. you okay? | never been more okay. look at her. just... look. |
what're you gonna do now? | probably just stand here and stare at the wall for a bit |
so are you gonna call them or what? | god no. that ship sailed forty years ago |
you see anything on the cameras yet or just the usual raccoon parade? | dude i heard footsteps on the porch and froze like a cartoon character |
so you're telling me the dog didn't even flinch at the noise? | nope. just dead weight on the couch. so i'm the security system now i guess |
any plan for when you see them again? | plan? my plan was to survive the toasts without dropping my fork. didn't exactly have a 'what if the person who ruined all romantic prospects for me in high school materializes at a random gas pump in a foreign country' contingency. honestly i think i said 'oh' like four times and then pretended my card wasn't working ... |
you've got that look again — what is it this time? | okay so you know how you're standing there brushing your teeth and your brain just goes completely sideways? i was just standing at the gate and it hit me — like what if clouds aren't actually water vapor but like the planet's way of sweating? i mean think about it, the ground gets hot all day and then just like a pers... |
that random thought just popped into your head, didn't it? | y-yeah actually i was watching that kid over there spinning in circles and it got me thinking — why do we stop doing that as adults? like spinning is genuinely fun and free and nobody tells you you're gonna get dizzy and fall over and that's somehow not okay anymore. we replaced it with coffee and spreadsheets and i th... |
wait why'd you just stop mid-sentence like that? | some woman in front of me at the store had on that same old perfume grandma wore. the one with the yellow bottle. caught me so off guard i just stood there breathing it in for a second. |
you get that look on your face sometimes — what's going through your head right now? | just thinking how one whiff of that powdery rose scent and i'm eight years old again in her kitchen. crazy how a stranger's perfume can just yank you right back like that. |
so the whole class heard your little snore symphony huh | dude it was like a freight train. never been so mortified. |
did anyone at least nudge you before it got awkward | woke up to everyone staring. wanted to die right there. |
wait that song from the middle school dances just came on your shuffle? | oh it's that 'hey there delilah' joint from like eighth grade. suddenly i'm twelve again and terrified of slow dancing in the gym. wild how a song can just yank you right back. |
you just got that look hearing those opening notes — which one was it? | the one where everyone formed those big awkward circles and nobody knew what to do with their hands. suddenly i'm smelling that weird mix of sweat and cheap body spray all over again. weirdly miss it though. |
remember how you said the parking spot by the door was your lucky find? | yeah now I just stare at it from the Uber and can't even remember what I studied yesterday |
that coffee shop you liked closed at ten, right? the one with the weird chairs? | yeah t-they changed the locks last week and I keep trying to finish sentences in my head that just sort of dissolve |
wait, did you accidentally become a package thief or what? | wrong name, right sweater. universe is weird, man. |
so you're telling me the universe just dropped your dream thing on the doorstep? | yeah, for 'some other Sarah.' definitely not complaining though. |
remember when you first told me about the way they breathe when they're really out? | yeah still catches me off guard every time |
that thing you mentioned about their sleeping face still get you? | goddamn right it does |
wait, what actually went down? | okay so jenna stands up there, flips to the slide i literally stayed up until 2am tuesday building, and goes 'so my approach was to restructure the pipeline first.' my approach. like girl we both know you were on vacation when i was debugging that thing at 11pm. and everyone's nodding and taking notes and i'm just sitt... |
hold up, what happened with that? | remember how i spent last weekend building that whole analytics dashboard from scratch? the one with the color-coded alerts you said looked like a candy store exploded? yeah so she presents it this morning, calls it 'her little passion project,' and the ceo actually said 'great initiative jenna.' and i'm just there wit... |
wait what happened in line? | this woman in front of me at the pharmacy smelled exactly like my grandma's lavender hand cream. just froze there like an idiot for a second. |
wait what happened just now? | some lady brushed past me getting out of the store and it was her perfume. you know the one with the lilies. didn't even realize i was smiling until i got in the car. |
you sure you're not just making this up to avoid finding our gate? | okay but why do they always board by rows that don't exist |
so you've been staring at that one guy for ten minutes now, what's the verdict? | he's definitely moving luggage for a secret society |
so did you slip the barista a little extra or what? | nothing like that. just paid it forward. left a little note saying hope your day goes easy. smallest thing ever but she looked like she needed it. |
oh what'd you do, buy them a whole bakery? | nah just the one coffee. tucked a napkin under the cup with 'you're doing good, keep going' scribbled on it. she smiled this tiny real smile. that was it. |
what's next for you after all this? | h-honestly? just gonna sit here and watch her eat fries like i used to |
you think you'll talk to him about it? | nah. kinda just wanna let him be, like i was back then |
okay you've been staring across the gym for like ten minutes what's the deal | this guy over by the cable machines has been doing the same bicep curl set for fifteen minutes but the thing is he's not even lifting he's just kind of holding the weight and staring at his reflection in the mirror like he's having a conversation with his own bicep and i think his form is actually getting worse every r... |
so you're telling me you've been camped on that bench the whole time what's the best thing you've spotted | there's this one girl who walked in with a full gallon of water and a tiny notebook and she set up in the corner with like a yoga mat and started doing stretches but every few minutes she'd write something down and then look up at the ceiling like she was solving a math problem and i'm pretty sure she's not even here t... |
so what's rattling around in that head of yours this early? | okay so do birds ever just forget they're birds mid-flight |
you're staring at your coffee like it owes you money — what's up? | if sneezes had a volume knob whose hand is on it |
what's that you're making there — smells like something from way back | my dad's sunday gravy recipe. took me years to get the wrist motion right on the stirring. he'd start it at dawn before anyone was up, whole house smelling like garlic and patience. never wrote anything down you know. just did it. i burned the first three attempts bad enough to set off the smoke alarm. my wife at the t... |
you're really focused on that pot — what's the story behind it? | oh it's the onion and fennel thing. he'd sweat them down forever before anything else touched the pan. used the same wooden spoon till it wore smooth in the middle. i caught myself holding it the exact same way he did the other day, left hand tucked behind my back like some old head chef. gym bag's still on the floor f... |
so did you fight the parking ticket or just pay it and move on? | fought it all right. stood there in the afternoon sun explaining to the guy how the sign was totally hidden behind a tree branch. he just shrugged. told him my dad's generation would have called that entrapment. |
bet you're the type to frame the ticket as proof of city incompetence, right? | already got it tucked in the glovebox like a trophy. the meter was busted and the sign said something different from the painted curb. like three different rules all contradicting each other. classic city logic. |
ok but do you always have random breakthroughs right when you're about to fall asleep, or is that just a me thing? | honestly it's like clockwork. brain picks the exact moment my head hits the pillow to go oh hey remember that thing from six years ago let's revisit it from scratch. but tonight it was about pine trees. like do they have personalities or are they just standing there in silent judgment of all our bad life choices. becau... |
wait you're telling me you actually had a whole internal monologue about moss on the way down? | ok so here's the thing. we're walking along and I notice this patch of moss on a rock right near the stream and it's like the most perfect vibrant green I've ever seen. and I start thinking about how that moss has been there probably longer than I've been alive. just growing. slowly. not bothering anyone. meanwhile I'm... |
what's with the fancy clothes this early? | uh showed up a whole day early for dinner |
you look kinda lost, you okay? | yeah just... a day early for dinner, real smooth |
so you think moving vans should come with a warning label or what | warning label hell yeah. 'caution: contents may include forty years of stupid inside jokes nobody else gets.' that's the thing though. you know what gets me. not the big stuff. it's gonna be next tuesday and i'll be halfway through telling you about the damn squirrel that keeps digging up my petunias and i'll just stop... |
bet you're already planning the visitation schedule like it's a hostage negotiation | visitation schedule. please. i got the entire calendar mapped out in my head. first weekend i'm gonna call you every single night just to complain about the new guy's lawn care. i figure if i stretch the whining over three calls i can get a solid hour of your ear. and then there's the holidays. you better believe i'm g... |
what do you think you're gonna do when the lights go down and they come on stage? | oh man. honestly don't know if i'll even remember my own name at that point. been waiting thirty years to be that close you know. like i can almost smell the guitar strings from here. debbie's gonna kill me if i cry before the first song even starts but like how do you not. that little guitar lick from the first album ... |
so what's the plan between now and the show then? | well debbie's already making a playlist of all their b-sides for the drive up there which means we're gonna argue about track order for like three hours. and i gotta figure out what to wear that doesn't make me look like i'm trying too hard but also like. front row. the bassist is gonna see me. might just go with my ol... |
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