After the storm [Finished]

5- Busy enough

It's been four months since that night. My friends called me later worried because they didn't find me anywhere in the club. I said I was feeling tired and I didn't find them so I went back home on my own. I didn't tell them what happened with the blonde guy. It was too embarrassing.

As Lily said, I got a spot in the campaign she mentioned. A whole month full of work came after that. And then I got into a video game project in which they needed some artists to collaborate with their graphic designers. It was short but the experience was awesome. It was all I needed to clear my mind, a ton of work to focus on.

I worked as a model in a local agency and I also was an illustrator. If it weren't because I did both things, I don't know how I'd had been able to survive there.

"This one looks nice". Lily showed me the screen of her phone.

"Oh... it's pretty". I said while sweeping the pictures.

Just two weeks ago, my landlady asked me to leave my studio apartment because her son was coming back to the city. I was taken aback. And it was so hard to find a nice place at a reasonable price! But well... there was nothing to do about it, except look for another place. That's what Lily was doing, helping me to find a new apartment.

"I'll call. Can you give me the number?". I asked her. A man picked up the phone and I asked him about the place. Lily waited while I talked through the phone.

"What did he say?" She asked me after I hung up.

"He asks too much for the fee". I sighed.

"We'll find something". She cheered me up. I nodded and smiled at her half-heartedly.

That was –and still is- another reason why looking for an apartment was a pain in the ass. I didn't have a stable income either so it was harder to find something.

"Lily, I think we should get going. It's almost 5 pm". I said after checking the time on my phone.

"Really? Time flies. Let's go then".

We were going to meet Kayla at this café we always went to. I took my keys and left the apartment right after Lily. I was driving while Lily was telling me about the audition she had next week. Lily was a full-time dancer at the moment, she made photo shoots from time to time but she had been off to advocate all her energy into dancing. She loved what she did; she had been into it since she was a kid. Her next audition was to film a video clip, so she had been rehearsing the whole week. We, Kayla and I, had to convince her to go out with us today.

"You're finally here!". Kayla exclaimed when we sat at the table.

"Sorry, there was some traffic". I said raising a hand to call the waitress.

"How is been your day off?". She asked Lily.

"Great. Actually, I'm glad you invite me to go out today. I was too focused on rehearsing and was getting drained". She said smiling at us.

"Yeah, you're too obsessive sometimes". Kayla nodded agreeing to my words. We placed our orders and the waitress left. "And how was school?"

"A kid broke his arm today. You should have seen his face when his mother picked him up". She started to laugh.

"So do you like the job now?". Lily asked her.

"It has its charm and I kinda like to work without stressing out all the time. So, yeah, it's growing on me".

Kayla started to work as a nurse in a public high school that year. Last summer she had a breakdown because she was too stressed at the hospital so she changed her job. For the first month, you could hear her complaining every day because she doesn't really like kids but it seems that she had been getting used to it.

"Did you have luck looking for a new apartment?"

"Not really". I answered her.

"I have been thinking about it... What about a shared apartment?" She said slowly.

"Hm..." I considered her idea. "I wouldn't mind if I have my own bathroom". I finally said.

"Right? Rents are rising and it's difficult to find something good near the center. I have a few friends that live in shared apartments and it seems a good idea. I can ask them if anyone has a room".

"I don't trust your friends too much though". I chuckled.

"Not all my friends have parties every day, ok?" She tried to defend herself because she was in that bunch of friends. "I'll ask them".

"Ok. I still have two weeks left".

"Excuse me". The waitress said to call our attention; we made space on the table and she placed our coffees and sweets.

Kayla started to tell us the whole story about the kid who broke his arm that morning and I followed her story. But I was not really paying too much attention. I had to move in two weeks and I hadn't found a thing, situations like those made me anxious. Not having control of important things like those made me really anxious.

We chatted until dusk. We were not going to see each other for two weeks or so and that made me miss my days at college; I had more free time back then.

"Lily, do you want me to drive you home?" I asked her knowing she had to get home early because she was going to rehearsal tomorrow morning.

"Oh, Kayla is going to give me a drive. Thank you".

"Oh, ok. See you, girls". I said goodbye to my friends.

I walked through the parking lot and threw myself into the driver's seat. My phone started to ring.

"Where is it?" I muttered looking into my bag for a while until I found it. There was a missing call from Mike. My stomach started to hurt. "What does he want now?"

"Hey, are you busy?" I received a message from him. "I'll be in New York next week, can we meet?" I dropped my jaw in disbelief.

"Meet? After all these months? No, definitely no". I didn't even bother texting him back. I left the phone in my bag again and rested my head on the steering wheel for a couple of minutes. Every time I was starting to get over him, he appeared again.

"Why does he do this?" I sighed. My phone buzzed again.

"I really want to talk with you. Next week is March 20th, it was our anniversary. I miss you". He wrote.

"I hate when you do this". I muttered half angry, half sad. "I don't have time for this right now, do I?" I said to myself. I started the car and drove back home.