Page 79 of Set to Love
Katie
Phone, remember?
Max
Call me as soon as you’re done? No matter what time it is?
Katie
Deal.
Max
We really are terrible at this.
Katie
It’s only temporary.
Max
Good.
Max
Because I miss seeing your face.
I stare at that message for a long time.
Three separate times that week, I’ve almost told him about London. Every time, however, I stop myself. This isn’t the kind of news I want buried between memes and rehearsal updates. I want to see his face when I tell him.
Unfortunately, every time we’ve tried to make a call happen, something has come up. And now, it’s the night of my goodbye dinner. In twenty-four hours, I’ll be leaving Orlando.
“Attention! Everyone, look at me! I have the floor!” Randy shouts, tapping a water glass with a spoon with so much enthusiasm, I’m worried he’ll shatter it.
Lina, Leon, Theo, and Zoe all turn toward him. Even Kaori, who Theo has finally managed to bring out to our family dinner, looks up with an amused smile.
“I honestly never thought Katie would let me MC her send-off,” Randy says, puffing out his chest. “Probably because I know exactly how many times she’s ‘accidentally’ eaten a customer’s side of garlic knots in the kitchen.”
“It was a quality-control check,” I shout over the collective laughter. “And you helped!”
“Details, details.” Randy waves me off. “In all seriousness, we’re here to say goodbye to a legend. This girl is the only person I know who can survive a ten-hour shift on a Saturday, deal with the gluten-free table from hell, and still find time to hit a fuzzy yellow ball at a hundred miles an hour. I don’t know much about tennis, but I’ve seen her game face when we run out of gnocchi, and honestly? I’m scared for the people in London.”
He raises his glass higher. “To Katie. May your serves be aces, and may you never have to explain the difference between the ziti and penne to a tourist ever again.”
“To Katie!” they all chorus.
Lina steps forward, wiping her eyes with the corner of her apron, and pulls me into a tight hug. “You go show them, cara,” she whispers. Then she turns to Theo, pointing a finger at his chest. “And Theo, thank you for being the one to finally kick her out of my nest. You did a good thing.”
He clears his throat, looking slightly flustered as he adjusts his tie. “It was the least I could do, Lina.”
Kaori leans in, her expression kind. I don’t know her well, but seeing the way she balances Theo’s seriousness makes me happy for them. “Good luck, Katie. I hope the transition is smooth.”
“Thanks, everyone,” I say, my voice thick with emotion. “I’m going to miss you all so much.”
The room descends into warm chatter. I know I’m going to miss each and every person here desperately. My throat tightens painfully. It’s only a matter of time before the waterworks begin to flow.
As we finish off the last of the wine and the dinner plates are cleared, Leon catches Lina’s hand, whispering something in her ear that makes her blush before he leads her toward the back office.
