May

“May, don’t you think it’s getting kind of late? Why are you still working?”

May looked up from her computer and saw that Julie, her best friend in the whole world, was standing in the doorway to her office. Or rather, their apartment’s spare room.

“Hey, Julie! You’re home early.”

“Girl, it’s ten o’clock. I’ve been home from the gallery for almost two hours already,” her friend replied with a laugh. “I didn’t want to interrupt, so I was waiting for you to come out of the office on your own, but I see that was just wishful thinking.”

May turned to look at the clock on her wall. She felt her jaw drop when she saw that it was in fact half past ten.

“How did it get so late?”

“When did you get home, exactly?” Julie asked, coming to take a seat beside her.

May shook her head and closed her laptop. “Around noon.”

“Are you for real!?”

She nodded, suddenly realizing that she had a pretty bad headache too. “I know, but I just couldn’t stop what I was doing. This job is already turning out to be harder than I thought…”

“You mean the one you’re getting paid triple for?”

“Yeah. I should have known that extra money wouldn’t come easily,” May grumbled. “I guess I just assumed that Mr. Clayton was offering to pay me more simply because he could afford it.”

“Ha!” Julie snorted. “Come on, you know there’s always a catch.”

May let out a long yawn.

“So, Erik Clayton was just as bad as you envisioned then?”

She rolled her eyes as the memory of his smug face crossed her mind again. “No, he was way worse. A real jerk among jerks.”

Her roommate only laughed. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, you probably surprised him too. I doubt a handsome playboy like him ever expected to meet a woman like you who knows how to stand her ground and cannot be won by charm.”

May brought her chair over to Julie’s and laid her head against her friend’s shoulder. “For once in my life I’d like to be wrong about a guy. Like, expecting them to be rude and selfish, only to find out they were everything good and kind underneath. Or, finding out they weren’t creepy when they seemed like they were.”

“Yeah, but you’re not the main character in one of your mom’s crazy TV dramas. Things are usually pretty cut and dry out here in the real world.”

May let out a sigh. Julie was right; if anything, May figured she’d be an underrated and easily forgotten side character. Not that there was anything wrong with being a side character. They were often the silent heroes of the story and the main character’s best support.

If there was one thing she had learned over the years of watching TV with her mom, it was that not everyone could be the star of the show. In fact, she had only ever met one person who even remotely felt like the main character in his own story.

His name was James Quinn, and May could tell from the moment they met that he was her polar opposite; the blue to her red, so to speak. He was outgoing and charismatic, while she was shy and quiet. He was fun-loving and adventurous, while she was a skittish worrywart. He easily made friends with everyone and never shied away from a challenge, while she was easily intimidated and found it difficult to fit in. And yet, despite all the differences between them, May was unquestionably drawn to James. He made her feel like she could do anything and go anywhere. Sometimes, simply being in his presence was enough to make her feel alive.

And yet, that hadn’t been what made her fall in love. It had, in fact, been the little things about him that she came to appreciate the most. Like the fact that he was always looking out for people, even when he didn’t get anything in return. Or that he would listen intently to every word a person was saying just so he could find something thoughtful to say back. And again, there was that blasted smile, which, even as a mere memory, was so warm that it made her heart ache.

“Uh oh, I know that look,” Julie said with a frown. “You’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?”

All May could do was shrug. “I can’t help it. Dealing with frustrating guys always seems to remind me of the one guy who never was.”

Her friend nodded with understanding. “I know, but you can’t dwell on the past for too long. It’s too easy to get sucked back into a dark void, and you have too much riding on this new job to be distracted by that useless dolt.”

May had to bite her tongue a little. Even though she and James didn’t work out in the end, she never once held it against him. After all, most relationships don’t work out. Julie, however, was not so forgiving. The three of them had grown up together, so her best friend had also been hurt by the news of their sudden breakup.

“Okay, you’re clearly sinking even deeper into the depression pool,” Julie groaned. “Come on! You need something to eat.”

“But I’m not very hungry,” May lied.

“Really? That’s too bad. I was just about to order from our favorite sushi place. I guess I’ll just buy enough for me then?”

May felt her stomach growl as the image of a tuna roll flashed through her mind. “Fine. I’ll go get my wallet.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Grab your shoes too. I’m not paying an extra eight dollars for delivery when we’re only fifteen minutes away.”

“So, you want to walk there?”

Julie nodded and grabbed her by the arm. “If that’s what it takes to get you out of your office for a while, yes.”