Blank Spaces

“We survived the semester without strangling each other. That's a plus, right?”

It was the end of my shift at Connor's office. We were finishing up our notes on the patients we'd seen that day. I couldn't believe the time had flown by. It felt like just yesterday I had a heart attack when I'd found out Connor was going to be my mentor. And now we were finishing our last day together before winter break.

“Sounds interesting.” Connor didn't even flinch or look up from his paperwork. He was use to tuning out my comments and responding with something that didn't even make sense to the conversation.

“Got a long list of ex-lovers” I recited Taylor Swift's lyrics wondering if he'd catch on.

My suspicions were confirmed when he nodded and asked, “And then what happened?”

I wanted to have some fun and see how long this would continue “They'll tell you I'm insane.”

“That's wicked” Connor mumbled, still looking over his work.

I closed the file in front of me and lowered my voice as if I were about to reveal a secret “Cause you know I love the players. And you love the game”

Connor finally looked up confused. “What game?”

“Oh” I lied and made something up. “Didn't you tell me you're going to a basketball game this week?”

“Yeah” He shuffled papers into a stack and stood up. “I'm taking Danielle to the Brooklyn Nets game.” He pulled off his white coat and hung it on the hook attached to his office door. “What about you?”

“Hanukkah at Jonah's.” I shrugged.

“Ah” Connor nodded as he pulled out his phone from his pocket. “I'm sure you'll have some interesting stories to share when you get back.”

“And I'm sure you won't be listening to them.” I joked to myself.

“What was that?” Connor looked up from his phone.

“Oh, I said, I'm sure you'll love hearing them” I smiled.

Connor smiled back. He was obviously in a good mood because of something he'd seen on his phone and not because we were being disgustingly nice to each other. “I wouldn't doubt anything but an embarrassingly comical story from you.”

“I can't help it. The universe loves to put me in those situations.” I grabbed my coat and scarf from the back of my chair and bundled myself up.

“Oy vey” Connor joked.

“Oy vey, indeed.”

It felt weird coming home to an empty apartment. My friends from home had been in town for the past week. They wanted to give me some space while I was still going to classes and got their own hotel rooms. But, that didn't stop them from using my spare key to invade my place while I was out.

I would come home to Woody lounging, and I mean the entire length of his tall body covering the sofa kind of lounging, and eating whatever snacks he could find in my pantry. Rebecca would be sitting on the floor (because, remember, Woody was taking up the couch) between the sofa and coffee table flipping through the TV channels. And Mark and Lacey were usually at the dinner table going through Yelp ratings trying to find some place to eat dinner.

But, it was quiet this time. They had left the night before and I was already missing having them around. It was only a week they were in town, but for some reason it still felt weird knowing I was the only one home.

I heated up some leftovers and sat on the couch in front of the TV as I ate dinner. I couldn't really pay attention to what I was watching. I kept thinking about how life was when Kadie was my roommate. I missed having someone to come home to. Someone to talk to when I needed a break from studying. Someone to watch TV with and laugh at how ridiculously fake reality shows were.

I must have gotten lost in my thoughts and fallen asleep because the next morning I found myself on the couch with the TV still on.

I scurried into the shower yelling profanities. If I hadn't ran majority of the way over I would've been late to my first class. I spent a better half of the day catching my breath. 

(Note: Still not a runner.)

It was Tuesday afternoon when I stopped by to see Jonah. Adam was at his office when I walked in. The two of them were just casually hanging out and drinking beers. The TV mounted on his office wall was playing a basketball game that the two were occasionally looking up at.

“What's going on?” I asked as I walked in.

“Hey Lynn” Adam greeted me and smiled, then went back to watching the game.

“Hey babe” Jonah walked over to give me a kiss. “Adam was in the building, so I told him to stop by.”

It was normal for Adam to come by every now and then. Jonah's studio wasn't the only one in the building. In fact an entire network of shows recorded here. Sports shows, news, and morning talk shows were among some of them. There were at least five floors of studios in the 70 floor building. But, aside from show business, the building also housed regular businesses like electric companies, law offices, financial groups. So, of course, being an entertainment lawyer it was normal to see Adam around.

“I was thinking, should I grab a cake or something before we go to your mother's place? I saw a Jewish place on my way here that was selling latkes, but I figured your mom probably has that covered.” I rambled on before Jonah stopped me.

“A, my mother does make the best latkes” He smiled for a brief second letting me know I'd made the right decision to not get the potato-y goodness. “And B, there's been a change of plans.”

“Oh?” I sat down in chair adjacent to Adam. “How so?”

Jonah kept standing, his hands resting in the pockets of his slacks. “I have to come back to the office after dinner. We won't be able to go all the way to Long Island and back in time.”

“But, it's the first night of Hanukkah, don't you want to spend it with your family?”

Adam laughed. “You're a lucky guy” Jonah agreed by clinking his beer bottle against Adam's, “I'm pretty sure Kadie thinks Hanukkah is just a “Jewish” way of saying Christmas.”

“That is not true!” I couldn't help but laugh as I slapped Adam's shoulder. “She's a blond and a Southerner. Cut the girl some slack!” I joked along.

Our laughter was interrupted by Adam's phone ringing. “I have to take this.” He set his bottle down on the table and straightened up his dress shirt and jacket before he walked away. “Why don't you two come by to my family's place for dinner?”

“It's cool, we're just gonna have dinner at my place. Thanks for the offer though.” Jonah finally took a seat as Adam was leaving.

“Alright bro, offers always open. I'll see you around.” He nodded to both of us before he walked out the room.

“You want to celebrate the first night alone, without family, at your place?” I asked as I turned to face Jonah. “That's lame.”

He laughed “We can go over the weekend to celebrate, but for now, while I'm working, it's more feasible to stay in town.” He grabbed my hand and began fiddling his fingers through mine. “Besides, I think we should start some of our own traditions.”

I smiled at Jonah. I wasn't sure where he was going with this, but he looked awfully cute as he was trying to explain it. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I think we should start thinking about the future of our relationship.”