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“Katya is getting really good at reordering our current designs, so that frees you up to work your creative magic.” Suddenly, she shifts her stare to the floor, shuffling her feet. “I was thinking since all of this is going to end soon with you moving in with Micah, we could turn your old bedroom into your design studio.” Finally, she looks up at me with watery eyes.
“Tab.”
“It’s fine. I’m fine.” She wipes at her face furiously. “We could even get a bigger place if you want. It is getting a little cramped here, and then maybe your design room could be on the same floor as the store. Lots of decisions to be made...”
“I’m…sorry,” I tell her because I don’t know what else to say.
“Don’t say that,” she scolds. “I’m… It’s the end of an era, and since you haven’t denied the fact that you’ll be moving in together soon, I’m guessing you guys already talked about it.”
“Just this morning,” I confirm.
She nods. “I figured it was coming.” A genuine smile pulls her lips apart. “The best thing I ever did was answer your email about the vacant room, even if you did have a dog.” Athena nudges her hand, and Tab pets her before getting some wrist kisses.
Athena’s tongue lolls out of her mouth. Truthfully, Tab saved us. She befriended us in this big city. She believed in me when I was at my lowest. “That’s the best thing that ever happened to me, too.”
“Liar. It’s Micah and we all know it.”
“But I wouldn’t have even been here to meet Micah if it wasn’t for you. I wouldn’t be in Nashville. I wouldn’t have had this store. I wouldn’t have had a meddling roommate who posted an embarrassing video of me that started everything.”
“That’s all true. Maybe I should be recording this for Micah. Show him where his real place is in the hierarchy of things.”
“It’s best we keep it between ourselves,” I whisper.
She leans in conspiratorially. “I wouldn’t want to go missing.” Her fingers bend in air quotes aroundmissing, but when it comes to Micah, I’m not sure that’s beyond the realm of feasibility…but I laugh along anyway. “Okay, you,” she says, “Your job is to go design something amazing with the Wildcats on it so we can bag this humongous deal.” She turns me around and gives my shoulders a shove toward the door.
“Pushy!” I joke.
“You better believe it. Let’s go!”
Athena stays at my side. When I get to the door, I turn, studying the thing that Tab and I built. The store might be a little on the small side for our sales volume, but we get most of our sales online. I would miss this place if we had to give it up.
“Hey, Tab?”
She peers up from putting shirts on hangers. “Yeah?”
“I think we should stay here.”
She stares around the space, her lips turning up into a smile. “Yeah. I think so, too.”
I give her a wave, and then continue outside, then up the staircase with Athena trailing behind. The feel of the apartment hits me hard, too. I was so shy in the beginning that Tab had to coax me out of the room. Everything was so big here, and there were so many people. But she treated me like an injured dog, and I’m pretty sure she used treats to do it, too. Chocolate chip cookies, to be exact.
“Well, girl,” I tell Athena, “it’s the end of an era. But people have to grow, right? Move on.” She licks my hand, and I smile at her. “Don’t worry. You’re coming with me.” I kneel to kiss the top of her head and give her a good rub.
Inside my room, I sit at my little desk and start to draw. Like usual, I sketch whatever comes to mind first, then I start narrowing choices by the vibe I’m loving best, the cut that makes the fabric shine. What I come out with first shocks me. Instead of drawing an adorable outfit with a mascot on it, I make Athena the mascot. Black hood, pointy ears, a superhero cape of black and turquoise.
I take my sketch to the bed and lie down, staring at it a little, shading here and there. Soon, my eyes grow heavy, and since rest only spurs creativity, I allow them to shut.
Sometime later, I awake to thick, dark smoke and the smell of burning wood.
My eyes fly open, and immediately tear up. A cough sputters from my chest. On instinct, my hands move to the side of the bed, searching for a paw, a head, anything with fur. “Athena!”
The dense air chokes my lungs. I crawl over the bed and throw myself onto the floor, heart pumping a feverish pace. I land on my face in a heap of limbs against hardwood, my knee stinging as it makes contact with a thud.
The air is a little clearer here, the corner of my lips pressed into the floor while I draw in a shaky breath. Eyes squeezed shut, I draw in another and another, panic spiking. “Athena…?”
My head starts to whirl, a million fractured thoughts hit me all at once until I’m spiraling. My breathing hollows out, palms turning sweaty.I’m going to die here. Athena’s going to die here.
As usual, the image of my father being swept away hits fast until a wailing cry is torn from my throat. Then it’s quickly replaced with Micah.Oh, Micah. I’m never going to see him again.