Ava sighed, but she put it in the recycling bin under the sink. Then she turned on some music and opened the cans of chickpeas to make hummus from scratch.
By the time Jasmine arrived, Ava had arranged a whole spread while Michelle sat at the counter drinking wine and singing along with K-pop songs. The coffee table was laden with hummus, pita chips, vegetable slices, and cubed cheese. And, of course, wine.
Michelle met Jasmine at the door with a full wineglass. Jasmine slipped out of her sandals, took the wine, then enfolded Michelle into a tight, one-armed hug.
“Stop,” Michelle muttered. “I’m not ready to cry yet.”
“Then we’d better get started.” Jasmine sipped from her glass and headed into the living room.
The three of them sat on the floor around the coffee table and dug in.
“So, he’s gone?” Jasmine asked, her tone hesitant, like she was worried about bringing up the subject of Gabe.
But he was why they were here, wasn’t he? Once again, he’d left her, and her Primas of Power were putting the pieces back together.
“He left for the airport right before Ava got here.” Michelle toyed with the stem of her wineglass, the pressure of all she was holding back building in her chest.
“And?” Ava prompted. “Did he say anything?”
“He said he might be selling the business.”
Ava and Jasmine exchanged a glance.
“The gym?” Jasmine asked. “He’s selling the gym? Why?”
Michelle shrugged. “He wouldn’t talk to me about it. He just said he had to deal with this on his own, and he was leaving.”
Ava’s voice was gentle. “Did he say when he was coming back?”
“No. He’s not coming back.” And that had hurt more than his departure.
Ava gripped Michelle’s arm. “Michelle,” she said quietly. “Stop fighting it. Just talk to us.”
Heartache threatened to overwhelm her. Michelle’s immediate urge was to wrestle it down and lock it away so she could carry on like normal.
But where had that ever gotten her?
“I don’t even know how,” Michelle admitted in a dull voice. What was the harm in letting it out? Why was it so hard to let her cousins see her?
“Are you worried we’re going to judge you?” Jasmine asked.
“Logically, I know that you won’t.” Michelle sighed. “And I know you’ve both gone through worse. In comparison, this is nothing.”
Ava was divorced, and Jasmine’s last breakup had become national news. It felt silly for Michelle to cry to them about Gabe leaving.
“It’s not nothing to you,” Ava murmured, and that quiet acknowledgment broke the dam on Michelle’s need to hold back.
“It hurts,” she whispered, staring into her wine. “A lot. I told myself I’ve been in this situation with him before, that I could handle it when he left, especially since I knew it was coming.”
“It’s different this time,” Jasmine said, reaching out and rubbing Michelle’s back. Of course Jasmine would understand.
“I didn’t count on getting so close to him. On—” Michelle faltered, then spit it out. “On falling in love with him.”
Because she had fallen for him. Not as the boy she’d known, but as the man he’d become. Shelovedhim.
It was so much worse this time around.
“I asked him to stay,” Michelle admitted hoarsely, and the pressure in her chest and throat finally moved up and spilled out of her eyes as tears. “I didn’t last time. But this time, I did.”
