2: 2
At seven the next morning, Jill posted a set of selfies from the suite balcony, wrapped in a full resort-style robe.
*Sunshine, the ocean, and my dear classmates. Thank you all for coming on my graduation trip, and thank you for taking care of me these four years.*
The group chat filled up in seconds, everyone piling on.
*Thanks for putting us up in the suite, Jilly!*
*+1*
……
The whole class just assumed the upgrade was Jill's treat.
There was a knock at the door.
Julian stood outside, his face grim.
“Lena, I know I got a little sharp yesterday, but you know me. I've always cared about how you feel.”
“You've always been the sensible, easygoing one. Just let me use the card for now, so we can both keep a little dignity out of this, okay?”
My eyes went to the green-dial dive watch on his wrist.
Sophomore year, he'd said he needed to meet investors for his startup and couldn't look shabby doing it.
I'd spent ninety thousand on that watch as a birthday gift.
I'd pressed it into his hand along with the supplementary card off my black card, the one he'd been using ever since.
“Use it whenever you take someone to dinner, or want to buy one of those models you like. No more keeping accounts with me.” He'd wrapped his arms around me back then, all soft and tender,
“Lena's sly, sharp eye. Spotted a dark horse and decided to raise him up herself.”
But all Jill did was say the color of the dial really made her skin look fair.
Julian took it off without a second's hesitation and fastened it onto her wrist.
Let her wear it to the New Year's Eve ball and show it off all night long.
I hadn't liked it, sitting there in that moment, but Julian only said,
“Jill's just got a young girl's heart. Borrowing it for a bit won't hurt it. Don't be so stingy.”
Junior year, the club organized a camping trip out in the countryside.
That night I caught a chill, my fever climbing to a hundred and two, cold to the bone, and I reached out to Julian and my best friend Jill for help.
Only to find out that in the dead of night, Julian had taken a cab with Jill more than a dozen miles into the city to buy her some imported sunscreen.
“Jill forgot her sunscreen, and tomorrow's all outdoor stuff. The UV's strong, she'll get burned.”
“Take some fever medicine, be good. Sleep it off and you'll be fine.”
Last month, the eve of our graduation defense.
I'd pulled three all-nighters in a row correcting the data for Julian's model, writing a thirty-thousand-word business plan.
Jill said, eyes rimmed red, that her own work wasn't enough and she might not graduate on time.
Julian turned right around and swapped my name for Jill's on the project's credits.
The old me would have felt hurt too.
But by daybreak I'd have found every excuse in the book for Julian and Jill.
They didn't mean it.
Julian remembered every one of my periods, so how could he not love me?
Jill was just simple and sincere, I couldn't misjudge her...
Until I saw that terrifying glimpse of the future, and the fog in my head drained clean away.
In twenty-some years, I had never been this clear, this cold.
I looked at Julian's face and spoke.
“I checked the surf club's joint account.”
Something shifted in Julian's eyes.
“What did you check that for? That money's in there for renting the venue...”
I cut him off.
“Then why are there twelve transfers, a hundred and ten thousand in all, moved out in batches into Jill's personal bank card?”
Julian's face went stiff.
“Lena, you weren't wrong to check the books, but why didn't you ask me first?”
“The supplier Jill's dealing with is a private one. He doesn't take company transfers.”
“I fronted it for her just to lock in an equipment slot. I was going to tell you about it once we got back to New York.”
He took a step closer.
“We're a couple, and we're partners. You never used to be like this. Now you go digging through the accounts without a word.”
“Even Jill and I are starting to wonder. Is there any basic trust left in you at all?”
The bracelet burned hot again, and I saw Julian sitting in the interview studio of a finance channel.
The host asked him why things hadn't worked out with his college girlfriend.
He sighed for the camera.
*She was too calculating. Had to have every last cent accounted for.*
*In business, you can't keep a woman with no vision like that around you.*
I took a step back, and to Julian, who still wanted to talk his way out of it, I said,
“I think it's better to keep the accounts clear after all. At least from now on...”
