Teddy said goodbye to Carlos and ran to her car in the parking lot behind the shop, fat raindrops pelting her on the head. She got into her car, shook herself off, and started to text Everett, wincing when she saw that her last text to him had been from dinner at her mom’s house.
But then she realized that texts weren’t really their medium, anyway. She opened her email and started typing.
66
Half an hour later, Teddy stood at the back door of the station, hunched under the awning but still somehow getting wet. She texted Everett, Where are you? Please say you’re at the station.
About two seconds later, he pushed open the heavy door to let her in.
“If you came here to yell at me for coming to your place of business and punching your ex-boyfriend, that’s fair. Not my finest hour, and I apologize,” Everett said as the door swung shut behind them.
“No, I . . . Can we talk?” Teddy asked.
Everett’s eyes widened and he nodded. Teddy heard a squeaking noise coming down the hallway as a man pushing a bucket came into view.
“Hey, Tom,” Everett said with a wave.
Tom said, “Weird date spot,” then kept on moving.
“Sorry,” Everett said, leading her toward the set and taking her wet coat. He gestured toward the sofa as he flicked on a light. “Would you like to have a seat?”
Only the light directly above the sofa was on, making Teddy feel like she was part of a bizarre play, but she took a seat, anyway. She wished her hair wasn’t soaking wet and plastered to her head. When Everett sat down across from her, the shock of his nearness was almost too much to handle, but she made herself form words.
“This isn’t about earlier tonight. Although, yes, I would prefer you didn’t punch people in the face, but Richard . . . well, Richard may have deserved it.”
“I’m glad we agree on that,” Everett said.
Teddy took a deep breath. “Have you checked your email?”
Everett stared at her for a moment, then said, “Actually, I’m trying a new thing where I spend my evenings not thinking about work, so . . . no. I know I’m at work, which may contradict what I said, but I was planning on asking Tom if he wanted to go get a drink when he was done. Why? Did you send me something?”
“Yes.” Teddy nodded quickly.
“I was joking,” Everett said, grabbing his phone. “Did you really email me and then drive here to make sure I got the email?”
“That’s exactly what I did,” Teddy said. “I sent you an email, but I decided I couldn’t wait to see you, so . . . can you read it?”
“Right now?” Everett asked, finger poised over his phone screen. “While you watch me?”
Teddy nodded again.
Everett bit back a smile. “Right. Okay. This is kinda weird, but I like it.”
Teddy watched him read, although of course she knew what she’d written.
Dear Everett,
You once told me that nothing I ever said could come out wrong, and while it means a lot to me that you said so, I don’t really believe that. Sometimes it seems that all my words come out wrong, like they’re getting jumbled in the time it takes them to get from my brain to my mouth. But this? Well, we met through email, and that’s how we got to know each other, and I think I might be able to actually say what I mean here.
I told you we shouldn’t be together because I didn’t want to move and I didn’t want you to give up on your dream. And that’s all still true—I want to live here, in the same city as my friends and my family (who I’m starting to be a little bit more honest with, actually), and I certainly don’t want you to ever stop doing the show.
But I forgot about something pretty important. I’m in love with you, Everett. I’m in love with everything about you, and the way I feel when you’re around, and the way you light up every room and situation and make it better. I’m in love with the way you listen to me and make me feel like I matter.
You were right about Colossal Toys. I didn’t want to run it, so I’m not going to. I don’t know what I’ll do instead, but I know I’ll figure it out. Thank you for trusting me before I trusted myself.
I know you’re not going to stay here, and I’m not going with you, but someone pretty important to me told me that while love doesn’t conquer all, it can still conquer a whole hell of a lot. So maybe it will be hard and messy, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to conquer it together. I can’t think of anyone else I’d want to conquer it with.
I love you.
Theodora
Teddy watched his face the entire time he read, her eyes on his eyes as they moved across his phone. And then, when he started typing, she leaned forward, trying to see what was on his screen.
Her phone dinged. “You should check your email,” he said, his face blank.
Teddy held her breath as she pulled her phone out of her bag. Her hands shaking, she opened her email and read three words on the screen.
I’m not moving.
She dropped her phone in her lap and looked at Everett. “What?”
He smiled. “I’m not going to New York. I’m staying here.”
Teddy’s mouth dropped open. “Everett, what happened? You didn’t tell them no, did you? Did they tell you no?”
Everett shook his head. “I spent so long thinking that the only way forward was up, you know? That if I followed this path with the show, I’d be happy. More prestige, more acclaim, more viewers. And then I realized . . . I love my job. But I don’t want my job to be my life. I don’t want to give up time with my friends, or my sister, or my parents because of work.” He swallowed. “And I don’t want to give up time with you.”
“So did you quit your show?” Teddy asked, looking confused. “Because I can’t imagine you without this show.”
“No, I asked the Imagination Network if we could work with them, but keep filming here. I told them that being here, on this set, in this city, was integral to the soul of the show, and they thought so, too. So I’ll get to keep my producer, my crew, my sofa . . .” He paused, meeting her eyes, looking almost shy. “And I hope I get to keep you, too, Teddy.”
“So,” she said in a small voice, afraid to speak too loud in case she scared her happiness away, “you’re staying in Columbus.”
He nodded. “Probably have to take semifrequent trips to New York, but yes, I’m staying right here.”
Teddy blinked. This seemed too good to be true, that she was suddenly getting exactly what she wanted. There had to be some catch, some trapdoor waiting for her to step on it.