“It’s gone by too fast.”
We’re slouched next to each other on the sofa, Sarah and me, feet up on the scratched coffee table and wineglasses in our hands. We’re all packed up and ready to go, almost prepared to hand our Delancey Street bolthole over to its next lucky inhabitants.
“Five years,” I sigh. “You’re right. I don’t know where it’s gone.”
Sarah takes a massive gulp of wine and frowns. “I don’t want to leave this place. I wish we could stay forever.”
We sit in silence and gaze around the living room, the scene of our student parties, our drunken nights, our traded secrets, our late-night laughter. We both know that we can’t stay; this phase of our lives is at an end. Sarah has bagged a new, glitzier job at a start-up cable TV station over on the opposite side of the city and commuting from here to there just isn’t possible. I’ve taken this as my cue for a shake-up too. I can’t afford to keep this place on my own, and I’m going nowhere fast career-wise. The hotel is transient, the publishing trade resistant. I’m heading home to see my family for a few weeks, and then onward to Thailand for a while. I’m daunted by the idea of going alone, but spurred on by my dad’s renewed zeal for getting out there and grabbing life by the balls. My mother was deeply unimpressed when he used that very phrase; they gifted me and Daryl some money at Christmas. It’s not something they’d usually do, but they said Dad’s heart attack has given them a fresh perspective. They cried, so we did, and we both agreed to do something a bit special with the gift. Daryl and Anna are going to buy their marital bed for the new house, and I’m going to spend mine grabbing life by the balls in Thailand. I wish I could pack Sarah in my suitcase; I don’t have a clue how to do life without her next to me. At least I’ll have some respite from the malingering guilt.
“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” I say.
“Fuck off,” she mutters, starting to cry. “I told you not to say that.”
“And I told you not to bloody cry,” I say, dragging the end of my sleeve across my eyes. “Now look what you’ve done.”
We hold hands, really tightly.
“We’ll always be friends, right?” Her voice is small and shot through with vulnerability. “Even when you go to Thailand and join a hippy commune, or whatever it is you’re going to do over there?”
“Even then,” I say, squeezing her fingers. “How about when you become a big-shot TV presenter? Will you ditch me for your celebrity friends?”
She laughs, pretending she needs a second to think it over. She went to see the new station about a behind-the-scenes role and wound up being asked how she’d feel about taking on maternity cover for their roaming reporter. They obviously took one look at her and saw what we all see: star quality.
“Well…I reckon Amanda Holden can hold her drink.”
I thump her on the arm and she sighs, faking disappointment.
“Fine. I won’t ditch you, even for Amanda Holden.” She pauses for a second. “We’ve had a laugh though, haven’t we?” she says, leaning against me.
I close my damp eyelashes and lean my head on hers. “We have.”
“You know what my favorite memory of you is?”
I don’t answer her, because there are tears rolling down my cheeks and my throat is aching.
“It’s a recurring memory, actually,” she says. “I like how you look after me when I’m hungover. No one will ever hold my hair back like you do when I throw up.”
I laugh despite my tears. “You’ve got a lot of bloody hair, too. It’s not easy.”
“And how you make my morning coffee just right,” she says. “Everyone else gets it wrong. Even my mother.”
“You have four grains of coffee, Sar. You can’t even classify it as coffee.”
“I know that. But you do. You ask me if I want coffee, and then you make it how I like it. Four grains.”
I sigh. “You’ve probably made me more cups of coffee than I’ve made you. And you’ve definitely made the most sandwiches.”
“You always forget about the mayo. You know how crucial it is.” She sags. “How are you going to survive out there in the big wide world without me, Lu?”
“It’s not as if we’re never going to see each other,” I say, wiping my face. “I’ll be able to see you on the TV if nowhere else. I’ll be waiting for the day they make you slide down a fireman’s pole.”
“But I won’t be able to see you when you’re on the other side of the world.”
I put my arm around her shoulders. “I’m not going forever.”
“You better bloody not,” she sniffs. “Don’t go shacking up with some yogic monk and knocking out a dozen Thai babies or anything, will you? I want you back in London by Christmas.”
“I don’t think monks are allowed to have babies.” I laugh shakily. “I’ll only be gone a few months. I’ll be back in time to spend New Year together.”
“Promise me?” She links her pinky finger with mine like a little girl, and those damn tears threaten again because she reminds me of another little girl from a long time ago.
“I promise I’ll come back, Sarah. I promise.”