the way. The commercial had given way to college football and Notre Dame was playing. He could live with that. He settled in, propping his feet on the coffee table. Memphis had been fun, his speech was well received and—
Ross chewed his sandwich thoughtfully. Notre Dame scored, and he barely blinked. Who was he kidding? Memphis wasn’t about business connections and future gigs. It was about one night where he’d felt alive and happy, and life was full of possibilities. Everything since then had been with the idea of spending more time with Azure Worth. He wanted more of those kinds of nights. He shouldn’t, but he did.
--6-
Azure- It’s a long story.
Ross- I got time, do u?
Azure -Yes.
Ross looked at the time on his computer, 12:32 am. He had a racquetball reservation with Jack at 7:30 in the morning. He should sign off and go to bed, but Dani wasn’t home again, and he really wasn’t tired. His conversation with Az had started like it usually did, with some sort of business email. Once they realized they were both online, he’d messaged her, reviewing her messages as he put the finishing touches on his handouts for next week. He scrolled back through the messages, just to see. They’d been chatting for forty minutes or so, and the last fifteen of them he’d closed all other windows and focused on their conversation. They’d been talking about history, namely hers, or hers and Jonathan’s.
Azure -I basically went to England because my under grad roommate was there. She invited me over. I started taking some classes at Leeds. I needed a new beginning.
Ross- A new beginning? What was wrong with the old one? Sorry, don’t mean to pry—you don’t have to answer.
Azure -no, it’s okay. I was in a car accident my junior year, it was pretty serious, I was hospitalized for a month.
Ross- Sorry.
Azure - I missed an entire semester so senior year I worked my ass off, just to graduate on time.
And then there was nothing for awhile. He got the sense she wanted to say more. He waited. He grabbed bottle of water from his fridge, checked his phone, thinking there might be a text from Dani. There wasn’t. Back at the computer, he saw her response.
Azure -My boyfriend was driving—too fast. We were going to some stupid football game, it was raining. We lost control, went off the road. He died on the way to the hospital.
Ross -I’m so sorry. Wow.
Azure - We had big plans. Both of us on the fast track, I had an early acceptance at Rutgers. He was going to St. George University for med school. Then of course, it all went to hell. It was a tough time.
Ross - I feel so bad that happened to you.
Azure -My roommate Malinda had introduced us. They were childhood friends so it was tough for her too.
Ross- Sounds like you were serious about him.
Azure --As serious as you can be at 21. He was a good guy, very ambitious, very funny too, always had something going, and…
Ross -and?
Azure --and I think I should have been more devastated. I was hurt, both physically and emotionally and sad, later, but mostly I felt really bad for his parents. All my friends, my family walked around me like I would break if they talked about Tony, so nobody did, except for Malinda of course. I think that was the hardest thing of all. Making everyone else comfortable.
Ross -I can imagine, no strike that. I can’t imagine, I’ve never lost anyone close to me.
Azure -Lucky
Ross -How did you get over it?
Azure -I worked. I made a new plan. My goal was to graduate on time, but after that, I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure about anything anymore. I kind of floated. Malinda had this gig in England, so it was a great excuse to do nothing.
Ross- Understandable. I’ve never been able to do that. Not having a goal or plan. The not knowing. I tend to make lists, lots of pros and cons. It’s one of the flaws that Dani points out all the time.
Ross cringed. He hadn’t meant to bring Dani up. It wasn’t
Ross chewed his sandwich thoughtfully. Notre Dame scored, and he barely blinked. Who was he kidding? Memphis wasn’t about business connections and future gigs. It was about one night where he’d felt alive and happy, and life was full of possibilities. Everything since then had been with the idea of spending more time with Azure Worth. He wanted more of those kinds of nights. He shouldn’t, but he did.
--6-
Azure- It’s a long story.
Ross- I got time, do u?
Azure -Yes.
Ross looked at the time on his computer, 12:32 am. He had a racquetball reservation with Jack at 7:30 in the morning. He should sign off and go to bed, but Dani wasn’t home again, and he really wasn’t tired. His conversation with Az had started like it usually did, with some sort of business email. Once they realized they were both online, he’d messaged her, reviewing her messages as he put the finishing touches on his handouts for next week. He scrolled back through the messages, just to see. They’d been chatting for forty minutes or so, and the last fifteen of them he’d closed all other windows and focused on their conversation. They’d been talking about history, namely hers, or hers and Jonathan’s.
Azure -I basically went to England because my under grad roommate was there. She invited me over. I started taking some classes at Leeds. I needed a new beginning.
Ross- A new beginning? What was wrong with the old one? Sorry, don’t mean to pry—you don’t have to answer.
Azure -no, it’s okay. I was in a car accident my junior year, it was pretty serious, I was hospitalized for a month.
Ross- Sorry.
Azure - I missed an entire semester so senior year I worked my ass off, just to graduate on time.
And then there was nothing for awhile. He got the sense she wanted to say more. He waited. He grabbed bottle of water from his fridge, checked his phone, thinking there might be a text from Dani. There wasn’t. Back at the computer, he saw her response.
Azure -My boyfriend was driving—too fast. We were going to some stupid football game, it was raining. We lost control, went off the road. He died on the way to the hospital.
Ross -I’m so sorry. Wow.
Azure - We had big plans. Both of us on the fast track, I had an early acceptance at Rutgers. He was going to St. George University for med school. Then of course, it all went to hell. It was a tough time.
Ross - I feel so bad that happened to you.
Azure -My roommate Malinda had introduced us. They were childhood friends so it was tough for her too.
Ross- Sounds like you were serious about him.
Azure --As serious as you can be at 21. He was a good guy, very ambitious, very funny too, always had something going, and…
Ross -and?
Azure --and I think I should have been more devastated. I was hurt, both physically and emotionally and sad, later, but mostly I felt really bad for his parents. All my friends, my family walked around me like I would break if they talked about Tony, so nobody did, except for Malinda of course. I think that was the hardest thing of all. Making everyone else comfortable.
Ross -I can imagine, no strike that. I can’t imagine, I’ve never lost anyone close to me.
Azure -Lucky
Ross -How did you get over it?
Azure -I worked. I made a new plan. My goal was to graduate on time, but after that, I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure about anything anymore. I kind of floated. Malinda had this gig in England, so it was a great excuse to do nothing.
Ross- Understandable. I’ve never been able to do that. Not having a goal or plan. The not knowing. I tend to make lists, lots of pros and cons. It’s one of the flaws that Dani points out all the time.
Ross cringed. He hadn’t meant to bring Dani up. It wasn’t
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