Mallory’s mom married my dad when we were in our late teens. By that point in time, we really didn’t care about a step-sibling because we had our own lives, and soon, we’d be off to college. Mallory and I were basically roommates, only saying hey if we walked past each other.
After college, we barely spoke. Maybe I’d like a post of hers on Facebook. If she wasn’t traveling abroad, I’d see her at Thanksgiving or Christmas. She got married, had a kid. I had a girlfriend, didn’t want kids.
I moved to NYC. A year later, Mallory called to say she was coming to NYC for work, but her assistant forgot to book her a hotel room and she was scrambling and —
“Say no more, you can stay with me.”
The next night, Mallory took an Uber from Penn Station to my apartment. We hugged. I hadn’t seen her in years and was stunned by how beautiful she was. I showed her to my room. “I’ll sleep on the sofa,” I said.
“Oh, you don’t have to. I’ll take the sofa. It’s okay. I really don’t mind. Actually, I sleep on the sofa most days, now, so …”