When Liz Miller gets the opportunity to leave Brussels to attend the James Goldwirth Writing Program in New York City, she doesn't hesitate for a second. Finally, after all those years of hard work and handling criticism, she's going to get her debu...
"We aren't going to let his birthday slide, are we?!" I panicked. He deserved to have a great birthday because Carter had been truly wonderful to all of us. Also, I wouldn't mind having a good time with my friends.
"Hell no!" Mia protested. "We must do something tonight. What about going to Tom's Pub? It's where we hung out for the first time together."
"Yes! That's it, Mia! As far as I know, he loves to go to Tom's Pub. We also haven't been there in quite a while." vague memories of our last night at Tom's Pub roamed swiftly through my mind.
"Yeah, life happened." she murmured. "We should pre-game at my place and then move to Tom's Pub. Perhaps we could invite Dylan and Harry, too? Carter gets along with them pretty well. The more, the merrier."
"Wouldn't that be weird?" I asked her quietly.
"Why would it be weird, Liz?"
"Because I have to invite Harry to hang-out with all of us." I said. "You guys are like my New York City family, so he knows how much you all mean to me. What if he thinks that, by inviting him, I am trying to get serious again?"
"Oh, please, Liz! Don't exaggerate! You two agreed on being friends, so I am sure Harry isn't going to overthink your invitation and declare his love to you. If you tell him Carter wants him to be there, there's nothing to worry about." Mia clarified nonchalantly. "And besides that, you're going to invite Dylan as well, so it's not going to give him the wrong impression."
"Yeah, you're right." I agreed. "I just don't want to ruin what we have right now."
"Then don't ruin it by overthinking, Liz." Mia warned me. She didn't want to upset me, but she was looking out for me – what she has done since the moment we met.
"I will text Dylan and Harry during my lunch break." I said airily.
"Great! Then I am going to let Carter and Isaac know about tonight." Mia's voice was full of excitement. "I'm thinking about inviting some people who came to our New Year's Eve party. Some of them were fun to hang-out with."
"As you said; the more, the merrier." I quoted her, and Mia looked utterly pleased.
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It was ten o'clock in the evening, and we were all present in Mia's apartment. Like any other night, we set up the beer pong table for anyone interested in playing a round.
For now, we were all chatting to someone and refilling our red cups whenever it was necessary.
Dylan and Harry had arrived fifteen minutes ago, and I couldn't help but look at Harry too many times. There was this constant need to be with him when he was in the same room as me – something I had been dealing with from the beginning of my stay.
But it was time to be professional and not let anyone notice the internal struggle I was going through. I couldn't be by his side the entire evening because that would be incredibly suspicious, and it would make me overthink even more – which would be horrible. All in all, I had to keep my distance.
