The Difference Between Getting and Needing

t h i r t y - t h r e e

i've been imagining this day
and i'll never be the s a m e . . .

〰️〰️〰️

It only took three whole days of tireless convincing from Collin, Jax, and myself to come to terms with the idea of moving back in with Gus. I may have had to ask them to do it, but the constant persuasion and solid reasonings they provided got to me. If they didn't, it would have taken twice (or even three times) as long to kick me out.

Not that they were actually kicking me out, as they've reassured me multiple times throughout these three days. I only considered it that way because it'd do a better job of getting my ass through the door instead of referring to it as "a gentle nudge to do the right thing", which is what Collin kept calling it. I told him to just pick me up and throw me in a cab if he said that one more time.

By the time it was Thursday, I knew what I had to do. That morning would be the last time I woke up in Seb's old bedroom, the last time I got to see Jax eat his frozen waffles for breakfast on the couch in the living room, the last time I'd think of myself as their third roommate. I knew what I had to do, but that didn't mean I was necessarily prepared for it. That wasn't anything out of the ordinary for me, though.

It didn't matter. Ready or not, I had to go home.

Thursday had been my most pleasant day at work all week. I spent it alone in my cubicle since Chelsea The Intern, who tried her best to fill Nadia's shoes while she was gone, had parted ways with us the day before. The Milan trip had come to an end so we wouldn't be needing her anymore and truth be told, I wasn't going to miss her. She was tolerable for the time being, but no one could replace Nadia.

No one could replace my nutty coworker that just so happened to forget to mention when exactly her and Donatella's flight from Milan was supposed to land. Ten minutes before I could clock out, Nadia – looking better than I ever would after a ten-hour plane ride – came bursting through the doors of our cubicle as if she took lessons from my sister on how to make the grandest entrance known to mankind.

"Ciao bitch!"

Her bold choice of greeting followed by the thump of her bags hitting the floor caused my head to snap up from my computer screen. There she stood in the doorway, her arms outstretched to me with a grin so wide I thought her face was going to split in half.

"Nad!" I squealed as I scrambled to get out of my chair.

She screamed, again, and beckoned me over. We collided once I got across the room, flipping her sunglasses right off her head from the force.

"I'm so glad to have you back," I mumbled into the bulky padding of her ski jacket that almost cut off my air supply.

"I missed you." She squeezed me before she pulled apart to glance around us. "I missed this office, this filthy city, all of it. Italy's beautiful and I love Donatella to death, but spending so much time with her can make anybody go insane."

"I believe it. Where is she anyway?" I peeked behind her to see if I could find our boss, but she was nowhere in sight.

Nadia let me go, fluttering her hand around to gesture that Donatella was nearby while she bent down to search through one of the three duffle bags she lugged up here. "She needed to stop for espresso because she can't go three minutes without one. I told her to meet me up here because I couldn't wait to give you your present," she cooed the last word and aimed her green eyes up at me.