Paris was clocking out of the hospital. She worked more hours than she could keep track of. The residency was killing her. She wanted to go home take a hot shower and sleep. Sleep was a luxury she could ill afford. As if she could afford any luxury at the moment. She an ever-growing pile of debt. Paris was miserable.
Well, Miserable and thriving. The training wheels of med schools were truly off. Paris was finally in an environment where her hard work and intellect were truly appreciated. She enjoyed every minute of overtime that she had.
"Fuck!" It was raining and Paris had forgotten to take her coat. She had taken to cycling to and from work. She refused to step foot in the subway nor suffer the indignity of owning a car in New York.
She hadn't considered the indignity of cycling in the rain. She was soaked through and it was cold. She had started to shiver. She regretted not waiting in the hospital but then she would have been forced into lending her ear to the procession of family and office gossip that passed for conversation.
It took her 20 minutes of riding in the cold windy rain to get home. It was a tiny studio apartment that she was overpaying for. The residency was tiring enough without having to work part-time as a roommate manager.
The elevator was working today so Paris didn't have to trudge up three floors to her apartment. Small mercies did make her life better. Someone was in her apartment, she could hear the intellect-killing voices of reality tv as she opened the door to her apartment. Rory.
Rory was working as a journalist in the city. She was never actually in the city but whenever she was she would visit her. Or more like Barge into her apartment and make a mess.
"Hey, Durfense." Rory quipped.
"Hospital is not a prison. Rory." Paris shot back.
"Sick people creep me out." Rory whispered " I was just catching up on The Bachelorette," Rory said.
" It is your prerogative if you want to turn your already mediocre brain into a useless mush of half-baked patriarchal nonsense."
Rory just smiled "It is fun."
Paris scoffed, " I am going to take a bath."
Paris took her time in the shower. Hot water was the only good thing about her apartment. Maybe It wasn't a good idea to go to a program designed by a man on a morphine high.
She headed into her small living room to find Rory waiting for her.
"I ordered takeout," Rory said offering her a cup.
"Soup." She offered her.
"Thank you"
"Can we watch something else?" She asked sitting down on the couch.
"No, This is just getting interesting."
"What is interesting about this charade of a show?" She asked.
"You are not a romantic, you will not understand," Rory said.
"Is being followed by 8 cameras while a Jersey Shore character follows you around?"
Rory chuckled, " I got the DC job."
" Congratulations on getting an actual job."
" I get by," Rory said
It was an awkward silence that followed. Rory was going to leave the city. She wasn't actually in the city for long. It weighed heavily on her. Rory wasn't around a lot and they hung out twice a month at best.
" I will miss you," Rory whispered.
Paris didn't respond, She wanted to but this had a finality about it that Chiton or Yale didn't have. God, She will miss her. The nights that she would stay over and they would bicker like a married couple before cuddling and falling asleep.
She would miss randomly finding Rory's books in her apartment. She loved reading Rory's tiny little notes on the margins. She was not ready to let Rory go but it was not like she had any choice.
"Do you remember Spring break?"
"Yale? Yes." She asked confused about where it was going.
"We had so much fun." She said
"We tried to have fun," Paris answered.
"You kissed me!" Rory laughed.
"Not my finest moment," Paris said blushing. It was something that had played over in her head over and over again. Rory's reaction to it and her own stupid decision to kiss her would haunt her. She had cried that day.
Rory was silent for a while, "well, I was lying…, to myself and you. You are my type."