Five Plates, Four Sets Of Cutlery, Zero For Me Chapter 06

Five Plates, Four Sets Of Cutlery, Zero For Me Chapter 06

At ten that night, my flight landed in New York.

I had just turned my phone back on. Before I could catch my breath, messages started lighting up the screen, one after another.

The first one was from my brother.

[Tagging Natalie. Are you off work? We’re waiting for you to eat.]

[Where did you go? You couldn’t even say something? None of us can reach you!]

Then came Dylan’s.

[Where are you? Still mad? Come on. We made a whole feast for you tonight.]

Then Sadie’s.

[Nat, I’m sorry. This was my fault. Don’t blame the guys. Please don’t be mad.]

Last came Evan’s.

[Nat, where are you? Please send me one message.]

I read them, closed the chat, and turned my phone facedown on my lap.

I didn’t answer a single one.

A cab took me through New York at night. Neon signs slipped past the window one after another.

I leaned against the window and watched the unfamiliar city go by. My heart was empty, but strangely light.

The next day, I reported to the branch office.

They showed me my desk and assigned me company housing.

It was a small private room.

There was a bed, a desk, a closet, and a south-facing window.

I began arranging my things, putting each one where it belonged.

When I wiped down the desk, I wiped the windowsill, too.

After a moment’s thought, I placed the mint plant there.

I’d brought it from the apartment. It had been jostled the whole flight, and some of the leaves were a little limp.

I watered it.

Then I crouched beside the window and watched it.

It was the graduation gift my brother and the others had given me.

But they’d given Sadie an instant camera.

The camera came in a gift box lined with string lights, with two packs of film tucked beside it.

They’d said they’d all chipped in to buy it and had been planning it for three months.

During that time, I’d stood at the edge of the crowd and waited.

After most of the graduates had scattered, my brother suddenly remembered me. He grabbed a small paper bag from the corner and shoved it into my hands.

Inside was the mint plant.

It was small and green, and it really was cute.

My brother had said, “I picked it up at the flower shop on the corner. It’s easy to keep alive and doesn’t need much care. Perfect for you.”

“Besides, you don’t really care about gifts anyway.”

Perfect for me.

An instant camera they’d planned for three months, and a mint plant picked up on the way from a corner flower shop.

I’d kept the mint alive for a long time. It really was easy to care for. It didn’t need much attention.

Just like they’d said, it was perfect for me.

Because I did not need anyone’s attention, either.

That afternoon, I called a coworker from my old company.

“Megan, could you mail the rest of my things from the apartment to me?”

There was a pause on the other end.

“What? You aren’t planning to come back?”

“No. I asked this morning, and they said I can stay in New York if I do well on this project.”

The line went quiet for a moment.

“Okay. Tomorrow’s Sunday, so I can go pack everything up for you.”

After we hung up, I sat on the edge of the bed, my eyes drawn back to the mint plant on the windowsill.

It seemed to have recovered. Its leaves had lifted again.

I gently touched one of them.

Apparently, even a plant could survive in a new place.

So could a person.