Free No Falling Allowed (No Kissing Allowed) by Melissa West

right, but right now, I need you to be my friend, okay? Just save the ‘I told you so’ or whatever for later. Right now, I need my friend.”
    Lauren pressed her hand to her heart and bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I’ll keep my opinions to myself.”
    I smiled. “Thank you.”
    “So, you were saying?”
    “Oh, right. I spoke with Annalise from Perfectly Wedded. I’m going to shadow a wedding with her next Saturday, and if it works out, then I have a job.”
    Cameron clapped her hands. “That’s great!”
    “It is, right?” I took a drink from the water the waitress brought me—not surprisingly, a different waitress from the one I’d surprised earlier. I was just about to tell them how romantic and amazing Annalise made the job sound, when I caught Lauren’s expression.
    Lauren quickly glanced away, and I waved for her to speak. “Go on, say it.”
    “It’s nothing.”
    “Just say it. I know it’s killing you.”
    “Well…I was just curious what the pay is. Do you think…I mean, I’m not trying to be negative, honest…but do you think the pay is less than you made at the Met?”
    “I hope not or I’ll never be able to afford my apartment now that my parents cut me off.”
    “ What? ” Cameron looked as though I’d just told her the moon would no longer shine. And maybe without an Amex card, it wouldn’t. I’d never been this poor before. Still, people survived solely on their incomes all the time. I would figure this out. I had to.
    “Yeah. Rick Soaring said I could either join the family business or he’d cut me off.”
    “That’s horrible. What did you say?”
    “I said I couldn’t work there, that it was my life.”
    Silence fell over the table. Nothing could silence a crowd like losing millions of dollars. But in truth, the money was never mine to begin with. It was my parents’, and I was an adult. As hard as this would be, it was time I figure out how to be an adult. A real adult.
    The waitress took our orders, then disappeared back inside.
    “Maybe if you save?” Cameron asked.
    “It’s impossible. Rent in my building is nearly eight thousand a month.”
    At that, Lauren spewed her raspberry tea across the table, and Cameron’s mouth fell open.
    “Wow, who can afford that kind of rent?”
    “People like me,” I said, growing defensive. “It was my parents’ before they bought the brownstone, so they let me stay. Besides, that was nothing to me.”
    The waitress brought out our sandwiches, and we focused on eating, each deep in thought. “Do you really think your dad will kick you out of your apartment?” Cameron asked around a bite. “That’s so cruel.”
    “That’s Rick Soaring.”
    “So, then, you’ll move?”
    Lauren shot up in her chair. “Oh! I know! We could have a garage sale.”
    I stared at her in confusion. “A garage sale?”
    “Well, an apartment sale in your case. Put up flyers or something for some of your things. Your Birkin collection alone would cover your rent for a long time.”
    My heart sank. “Yeah…maybe,” I said, though the truth was I’d rather give up the apartment than my things.
    “What about a second job?”
    “I kind of need a first job before I can worry about a second, don’t you think?” My gaze lifted back to Lauren, who was obviously fighting to keep her true opinions to herself. I knew she was trying to help me see that while this was horrible, sob-worthy, and horrible some more, it wasn’t death. I didn’t live in some danger zone in Afghanistan. Or in an area without healthy water in Africa.
    I was just losing everything I’d ever known. No big deal.
    “Ah, honey, don’t cry.”
    The embarrassment of it hit me, all the things people in my circle would say.
    Cameron rubbed my arm. “You’re too strong to let this break you. Remember that. You’re amazing, and it has nothing to do with your money.”
    My watery gaze met hers. “You really think so?”
    “Absolutely. It doesn’t define you. And getting a new