Two weeks later found Alexa busy studying late into the evening with Rachel.  With exams just a few days away she couldn’t afford to mess up.

‘Can we quit for today yet?  I think my brain is going to melt!’ said Rachel.

‘Maybe you can.  I have to make up for the time I lost during my trip to the states.’

‘Alexa relax, you know this stuff better than me.  If you don’t give yourself a break you’ll burn out.  Why don’t we take our mind of this for a while and look if there are any cheap flights.  I was thinking we could head off to Spain for a couple of weeks and wind down after exams are over.  What do you think?’

Alexa hesitated.  Finding the separation difficult, she and Helena had come up with a provisional plan for her to fly back to California a couple of days after the exams to look for a job and spend another two weeks together before coming back to England for graduation and finalising her affairs, after which she planned to make the permanent move to L.A.

She knew she should just tell Rachel now but she couldn’t deal with opening that can of worms this close to the most important exams of her life.  She had got around the apartment issue so far by saying she couldn’t plan anything until exams were over.

She missed Helena every day but she knew that after she moved to L.A she would rarely see Rachel, who had been such a big part of her life, she may never see her, if she found her new life difficult to accept.  Perhaps a post exam holiday would be the ideal place to break the news to her.  . 

 ‘Sure Rachel, we can have a look what’s available at least’

‘Excellent,’ said Rachel, pleased to see Alexa was showing enthusiasm for something.  She’d been different since she got back from her trip.  Maybe it was all exam stress but she constantly seemed distracted, distant.  Rachel thought breaking up with Mark and planning to stay in the city together would bring them closer than ever but Alexa’s heart didn’t seem to be in it.