James cursed as he drove around aimlessly. 

His poor steering wheel bore the brunt of what he wanted to say to Adam. His girlfriend was on an indefinitely long vacation with her closest childhood friend. Betty was as good as gone. 

James didn't want to stop Betty from doing stuff, but this was eating him on the inside. 

Without any conscious thought, he drove to the cinema. 

"I'm losing her," he gasped and said as soon as he landed before the ice cream joint. 

Lorraine gestured toward the back and James obliged. Lorraine's co-worker took up her post as she followed him behind the stall.

"Betty's on vacation with Adam!" James was freaking out. "She not coming back to me!"

Lorraine raised her eyebrow at this. The calmness of her expressions didn't help James' case. 

"Can you do anything about it?" she asked directly.

"I don't know," James admitted. "Can I?"

"Do you love her?"

"I..." James hesitated. They had said it to each other many times; Betty always went first, but it had to be true. "I think," he said. More like he hoped. All he knew was that he didn't like staying away from her. That had to count as love, right? 

"She left because she wants to be free," Lorraine concluded. "Betty wants to see the world for herself and enjoy her life. And she's right."

James scrunched his forehead. 

"And you need to do the same," Lorraine said, her words making some sort of sense. Or maybe James desperately wanted them to make sense. "She has spread her wings, and you need to get on with your life too."

"I guess."

"No, don't guess!" Lorraine persisted. "She's gonna enjoy summer and you aren't gonna sulk around either. You deserve to have a good time too!" Lorraine's cheeks were turning red.

"I get where you're going, but-"

"No buts! Betty will come back to you sooner or later, your time is now." It sounded like she was quoting a motivational book, but James felt a rush of adrenaline. "She didn't break up with you for Pete's sake. Stop being so morose."

"You're right!" James exclaimed, suddenly inspired. The entirety of summer was left and he was going to make the most of it. By the time Betty came back, he will have done loads of stuff. He had other friends. He had Lorraine. "Let's do this together!"

"What?" Lorraine seemed to shrink back a little.

"C'mon, Lorrie," James insisted. "It'll be fun."

Lorraine shook her head, her ears were also red now. "You're not thinking this through."

"No thinking," James agreed. "Just going with my impulses."

Something softened in Lorraine's face. Her eyes looked at him rather affectionately. "Okay," she said with a shy smile. James didn't get why she was being so bashful.

"It's decided then," James said. "This is going to be the summer of our lives!" The chemicals in James' brain were going crazy with the hype. It made him feel good. 

James hadn't thought that it was possible for him to enjoy himself while Betty was away, but the prospect of spending time with Lorraine made him feel giddy.