Page 103 of If We Meet Again

“Right, well if I find out you are and you’ve lied to me, I’ll be extremely upset.”

“As if.” Emily would forgive her one day—she hoped.

“Where are you going tonight? Madison said you guys aregoing out.”

“The Campbell Bar.”

“Is that the one at Grand Central?”

“That’s the one.”

New York was famous for a lot of things and marriage proposals were right up there. Who wouldn’t want to get engaged in The Big Apple? Ashley had seen numerous proposals play out before her eyes. Low-key, simple settings like Central Park to grand public gestures in the centre of a crowded Times Square or at the top of the Empire State Building. The opportunities were endless, but for Ashley, the idea had come to her rather easily.

Grand Central Terminal, the place it all began. They’d arrived there on the 11:00 p.m. train five years earlier, with nothing but hopes and dreams of starting their life in the city. They’d spent the whole day loading the truck and ferrying their belongings up and down the stairs to their new apartment. They returned the truck to Ashley’s cousin and took the train back into the city.

When they arrived like two giddy children on a school trip, they spun around in the middle of Grand Central station amongst the crowds without a care in the world, admiring the famous building for what it was—a landmark, a movie hotspot and the terminal of dreams. They’d gone for celebratory cocktails at The Campbell Bar that night—it was one of the best nights of her life. The start of her new life. And now, it felt like she had come full circle. Some might say she was about to start herlife again.

“My plans fell through tonight. Can’t I come?”

Emily’s neediness had been at an all-time high since her recent break-up.

“Not really.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“I don’t mean that in a nasty way. Mads and I just haven’t had any time together lately. I want it to be special.” Ashley cringed at thedishonesty.

“Fair enough.”

“You’re not mad, are you?”

“No, I get it.”

“Pinky swear?”

“Yes, now leave me alone whilst I try and make other plans.”

“Are you allergic to staying in on your own?” Ashley felt it was a genuinepossibility.

“Maybe. It’s lonely.”

“Still can’t stop thinking aboutStephanie?”

“Somethinglike that.”

They’d broken up two weeks earlier. It was declared a mutual agreement, but the mutual was more of a wish than a fact on Emily’s part.

“Have you tried talking to her about how you feel? Maybe she feels the same?”

“She won’t answer my calls.”

“Why?”

“I think I offended her.”

“You think?”

Emily winced. “I definitely did.”