Page 31

New York

Abi

“I guess I just don’t understand this reluctance.”

Lauren’s voice sounded loud over the speakerphone as she said, “You have always wanted to visit New York and now you have a rich friend who is going to pay for you to spend a day in the city with him. Why would this even require any thought?”

“Well, it’s more complicated than that,” I said as I scrubbed the grout with a toothbrush. According to my boss, the lady who lived in this unit was very particular, so I always made sure to be attentive to every detail so I didn’t have trouble later.

“For starters, he just paid me to pretend to be his girlfriend for a weekend. We kissed a couple times and even though it was all part of the show, they were good enough kisses to make me unsure if I should spend more time with him.”

“What exactly are you afraid of?” Lauren asked. “Are you saying you think you’ll fall for him, or are you saying you think you two will hook up? Or wait—are you worried he’s into you and you’re not into him?”

I didn’t know what to say, but I was saved from responding when she spoke up again.

“None of those sound like a reason not to go, though. If you’re kind of into him, why wouldn’t you want to lean into this weekend?

It sounds like he just wants to hang out with you, which is the perfect opportunity to explore the vibes.

If you’re concerned you two will hook up, either do it because it sounds fun and there are no strings attached, or don’t do it because you’re a grown-ass woman and you don’t have to. ”

I hated that she was making sense.

“I understand that this is an odd situation because your relationship has been transactional so far, but this is different, right? This is entirely unrelated. This is a guy who wants to hang out with his friend, so if you like him, you should go and have a good time. Embrace it.”

“Really? So you think I should go.”

“I do, unless you think he might be dangerous or something.”

“No—he’s not. But…” Suddenly I was struggling to remember why it seemed like such a terrible idea.

“And I’m looking into his little side hustle with his bestie,” she said, “but that Roman guy’s name doesn’t pull anything so I’m guessing it’s a legit investment thing.

I found something on one of the names on that list that I’m checking out, but if that comes back clean, they’re just two boring rich dudes doing boring rich-dude things. ”

“I knew it. Did you delete the photo?”

“Of course,” she said, sounding disgusted by the question. “So…? You’re dragging your feet why…?”

“I don’t know, I guess I saw all weekend how little he treasures things, right?

He offered to give me a car, he wrote me a huge check without thinking about it, he’s throwing free trips out there without a second thought.

He is so rich that nothing means anything to him.

So I guess I just wonder about me in this scenario. ”

“Do you mean romantically?” she asked.

“No, I mean even as a friend. I could totally see him wanting me as a friend until he gets bored with me and then just tosses me to the side like he does cars and money and everything else that he’s finished with.”

“Oh, honey, you’re overthinking here,” she said, her tone turning maternal. “That could happen even if you don’t go visit him. You’re always worrying about the future, but sometimes you need to take a chance and enjoy the now.”

“I suppose,” I said, wondering if she was right.

“And it’s freaking New York, baby—come on.”

I didn’t tell her that I’d decided not to keep the $40K, because I had a feeling she’d see it the same way as New York. She was a good person with good values, but she was also very practical and wouldn’t understand why I’d give up money that was already agreed upon.

“I need to get going, babe, but I feel like the only reason you would say no is if you’re starting to have feelings for him and don’t know how to move forward with that.”

“That’s not true,” I said. “I legitimately just like the guy, money values aside. That is all.”

“So you like him,” Lauren said. “That’s nice. You’re not great at getting close to people, so I think it’s great that you’re looking to expand your posse.”

Her nice way of saying I had no friends.

I dipped the brush in my bucket and said, “Did you seriously just say ‘posse’?”

“Yeah, I said ‘posse’ because I’m cool,” she said. “Now listen. I really do need to go, but I think you’re crazy if you don’t go to New York tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you might be right,” I said, though still unsure what to do.

But when I moved on to the kitchen, my mom made the decision super easy.

She texted: Do you think you can do me a favor tomorrow?

Shit. I replied: What is it?

Mom: Daniel and I need a place to stay tomorrow night—it’s a whole thing with our apartment management. Can we crash with you?

Now, even if I was at my apartment and critter-free, I would want to say no. But I struggled to ever say no to my mom because she was always helpless and in trouble.

I texted: My apartment is being fumigated, remember?

I knew I told her. I texted: I’m actually staying with a friend so I can’t help you.

She immediately replied: Can we just crash where you’re crashing? We won’t be any trouble.

It never failed to escape my notice that she was the adult, the senior adult compared to me, yet I was always helping her out. She was always the helpless victim.

So it gave me great joy to be able to say: I’m so sorry but I’m going out of town tomorrow.

Mom: What? You didn’t tell me you were going on a trip.

Me: It just sort of happened.

Mom: What do you mean? Is it a work thing?

I thought about that for a second. Technically Declan had just written a check to me for work that I performed, so it wasn’t difficult for me to text: Yep.

But when I finished cleaning the apartment and went back to Dex’s place, it was a little difficult for me to bring myself to text him that I was actually going. So I almost swallowed my tongue when I got a text that said: So have you decided yet?

I hated how hard he was trying to convince me, because it put dangerous thoughts in my head. He was a bored rich dude and I was his fun new friend for now— that was what I needed to remember.

I took a deep breath and squealed when I sent the text: I guess I’m going to New York tomorrow. Can you let me know when you book it?

He texted: I already did.

I laughed out loud—no, giggled like a tween—even though I was all alone. I sent: You were that sure I’d say yes?

He texted: I absolutely thought you’d say no.

I replied: That’s right, you don’t care about money.

He shot back: I told you I have a million frequent flyer miles from work travel, you judgmental dick.

I sent: Tell me everything I need to know.

He didn’t tell me everything I needed to know, but he forwarded my boarding pass and told me he’d have a driver waiting by baggage claim, so that was more than enough.

I threw together some Edward pieces and a few of my own, packed up my toiletries, then spent a sleepless night wondering what the hell I was doing.

Those thoughts kept screaming through my mind in the morning when I went through security before the sun was up, but then my mind was truly scrambled by business class.

He hadn’t prepared me for this.

For starters, when I saw that it said business class on my ticket, I assumed that meant a level lower than first class. I thought it would just be seats closer to the front of the airplane, maybe with a little more legroom, which I would have absolutely appreciated.

But when I got on the plane and they told me to go to the left, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The seats were all facing sideways, diagonally and kind of willy-nilly, little pods of privacy like the ones I’d seen in movies and FaceTime with Dex.

I found my seat and couldn’t stop smiling when I realized I’d be spending the entire flight in this luxurious seat.

It took me a while to figure out which buttons did what, and before the plane was even finished boarding, a flight attendant approached and asked me if she could get me something to drink and if I would be eating.

Eating? On a three-hour flight?

I ordered a Diet Pepsi and a steak sandwich at six in the morning, unable to comprehend that this was my reality. The little pod had fancy headphones, a pillow, and a blanket, and my seat reclined until it was totally flat if I wanted to lie down and nap.

Of course I did not; I was way too excited to sleep.

I couldn’t believe this was happening.

I was on my way to New York to spend a day there—one day—then go home. Just to get the vibes of the city for a few hours.

The plane took off and it was the greatest flight. I said no to the hot towel (hello, makeup) but yes to everything else, and after we landed, as promised, a man was standing by the baggage claim with a sign that read Abi Green .

Abi Green was one lucky girl.

“Hi,” I said, impressed that he was dressed like an actual chauffeur with the black jacket and the fancy driving hat. “I’m Abi.”

“Good morning, Abi,” he said, sounding refined, as if he’d spent his entire life training to be a fancy driver. “I’m Leonard. Let me take your bag. The car is just outside.”

“No, I can get it,” I said, but he took the rolling suitcase from my hand, much to my chagrin. That bag was old and borrowed; totally embarrassing.

We walked outside and he led me to a black Mercedes with all the windows tinted. He held open the back door for me, and when I climbed inside the vehicle, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Declan.

“Oh, my gosh, hi,” I said, laughing in surprise. “I did not expect anyone to be back here.”

He was wearing another beautiful suit, looking expensive and perfect as he sat in the back seat, and something about the way he smiled at me made a thousand butterflies go wild in my stomach.

“Yet here I am,” he said, his eyes moving all over me.