Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
NOAH
A couple of teenagers gave me the eye as they walked past, and when I glared, just stopping short of growling at them, they giggled and walked on.
I ignored them and strode to the edge of the lake, looking at the blue sky and skyscrapers reflected on the surface of the water.
I wanted to throw stones and disturb the calm.
The run was supposed to burn off my frustration at the world, but it clearly hadn’t worked.
I did a couple of stretches and then sat down on the outcrop of rocks while I cooled down.
I’d gone off fast to try and burn the antsy, pent-up feeling that I couldn’t seem to shake.
My thoughts kept circling back to Evie. Every time I resolved to ignore her, she made me smile with that implicit challenge to have the last word.
I couldn’t help myself trying to beat her at her own game.
Everywhere I turned, she popped up, always in my peripheral vision.
I checked over my shoulder and around at the quiet park, at the silent bare trees divested of their summer coverage, just in case I’d conjured her up and she was lurking behind one of the bushes.
Even getting a coffee in peace without her appearing was impossible, and today she’d surpassed herself. I laughed quietly to myself.
That girl did not know when to quit. I kind of admired her cheeky style, even though she was everything I wanted to avoid right now.
She was impulsive and jumped before she thought.
She was too reminiscent of Gabe. Evie was amusing, and I bet I could have a lot of fun with her, but I needed to get back on the team and not get distracted by anything or anyone.
Although, being totally honest, she’d livened up what was otherwise turning into a very dull day.
If I was going to be stuck in the city until my ban was overturned, I needed to make some new plans.
My original idea had been that if I was still here, I’d spend Christmas with my sister.
Unfortunately, those plans had been sunk when my sister told me that her mother-in-law was sick so she and her kids were travelling to Montana straight away and would spend the holidays there.
There were only so many hours a day I could spend in the gym, and I was already sick of the place.
Maybe I’d take in a ball game while I was here. I hadn’t been to one in years. I’d hoped to meet up with my college buddy, Todd, but he was out of town.
My phone buzzed and I seized it gratefully. Someone to talk to.
It was my agent.
‘Hey, how’s it going?’ asked Lara. ‘What are you up to?
‘I’ve just been for a run.’
‘Good boy. You can’t afford to let your fitness go.’
‘I’m bored,’ I said. ‘I can only train so many hours a day.’
‘Bored! Noah, you’re in one of the world’s greatest cities. Go play tourist.’
‘Is this the sort of advice I’m paying you for?’
‘Yeah, and it doesn’t come cheap, so pay attention.’
‘I could come home. Any news on the appeal for my suspension?’
‘No, you need to be patient.’
‘Easier said than done.’
‘Noah, you, the manager, the team and I know that was a risky challenge. We can change perceptions about that, but what we can’t change is the fact the guy broke his leg in two places.’ I felt sick when she said it. I felt sick every time I heard it.
‘Unfortunately, we’ve got some work to do to rehabilitate your rep. You need to be squeaky clean. Don’t suppose you could find a nice girl to fall in love with? The tabloids love a romance.’
‘Very funny,’ I told her. ‘I don’t have time for that sort of stuff.’ I needed to prove I deserved my place on the team and that I would do what it took to keep it.
‘You just told me you were bored. Go out and have some fun. You can afford a few late nights. Not too many, though, and don’t go out and get stupid drunk and be pictured leaving a nightclub with anyone. If you have to be seen – be seen coming out of a museum or having some good clean fun.’
‘I’ll do my best,’ I said wryly.
‘Seriously, Noah, take this time to do stuff. Go to the Guggenheim, the High Line – and that café, the Central Perk.’
I groaned. ‘You do know that was in Friends – it’s not real.’
‘It isn’t – are you sure?’
‘Real sure,’ I replied firmly responding to the disbelief in her voice.
‘Well, even so. I’d love to do those things but some of us are too busy. Go out, do stuff. For my sake if not your own.’
‘Okay, Lara. I’ll go out and do stuff.’
I finished the call and looked up at the skyline around me.
She was right, I was in one of the world’s greatest cities, I should make the most of it but that was easier said than done.
It would be more fun with someone. I knew one person in particular who seemed to find fun in everything. I pushed the thought away.
Maybe I’d do as Lara suggested and check out a museum.
Mind made up, I picked myself up, loosened the sweatshirt from around my waist and slipped it over my head.
‘Excuse me,’ a voice from behind me intruded on my thoughts. ‘Would you mind taking a…’ I turned around.
It was almost as if I’d manifested her presence by just thinking about her. Evie Green stood in front of me, wrapped in a long black shapeless coat and a scarlet scarf, wrapped several times around her neck so that only her face above her nose was visible.
‘You,’ she said taking a step backwards. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Running. What are you doing here?’
‘Following you, of course,’ she replied.
‘Are you?’ I asked, raising an eyebrow.
She tutted loudly even as she blushed, and I got a definite kick out of the way a streak of pink stained her cheekbones.
‘Mr Ego. Of course I’m not. We are within spitting distance of the hotel that we’re both staying in. It’s not that much of a stretch to imagine we might bump into each other here.’
‘I guess,’ I responded. ‘Well, nice seeing you but some of us have things to do.’
She fell into step beside me, and my body hummed in silent satisfaction.
‘Like what? What do you recommend doing? As a native?’
‘Not so much a native. I grew up in Bridgeport in Connecticut.’
‘I meant American, and I’m not even going to pretend I know where that is.’
Unable to help myself, I laughed, as there was something so refreshingly honest about her. ‘It’s about sixty miles northeast of here along the coast.’
‘Close enough to be local in my book. You must have visited the city.’
I thought of my mom. ‘We came to see Broadway shows a lot, my mom’s thing.’
‘A Broadway show. Good idea. I’ll have to check what’s on.’
Her hair danced in the stiff morning breeze, and I had to keep my hands at my sides to resist the temptation to brush it away from her face. I found myself volunteering more information than I needed to.
‘My mom always used to go see the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular.’
‘And that’s a bit of a mouthful,’ quipped Evie.
I laughed again because she was right. ‘I went with her a couple of times when I was younger – my sister and I got dragged along. I couldn’t get out of it. Not that I’d wanted to, although I wouldn’t have admitted it at the time. It was a lot of fun.’
‘So, what happens?’ Evie’s genuine interest was obvious, her big eyes were focused on me and there was a thoughtful look on her face.
She might be a lot of things I didn’t approve of, but she was very open and had a warmth about her that was kind of endearing.
And I liked the way she was so ridiculously outspoken.
When she walked beside me, she was in step, keeping up easily, and I was fascinated by that mass of hair.
I was itching to find out if it was as soft and silky as it looked.
And then there was the infectious smile, which, when she turned it on me, felt as if the sun had come out.
‘It’s like a real, old-school Hollywood musical Christmas deal. Big cast. Lots of singing. Dancing. They have a couple of traditional numbers, the ‘Dance of the Wooden Soldiers’ and the ‘Living Nativity’. You should go, if you can get tickets.’
‘I know a woman who probably can,’ said Evie with a grin, and I was immediately reminded of what brought her to New York and why I was here, too.
I wasn’t here for fun. There was a man lying in hospital because of me.
I needed to train hard and focus on being the best I could, so that when I got back on the team, everyone would know I deserved my place.
I shot her a tight smile, thinking of her scamming free tickets.
I get offered a lot of freebies, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
I don’t take anything for granted… And shit, don’t I sound like old misery guts.
Of course, I take tickets and stuff for friends, but I try not to blag too much (and that’s how English I’ve become in the last ten years. Blagging is such an English word).
It seems wrong that Evie’s benefitting when she messed up.
‘Are you going to milk this?’ I asked.
‘Sounds like you don’t approve. There’s a surprise. Are you always this much of a killjoy?’
‘No. I prefer to think of myself as a responsible citizen who pays my way.’ I sounded prissy even to myself, and then when her face turned pale and her eyes dulled, I felt a bit of a shit, but I couldn’t take the words back.
‘I’d forgotten what a high opinion you have of me, Mr Sanderson.’ I didn’t miss the sudden crumpling of her mouth and wondered for a moment if maybe I’d judged her too harshly.