Chapter 13
Even though I”m shacking up with my smokin” hot mountain man, I still miss my sisters. Don’tget me wrong though, waking up to Jack”s scruffy jaw and six pack situation beats triple estrogen morning chaos by all measures. But busting out sun salutations with my favorite girls brings me a special kind of peace.
So, when I breeze into our weekly Saturday yoga class to find both Grace and Aria already sitting cross-legged on their mats, my heart does a happy dance.
“Maddie!” Aria shrieks, torpedoing over for an enthusiastic hug that nearly upends us.
Laughing, I return her koala grip, the smell of her coconut shampoo filling me with nostalgia. “You literally FaceTimed me for outfit advice last night, goofball!” I squeeze her tight.
“I mean in person, dummy,” she scoffs, and plops herself back on her mat.
Grace gives me a calmer embrace. “We miss you, Mads. You’re all downtown cool now, but we have some uptown love for you this morning!”
“Namaste, ladies! Y”all ready to sweat out some stress and find your Zen?” our teacher Brittany calls in her melodic Texas twang from the front as a few other regulars trickle in. We respond in breathless agreement. Between Grace”s demanding book edits, Aria”s new school stress, and my new job and unconventional living situation, we are primed to downward dog away the chaos.
“Let”s start seated. Focus on your roots grounding you,” Brittany cues us, floating gracefully into a lotus pose as the soft music fills the space with dreamy mantras. Soon, we flow fluidly through warrior stretches, crow and tree poses, our breaths matching our movements.
An hour later, after the last inversion, we are gloriously wiped out and laying in well-earned savasana. My limbs feel like hot jelly but in that “ride the flying unicorn over rainbows” type of way. Aria looks blissed out, her limbs star-fished, while Grace somehow retained her poise despite sweaty flyways wisping everywhere.
“Namaste, ladies,” Brittany intones dreamily. As one, we rouse ourselves and stumble laughingly toward the smoothie bar.
“That hip opener flow kicked my sweet butt!” Aria exclaims, scoping out the brightly-colored options on the chalkboard. “I vote we go crazy with Pineapple Peach Perfection.”
“I think I’ll live dangerously and try the Matcha Gladiator,” Grace chimes in, and I decide to try it out too.
Soon, we claim a cozy sofa, sipping on our ice-cold glasses, our worries of the past week cleansed away.
Grace attempts some seriousness as she wipes the green goo off her lip. “So, update time, lady of the hour! How is engaged life unfolding downtown?” She waggles her brows playfully.
“Yes, update time, sista. How”s shacked up CEO life going?” Aria sing-songs.
Aria blinks eagerly for the inside scoop as I clear my suddenly dry throat. “Oh, you know, home life with the billionaire boss is very uh . . . educational.” I avoid Grace”s shrewd gaze, memories of last week’s very thorough tutorials heating my cheeks.
“Educational?” Aria wrinkles her nose. “Ew, like does Jack make you study programming and stuff?”
I latch onto the subject change, fanning desperately. “Oh yes, lots of that. Gotta know the subject matter to design a well-rounded social media campaign . . . it’s a very rigorous curriculum.”
Grace makes a production of examining the menu while obscuring her silent chuckle and fanning with her hand. I attempt a subtle eyebrow waggle her direction, knowing she interpreted my scarlet face accurately.
While baby sis remains oblivious, now pondering pineapple protein contents out loud, Grace meets my eyes, mouthing “ohmygawd.” Her thumbs-up followed by an exaggerated silent swoon makes me bury my face into a menu too, laughing.
Aria is still babbling about “learning the meat and potatoes of the virtual reality niche” when I frantically wave my hands. “Hey, speaking of learning, how”s freshman year going? Made any new BFFs yet?”
Aria pushes her dark framed glasses up, launching into excited chatter about Stuyvesant”s awesome intro classes and the cool seniors on the student council she looks up to.
“Ooh, and in Bio, we”re going to hatch butterflies from larvae soon!” she gushes. “My lab partner, Simon, seems super smart. He”s gonna make sure our butterflies grow healthy with his meticulous notes.”
“Look at you, getting an early start on the science squad!” I give an exaggerated wink her way.
As Aria happily recalls every amazing Stuyvesant detail, I exchange looks with Grace, who shoots me a covert thumbs-up while sipping her mushy green concoction.
“Oh hey, those park dance videos with that guy went bonkers right? I probably watched them a bazillion times!” Aria says. “What’s his name?”
I giggle hearing Aria swoon over my dance collab with Jace. “You seemed to like those moves, huh? What can I say, Jace is talented and not hard on the eye.”
With a dramatic sigh, she props her chin on her hand dreamily. “His moves are just so smooth! Are all famous influencer boys that cute?”
Grace makes loud noises while I hurry to temper her enthusiasm. “I wouldn’t know. But what I do know is that he’s too old for you, girlie! So, keep that crush restricted to likes and comments.” I ruffle Aria”s hair, ignoring her protests.
“She’s right. Jace is not for you, baby girl. Focus on the brainy ones like Simon!” Grace points out.
Aria blushes but rolls her eyes. “You both sound ancient! Just because Simon is smart doesn”t mean he”s cute too, you know.”
Grace and I exchange looks. “Maybe not now, baby girl, but give those butterflies a chance to fly.”
Aria huffs. “Ugh, you guys! I know dating is like illegal till college or something.” She flutters her lashes jokingly.
“Sounds about right,” Grace chuckles, and we dissolve into giggles at Aria”s dramatic proclamations.
“We should FaceTime Aunt Viv while we”re all together!” I say, pulling out my phone.
Aria perks up immediately. “Yes! Let”s call her.”
We all huddle around the screen as Aunt Viv’s cheerful voice trills through the speaker. Her stylishly cropped blond hair shimmers on screen.
“Mes chéries! Oh, I”ve missed your glowing faces. Settling into your new lives alright?”
We assure her all is going smoothly, then Aria pipes up. “Maddie has HUGE news. She got a new fancy job AND she met her dream guy!”
I laugh nervously under Aunt Viv”s sudden laser focus as Aria spills exaggerated details on Jack and our whirlwind engagement bliss. Knots tangle in my stomach at misleading both my baby sister and now my mother’s sister.
“Well, how utterly thrilling for you, Maddie! I cannot wait to meet this mysteriously dashing man who stole your heart. We”ll all celebrate properly when you visit me in Paris. Maybe for Christmas?” She winks playfully.
Laughing, we chat a few minutes more before blowing kisses goodbye. As I end the call, Grace squeezes my hand supportively. I sigh, knowing I need to call Aunt Viv and tell her the truth sooner rather than later.
Laughing brightly, we make our way toward the exit. Grace mentions she is neck deep in intense editing for her psychological thriller.
“It”s slow going, but I”m finally inching toward the finish line,” she says, glowing with accomplishment.
“Yeah, if by inching you mean chained to your laptop literally every free second,” Aria pipes up dramatically. “Do you even see sunlight anymore between work and writing?”
Grace lightly flicks Aria”s arm at the teasing but smiles good-naturedly. “Alright, drama queen, it”s not that bad. But you may have a point about me lacking a social life lately.”
I loop my arms through theirs. “You”re living your dream though, that”s what matters most! Let”s plan a fun night for the three of us soon.”
A comfortable silence settles as we envision cozy gatherings of the past. “It really is just like old times still—you writing deep into the night, me hassling you for sister time.” Aria grins up at Grace.
“Hey, my creative demons keep odd hours!” Grace acknowledges.
“So, how do you intend to find your own leading man if you are always deep with your nose in your manuscript?” Aria teases her.
“Been there, done that, baby sis.” She waves her off. “A man can be intensely distracting, so I’d rather abstain.”
Aria rolls her eyes, and we shift to making plans for next week’s yoga class when an unfamiliar guy cuts abruptly into our circle.
“Maddie! Fancy running into you again,” he croons, eyes cold despite his wide smile.
My spine stiffens reflexively as I recognize Preston Walsh, the creep from the gala. Maybe it”s his raptor stare undressing me, or that sleazebag voice hinting that we know each other.
He is finely pressed in designer athletic wear and slicked back hair, boldly leering, screaming Upper East Side trust fund baby. I wonder what he is doing this far east of Lexington Avenue.
“Oh wow . . . Preston. Yeah, real crazy random seeing you here,” I return flatly, angling my body away in clear dismissal. Grace and Aria trade concerned looks, picking up the weird vibes.
With cold calculation, Preston rakes his gaze down every inch of me before splintering my forced smile with his oily one. “We should grab dinner this week. What do you think?”
Um, hard pass on that one.
“I can’t make it,” I say flatly. “My fiancé is probably not free either; he has been absolutely swamped lately.”
Unfortunately, Preston seems oblivious to polite signals. He proceeds to launch into obsessive praise of my videos and beauty. As subtle hints fly past unacknowledged by him, Grace firmly grasps my elbow.
“We have to run now,” she says as she steers us away forcefully.
When we gain a safe distance, I release my held breath in a whoosh. “Sorry about that creeper. Occupational hazard, I guess, when you kinda have internet fame . . .” I trail off with an apologetic shrug.
Grace frowns. “That dude clearly had stalker red flags. You need to tell Jack.”
I wave it off but make a mental note to be more aware of my surroundings.
After saying goodbye to my sisters for the day, I head to the nearby John Jay Park to meet up with Jace. It’s time to shoot a few more videos outside before the weather shifts.
I spot him stretching on a secluded lawn by the river, warming up. My earlier disturbing run in with Preston fades as I become absorbed choosing the songs and settling on the mood of the video.
We playfully fine tune our moves under the autumn sunshine waning too quickly. After multiple takes, I finally land a dramatic hair whip finale.
“And I think that”s a wrap,” I say breathlessly. “With these videos taking off lately, are you getting stopped more in public now?” I ask him, scrolling footage on my phone.
Jace pauses, eyeing me curiously. “You know, not really. Sure, comments spike and likes roll in. But so far, no one has recognized me on the street or anything.” He grins teasingly. “Guess you handle most the fame burden of our collab.”
I force a small laugh, brushing off my run in with Preston. If only Jace knew of the fame he enjoys in my own little family.
“Hey, it”s getting late. Want me to walk you to the subway?”
“Nah, I’m good.” I wave him off, setting off toward Lexington Avenue with my headphones playing lively music. But I’m still tense as the dusk settles in over the Manhattan skies.
You”re losing it, Maddie, I scold inwardly, picking up my pace toward the turnstiles ahead. Too many videos and comments are probably making me jumpy. Still, the niggling sense of unease follows me onto the thankfully always crowded six-train headed downtown.