Chapter 3
For once, I could breathe a little as I rode the subway over to Anna’s place. There was no pressing and unsolvable financial trouble in sight; I had just finished up with my work and sent it over to the client for review.
Things were looking up, so the moment I got off the subway, I went to her favorite Chinese restaurant and got our favorites for lunch and headed over to her apartment.
I had texted beforehand, so I was aware that she was at home; however, she wasn’t exactly expecting me. So, when I rang the doorbell and she didn’t answer, I wasn’t surprised. Soon enough, I could feel someone staring at me through the peephole, and then she pulled the door open. She removed the toothbrush from her mouth, and I couldn’t help but be amused at the tiny spiky ponytails that were sticking out from different sections of her hair.
“Were you pretending to see who it was so you wouldn’t have to open the door?”
She instead frowned.
“You said you’d be here thirty minutes ago.”
“Oh, I had to stop to get food; there was a bit of a late lunch line.”
I lifted my hand that held the bag up, and she squealed.
”Welcome, welcome…Oh, shoot, I’m going to get ready.”
I knew she meant going to shower and get herself as comfortable as possible so that she could enjoy her meal. So, I smiled and headed over to her kitchen to take the food out the boxes.
Afterwards, I brought up the phone number the girl gave me this morning and wanted to save it but realized that I hadn’t even asked for her name.
I wondered if it would be too soon to text her, but ultimately, I sent a quick text to establish our contact. Asking for a name and nothing else was casual enough.
She took longer than I had expected, which made my heart start to sink, but eventually, just as Anna came out from her bedroom, freshly showered and happy, she replied.
“Hey, I’m Aurora,” she said. “Nice meeting you again too,” I said, and I heaved a deep sigh of relief.
“What is it?” Anna asked as she grabbed a fork and instantly began to dig in.
“The new client I met at the cafe,” she said.
”Oh… She’s for real?”
“She better be,” I said, a bit too fiercely, and Anna raised her brows amused.
“She”ll cover your bills for the month?”
“Maybe. Hopefully. I’m just happy I didn’t have to go looking for a job to pay for them just yet, plus she told me her wedding was in a church, so I am kind of excited.”
“It’s a big wedding?”
“No, small,” I replied. “Sounded intimate. She said she’d reach out to me next week.”
“Nice,” she replied, and then we kept eating. I kept staring at her though, especially as she ravaged her food with the utmost enjoyment, but eventually, she set it down to get a drink, and then she gave me a long look.
“What is it?” she asked, and I smiled.
“Mind if I crash here tonight?”
She seemed concerned. “What’s wrong?” However, before I could even respond, she produced the answer.
“Your air conditioner broke again? I told you to just get a new one last time.”
“Well, I fixed it, and the technician said it would be alright.”
“And now, is it?”
“Don’t be sarcastic,” I said. “Can I or can’t I stay?”
“Are you just asking because you want to make conversation, or you really plan on listening to me if I say no, don’t stay; let’s buy a working air conditioner for you instead?”
“I didn’t hear anything you just said,” I replied. “But thanks though. You’re the best.”
Smiling, she shook her head and returned to eating, and then she asked a question that, up until that moment, hadn’t really crossed my mind.
“How much is she paying you?” Anna asked. “Is it substantial? Was she cheap about it or was there no negotiation?”
My hand stopped, and as I realized my major blunder, which was the fact that I hadn’t even
discussed it with her.
“Let me guess,” Anna said dryly as she looked at me. “You, in your extreme excitement, took a job and didn’t even discuss your payment. What if she can’t afford it, and you”re forced fighting a client for money for months again?”
“Ugh,” I groaned. “Well, she hasn’t yet booked it officially. She just said she’d reach out to me next week, so I can just wait for that.”
“Don’t you have her details?” Anna asked. “Why don’t you just send her your fee information?”
”Don’t jump the gun,” I told her. “All will happen in time.”
“This has happened before,” she said. “Have you forgotten?” she asked. “You getting so excited about a project, only for it to fall through, and then you have no food to eat for the next two weeks.”
“It’ll be fine,” I replied. “I’ll look for another gig in the meantime.”
“Or…” she said, and judging by the look on her face, I could almost guess what she was going to say, and I didn’t like it one bit.
“You could, like I keep mentioning, reach out to Victoria.” I instantly fired a glare at her, and instead of her feeling remorse, she was amused.
“I know you don’t like her, especially because of that argument that you both had in our freshman year that nobody remembers or cares about, and neither should you, but okay, keep carrying the grudge anyway and allowing it to keep you so proud that you won’t reach out for her to connect you with all the high-profile clients that she has been gifted to in the city. No. Don’t reach out to her.”
“Wow,” I said. “You’ve really been thinking about this one, haven’t you?”
“You’re too romantic about your work,” she said. “And it shouldn’t be that way because this is New York. You need to eat and pay rent and thrive, not scramble for cheap-paying clients. One of those clients, I’m sure, guarantees you income for at least six months.”
We both stared at each other quietly, and then I gave her a hard blink and looked away.
“You know I’m right,” she said, however, I didn’t respond.
I kept eating silently. Eventually though, I did respond.
“I’m not contacting Victoria because I’m proud nor because I’m holding onto whatever grudge you think we have.”
“You mean you’re admitting to having a grudge with her?” she asked, and I sent her another displeased look.
“Anyway, my point is if I had interests in those kinds of weddings, I’d go after them, but I really don’t enjoy them as much.”
“Have you ever tried, though?” she asked. “You just got started, and you”ve purposely always gone after the smaller projects which I don’t agree with. Start handling the bigger ones, and maybe, just maybe, you can convince them to add that rustic feel that you like with your projects.”
All of this talking was beginning to give me a headache. For the most part, she was right, but since I wasn’t ready to hear any of it just yet, I decided to simply eat my meal quietly and let the matter go.
Speaking of work,” I asked her. “How did it go with your boss and the date you claimed was not a date?”
“It went fine,” she said, however, I couldn’t miss the fact that she was suddenly so sullen, and I knew that things had not gone as well as she had planned.
“Let me guess, he was formal throughout the whole thing?”
She was quiet for a while, but actually, she replied.
“He didn’t even seem to want to look at me. Meanwhile, on normal days at work, I note the difference between how he treats me and how he treats my coworkers. Even they have noticed the difference, wondering if I was his secret niece or something.”
I listened, and then I nodded.
“You really like him, don’t you?”
“What do you mean by that?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
“I mean… he is a bit older than you.”
“Fourteen years is not that huge; y’all need to grow up, and you should know that I like older guys. I don’t want anything to do with boys.”
This amused me; nevertheless, she watched me closely as well.
“And what about you?”
“It’s been more than three years now since your breakup with Danny. I know you’re absolutely not still hung up on him since you didn’t even really like him that much. So, what’s the problem? Why have you been avoiding relationships since then?”
I had just the answer for her.
“Oh, excuse me! I was trying to start my business around that time and have worked day and night, through the snow, heat, and rain, to ensure that it takes off so that I don’t end up on the
street. Oh no, not at all, I should have been dating instead and running around New York looking for a mate.”
Once again, we stared at each other, and then after shaking her head at me, she returned to her meal.
I did the same but didn’t hold back my giggle. Later on, she did eventually have one more question for me.
“If you met someone now that you liked, would you still be too busy to date them?”
”I don’t know,” I replied truthfully. “Right now, I’m not interested in connecting with another human being.
“So you’ve given up on trying?”
“I haven’t given up,” I replied. I”m just wondering now if being connected to anyone even exists? I mean, I”m up there in adult years, and I still haven’t seen what all the stories are about. I mean, was it all just made up?”
This made her burst out laughing.
“Up there in adult years? You twenty-eight-year-old baby.”
“Baby?” I cocked my eyebrows; however, this was one comment from her that I had absolutely no problems with.
“Sure,” I said. “If you say so.”