Chapter Twelve
Wedding scavenger hunt (N)
It felt so strange not being with Jason, smelling his scent, seeing his suitcase and him…not being in her apartment. Which is why Naomi was strangely thrilled that he’d not offered to stay overnight. Or offered to come up, bring down her suitcase and his to his car and his apartment…that night.
A night apart would force her to examine her own feelings. Especially and specifically the way she’d reacted to his mere presence since he’d gotten back to New York. Not to mention, the man had spent more days than anybody, except for Livvy, scraping her off the floor.
She reminded herself that she was a strong woman, capable of solving her problems and creating a new business for herself, as she’d gotten into bed, clutching the T-shirt he’d left behind.
Of course, she dreamed about Jason, his body, his smell, the way he moved around her kitchen. The smell of his favorite cologne and deodorant. The precise way he made coffee, and his refusal to spill any of his secrets.
All of this did not make her feel any better when she practically jumped into his arms when he arrived the next morning. “Would I be ridiculous if I told you it felt weird that you weren’t here?”
In the silence that followed the rush of words coming out of her mouth, she wanted to kick herself. “Anyway,” she said, shoving herself into the space where some words…any words would be. “Do you want me to get the suitcase, or do you want to?”
“Naomi.”
Jason’s hands settled on her shoulders, his fingers massaging muscles that she didn’t realize were exhausted.
She practically lost herself in the moment and the motion before she realized she had to speak. “Yes?”
“Do you realize how difficult it was to drag myself away from you last night?” he said.
“But I didn’t want you to walk into my apartment for the first time…
right when I was going into it for the first time in months.
I wanted it at the very least to be not stuffy, and at most to be welcoming, somewhere you’d want to come back to. ”
Suddenly, the stress left her muscles. He wanted to see her; he wanted her to come back to his place, not just that night but others too. She smiled. “No, not ridiculous.”
“Not ridiculous at all,” he said. “And I’d show you how not ridiculous it was, but aren’t we on a bit of a time crunch?”
She nodded. “Right. I need to make the call, and we need coffee and…”
“You can make the call from my place,” he said. “We’ll grab breakfast between the garage and my apartment.”
“With my bag and your suitcase?”
Jason laughed. “It’s Manhattan. They’ve probably seen everything. And,” he said with a grin, “I’ve been to this place a billion times, and so they’ll take the bags to the back room. Help out a bit.”
“Is it a far walk from the garage?”
Jason shook his head. “No. Not really. And,” he continued, the smile on his face as bright as the sun, “they’ve got great food and even better coffee.”
Which in Naomi’s mind was the best recommendation he could give. “That works for me,” she said, knowing in her gut that a new chapter was about to begin. “Lead the way.”
*
As usual, breakfast was exactly what he’d expected, the kind of thing that would both excite and sate Naomi at the same time.
And then he led her down the street toward his apartment, through the door, the tiny hallway toward the ancient elevator that creaked when it moved. To the fifth floor of the building, and down the hall.
He could still smell the cleaning spray he’d used as they got closer to his apartment; he’d used copious amounts of cleaning products and tons of paper towel rolls, as well as a whole bottle of dusting spray and about three different vacuum bags.
To say nothing about how many hours he’d spent doing laundry.
And that wasn’t including the laundry he carried in the suitcase.
But none of that mattered; he’d cleaned, and he was ready for her to see his space. Ready enough at least.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
She nodded.
He held his breath as he put the key in the slot and twisted, the old door squeaking open.
He wondered what she was thinking as they walked inside, her bag on her shoulder and him leading the way with his suitcase.
“Living room,” he said, pointing to the space with the big comfy couch, two chairs and the entertainment center across the way.
He continued on, pointing with his thumb toward the kitchen and the sleek, stainless-steel appliances that looked somewhat out of place in the space. But he’d spent money on those appliances; this was a cook’s space after all.
The table stood by the balcony area, accessible through the kitchen space. And as they headed toward the back of the apartment, he pointed out the first of many bookshelves, the bathroom and his bedroom.
“I’m putting my stuff down,” he said as he walked into the bedroom.
He heard her footsteps behind him, and he didn’t want to turn to see what she was doing; he just didn’t want to pressure her or keep her on a path. This was him opening his space to her, and he didn’t feel like forcing her on a timeline.
At least one that wasn’t the timeline they had to follow so that they’d be on time to meet with the visual artist.
“I like the space,” she said, her voice cutting through his thoughts as she put her bag on his bed.
“Thank you,” he said, feeling a little dazed if not entirely too excited for words. “You see spaces all the time, so I wanted to make sure you liked this one.”
She smiled, and he knew he’d impressed her. “You and this place is like Artur and his car.”
Which made some sense based on the stories Samuel dropped when they were just talking.
Artur, Liv’s boyfriend, had some kind of thing about his car—and a secret one that was apparently more expensive than any of Jacob’s.
“Any particular part of it?” he asked. “I mean if that’s what you were going for? ”
She laughed and it made his heart burst if not beam. “I mean possibly the kitchen, but it was more a reference to how you’d not ever talked about or invited me to this place…until now?”
And that was a thought—a serious one. One that required a different environment than his bedroom. “Come,” he said.
She nodded and took the hand he’d outstretched. He led her into the living room, to the couch that he’d had for years and refused to give up because it was the best couch he’d ever sat on, not to mention they didn’t make couches like this one anymore.
“Tell me.”
He smiled. “I think you’re actually more on the nose than you thought when you were talking about Artur and his car.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I think,” he said, trying to word this carefully, “that Artur showed your sister his cars when it was obvious that they were going to be spending so much of their time together and that he couldn’t literally make her drive him everywhere.”
“I’m listening,” she said, her eyes wide.
“When my first unconscious thought when I got back from my trip was not only seeing you but also going to your place and staying there. I knew that…things had changed. Right?”
She nodded. “Things have changed. Yes.”
He continued, “As we try to figure out what that means, I noticed how much I’d been staying at your place.
And I also noticed I didn’t want to be the kind of guy to force you to…
host us especially when I actually have an apartment that’s more convenient to some of these places.
So…” He smiled. “I figured it was important that you see this place at its best and know that…you’re as welcome here as you’ve welcomed me into your place. ”
And his heart pounded when he finished speaking, looking into Naomi’s eyes and hoping she’d say something, anything to fill the space where words should be, and make him feel like he wasn’t talking to an empty room.
But then he saw her eyes get soft, her smile wide. “Thank you,” she said.
Which were the two best words he’d ever heard.
*
Standing in Jason’s apartment for the first time made Naomi glow. Being trusted to enter a space that had been so important to him and seeing the things he valued was a feeling she didn’t take lightly.
He looked adorably nervous in a way she wasn’t used to seeing. She wanted to comfort him, but that was just this side of ridiculous. Instead, she smiled. “Thank you for letting me in,” she said. “To this space of yours.”
“The pleasure is mine,” he replied.
And she could see where this was going: off the rails, off the track and back into that bedroom with the bed that looked ridiculously comfortable. “I don’t mean to halt things immediately, but…”
“Yes,” Jason said, taking a step back, shoving his hands in his pockets. “We have business to do.”
“Yep.” Naomi paused, taking her bearings, reaching for the ever-running mental to-do list.
Focus, Naomi.
Focus.
What was next on that famous checklist?
What did she have to do?
They had a meeting, but when?
And that’s what was missing. “I need to call Max Parker-Roth and figure out timing,” she said, following him to the couch, sitting down next to him.
Jason nodded. “Go ahead,” he said.
She smiled and pulled her phone from her purse, pressing the speaker button on her phone before dialing the number she’d gotten from Tom the night before.
One…
Two…
“Hello?”
Instantly, she grabbed onto her business mode; she was the owner of NN Events, not just Naomi Nachman. “Is this Max Parker-Roth?”
There was a pause. “Yes?”
“This is Naomi Nachman,” she said, pushing forward, keeping focused on the endgame, “and I’ve got Jason Greenblatt with me. Tom Walker said to call you?”
“Yes,” Parker-Roth said, the sudden realization racing through his voice, before a slight laugh. “You saved his butt last night by filling the hole that I not so casually left behind. I’m in your debt. What can I do?”
Naomi grinned. “You can help stage a wedding.”
“Oooh,” Parker-Roth said excitedly. “Excellent. That sounds like so much fun.”
Jason raised an eyebrow, and Naomi desperately tried not to laugh at Jason’s sudden infusion of skepticism before pulling herself back together. “Have you done this before?”
“I’ve done a book signing; how hard can this be?”
Now it was Jason who was desperately trying not to laugh; Naomi herself had to hold her tongue to keep from saying something that would give her away.
“Clearly I’m kidding,” Parker-Roth said into the silence. “Of course I’ll help. Do you have photos of the venue? And by venue, I mean where everything is taking place. I don’t mean a building if you’re not using one.”
Personalities. Meeting new people required learning new personalities and how to interact with them. Max Parker-Roth clearly had a singular one.
She needed to take a breath.
“We have photos,” she said, taking his words at face value. “Can I bring the photos and a contract to you this afternoon?”
“Absolutely,” Max replied. “Also, if you’d like to come early, I actually might need some help from the two of you in terms of organization? If you’re willing? Tom spoke highly of you both, and I take his references seriously.”
Thankfully, she and Jason had planned on arriving early enough to have a good conversation about the wedding, and to get the contract signed, before the exhibition was supposed to start.
Of course, that made her question what exactly Tom Walker had told his friend.
But all she said was, “Of course,” as Jason nodded his agreement. “We’ll be there. What time?”
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. “Exhibit starts at six, so come at about three? Would that work for you two?”
“That works perfectly,” she replied. “Any dress code?”
“No dress code particularly, but this is an opening at a gallery so we’re looking at a lot of clothing on the darker side, you know,” Parker-Roth said, “for a laugh and for the aura.”
“Sounds good,” Naomi said with a grin. “See you soon.”
And after she ended the call, she turned to Jason. “I don’t know how we’re going to pull this off.”
He laughed and she wasn’t sure why. “I guess we’re going shopping.”
She would have to wait and see what he meant. Hopefully, she’d survive it.