Chapter 27
The streets were packed with revellers spilling out of bars and restaurants as Mary made her way to Evan’s apartment the following night.
Clusters of friends walked arm in arm, heading out to party the night away, and the city was a cacophony of high-spirited laughter, honking horns and occasional bursts of loud, thumping bass from passing cars.
When she reached Evan’s place, she stood outside and took a deep breath, gazing up at the lighted windows.
This was pathetic. She shouldn’t have come.
She’d look like such a loser having no party to go to on New Year’s Eve.
Still, she’d have to answer to her mother if she didn’t go through with it.
As she stepped up to the door, a smartly uniformed man opened it for her.
‘You must be Arnold,’ she said, turning to him.
‘Yes, ma’am.’ He tipped his hat. Then he did a double take. ‘Wait. That accent! Are you Sheena’s girl?’
She smiled. ‘Yes. I’m Mary.’ She held out her hand.
‘Very pleased to meet you,’ he said, pumping her hand enthusiastically. ‘Say hello to your mom for me.’
‘I will.’
‘You’re here to see Evan?’
‘Um… yes. I just have to give him something from my mum.’
He beamed. ‘Well, he’ll be real glad to see you. Go on up.’ He waved her through and gave her directions to Evan’s apartment.
Mary walked over to the bank of lifts. She doubted Evan would be glad to see her. Still, she just had to give him the gift and then she’d be on her way. Five minutes of embarrassment and then she’d never have to see him again.
The sounds of partying drifted out from behind every door as she stepped out of the lift and walked down the hall to Evan’s apartment.
She took a deep breath and rang the bell, her mouth dry and her heart skittering nervously as the door swung open and the noise level increased.
She felt a mixture of relief and disappointment that it wasn’t Evan standing in the doorway.
‘Hi.’ A solidly built man about her own age with thick dark hair and a friendly smile greeted her. Behind him the room was full of people drinking and talking. ‘Come on in,’ he said, looking at her curiously as he waved her inside.
‘I’m not staying,’ she said as she stepped into the living room. ‘I mean, I’m not here for the party. I just wanted to give Evan this.’ She held out the gift-wrapped parcel from her mother.
‘Oh, right.’ He winced. ‘Evan isn’t here, I’m afraid.’
‘Oh.’ Her face fell. ‘He’s not? But… isn’t this his party?’
‘Yeah. He was here earlier. But I can take it, if you like and leave it here for him. He’ll be back later.’
‘I suppose that’d be okay.’ Mary handed over the parcel, secretly relieved. She could tell her mother she’d tried; it wasn’t her fault she couldn’t deliver it to Evan personally.
‘Who will I tell him called?’
‘Oh, Mary,’ she said, holding out her hand.
‘Mary!’ He shook her hand, smiling broadly. ‘Better late than never,’ he said cryptically. ‘I’m Josh.’
‘It’s lovely to meet you, Josh. I’ve heard a lot about you.’
‘Likewise.’
‘And this is my wife Amy,’ Josh said as a petite woman with long red hair came to join them. He introduced Mary, giving his wife a meaningful look when he said her name.
‘Why don’t you stay and give that to Evan yourself?’ Amy said, nodding at the parcel in her husband’s hands. ‘I’m sure he’ll be back soon enough when he finds you’re not home.’
Mary frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘He’s gone over to your apartment,’ Josh said.
‘He was expecting you to come tonight, and he was very disappointed when you didn’t. He thought maybe there’d been some misunderstanding.’
‘So… he’s gone to see me?’
Josh and Amy nodded. ‘I guess you got your wires crossed.’
Mary gave a hoot of incredulous laughter. She had a strong sense of déjà vu. It was like what had happened with her family all over again, albeit on a much smaller scale. ‘But what about Olivia?’
Amy waved her hand dismissively. ‘Oh, they broke up. Hadn’t you heard?’
‘Yes, but I thought…’ She shook her head, hope blooming in her chest. ‘Never mind.’ That’s what she got for reading celebrity gossip.
‘Is this Mary?’ an elderly woman asked, joining them. Mary wasn’t surprised when Amy introduced her as Magda.
‘Why don’t you stay and have a drink with us,’ Josh said, ‘and wait for Evan to come back?’
In other circumstances, she’d love to stay here with these people. She felt comfortable with them already, and she’d like to get to know them better. But right now… ‘Thanks, but I think I’ll try to catch him at my place. When did he leave?’
‘Just about five minutes ago. He probably had to walk. It’d be hell getting a cab tonight.’
‘Thanks,’ Mary said breathlessly. There was no way she could sit here and wait for Evan to return. She couldn’t possibly sit still or make small talk. It still took a while to extricate herself from Evan’s friends before they wished her well and sent her on her way.
‘I hope we’ll see you again soon,’ Amy called after her as she went to the door.
‘Me too,’ Mary said over her shoulder. ‘And I’d love to meet Oscar.’
Arnold was nonplussed when she appeared at the door again so soon. ‘Oh, I didn’t see him go out,’ he said when Mary told him Evan wasn’t home. ‘I must have been on my break.’
He offered to call her a cab, but Mary knew she’d be quicker walking – or running.
She was out of breath when she turned into her street, her chest heaving, and her heart pounding with a mixture of adrenaline and hope.
She pushed through the revellers who were spilling out of brownstones onto the street, carrying the party out onto their stoops.
Then the crowd parted and she saw the lone figure sitting on the steps of her building.
Tears of relief sprang to her eyes. He was still here.
He was leaning his elbows on his knees, head hanging.
As she approached, he looked up and straightened.
‘Mary.’
‘Hi,’ she said softly. ‘We didn’t exchange numbers.’
‘I know. What a pair of idiots.’
‘You could have got mine from my mum, since you’re such great pals now.’
He shrugged. ‘I didn’t think there was any need. I thought I’d just see you tonight. At my place. At the party I invited you to. Anyway, you could have got mine from her too.’
‘It was too embarrassing to admit I didn’t have it. I thought you might have done that deliberately.’
‘What?’ He shook his head, frowning. ‘No way.’
‘So you came to see me?’
He nodded. ‘You weren’t home.’
‘No. I went to see you.’
‘You did?’
‘I was at your apartment. I met Josh and Amy – and Magda and Arnold.’
‘All my people.’ He smiled. ‘Why did you come to see me?’
Damn! Why hadn’t she got the question in first. ‘Um… my mum wanted me to give you this.’ She held out the package to him.
‘Your mum, huh?’ A wide grin spread across his face.
‘Yeah.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘I’m sure it was just an excuse. She wanted to make me go see you. She was worried about you.’
‘About me?’ He reared back in shock.
‘Yeah. She was afraid you weren’t eating your greens or that you were with the wrong girl or something.’
‘Right.’ He looked at the parcel in his hands. ‘So you just wanted to give me this?’
‘Yeah. And to check up on you.’ She sat on the stoop beside him. ‘Make sure you were eating your greens—’
‘And that I wasn’t with the wrong girl?’
She smiled. ‘Josh tells me you’ve broken up with Olivia.’
He frowned, giving her a quizzical look. ‘You already knew that.’
‘Yeah, but I wasn’t sure…’ She trailed off, not wanting to admit that she’d been reading gossip about him online.
‘This is what I was afraid of,’ he said with a knowing smirk. ‘Have you been reading fake news about me? I know you have a bad habit of googling me.’
‘It’s not my fault the algorithms think I’m interested in your every move. But yeah, I may have seen something online about you getting back together,’ she admitted. ‘And you did tell me you’d made up with her just before you left,’ she added in her defence.
He shook his head. ‘We did make things up. We’re not fighting or anything. But we’re not back together.’
‘You couldn’t forgive her for cheating?’
‘It wasn’t that. I realised I just didn’t care.’ He lifted his head and turned to her. ‘I don’t feel the same way about her.’ He smiled. ‘And I couldn’t stop thinking about this cool girl I met in Ireland.’
Mary grinned happily. ‘Would you mind opening that now?’ she asked, nodding at the parcel in his hands. ‘Because I’m bursting with curiosity about what Mum gave you and why it was so important that I deliver it personally.’
‘Sure.’ He tore at the wrapping. ‘I don’t get it,’ he said with a bemused smile as he lifted out… ‘A used candle?’ He frowned. ‘I mean, I’m all for regifting, but… Is this some Irish thing I don’t know about?’
‘Oh, Mum!’ Mary laughed, taking it from him. ‘It’s mine. It was on my mantelpiece at home. She obviously just grabbed the first thing she could find and wrapped it up, so she could make me deliver it to you. God, she’s incorrigible. I should have known it was just a pretext.’
‘Hey, it’s mine now,’ he said, grabbing it from her. ‘I must call and thank her. This is the best gift ever.’ He weighed the candle in his hand, but he was looking at her.
‘I have something for you too,’ he said, pulling an envelope from his inside pocket. He handed it to Mary.
She smiled, intrigued as she opened it and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Then she gave a hoot of laughter when she unfolded it and saw what it was. He’d printed out a map of Manhattan and highlighted a couple of routes from the Upper to the Lower East Side.
‘I didn’t want you getting lost. Your knowledge of the city seemed kind of patchy.’
Mary smiled, looking down at the map. ‘Thanks.’
‘Now you can always find your way to my place.’
‘This is great. I love it.’
The countdown to New Year had begun, a multitude of voices drifting onto the street through open windows as they shouted the numbers.
‘Happy New Year.’ Evan leaned in for a kiss as they reached midnight, and the air was filled with the explosion of fireworks, the ringing of bells, and the popping of thousands of champagne corks.
‘Happy New Year,’ Mary murmured against his lips. ‘Shouldn’t you be getting back to your party?’
‘Let’s just stay here for another bit.’ He grasped her hand, entwining his fingers with hers and smiling into her eyes.
‘Won’t everyone be wondering where you are?’
‘I think they’ll figure it out.’
Mary rested her head on his shoulder and watched as the sky lit up with bursts of colour.
She was looking forward to seeing Amy and Josh again, and getting to know them properly.
But there would be plenty of time for that.
Just now she wanted to be right where she was – sitting on the stoop of her New York apartment with Evan, in their own little bubble while fireworks exploded around them.
‘Happy New Year,’ she whispered again. She had a feeling it was going to be a good one.