Chapter Twenty-Seven
Her timing wasn’t quite perfect. When Eliza arrived at NOY?—having missed one train because she chose not to run down the stairs to catch it?—the reception area was filled with board members, staff, and NYU faculty glad-handing and congratulating one another on a good plan. She wondered if she could sneak back out without being noticed, but eagle-eyed Vanessa spotted her.
“Eliza! You made it!” her boss exclaimed loudly, causing multiple heads to swivel in her direction.
She smiled weakly. “Yep. Just barely.” And then she pulled herself together, pasting on her high-wattage smile for the board members.
There was so much cross talk, she felt like a buoy bobbing in not-very-calm seas, and everyone made it sound as if they’d achieved peace in the Middle East. She felt guilty for being a bit disappointed that this collaboration hadn’t crashed on the rocks of bureaucracy, as so often happened.
She made her way through the group, smiling and murmuring platitudes, hoping to avoid Ross. But then there he was, large as life.
“Eliza! I hear you had quite the adventure this morning.”
“I don’t know if getting stuck in an elevator constitutes an adventure,” she replied.
“Well, I suppose it’s all relative. What usually spices up your life?”
Is he flirting with me? She felt her skin crawl.
“Oh, you know, encouraging donors to make big contributions.”
He smiled knowingly.
Ew. That was not what she meant.
He clapped his hands together. “Almost forgot! You promised me some fidget spinners.”
Safer ground. “You’re right. And I pulled some out. They’re in my office. I’ll just get them.”
She turned to walk away, hoping her backside wasn’t covered in elevator grime.
“I’ll come with you.”
Great.
He followed her to her office, where she quickly went to her desk to get the gadgets she’d tucked into a drawer after she realized she was playing with them too much. Meanwhile, Ross walked around the small space as if doing a military inspection.
He paused by her file cabinet. “I think your plant needs watering.”
“Probably.” She shut the drawer, spinners in hand.
“What’s this?” His voice was strange, and she looked up. He was holding the family photo from Scott’s bar mitzvah.
Suddenly her heart was racing, and her hands went cold. She tried to speak, but her mouth was dry. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Just a photo from my brother’s bar mitzvah. A long time ago.” Could she possibly pretend her mother just looked remarkably like his ex-girlfriend? They said everyone had a body double. Or, as Mo liked to say, an evil twin.
He looked from the photo to her and back again. Then he pointed at Laura. “What’s your mom’s name?”
She swallowed again. “Laura Levinger.”
“Levinger.” He stared at the photo and then off into the distance before looking back at her. “Was her maiden name Saperstein?”
Eliza’s ears were on delayed playback, and it took her a moment to hear the question. She nodded slowly, knowing what he was going to say next. Her thoughts were whirling. Could she pretend this was all a shocking surprise? One of those “what a small world!” moments? Like bumping into someone you knew from home when you were traveling abroad, or discovering that your new neighbor was your college roommate’s cousin?
But if she did that, she’d be slamming the door on ever revealing the truth. Ross was looking at her, waiting for her answer.
She nodded slowly. “Yes, Saperstein was her maiden name.”
He started to shake his head. “You’re not going to believe this, but she and I dated in high school.”
Eliza felt like she was going to throw up. How had she ended up having to have this conversation here, in her office, with her boss steps away? And all her coworkers?
“Actually, I know,” she said.
“Wait. What?” He rubbed his chin like he was trying to erase a stain. “You know ? Did your mom talk about me?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then how do you know?” His voice rose a little, and Eliza glanced nervously at her office door.
“Can we go somewhere else to talk about this? Get a cup of coffee?” At that moment, she would have gladly drunk the most bitter cup of coffee rather than have this conversation. Especially here, where Vanessa could walk in at any moment.
He took a small step forward, forcing Eliza to step back. “Talk about what? What is this? What’s going on here?”
“Please,” she pleaded, touching his arm, which he pulled back immediately. “Let’s get a cup of coffee.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, clearly on the fence. “Fine. Lead the way.” He motioned with his hand for her to go ahead of him, but despite the surface solicitousness of the gesture, to Eliza it felt hostile.
Foolishly, it wasn’t until they were through the doorway that Eliza realized they’d have to pass by whoever was left in the reception area, and they’d need to have some explanation for their abrupt departure. Most everyone was still there, chatting. Eliza ducked over to Amber, sitting at her desk. “I need to run out for a minute to Duane Reade.” And she looked at her meaningfully.
Amber immediately caught on, but unfortunately reached for her purse. “Wait, I’m sure I have something...”
“No, no, I’m just going to run downstairs.”
Amber looked puzzled but shrugged, and Eliza tossed a “Be right back” to a startled-looking Vanessa. Great. Now she could plan on having another difficult conversation after this one.
Ross was right behind her as they headed to the elevator and stepped inside. Eliza pressed the button for the lobby, and the shiny doors slid shut. She was looking straight ahead, but when she realized that meant she could see Ross in the reflection, she dropped her eyes. What were the chances that this elevator would get stuck, too? A choking sound burst out of her as she stifled the hysterical giggles that started to rise up at that thought. She covered the noise with a cough but felt Ross turn to look at her anyway.
Once downstairs, he again gestured for her to lead the way. Why was he being so quiet? What was going on in his head?
They walked briskly to the chain café at the corner. It had a French-sounding name, but she and Mo liked to laugh about the fact that it was actually headquartered in Omaha.
“What can I get you?” were the first words out of Ross’s mouth since they’d left her office.
“Just a cup of tea. Any kind. It doesn’t matter.” Nice, Eliza. Be easy and accommodating before you turn his life upside down. And yours.