Page 36 of The Player + The Pact = I Do

“Can you open the roof?” I ask my driver. I’ve already wound down the windows, but I need to feel as New York as it’s possible to feel right now. I can’t get enough of this awesome city and I want to experience it all. I wanna put my head out of the window, like a dog, and take in the scent of hot dog stands and overspilling garbage and the late September sun that I can see only if I look up to the sky. I want to hear beeping car horns and the shrieks of an unhappy restaurant owner yelling at someone in the street, or the construction workers calling to one another, taking up the road.

I owe everything I have to this city and my parents for bringing me here. There’s nothing I don’t love about it.

We pull up outside my building and I can’t wait to get inside. The phenomenal views from my apartment are calling me; I want to look out onto the skyline and give thanks.

I burst into the apartment and immediately hear Bach’s cello suites. I smile. Jules. Who knew that I’d actually look forward to coming home to a roommate?

The door slams behind me and I toe off my shoes before heading into the living space. The music turns off. Jules has heard I’m back.

“Hey,” I call.

She pokes her head out of her bedroom. She’s chewing. She swallows. “Hey.” She comes out and leans against the doorjamb. “How are you? You look mighty happy.”

She’s holding a half-eaten apple in her hand. I grab her wrist and hold it up, then take a bite of her apple.

“Help yourself,” she says, smiling at me as I chew.

This time it’s my turn to swallow. “Jules, today is a good day!”

She follows me as I head to the windows of the apartment.

“New York Fucking City,” I exclaim. “So great they named it twice.” The low sun has turned the skyline dusky orange. It’s fucking beautiful. “New York is the love of my fucking life.”

She stands beside me, looking out over the city. “You win the lottery or something?” she asks.

“Sure did. Look at my life!”

She laughs. “Yeah, well, when you put it like that. But what happened today? You’re not always so… chipper.”

I chuckle and my eyes slide to hers. Her hair is on top ofher head in a messy bun with strands poking out all over. “Oh, I didn’t even ask—how was your first day?”

She sighs. “I thought it was good, and then you arrive punching the air and doing your little New-York’s-so-great dance.”

“There’s no dance.”

“If I wasn’t here, I bet there’d be a dance.” She looks at me, beaming, and all I can think about is how I’d like to dance with her right this second.

But I’m not dancing with women. I’m having sex with women. That’s as far as it goes. I’m not getting embroiled again. Not after making such a terrible mistake with Nadia.

“I just had my first walk around New River and it’s great. The views are great. The space is great. It’s… lovely.”

“That’s amazing, Leo. New River is going to be spectacular. I’d love to see it.”

“Well, good, because you will see it. I’m having a cocktail party there in a week or so. We’re launching the sales center. Did you get the email from Aesha?”

“I did. How’s she working out for you?”

“She smiles more than you did when you were my assistant.”

Jules laughs and it’s like my joy cup is being topped up. She’s dazzling when she smiles. “That wouldn’t be difficult. But is she a good assistant?”

“She seems fine. You trained her well.”

“Of course I did. I don’t want to have to go back to that job. Anyway, she’s a quick learner.”

“Was it really so bad?” As soon as I’ve asked, I wish I hadn’t. There’s something in me that doesn’t want to hear how bad working for me is. Not from her.

“No, of course it wasn’t, but being back in the hoteltoday… it’s where I belong.” She turns and takes a seat on one end of the sectional.

---