Page 30 of One Good Reason

“Um. I can understand that. Anyway, Mrs. Jessie agreed to staying over at the house with Gema so I guess I can accompany you out of town.”

“Wonderful. Pack for extreme cold temperatures as we will be going to New York.”

Bucking her eyes, she shrieked, “New York?!”

“Yes ma’am. That’s where the gala is being held.”

“I don’t have winter clothes,” she groaned. “It never gets cold enough here for me to purchase any. Nor do I have anything to wear for a gala. Hell, I’ve never even been to New York.”

“Happy to be your first.”

“Huh?”

“The first person to take you to New York, Talitha. Also, it looks like you got some shopping to do.”

Talitha mugged me before opening her plasticware and dipping it into the plate of food. After forking a piece of pancake in her mouth, she pulled her MacBook out of her bag and turned it on.

“I really hope it doesn’t take eight hours today.”

“So do I. I still have a few things I need to do before we leave tomorrow.”

“And what time are we leaving?”

“I’ll be to get you around two.”

“Morning or afternoon?” she asked.

“Afternoon. The flight will take roughly around five hours. The gala isn’t until Saturday night so we can spend Friday resting up. I’ve gotta shop for a suit so that will take up most of my Saturday morning.”

“Will Baker be traveling with us?”

“No. But he did secure a car service to pick us up when we land. Why’d you ask?”

“I need something to occupy my time while you’re out shopping.”

“Or…” I drawled. “You’re welcomed to tag along.”

“Good to know. Didn’t want to just invite myself on your outing.”

“I pretty much figured you would be joining me anyway. I have no plans to bring you to New York and alienate you.”

“Also good to know.”

“Class is starting. Let’s get this over with so we can get up out of here.”

Pulling up the seminar, I pushed my chair up to the table and secured my AirPods in my ears. Talitha and I could discuss details once we were done for the day.

“Where are we staying?”

“Central Park at the Plaza. Chari reserved us a two-bedroom suite.”

“I heard Central Park was nice.”

“Shit,” I scoffed. “Nice in the eyes of tourist. Me on the other hand, I don’t really fancy it.”

“Is there a specific reason?” Talitha probed.

“Hell yeah. Too congested.”

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