Page 32 of New York Love Stories: Vol. 2

She perks up. “Jersey Shore, here I come.”

Mr. Meisler was right—sounds like Jersey is the retirement hotspot.

“I need to talk to Lowell,” I say, “so maybe I’ll ask him directly.”

Peggy laughs. “You do that. You do that, honey, and report back to me.”

I laugh nervously. “I don’t think I have the guts.”

“Well, neither do I. I guess we wait and see what happens.”

When she goes to the back room, I’m left with my own thoughts. Lowell is full of a lot of stuff, but insider information is usually not one of them. I bet he was just talking nonsense.

Hopefully.

But if he’s not, the thought of locking myself into a new lease with no guarantee of a job adds a new concern to the mounting pile.

I walk down the hall and knock lightly on my boss’s door. Lowell’s kicked back with his feet on the desk, and his personal phone is pushed to his ear like he’s some high-powered attorney with an incredible view of the Manhattan skyline,basically Rad, instead of working in a government-funded office in a section of Brooklyn that doesn’t get the hype like the DUMBO area near the bridge.

Annoyance crinkles the right side of his face. “What is it?”

“As you know, I have to be out of my apartment?—”

“I know this.” He rolls his hand in front of him. “Everyone knows. Get on with it.”

I recoil. His rudeness and impatience smack of Steve, and my insides brace. “I still have some packing to do.”

“Hold on.”

I wait, but then he drops his face to the linoleum and shakes his head. “Not you. You need time off? You can use your lunch at the end of the day. If you need more than that, fill out the time-off request form, and I’ll consider it.”

I’m feeling stuck. My stomach already rumbles from the thought of not eating until tonight. I can’t afford time off, though. I need the money. “Can I sacrifice two lunches instead of time off?”

“Yeah, whatever.” He spins away from me in the chair, and says, “Where were we. . .? Ah, yes, so you were wearing the pink number?—”

How does someone so careless and heartless end up working in a social services office? It can’t be for the money, so I’m always puzzled why Lowell is here. And since he’s my boss as well, I had another reason to move away.

I shake off his bad vibes and focus on the fact that I will be at Rad’s tonight, and technically, it’s mine now as well. At least in the short term. I’ll never be able to afford something that nice, so I’m going to savor every minute in that beautiful place.

I might even relish in Rad as well.

Who am I kidding?

I already do.

10

Tealey

My smile is instant, my heart beating faster to meet the joy I feel seeing my two best friends waiting for me. My pace picks up as I hurry toward my building. “What are you guys doing here?”

Cammie, dressed in yoga pants and a sweatshirt, waves. “We thought you could use reinforcements.”

Marlow stands in sleek white pants and a fitted black silk top, not looking like she’s here to pack. She’s holding a tray of drinks, though, so I won’t complain. “And I brought coffee.”

I readjust my bag on my shoulder and hug them. “Thanks for being here.”

The three of us have been best friends since we were assigned to the same tour group on the first day of freshman orientation at New York University. Although we couldn’t be more different, we clicked, and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

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