Page 111 of I'm Looking for a Man in Finance
I took a moment to gather my thoughts, weighing my options. The logical part of me screamed to walk away, to protect myself from further pain. But deep down, a flicker of hope burned, reminding me of the connection we had shared.
“I think I need to talk to her,” I finally answered, surprising even myself. “I need to understand why she did what she did, and if there’s any chance for us to move forward.”
Sebastian nodded. “Good for you, man. Go get your girl.”
I tapped into Hallie’s contact to call her despite how loud it was getting in Whiskey Locker. Things were just getting going for everyone looking to enjoy a night out. I covered my ear, trying to block out some of the noise as I put the phone up to my ear. My heartbeat was nearly in my throat in anticipation. Far more nervous at the prospect of hearing Hallie’s voice for the first time in over a week than I’d expected. But just as I expected the phone to ring, I instead heard a long beep, indicating a disconnected line. I tried to send a text message instead, which immediately failed to deliver.
Before I could question what was happening, my webalert for Hallie’s column flashed across the top of my screen. I’d almost forgotten that it was Monday, when Hallie’s articles normally came out. My finger hesitated over the link. Now that she and I weren’t going on dates, would her boss have made her go out for her last article? Or would she have had to come up with it all by herself?
“Jesus, are you going to share anything?” Sebastian asked. “You’re leaving me in the dark over here.”
“Hallie just published an article.”
Sebastian’s brows furrowed, mirroring my confusion. “But you two didn’t go on another date.”
“Exactly.” I clicked into the article, only to see “Overheard in NYC” instead of “Love on Wall Street” and to make matters even stranger, a different journalist had written it.
I shot off another text to her—only for it to bounce again. Then, like the definition of insanity, I tried to click on her number again. The disconnected tone sounded once more.
“Damnit.” I clutched my phone tightly in my hand, remembering that Hallie had only given me her work phone number. If the number was disconnected, could it really be that she’d leftSophisticate? “Seb, I think Hallie might have been telling the truth about her boss. I think she quit her job.”
“And she’s not answering your calls or texts?” he asked.
“I think she gave me her work phone number when we first met, and she never gave me her personal.”
I realized, just as Hallie did, that someone had changed the article. Then she had been trying to reach me that night, only for me to shut her out.
“Don’t you know where she lives?” Sebastian asked me as he casually sipped at his drink.
“That’s a great idea, Seb,” I said, already standing up from the table.
“Wait, you’re leaving now?” Sebastian asked as he shot straight up.
“Yes,” I told him as I tossed some cash on the table. “You can come with if you want, but you don’t have to.”
“Well, fuck.” Sebastian downed the rest of his drink. “Of course, I’m coming. What else am I going to do? This is far more entertaining than anything that’s been going on in my life recently.”
“Are you sure you’re not just tagging along in the hope that you’ll see Roxie?” I asked as the two of us walked out of the bar. I tried my best to ignore all the curious glances thrown in my direction as we walked out the door.
“Now, why would you think that?” Sebastian asked me with a mischievous smile.
Sebastian called a car to take us uptown toward the West Village. He was many things, but a man that took the subway was not one of them. But of course, there couldn’t be any more traffic than there was on a Monday night after work. Which only made the anticipation feel that much more serious as we inched across the city.
If Hallie had quit her job in response to what had happened with her boss, that told me a lot of what I needed to know.
I was already out the door before the car came to a full stop outside of Hallie’s apartment. Sebastian was nearly ten steps behind me as I pressed the buzzer to the correct apartment.
“Hello?” a woman’s voice crackled across the speaker.
“Roxie?” I asked, instantly recognizing Hallie’s best friend. “Is Hallie home?”
“James? What are you doing here?”
“I need to speak to Hallie. Is she here?” I asked again.
Roxie sighed down the line. “Hold on. I’m coming down.”
Sebastian stood on the sidewalk, just before the stoop, behind me. But I watched his shoulders straighten when he heard Roxie’s voice.
