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I pull off my helmet and secure it to the bike, glancing at the watch Alexander insisted on gifting me last Christmas. A Rolex. It’s not usually my style to wear half a million dollars on my wrist but even I have to admit it’s a nice watch.

It’s almost nine.

As I make my way out onto the street and around the corner, I vaguely notice as traffic stops and the rush of the crowd hurries across the crosswalk. But something’s holding them up. A frail-looking elderly woman wearing a bright yellow headscarf is being very nearly trampled by corporate assholes. She’s hunched over a cane, barely a third of the way across. The light’s about to change.

Despite my mood, I can’t help myself. I walk over to her. “Excuse me, do you need some help?”

Her eyes narrow as she stares up at me. “If you’re thinking of mugging me, Buster, I don’t carry cash and my diamonds are locked up in my son’s safe in Hoboken.”

I like her feistiness. “I promise I’m not going to mug you. I’m Noah. Let me help you across the street.”

“Enid,” she replies, sizing me up and apparently finding me trustworthy enough. When I offer her my arm, she takes it.

We start our slow, slow journey across the street. The traffic light turns green before we’re even halfway and horns blare. Enid grips my arm tighter, using my support and her cane to take another step. “If I wasn’t holding onto you, dear, I’d be giving those morons the finger.”

This makes me smile. “Maybe let’s not give any pre-caffeinated New Yorkers the finger until we get you safely across.” A driver revs the engine angrily and screeches past us.

“Assholes. Everyone is always in such a rush these days,” Enid sighs, continuing at her snail’s pace.

“Big plans today, Enid?” I ask, in an attempt to distract her from the cab driver who’s wound his window down specifically to yell obscenities at us.

“Oh, you know, the usual. Judge Judy and Jeopardy with my sister Mabel, then maybe I’ll go shoplift some Tums later. Just kidding, they’re locked up like Class A drugs these days. Mabel is ninety, a spinster and ornery as hell, but she insists I visit her every morning. And I have to be nice to her in case she dies first. She keeps threatening to leave her fortune to her hairless cat Nigel.”

I didn’t think I was capable of laughing this morning but Enid has proven me wrong. “Quite the agenda you’ve got there, Enid.”

We finally reach the other side.

“Are you going to be okay getting to your sister’s, Enid?”

“Oh yes, I’ll be fine from here. I’ve walked to Mabel’s every day for fifty-seven years. I could do it blindfolded.” Enid steadies herself. “I’m sure you have places you need to be, looking like you do.”

“I’m happy to help if you need it.”

She squints up at me. “Whoever gets to keepyouis one lucky lady. If only I’d met you when I was a looker in my twenties.”

“You’re still a looker, Enid.”

She cackles nostalgically. “And you’re a good liar. And very charming. Not to mention tall, handsome and well-dressed. Andbuilt, good Lord. Tell your lucky lady she better appreciate the catch of New York City.” She pats my arm and begins shuffling away. “Have a good day, Noah. And thank you.”

“My pleasure.” I watch for a moment as she makes her way down the street, concerned she’s going to be knocked over by a guy who’s reading on his phone and not looking where he’s going. But Enid’s ready for him. Before he can barge into her, she gives his leg a well-aimed thwack with her cane. He jumps back, letting out a little howl. Limping and glaring, he gives her a wide berth as he hurries away.

Enid’s going be just fine.

I make my way back across the street and hear someone yelling my name. Colton steps out of his limo. “Tell me you didnotjust help an old lady cross the street.”

I don’t bother confirming or denying.

“Dude, you’re a walking cliché,” Colton laughs.

“And you’re an ego-inflated asshat, but we love you anyway.” We make our way inside the Daily Grind.

“Hi, Noah.” It’s one of the baristas who knows me by name. Because I have to give a name for my order. I make a point of asking theirs because I come here a lot and it seems like the right thing to do. I happen to know her name is Elli with an i, becauseit’s how she introduced herself. She blinks blue-tinted eyelashes at me.

“Hey, Elli with an i.”

Her smile is doe-eyed. Colton elbows me but this girl is so not my type. She has piercings all over her face and a goth look that’s never really floated my boat. “Can I get you your usual, Noah?”

“Make it three, please.”