Page 102 of Missing Pieces (Men of Manhattan 3)

Confusion? That's what they were calling it? "What about the marines?"

"You can re-enlist if you want, I guess. There won't be anything on your record about this incident now. You're all clear."

Re-enlist? The first thing that popped into my head was Hailey. Right now she needed me. If I still wanted, I could do this in the future. But not right now. I needed to see her. I needed to know if she read my letter. I needed to know what she was thinking.

I signed some papers, grabbed my things, and stepped out into the sunshine. The light was blinding. I blinked several times before I could see anything. I was standing in the middle of NYC, my least favorite place in the world. My car was still in California. And I didn't even have Hailey's phone number to call her. Shit.

I opened up my wallet. I had given Hailey everything. All the money in my bank account. My credit cards so that she could max them out for the money she needed. All I had was $37 in cash. It was at least enough for me to get back to my old apartment. After a shower and a change of clothes, I'd figure something out.

I hailed down a taxi and climbed in the back seat. I had some money hidden in a drawer in my apartment. It might be enough to rent a car. My plan started to form in my head as the taxi slowly drove through the city. I'd pack up some essentials and drive to Hails' Bar where we had met. If I drove non-stop I could make it there by tomorrow morning.

Luckily the taxi only cost $20. I paid the driver and entered my apartment building. I made a silent prayer that Melissa wouldn't be there. Hopefully she had moved out by now. I didn't want to see anyone, because I knew I couldn't explain my thoughts. Maybe I was out of my mind. But I just needed to see Hailey. It's the only thing I could focus on. It's like I knew she needed me. I knew I needed her. Please need me back.

I put the key into my door and opened it.

Penny was sitting on the living room floor, taping up a box.

"Oh, finally, I'm starving," she said without looking back at me.

She looked different somehow. Maybe it was the fact that she was married. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't have feelings for her anymore. But she did look different. Everything was different.

"Hi, Penny."

She immediately looked over her shoulder. "Tyler?" She looked surprised to see me. "Tyler!" She ran over to me and threw her arms around my neck.

And I felt nothing. No spark. No rush. Nothing. Usually a moment like this would have killed me a bit inside. But not anymore. I was glad to know she was okay, though. She had a smile on her face as she stepped back from me.

"What are you doing here?"

"I live here. What are you doing here?"

She laughed. "I'm helping Melissa pac

k. What I meant was why didn't you call me to say you were back?"

"I'm not really back. I just need to grab a few things. I have to go somewhere." I couldn't explain myself to her. I didn't want to. I walked past her into my bedroom and opened up my sock drawer. I pulled out the small stack of money. There was only $112. Shit was that enough to rent a car? I sat down on the edge of my bed and typed in car rentals in my phone.

"Tyler, are you okay?" She hesitated by the door of my room.

"I'm fine." I recounted the money. It wasn't enough. Did car rental places negotiate? I stared at the information on my phone. Shit. They required a credit card just in case there were any damages.

"Tyler?"

"What?!" I didn't mean to snap at her. I instantly felt terrible when I saw her face.

She pressed her lips together. "Melissa and James will be back any minute with some pizza if you want to eat with us. Or, just in case you want to leave before they get back. I'll leave you alone." She walked away from my bedroom.

Damn it. I quickly changed and then stuffed the money into my pocket. I grabbed a few changes of clothes and shoved them into an old backpack. When I walked out of my room, Penny was sitting on the floor again, taping up another box.

"I'm sorry, Penny. I'm just in a hurry."

"It's okay," she said without looking at me. "I'm actually just going to get going. I'll tell them I'd rather do this another day." She stood up and grabbed her purse off the couch.

"You don't have to go."

"Actually I do. I'm so tired of always being in your way. For the last few years it's seemed like I was holding you back. And I don't know how to fix it. I don't know what you want me to do." She wiped the tears away from underneath of her yes. "So I'm just going to stop bothering you."

I walked over to her and hugged her hard. "You were never in my way."

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