In a New York Minute(49)

She smiled, a wide, blindingly white smile. Then her gaze fell, and she clucked disapprovingly. “Oh no,” she said, stepping toward me.

“What?” I asked.

Her expression was one of genuine concern. “I told you white was a bad idea.”

She leaned forward and studied a blotch of dirt on my shirt, right over my heart. She dabbed at it with her hand, swiping it off until all that was left was the shadow of a stain.

“There,” she said, looking back at me. “All better.” But she didn’t move away.

There it was again. And there was no mistaking it this time. There was an electric, energetic force field crackling between us. It suddenly felt like the thing so many random people on the internet had insisted was between us might actually be there. Was this flirting? Attraction? I couldn’t name it, but I could feel it.

The sound of my phone ringing cut through the moment, like someone shattering a glass in a restaurant. “Excuse me,” I said. I stepped back and tripped over two of the wooden planks we’d brought out for the garden beds. They went toppling, with loud bangs as they hit the ground. Franny just stood there staring at me as I wrestled my phone from my back pocket, both annoyed at the interruption and relieved that I had an excuse to turn away.

I pressed the button, and Serena’s face popped up on the screen. “Serena?” I asked, perplexed.

“Hey! I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d stop by. Surprise you with dinner. Eleanor told me you were at your new office and gave me the address.”

Serena knew how important the opening was for me, and I wasn’t surprised she wanted to see the space for herself. It was nice of her to take the time to come here, but all I could think about was how disappointed I felt that my time alone with Franny was over. “One sec. I’ll come down and meet you at the front door.”

“Sorry.” I turned to Franny. “This woman I’m”—The woman I’m what? Hanging out with? Dating? Seeing?—“spending time with just decided to drop by.”

“Wow, so you are having an office date.” She gave me an exaggeratedly shocked smile.

“Oh, I…” I got stuck on my words. “This is…not that. I wouldn’t really do that.”

“Hayes, I’m teasing.” Her words were lighthearted, but her voice was oddly flat. The vibrating electricity that had been flowing between us was now zapped, completely gone. Maybe I’d imagined it altogether. “It’s time for me to leave, anyway,” she said, and turned toward the doorway that led back into the office.

Our elevator ride to the lobby together was silent.

When we got to the front door of the building, a new kind of force field entered. “Hey!” Serena was dressed for a run but was still impeccably put together, in a crop top and leggings. In her hand was a giant pink box. “Tacos,” she said, eyes sparkling. “From my friend who just opened a new spot downtown. Gluten-free, of course.”

“Serena, this is Franny. She’s in charge of—”

“Oh my god, you’re the dress girl! From the subway!” Serena shoved the box into my hands and leaned forward to clutch Franny in a hug. “You’re a legend.”

Franny laughed as she peered at me over Serena’s shoulder, giving me a bewildered look.

Pulling away, Serena shot me a glance. “I didn’t realize you two were real-life friends.”

“Oh, we’re not,” Franny interjected, a bit too quickly.

“It’s a long story,” I offered. “But the short version is that Franny’s an interior designer, and she’s come on board at the last minute to do our new office space.”

Serena nodded, completely unfazed. “So nice to meet you, Franny,” she said, flashing bleached-white teeth.

“You too,” Franny said, looking from Serena to me, then back to Serena, trying to connect the dots. “Okay, well”—she offered us a small wave, and now her voice had shifted to an unnaturally cheerful tone—“have fun, you two!”

“Come show me your new office,” Serena said, dragging me back toward the elevator. “And we’ve gotta get a picture of these tacos for Instagram before we eat them.”





Chapter Thirteen

Franny



My phone rang while I was in the middle of multitasking, too many tabs open across my computer screen to count. In one, I was confirming my orders for Hayes and Eleanor’s office. Load-in was in a month, and everything was on rush order. Then there was the response to Anna that I’d started but never sent, which I kept in my Google Docs and mostly just stared at. And then tab after tab of financial stuff: bank account, credit card balance, student loans. I’d been staring at those too, but not shockingly, the balances still remained unpaid.

“Mom, hi,” I said, tucking the phone between my ear and my shoulder so I could keep working.

“Hi, honey.” Her voice crackled on the other end; they had terrible service at their house. “Just calling to check in on things.”

“Everything’s good here,” I said, fudging. Technically, things were fine. I had clean underwear on and had managed to drink at least one glass of water so far today. That counted for something, right?

“I was just telling Marianne how in demand you are,” she said.