Surfside Sisters(44)
“Right.” Keely’s head was whirling.
“Okay, we’re set,” Juan declared.
Everyone rose, shook hands or air-kissed, and Melissa escorted Keely and Sally to the elevator. Moments later, they were back on the street.
Sally grinned. “We talk fast in the city, don’t we?”
Keely nodded. “Everything is so—exciting.”
“Yes, there’s nothing like the high of selling your first book. Look, I’ve got meetings now. I suggest you walk back to your hotel. It will be a long haul, but it’s the best way to see the city. You can stop for coffee somewhere. Take your time. Soak it in. Keely Green, new author, strolls the big city. Enjoy it.”
“I’ll do that,” Keely said.
“You fly back tomorrow?”
“I do.”
“Safe travels. We’ll be in touch.” Sally kissed Keely’s cheek and vanished.
Keely walked. Tentatively at first, unsure of her course, and then she found Broadway and headed north. She tried not to grin like a tourist as pedestrians, most of them yelling into phones, grimly strode past her, but she was too happy. She broke into a laugh, and thought, why not? She could talk out loud in this city. Everyone would think she was on Bluetooth.
She walked and walked, fascinated by the shop windows offering anything one could possibly dream of. She allowed herself to gaze upward at the sky-high buildings, because if she looked like a tourist, well, she was a tourist! But she also belonged to this city. She had an agency and a publisher and she was returning for an author photo. She had had lunch with her editor—she had an editor! There was something about New York that made her book more real, more exciting, more fabulous. Her mind was like a three-year-old child at a birthday party, wanting to eat more cake, open more presents, and run around the yard screaming. She kind of wanted to jump up and down, but only tossed her head and kept walking.
When she arrived at the hotel, she was trembling with exhaustion. She fell on the bed. She shouldn’t have walked all that way in high heels. She was jazzed up. She wanted to share this miraculous day with someone. Her mother was working. Tommy would grumble if she called him.
Isabelle. She wanted to share her happiness with Isabelle, who would understand like no one else could what an enormous event this was.
But Isabelle had just been dumped by Gordon—maybe this was the wrong time for Keely to share her good news?
But Tommy had probably told some of his friends, which meant someone had heard the news and called Isabelle.
And Sebastian knew.
Keely called Isabelle.
Isabelle answered her phone with two words: “I know.”
Keely took a deep breath. “You mean you know that I’m going to have a book published?”
“Sebastian called me.”
“Are you on the island?”
“Not yet. I’m packing, but I’m so miserable, I don’t have the energy to move.”
“Well…I’m in New York right now. I’ve just met with my agent—”
“Don’t, Keely. Just don’t. Don’t kick me when I’m down.”
“Isabelle, come on. I’m not trying to hurt you. You’re my best friend. I want to share my happiness with you. Like, okay, like if I have a delicious cake and I want to share a piece with you.”
“No, Keely. You have the whole damned cake and it can’t be divided. You’re going to have a book published and you’ve got Tommy.”
“Whoa, hang on. I’ve only got Tommy because you’ve been in love with Gordon.”
“Rub it in. Add salt. Now I don’t have anything and you have everything.”
“Isabelle! Don’t be this way. I want to share this with you. I mean, I didn’t want to call you right away because you called me about Gordon, and I’m so sorry, he’s an evil shit and you’re a gorgeous woman. You’ll have men around you the moment they know you’re free. We’ve always had the same dream. I want you to celebrate with me.”
“Your dream came true. Not mine.”
“That doesn’t mean your dream won’t come true! You’ve been able to go to the writers’ colony. I’m sure anything you write is better than mine—”
“Stop being so patronizing.”
“Isabelle, I’m not—”
“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be around you anymore, Keely. It hurts too much.”
“Isabelle!”
Isabelle had disconnected.
Keely sat on her bed in the lovely hotel watching the lights of the great city blink on. Even here with the window closed, she could hear the rumble of traffic, the massive convoy of cabs, Ubers, trucks, buses, and limos passing through the streets. She could go down to the lobby, find a nearby restaurant, enjoy the city at night. But her feet were killing her, and she was too sad and confused to enjoy anything much at all. She understood Isabelle’s feelings. And how could Keely feel triumphant when Isabelle was so miserable?
She pushed back the crisp white sheets of the bed and lay watching television, because it was the only thing she could do to calm her mind. She was in New York! She was going to have a book published and she had to write another novel!
Isabelle was heartbroken about Gordon.