City Love(40)

“Morning person.”

“Me, too. I like running along the river early. It makes the whole day feel more productive if I’ve already worked out. What else . . . lots of my favorite restaurants are in Tribeca. I’m right near Whole Foods and Equinox. And the energy is electric. Basically, Tribeca is the quintessential New York neighborhood.”

D’s love for New York resonates with me. His passion is infectious. “That’s how I feel about New York. This city is like a magical kingdom I can’t believe I finally get to inhabit. I’ve been dreaming of living here since I was little.”

“What do you love most about it?”

“The energy, like you said. It makes me feel alive.”

D puts his hand on my arm. A jolt of electricity zips through me. “That’s exactly how I feel. Why would I want to live anywhere else? The best of everything is right here. How fortunate are we that we can experience it every single day? I’ve lived here my whole life and I keep falling in love with this city over and over again.”

D doesn’t need to know that I’ve been constantly worrying about money. He doesn’t need to know that I’ll walk blocks out of my way just to save a dollar with coupons. Or that I’m planning to eat a bagel for dinner every day next week and buy a box of cereal on sale for dinners the week after. New York is a lot more expensive than I thought it would be. It’s like you can’t even leave your apartment without spending money. My situation is embarrassing and financial anxiety is not exactly sexy. So I keep the whole truth to myself.

“I can totally relate,” I say. “I’ve only been here for a week, but I feel like I’m falling more in love with New York every day.”

D looks at me so intensely I swear he can see into my soul.

“There’s a lot to fall in love with,” he says.





NINETEEN

SADIE


HEAT WAVES IN NEW YORK are not pretty. Sweaty people crammed up against you on the subway. Stenchy garbage bags on the street. Slamming into a wall of hot humidity the second you step outside. Everything slows down. I’ve been trying to use the lethargic pace as an opportunity to be present and look up more. But all I want to do is run to the nearest air-conditioned space.

I wipe sweat off my upper lip. Austin is late. He told me to meet him here on the corner of 11th and Bank. He didn’t tell me what we’re doing. It’s a surprise. As much as I love surprises, if Austin doesn’t get here soon his surprise will be finding me dissolved in a puddle of sweat.

One cool thing about this corner is that it was a set location for 13 Going on 30. This is the corner Jenna rounds on her way to Matty’s place when she’s looking for his building. I love the plot of that movie. Jenna and Matty grow up next door to each other. He loves her. She sees him as just a friend. Seventeen years later, Jenna realizes that they belong together. They have been soul mates all along.

Two sweaty women in their twenties walk by, complaining about the heat. One of them says it’s 103 degrees. The other insists it’s 107. Any temperature over 80 is too extreme for me. I try not to panic that I’m going to be totally disgusting by the time Austin gets here. Even in this suffocating heat, Austin is the only thing I can think about. A few times I even catch myself making googly eyes at the streetlight. We haven’t seen each other for four days. Four long, excruciating days. It will require every shred of strength I can gather to resist pouncing on him the second he pulls up.

What may or may not be Austin’s car pulls up in front of me. All big white SUV-type vehicles look the same. I have to remember to memorize his license plate number so I can identify his car that way.

Austin leans over the front seat and opens the passenger door. “Sorry I’m late!” he says.

I jump in and slam the door. The air-conditioning feels so good I almost kiss the dashboard.

“Hot enough for you?” he asks.

“It could be hotter. The egg I fried on the sidewalk took a whole ten seconds to cook.”

“Sorry you had to wait out there in the heat, sweetie. I promise to make it up to you.”

Austin just called me sweetie. I love it. Even though I promised myself I wouldn’t pounce, I throw my arms around him and kiss him. He kisses me back passionately.

The immense anxiety I felt after our phone awkwardness disappeared yesterday when Austin called to ask me out to dinner tonight. He said he couldn’t wait to see me again. It was making him crazy that his weekend was so busy we couldn’t get together. I was worried for nothing.

The only boy drama left is with Darcy and Jude. Darcy wasn’t telling me everything about the Jude situation when we had lunch at Chat ’n Chew. There’s more to the story than she wanted to admit. Or maybe she doesn’t realize that things are more complicated than she thinks. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was. I’m just not sure how believable her whole fun-and-free approach to boy adventures really is.

“Here we are.” Austin pulls up in front of a small restaurant on the corner of Hudson and Jane. “Why don’t you get out here and I’ll find a spot? I don’t want you to have to walk too far if I can’t park close by.”

“That’s okay. I want to go with you.” How sweet is it that Austin is such a gentleman?

Dinner is incredible. It’s delicious and romantic and just the best dinner ever. Austin knew I would love this old-school Italian place where the chef comes right up to your table to tell you the specials. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’ve been here before with my parents. Piccolo Angolo is known as the best Italian place in the West Village. The atmosphere is casual but special, the kind of place I’ve been wanting to come to with my future boyfriend. The boyfriend who would be sophisticated enough to bring me here.