Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Now available for FREE! Fall Into Magic: A Novella
About the Author
About the Book - See You Later Broadway
See You Later Broadway
Broadway Series Book Two
By: Melissa Baldwin
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Melissa Baldwin
All rights reserved.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Now available for FREE! Fall Into Magic: A Novella
About the Author
About the Book - See You Later Broadway
I dedicate this book to these amazing authors, accountability partners, and friends: Becky Monson, Kathryn Biel, and Aven Ellis. You ladies were by my side through this entire book, thank you! Keep writing!
Chapter 1
Another downward dog? Ugh. My body is just not meant to move in these positions. And where do these names come from? Cobra, dolphin, and something called the happy baby? I should have known when my sister Cassie was coming to visit me in New York that she would search out the best yoga studio she could find. Of course, it’s not as good as her studio (so she says), but she insists that I need this time to clear my head, meditate, and all that other yoga lingo she throws at me.
I take another deep breath as I push my body up. I guess this yoga practice does help me clear my head a little. It certainly gives me time to reflect on life in general and how my move to New York hasn’t turned out to be exactly what I wanted it to be. For one thing, I still haven’t been cast in a Broadway production. This, of course, could be because I haven’t auditioned for a Broadway production yet. I took a job teaching vocal and piano just to get myself here. For as long as I can remember I’ve dreamed of living here, so as soon as an opportunity arose I took it. However, it turns out my teaching job is more demanding than I expected. Not that I’m complaining, everyone knows that New York City is a very expensive place to live, which means I work as much as I possibly can. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy teaching, but I miss performing.
To add to my elevated stress level, my living situation has been a little chaotic lately. About a month ago, both the girls I was living with suddenly decided they needed to move out. Not that this is a huge loss, but I did have to scramble a little to find a new roommate. One of the girls moved in with her boyfriend and the other couldn’t handle living on her own, so she moved back in with her parents so they would pay all her bills (must be nice). So as of one week ago, I have a new roommate. Her name is Layla, and she seems pretty normal (so far). Her uncle Jesse is a guitar instructor at my studio, and as luck would have it, we both needed roommates in a pinch so it worked out perfectly. She’s in medical sales, which means she makes decent money, so thankfully she’s able to cover half the bills. Needless to say, I’m down one roommate so my bills are obviously higher, and my trusty savings account is dwindling by the day. I’ve thought about asking my parents for a loan, but it’s been years since I’ve had to do that so I’m not sure how that will go over. Although from what I’ve seen (and heard from my sister), they’re certainly living it up in their new life at the beach.
Speaking of roommates, after these past few months I’ve come to appreciate my best friend Georgie more than ever. She was the ideal roommate, and we really did have a great setup. Georgie’s a nurse at General Hospital (yes, like the show) back home in Virginia, and because of our schedules, we didn’t see each other enough to get annoyed with the other. It was glorious. Of course, I’m the one who left her, so I have no one to blame but myself.
Georgie is now happily engaged to the very handsome Dr. Scott, and I couldn’t be more excited for her. I remember the many days she would come home from work swooning over him. She went all in on winning his heart and she succeeded.
I fall back into child’s pose and breathe deeply. I love this position, mostly because it’s easy and I can actually do it.
Speaking of Georgie, she sent me a text earlier saying that she had important wedding information for me. I’ve tried everything I can think of to convince her to get married in New York City, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Anyway, regardless of where she gets married, I couldn’t be happier for her.
Half moon pose? Ugh. I will be lucky if I’m able to walk after this class.
I’m happy to help Georgie in any way I can with her wedding plans, the only thing I’m avoiding is the question of whom I will be bringing to the wedding with me. I guess you could say my relationship status is definitely complicated. Granted, it’s not like I have time for a relationship right now anyway, but I kind of, sort of have a long-distance, friendship thing going on. I actually broke up with my boyfriend shortly before I moved here. He had just been promoted at his firm and had no desire to move. We went through some awkward times, including him asking me to move in with him, and then a marriage proposal complete with the coveted little blue box (as in Tiffany’s).
After years of dreaming about living in the city, I finally decided to take the plunge . . . without him. If I didn’t, I would have always wondered. Shortly after I moved, Kyle began traveling here with his job, so we’ve been spending time together again.
I never thought my love life would be so confusing. And then there’s Trevor, or rather there was Trevor. Long story short, we had a short-lived (sort of) romance, but distance and other priorities always seemed to get in the way. Trevor and I met at a party last year. Shortly after, we learned our grandmothers were best friends in the 1940s. You can imagine my surprise when we found out this information. Because of this connection, I wondered if fate had brought us together; however, now I’m pretty sure it was just one of those crazy coincidences. Truthfully, I’m just not sure Trevor is ready for anythi
ng serious, at least that’s what Giselle (his bitchy ex-girlfriend) told me. I still don’t know if I should believe anything she says, but so far he’s proved her right. Don’t get me wrong, the physical attraction between us is certainly not lacking, but I guess some things just aren’t meant to be.
Time for savasana, finally my favorite part of the practice (and not only because it’s the end). I lie back on my mat as still as I can and cover my face with my jacket. It’s now time to go into full relaxation mode and clear my head of all the nonsense.
Before I know it, I hear the bell ringing signaling the end of my practice. When I check my phone, I have three missed calls from Georgie.
“There you are,” she exclaims. “I have some amazing news to tell you.” I can’t help but laugh because every conversation I have with her these days begins with these words.
“Okay, let’s hear it,” I say in my most supportive friend tone. I’m still feeling very relaxed from my yoga practice.
“Dr. Scott and I picked the location for our wedding. Eek!” she shouts.
I love how she still calls her fiancé “Dr.” Scott. I guess that’s how everyone knows him and the nickname just fits.
“Well, spill it,” I demand. I am pretty curious being this was quite a difficult decision and she’s changed her mind eighty-five times.
“I’m so excited,” she yells.
“Georgie?”
She starts to laugh. “Sorry. The exciting news it that Dr. Scott and I have decided to get married on a cruise ship.”
A cruise ship? Now that’s different, not that I’m surprised because Georgie has always been known to do her own thing, move to the beat of her own drum, or whatever that saying is.
“Seriously? Will the captain marry you? How fantastic.”
She goes into every detail about the cruise ship wedding, and I admit I’m getting excited, too.
“Oh, I can’t wait,” I tell her.
For the next several minutes, we discuss the cruise. And the best part is that the topic of my date for the wedding doesn’t come up once. Considering I’m the maid of honor, I will probably be way too busy for a date anyway, so maybe I can skip that whole part.
~*~*~
The next morning, I arrive at Selena and Company early for my first lesson. The students I’m working with today are amazingly talented. These are the days that make me want to continue teaching forever. And at this rate, that’s exactly what I may be doing. I’m going over my lesson plans when I hear a knock on my door.
“Helllooo,” says a cheerful voice. I look up to see Miranda standing in my doorway. I jump up from my seat to give her a hug. Miranda is the reason I’m sitting here in this studio right now. She’s an agent I met through a mutual friend, she took a chance on me, and I’m eternally grateful to her for that.
“What a nice surprise,” I exclaim. “What brings you here?”
She gives me a big smile. “Actually, you.” I cock my head to the side. She has piqued my interest, because when Miranda talks, I want to listen.
“Okay, I don’t know if I should be excited or worried,” I say sarcastically.
She runs her fingers through her long blond hair, pulling her hair back into a ponytail and twisting it around in her hands.
“How are you liking it here?” she asks, lowering her voice. I wonder why she’s whispering?
“It’s great. I love the students.” I pause. “Of course, I really miss performing, but that’s okay.”
I get up to close my office door.
“Why are you asking me if I like it here, and why are we whispering?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I was just curious,” she says nonchalantly. “Livie and I were talking the other day, and she was asking about you.”
I absolutely love her friend Liv, not in a romantic way of course. But, she is one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. Trevor actually introduced us, and then she introduced me to Miranda and so on. I suppose I owe it all to Trevor, of course I would never tell him that because it will go straight to his already enormous ego.
I look at my phone and realize I have my first lesson in less than five minutes. “I hate to cut this short, but I have to get to a lesson. Thanks for stopping by and please tell Liv I said hello.”
She stands up and opens her arms wide to give me a hug. “You will be hearing from Liv very soon,” she whispers in my ear. When I pull away, she winks at me.
“About what?” I ask.
She laughs. “Don’t you have a lesson to get to?”
Crap.
“Can you tell me what it has to do with?” I beg as I walk her to the lobby.
“Nope,” she says with an evil laugh.
“She will be in touch,” she calls before walking out the door.
Great. Now I’m going to be obsessing over this all day. What on earth could Liv want to talk to me about?
Chapter 2
Do you mind if I make one half of the fridge and pantry all gluten and dairy free?
I roll my eyes as soon as I read this text. Apparently, my new roommate Layla eats all gluten free. I’m not sure if she needs to be gluten free or if she just prefers it. If I had to guess, I think she’s just doing it because it’s the cool thing to do, but I’m not going to judge. All I know is I could never do it if I didn’t have to because I would probably die without bread. My sister eats super clean just like Layla. She makes these homemade kale chips . . . disgusting. Are kale chips gluten free? I have no idea.
Maybe I should just try to go all gluten free, you know, to go along with my new yoga lifestyle. Hah! I just made myself laugh. I send her a text.
Sure.
The truth is that anything is better than the other girls I was living with, so I really shouldn’t complain.
I put my phone down and continue searching in a box for some sheet music I promised to one of my students. I am shifting around a few items when I notice my grandmother’s red leather-bound journal. I’ve been so busy working I haven’t thought about this book in a while. Which reminds me, I really need to give Beatrice a call. Beatrice was my grandmother’s best friend (and Trevor’s grandmother). After finding this journal, I wanted to learn more about my grandmother, I met Beatrice, and we became close friends. Since I moved, we’ve kind of lost touch and I feel bad about this. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I spoke to her.
I grab my phone again and scroll through my contact list to find her number. She’s one of the only people in my life who doesn’t text, of course she’s ninety years old. Not that a ninety-year-old can’t text, but I know for a fact that she doesn’t. Her phone rings until her answering machine picks up, because she screens her calls.
“Hi, Beatrice. It’s Maris. Are you screening your phone calls again? I was thinking about you today and realized it’s been a few months since we spoke. Call me back if you get this . . . or pick up if you’re listening.” I wait a few seconds, and she doesn’t pick up, so I hang up. Hmm . . .
I run my fingers over the journal and think back to when I found it. When I think about it, I actually shouldn’t give all the credit to Trevor for leading me to making my big move. After learning of my grandmother’s life as a radio performer, I was inspired. Inspired to actually follow through on something I’d wanted for so long. And this may sound strange, but I had several dreams about my grandmother after finding the journal. In these dreams, she kept telling me to follow my heart, which is exactly what I did.
I continue searching through the box for the sheet music. I wonder when I’m going to hear from Liv? I could always reach out to her but that would be awkward. If I had some more time, I would have loved to talk to Miranda a little more.
My phone buzzes, distracting me from my thoughts. Huh, maybe Beatrice texts after all? Although, it’s not a text from Beatrice; it’s from Kyle.
Coming in next week. Dinner?
I smile to myself. It’s nice to spend time with him, but I know things can’t continue like they
are. Not that it’s interfering with my personal life, being that I don’t have a personal life. I like spending time with Kyle; it’s comfortable and easy. However, it’s also becoming somewhat routine, almost like a friendship. I know I still have some kind of feelings for him, but I don’t know if that’s just because of our history. Maybe we need to have that talk? I groan out loud. I don’t usually have anxiety, but the thought of having the “what are we” talk gives me anxiety.
Yes. Just let me know which night is best.
I hold the phone in my hand and start to daydream. I think it’s pretty clear that Kyle and I have moved into the friend zone. And maybe that’s where we are meant to stay.
~*~*~
It’s been over a week since Miranda came by the studio and I haven’t heard a word from Liv. Not that it really matters now, but I’m still curious as to why she was going to contact me.
Kyle and I are meeting for dinner tonight. He’s insisting on taking me to Mastro’s. I tried to argue that it wasn’t in my budget, but he’s insisting on paying. (Of course, he always pays.) I finish up with my last student and change my clothes at the studio. I decided on a little black dress even though I know I don’t have to impress Kyle, but it’s still fun to get dressed up.
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