by Staci Hart
“Hooooohmygod.” Ellie’s mouth was an ‘o.’ “No.”
“Oh, yes.” My eyes darted to Lily. “Lil, I forgot to tell you — I ran into Tricky when I left Roasted, and he was with Seth.”
Her eyes widened. “Seriously?”
I nodded.
Ellie and Maggie watched us. “That’s bad?” Ellie asked.
I nodded again. “Very bad. Tricky’s a recovering addict, and Seth has been trying to get clean for years. Unsuccessfully.”
“Oh.”
“What did he want?” Concern was written all over Lily’s face.
I sighed. “Nothing, he said, but who knows. He’ll be at Tricky’s birthday party.”
“Oh, God. Should Habits hire a bouncer for that night? When Seth drinks …” Lily didn’t finish, just gave me a look.
“I know. Tricky said he’s totally sober, so at least no one will get their nose bloodied.”
“Unless somebody pisses off my brother,” Maggie added, trying to lighten the mood.
Lily chuckled. “Yes. Unless that happens.”
The train pulled into the Times Square station, and we walked the blocks north until the street opened up, buildings stretched high, covered with lights and billboards and videos. There were people everywhere, cabs stopping and going in yellow streaks as we stood in the middle of New York, and even the most hardened of us couldn’t help but take a quiet moment to appreciate the beauty of the city we loved so much.
Rose
We made it back to the apartment that afternoon with aching feet and a little bit of sunburn. I almost wasn’t surprised to find Patrick there, eating a sandwich in my kitchen.
“Hey,” he said. “I was just about to head to Habits — West and Cooper are already on their way down.”
“Oh,” Lily said, smiling as she hooked her arm in Maggie’s. “Want to just go now?”
“Sounds good. We’ll see y’all there.” She waved, and the two of them left.
Ellie stretched. “I guess I’ll go change. Be right back.” She disappeared around the corner and into her room.
“I guess I’ll walk down with you and Ellie.”
There was no escaping him. Not anymore. I tried to smile. “Sure.”
My mood sank again, down into the sour depths. I had to be PMSing, because I snagged a lemon bar from the bag on table and ate it in three bites before I’d even made it to my room. It would also do a lot to explain my mood swings. Not that Patrick couldn’t manage kicking my mood up and down like a see-saw on his own, but the raging hormones didn’t help.
My cousin showing up out of the blue didn’t help either. I loved her, but in that moment, tired and smelling like New York with my gorgeous ex sitting at my table, I just couldn’t deal.
I reminded myself that Patrick and I were in the same boat. He was bearable. Maybe even a little enjoyable. It reminded me of what it used to be like. Before.
I pushed the memories away before they had a chance to settle in.
I emerged from my room a few minutes later in black jeans, combat boots, and a black, low cut tank, feeling a little more like myself. Liner was winged. Lips were red. Necklaces were shiny. Hair was big. And it was time to make that cheese.
Patrick was still at the table, and when he looked up at me, we both sort of froze. Everything moved slow and long like it had that morning. The light over the table cast deep shadows on the angles of his face, almost shielding his eyes, but they glinted, caught on mine like a lifeline.
I cleared my throat and grabbed my bag, turning to him once I’d collected myself enough to be coherent. “I’m sorry. About Ellie jacking your bed. I mean it — if it’s too bad over there, you can always stay here.”
His deep voice rumbled through me. “Thanks, Rose.”
I took a breath and tried to put on a passable smile, like he didn’t hijack my ability to keep my shit together. “No problem.”
Ellie came out of Lily’s room in a sparkly top, a very short skirt, very high heels, and a full on arm party of bracelets, with Valentino in her arms.
One of my brows climbed. “Uh, you may be a little overdressed for Habits, El.”
She shrugged and kissed her cat. “Not worried about it.”
“You’re letting your LA show.”
Ellie laughed and put Valentino down. He watched us as he walked away, probably to judge his new digs, as Ellie picked up her bag. “California girl until I die, Rosie. I once saw a chick at a Target in The Valley in a floor length fur coat. LA don’t care.”
“True,” I said as we left the apartment. “I swear, LA is the only place where you would see a guy in a grocery store wearing a full blown tux at eleven in the morning on a Tuesday, right next to an old lady wearing rainbow tights, booty shorts, and a crop top. And the best part is that no one looks twice.”
Patrick chuckled. “It’s not like New York doesn’t have its own weird.”
“That’s true,” I said, “but it’s a different kind of weird. Different vibe.”
Patrick’s hands were in his pockets as we descended the stairs. “I’ve never been. It’s one of the only places I haven’t lived.”
Ellie flipped her hair. “Moved around a lot?”
He nodded. “My dad was in the army. Mostly grew up in the Midwest.”
“What was your favorite place to live? Besides New York?” she asked.
He thought about it as we turned on the landing and headed down the last flight. “Kansas, weirdly. It seemed to have just the right everything. Seasons. Landscape. It was the most classically normal place I ever lived.”
“And the worst?” I asked.
He made a face and pulled open the building door for us. “Killeen, Texas. I mean, I’m sure not all of Texas is bad, but that was the hottest summer of my life. When the thirty-foot walk from your front door to the car leaves you wringing out your shirt, it’s too hot. I swear to God, it was like living in hell.”
Ellie laughed. “Screw that. There are usually like two weeks in the summer in LA where you want to die, but otherwise it’s not so bad.”
“Is this your first time to New York?” he asked.
“Yup. Lily came home with Rose once, so we’ve met. The rest of you guys I’ve only heard of.”
I smiled. “Ellie and I grew up pretty close to each other. Our dads are brothers. Hers was the wild one.”
She snickered. “And yours was the goodie.”
“Maybe by comparison. Couple of surfers out of Venice Beach. El and I grew up together, which was nice since I’m an only child.”
“I wish I was. But instead, I have two older sisters — one engineer and one chemist.”
Patrick looked impressed. “Not bad.”
“Ha. Unless you’re me. No pressure, right? At least I’m the baby, which means I get away with murder.” Her lips curled into a smile.
I laughed. “It’s true,” I said to Patrick. “She can pretty much do anything at all and her parents are over the moon.”
“I thought they were going to kill me when I told them I wanted to model, but they just clapped and cooed and paid a zillion dollars to have head shots done. Honestly, I think they were surprised my sisters went all intellectual. I mean, Dad’s smoked so much weed in his life, I’m surprised he can remember his last name most days. And Mom is more interested in her shoe closet than most other things.”
“They mean well,” I said, smiling.
“They do, which is why it’s tolerable. My sisters are uptight. Pretty sure they think the rest of us are all flibbertigibbets.”
I laughed. “Ooooh, good word.”
She giggled. “I know. It’s so fun to say. Flibbertigibbet.”
Patrick opened the door to Habits for us, and we stepped into the bar where I’d worked since I moved to New York. It was clean and modern, with white subway tile and dark, planked floors, a long, dark bar taking up most of the space. The piping was exposed, the tiles all gone to open it up, give it some air.
It was my home away
from home.
Shelby stood behind the bar, a sandy-haired, freckle-faced pixie who flashed a mega-watt smile at me. West and Lily were already sitting at the bar with Cooper and Maggie, and we waved our hellos.
“Cooper, West, this is my cousin, Ellie.”
“Hey,” she answered with a twiddle of her fingers.
“Nice to meet you,” West said. “What are you doing in New York?”
“I came for a visit,” she said with a smile.
My eyebrows were up, though I was smiling. “With her cat.”
Cooper looked between Ellie and I. “So a quick visit, then?” he joked.
Ellie shrugged. “I couldn’t leave Valentino with Darren, that asshole. He’d probably kick my poor baby out. Maybe drop him into the LA River just to be a dick.”
Cooper laughed. “Sounds like you could use a drink.”
“Let me go put my stuff away and I’ll be right back.” I walked past Patrick and into the office to clock in and stow my bag. By the time I took up my station behind the bar, they were all sitting, and Astrid was there too, sitting right next to Lily.
I smiled down the line of my friends. Mine was the best seat in the house. “So, what’s everybody drinking?”
They ordered their drinks, and I poured accordingly. It was second nature. Glass, ice, booze. I knew the bar so well, I didn’t even need to look at the labels, just reached for everything by memory. Heaven help any asshole who didn’t put shit back where it belonged.
Astrid turned to Ellie. “So, what brought you to New York, Ellie?”
She took a sip of her vodka tonic. “I dunno. Just wanted out of LA. I walked in on Darren nailing this bitch Sasha, who was clearly not my friend. On my brand new duvet. I was this close to tweeting her real name, which she shouldn’t have told me, but she was drunk on appletinis in Hollywood one night and I convinced her to tell me. Honestly, I would have just stuck with Susan, but that’s just me.” She rolled her eyes and took another drink. “Anyway, I was trying to figure out where to go and was just like, ‘Duh. Rose.’ So, here I am.” She smiled.
Lily and I shared a look. “How long are you staying?” She asked.
Ellie shrugged. “I was going to maybe start looking for a job.”
“So, you moved here?” Lily prompted.
She giggled. “I guess I kind of did?” She waved a hand. “I’ll find another place if I decide to stay. Just tell me if you’re over it, Rosie.”
I smiled because what else could I do? If it were anyone else, I would have flipped. She could drop a house on me and I’d give up the ruby slippers without a second thought. “It’s fine, Ellie. What did your mom say?”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “You know her. She’s on some new juice diet and started selling cosmetics so she can fund a new line of dog clothes for her Yorkie. She’s going to Cabo with Dad and just bought a bunch of clothes that even I wouldn’t wear. And I’m a slut.”
Maggie almost choked on her drink.
“Anyway, she didn’t care, not when I told her I was coming here with you.”
“Well, now you’re here,” I said, “and you’ve unlocked your Times Square achievement. What do you want to do next?”
She looked up at the ceiling. “I’d like to go out, for sure. Shopping, that’s a must. Definitely need some D. And then, I don’t know.” She squinted. “I’m thinking a piercing.”
I laughed. “Oh, Ellie. It’s good to see you.”
She smiled. “You too.”
I looked down the row of faces in front of me again, realizing how much I missed everyone being together like this. It used to happen organically, though now it required several days of texting and coordination to get together. But any way I could get it, I was happy to take it.
I beamed at them. “I’m glad you guys all came out. It’s been too long.”
“It has,” Maggie said as she pushed her curls out of her face. “I feel like we’ve all just been so busy.”
Lily popped her head around West and pointed at Cooper. “Not too busy for sailing, though. You promised me sailing, Cooper. I need the Hamptons in my life.”
He chuckled. “I’ll deliver. I promise. How about Fourth of July? Everyone’s invited.”
A chorus of agreement rolled through us.
Lily jerked her chin at me, smiling like a traitor. “I think you should tell the boys how your date went yesterday, Rosie, before the tribe picks out your next one.”
I glared at her. “Oh, it was great, if you love a good horror story.”
“How bad was it?” Cooper asked, and Lily made a rim shot sound with her mouth. Everyone else leaned forward, and Patrick’s eyes were on me like a magnifying glass. I avoided looking in his direction at all costs.
“Trust me. It was bad. He went on about his deep interest in dead animals and his ‘passion’ for taxidermy. Then he judged and insulted me for not having a ‘passion’ of my own. He said whiskey didn’t count, so clearly he knows nothing.”
“Hear, hear,” Cooper cheered and raised his glass.
Everyone chuckled and took a drink, and I shook my head with a sigh. “It’s so dumb. I don’t know what I want to do, but why should that matter? I’m happy where I am. There’s nothing else I particularly want to do. So who cares if my job is my passion? I mean, how many people get to say they’re passionate about what they do?”
But then I looked at all of their faces, realizing each of them did work their passion: Maggie in charity work, Cooper in his family business, West a literature grad student, Lily a professional ballerina, Patrick an artist, and Astrid a model. And then there was me. And Ellie, I guess, too.
Maybe being talentless was a Fisher gene defect.
I actually laughed out loud at the realization.
Cooper took another drink and leaned on the bar. “Well, I mean, everyone has something they love. What about you?”
I leaned on the bar too. “I dunno. I love to skate, but it’s not like I can be a pro skater at twenty-six, if I were even good enough. I’m good at bartending, and I like the hours. The money’s good. It just works for me right now, in life.”
“What else?” he asked.
“I love movies and reading. Usually romance, all kinds.”
He raised his brow. “What about running a bookstore?”
I thought it over. “Could be fun, but I don’t think I’d do well with any corporate shit. It would have to be my own thing.” I smiled at the thought, imagining what it could be like. “What if it was just romance?”
His brows climbed higher. “What if you sold comics too?”
My eyes widened. “What if it was a bar?”
Lily gasped. “Oh, my God. What if you did like singles mixers? Comic boys and romance girls, finding love?”
I was gaping, my mind skipping through ideas. “Holy shit. That would be amazing.”
Cooper tipped his glass toward me. “I would back the fuck out of that.”
I laughed.
“I’m serious, Rose.” He leaned a little closer. “You know how to run a bar — you’ve been working here for years. I know comics. You know romance. I’ll put up the money, and you run it.”
My ears were hot, and I kept laughing. “That’s crazy. But it would be amazing. Who doesn’t want to get drunk and hang out around books? I could do like special events for book clubs, or even run a monthly book club, alternating between romance and graphic novels.”
Lily was amped up. “Seriously, think how hard it is to meet people in the city? That sounds like the perfect bar for some hard core matchmaking.”
“What would you call it?” Maggie asked.
“Whiskey and Words,” West called out.
“Whiskey Rose?” Lily added.
I shook my head. “Nah, doesn’t really say books. Paper Cuts?”
“Ooh, I like that.” Astrid raised her glass. “Books and blood. Your tag line can be ‘Suck it when it bleeds.’”
“Hmm,” I hummed, enjoying playing along. “What says ro
mance and comics and booze?”
“Plot Twist,” Ellie said.
“Book Drunk,” Cooper said with a laugh.
“Book Wasted,” Lily shot. “Word Wasted.”
“Wasted Words,” Patrick said, and we locked eyes as everything came together, clicking into place.
I smiled at him, feeling the warmth of his gaze wash over me. “That would actually be perfect.”
Cooper smirked. “Well, now it has a name. The hard part is done.”
I shook my head, still daydreaming. “It’s fun to think about.”
His smile stretched a little higher. “Just think how much fun it’ll be to run.”
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Okay, Cooper. Now, who needs another drink?”
I poured another round while everyone talked, my mind still savoring the thought of running my own business. It would be fun. Hard, but fun. But I’d never let Cooper bet that much on me. Who knew how I could ever pay it back. Who knew if I could even do it without running it into the ground.
It sure was fun to dream about, though.
West leaned on the bar, talking around Maggie to Patrick, so she slipped off her stool and made her way down to the other end of the bar to sit with the girls. So naturally, so did I.
Lily smiled conspiratorially. “Time to pick date number two.”
“I haven’t even had time to recover from date number one.”
She shrugged. “Gotta get back on that horse, Rosie.” She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers.
I sighed and pulled my phone out of my pocket, slapping it into her palm.
Lily grinned as she pulled open the app. “I don’t know why you don’t enjoy this. It’s so fun.”
I laughed. “Maybe for you. You’re not the one who has to meet the guys. After Serial Killer Steve, I have to say I’m a little gun-shy.”
Ellie waved a hand. “One time, I met this guy on Tinder who had like thirteen dogs. I didn’t stay to bang because who wants that many dogs in your ass while you’re hooking up?”
Astrid snorted. “I can’t even use dating sites. The gossip mags would have a field day. Talk about dogs in my ass. So my dating pool is limited to other models and socialites, which is basically the worst subset of dating population ever.”