He hit the table, “I can guarantee he has no idea that you are even thinking about returning to Michigan. This is not how I saw this date going.” He mumbled to himself.
“How did you see the date going?”
“For starters, I was going to tell you that I was all-in.”
I shrugged, “So, we’re playing poker now?”
“All-in. You and me. I want to see where this is going, and to do that, I want to go all-in.”
“You were going to tell me that this morning?”
Any of his lingering anger drained from his face as he broke out in laughter. “Yes. That was the point of the text message.”
“The ‘please delete me from your life’ text?” I crossed my arms.
“That text was meant for all the other females in my contact list except you. Yes, I wanted to ask you if you’d be interested in dating me.”
“So, what’s changed?”
“The definite glee as you discussed returning to Michigan for a year. It doesn’t sound like you want to be here. I know you didn’t think Graham was going to be interested in your chain of coffee shops–”
“It was–”
“One. I know. We all know. Get over that.” I mouthed ‘one,’ and he continued, “You still aren’t speaking in terms of living in the City. Yet, you’ve signed the contract, so I guess what has changed is the fact you are leaving in–”
“Two weeks.”
“You’re leaving in two weeks?”
The waiter approached the table with a smile, only to be greeted with Anderson growling at him to give us more time. I mouthed ‘sorry,’ but he just nodded and returned to the back.
“Be nice.”
“You too.” He snapped and swallowed the rest of his drink.
“Anderson, this may come as a surprise, but I can’t afford to live in the city without a job. Also, I have to give notice to my job and settle my house.”
He raised his empty glass, then slowly placed it back on the table. “Money isn’t an issue.”
“Well, unfortunately, money is almost always the issue. So, yes, I will leave in two weeks. I would very much enjoy spending time with you while I’m here. If you’re still interested.”
I reached for his hand. My fingers attempted to wrap around his before he snatched them away. He looked around as he sat back in his chair.
“I’m so sorry.” The humiliation took over as I placed both of my hands in my lap.
“No problem.” His tone turned cold. I watched him flip the menu open. “Do you know what you want to eat?”
30
Jurnee
“Anderson is waiting for you by the hotdog vendor.” Markus pointed as the car came to a stop.
I opened the door and jumped out before Markus had a chance to get out of the car to open my door. “Thank you, Markus.”
I heard him grumbling something as I closed the car door. Soraya told me I was supposed to wait for the door to be opened for me. There was no point if he was double-parked outside Central Park. In the short time I’d been in New York, I’d witnessed the wrath of bystanders when traffic was blocked.
Anderson stood with his back to me, dressed in dark blue jeans, a black polo, and a baseball cap. The man wore clothes better than anyone. Focus, Jurnee. You’re angry at him. Remember that.
He turned as I reached him, as if he had eyes in the back of his head. With a smile, he tipped the brim of his cap to me. “Shall we eat first or walk?”
“Walk.”
His eyebrows jetted up at my tone. He extended his hand to indicate I should lead. I started down the sidewalk with all the horse carriages lined up. The smell of hot gym socks soaked in urine gave way to a mixture of hotdogs, popcorn, and horse manure. I brushed my hand over my nose to dissipate the smell.
“Want to take a carriage around the park?” Anderson was definitely trying.
“Nope.”
I had reluctantly agreed to meet him for lunch after our not so great date the night before. Once Michigan came up, the rest of the dinner went downhill. The fact my feet hurt from the shoes Derrick suggested I wear hadn’t prevented me from taking the subway back to the sublet.
We walked in silence as I looked around like a kid experiencing a giant toy store for the first time. There were couples of every age walking along the different paths and sitting on hilly grassy spots between the path intersections. Kids laughed and ran in circles around their parents. The sound of water caught my attention as we walked under a small bridge.
I stopped as we reached a creek. “Water! Is there anything this park doesn’t have?”
“Not really.” Anderson pulled his cap down further.
We began walking, but slower this time. “It’s almost 900 acres and has seven bodies of water.”
“Dang. I could get lost in this place.”
“If you ever do, look for the iron light posts.” Anderson pointed to a light post in the distance. “They are marked with a code to let you know exactly where you are in the city.”
“A code.”
He chuckled, “First two numbers indicate the closest cross street, and the second pair tell you whether you are East or West. Odd numbers are West, and even numbers are East.”
“Do you spend a lot of time in the park?”
“No. I haven’t been here in years.” There was a sadness in his voice.
“Oh.” I took a deep breath. “Anderson, I called the leasing office for the apartment Eric had available. It rents for thousands more a month than you said.”
“He was–”
“Seriously, are you going to stand here and tell me that Eric was going to give me a deal?” My hands were on my hips, and my voice was louder than I realized as a couple on a park bench looked over at us.
“Jurnee, I just wanted to–”
“You wanted to control–” My words cut off as I stepped off the path, twisting my ankle. I collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain.
Anderson grabbed me when I began to fall as I put weight on my foot. “You’re hurt.”
“You think?” Snapping at him wasn’t going to help, but the pain was shooting through my ankle, and I refused to cry. Somehow, anger felt safer.
He scooped me up into his arms and headed down the path. “Let’s get you looked at.”
“Stop! Put me down!”
He did as I asked, but continued to steady me as I hopped on one foot. “What?” It was Anderson’s turn to be annoyed.
“My insurance isn’t going to cover a doctor’s visit in New York unless I’m admitted to the hospital.”
“So?”
“So, do you know how much a visit to a doctor is when you’re out of network?”
He rolled his eyes and tried to lift me again. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Geez. You can’t just take care of it. That’s the whole point of me being angry about the apartment.” A surge of pain shot through me, causing me to sway.
Anderson’s lifted me in his arms, leaving me no chance to resist. “You are being ridiculous.”
“Anderson Douglas, if you don’t put me down right this minute.”
“Not going to work, but it’s pretty cute when you get mad.” He held me tighter. “Guys!”
Two men dressed in blue jeans and white polo shirts came rushing up to us. I’d noticed them walking behind us when we walked under the bridge but hadn’t given it any thought. There were people everywhere.
“She’s hurt.” Anderson snapped, causing one of the men to dart down the pathway ahead of us.
“Hospital?” The gentlemen that remained inquired.
“No!” I tried to get down.
Anderson looked down at me and smiled. “Jurnee doesn’t want to go to the doctor.”
“Do you want me to carry her?”
“I’ve got her.”
“She can walk.” I snapped even as tears started to fall down my face. “And who are you?”
“They’re part of my security team. Now, calm do
wn, so I don’t drop you.”
The path opened up to an exit from the park. The man who had run ahead now stood with the door of a taxi open. As we approached, Markus sprinted toward the taxi. Anderson set me on the seat and ran around to the other side to get in.
“The car is back on 7th.” Markus shouted as he slid into the front passenger seat. “Is she okay? Should we go to the hospital?”
“Let’s get her home.”
Markus turned in his seat to look at Anderson, “We’re closer to your place than your parents.”
Anderson nodded. Markus gave the taxi driver the address. I sat up to object, but bumped my foot.
“Ouch!”
“For the love of God, can you just cooperate this one time? We’ll get some ice on it, and we’ll take you home later.”
“Fine.”
Fifteen minutes later, I was being carried into a huge living room with floor to ceiling windows and all-white furniture. Anderson lowered me down on the long couch. Markus came in with an ice pack. He handed it to Anderson and left the room. I tried to remove my shoe, but any touch sent more pain through my ankle.
“Here’s the deal. Your ankle is swelling up. How about I run over to your apartment and grab a few things for you to change into–” Anderson raised his hand for me to wait for him to finish.
“Go ahead. I’m listening.”
“Why don’t I grab a couple of things for you? You can rest here on the couch and, tomorrow, we’ll take you home.”
“I have to work tomorrow.” I forced my shoe off and rolled up my pant leg to see my ankle was now the size of a softball. “Shit. This looks awful.”
He knelt down, staring at my ankle. “The choice is yours. You rest on this couch, or we leave now for the hospital.”
“Fine. The entry code into the apartment is 1101.”
He stood up with a smile. “1101?”
I nodded. He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “I’ll be right back.”
“Shit. My phone.” I knew I didn’t have it, but I touched my pockets anyway.
Anderson reached into his back pocket and pulled it out. “You dropped it when you fell. Call me if you need anything. Any requests on what to grab from the apartment?”
“My pajamas are under my pillow and maybe a change of clothes for work tomorrow,” I whispered as the pain increased alongside my embarrassment at the state of the sublet.
“Anything else?”
“Toothbrush. And thank you.” I shifted the ice pack a bit.
“You’re welcome.”
“I’m still annoyed about the apartment.”
Anderson laughed as he headed out of the room with Markus. “Of course you are.”
31
Anderson
“You’re such a pussy.” Eric yelled at me as he made his way down the Brooklyn sidewalk to where I leaned against my car.
Jurnee’s sublet was in a nice enough neighborhood for this borough. The row houses were several stories high but narrow in their width. Postage stamp yards were surrounded with wrought iron to protect the trash cans that filled the space. A bodega, a laundry, a bar, and a coffee shop made up the corner of Jurnee’s block.
“Really? That’s how you greet me?”
“Yes.” He crossed his arms over his chest. It was clear that Eric wasn’t going any further without some explanation. There are just things one knows about friends, and he knew he would enjoy whatever this was.
“Jurnee.”
“No kidding. It hasn’t been anything else since you met her.”
“Coffee?” Gesturing to the coffee shop on the corner, Eric thought about it for a second and motioned to Markus sitting in the driver’s seat. “He’s in the middle of one of his audibles.”
We headed for the entrance. “You were saying something about Jurnee?”
“You know the apartments I asked you to let her look at?”
“The ones that you are going to pay for her to stay in. Yeah.”
“She called your rental office to ask some questions and verify the rent.”
“Two large caramel macchiatos with an extra pump of syrup in one and a black coffee.”
After the cashier finished our sale, Eric and I moved to an exposed brick wall with crates stacked to display bagged coffee in a thrown together, but everything is perfectly balanced kind-of-way. Six cocktail tables were spread out between the crates, making me wonder what Jurnee would think about this coffee shop.
“I take it she knows you were going to cover the rent.” Eric pulled his phone out of his inside pocket.
“Understatement. She accused me of being controlling. Manipulative. There were lots of words.”
“Who is this girl?” He looked up from his phone.
“Right.”
“What am I missing? You were going to set her up in a kick-ass apartment with a year lease.”
“At least.”
Eric slid his phone back into his suit jacket and raised his hands in disbelief. “And she went around your back to see how much the places cost and got upset.”
“Pissed.”
“So, she’s pissed.” I closed my eyes and nodded for a good fifteen seconds.
A barista yelled out, placing a coffee cup with two others clustered on the end of the counter.
He looked at me when his name was called. “Like I want them to have to write Anderson on the side.”
Eric nodded and picked up two of the cups.
“Anyway, get this, she’s trying to be her normal Midwest polite, but she’s angry. She’s not paying attention, and she steps off the sidewalk, twisting her ankle.”
He stopped short on the sidewalk. “Is she alright?”
“She won’t let me take her to the ER because she’s out-of-network. She can’t afford the medical bills.”
He gives me the same look I’m sure I had at the time. Like, what the hell? I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“What did you do?” Eric knocked on the driver’s window.
“I took her to my place.” His eyebrows shot up. “Then I called you to come help me pack a bag for her to use while she recovers at my house.”
Markus nodded thanks when Eric handed him the macchiato with extra syrup.
“Wow, that’s twice.”
“My house.” I said into my coffee.
“You took her to your fuck pad?”
“My fuck pad?” All four of us had shamelessly used my house as a no strings attached sex den since I moved out four years ago.
“Your name is on the deed.” He had a point.
Eric looked back at me when he was able to push the door open. The hallway was dark, and he pointed to the burned-out lightbulbs as if we were on mind-meld.
A clean hallway with a better lit stairwell made him relax. Overall, this was not a bad building. Eric stepped aside so I could punch in the code to Jurnee’s sublet. The door swung open and hit the back wall and returned to hit me in the face, sending me backward.
“This day just keeps getting better.” Eric said, walking past me into the apartment.
The word ‘apartment’ was beyond a stretch. It was like calling the two people we passed in the park earlier playing instruments an orchestra. Eric and I filled the space.
“Are you kidding me? She’s living here?”
I didn’t have any words. I knew I came from a wealthy family. Over the years, I’d spent time with people that didn’t have a lot of money, but I’d never been in a place like this. “She can’t stay here.”
“I’m going to ask you something, and I need for you to know that it’s coming from a place of friendship.” Eric took a slow 360-degree turn around the apartment.
I knew what he was going to ask. Saying I hadn’t thought about would be a lie. Every opportunity Jurnee had to take some money or benefit from being with me, she had refused.
“Eric, man, every time I’ve tried to give her money or pay for something for her, she refuses. She didn’t Google me. Soraya finally to
ld her who I am. She cashed in all of her frequent flyer miles to pay for me to fly to Michigan for that football game. Your apartments. She didn’t even go look at them. I don’t know what to do. I want to pack her stuff in a suitcase and take it to my place and tell her to just stay there.”
Eric’s mouth dropped open. He tapped his phone on, “Call Otis.”
“You are such a 12-year-old. He’s scouting locations.”
“Oh shit. That’s right. Call Bryan.”
“What’d the pussy do now?” Bryan asked with no greeting whatsoever.
“There is so much to unpack here that I don’t know where to start.” I ignored them and started putting Jurnee’s stuff into a bag.
“I’m having a shit day, so this better be good,” Bryan grumbled.
“You guys are assholes,” I shouted to ensure Bryan heard me through Eric’s speakerphone.
“So, Jurnee.” Eric shrugged at Bryan’s guess, which made both of my friends laugh.
“That’s not even the point. What are you even laughing at?”
I threw my hands in the air and stepped into the bathroom to take pictures. Texting Linda the photos, I asked her to pick up Jurnee’s toiletries or something as close as possible if she couldn’t locate the right items.
Eric was on the edge of Jurnee’s neatly made bed when I stepped out of the bathroom that was definitely smaller than the shower in my bedroom in my parents’ house.
“We are in what Jurnee calls her sublet, which is exactly a fourth of the bathroom on the third floor at Anderson’s parents’ house. He and I are in here, and we could not fit another person. Oh! It’s half the size of my first apartment. Remember, down from NYU.”
“And,” Bryan pushed.
“Anderson is packing her shit to take over to her at his house. Not the parents’, but his place.”
Bryan yelled into the phone, “You took her to your fuck spot?”
“Why is this suddenly my spot?”
“You own the house. If I owned the house, it would be my spot.” Eric dropped the last piece of information. “And she is injured and won’t go to urgent care because she can’t afford the medical bills.”
“Dude, take your woman to the doctor.” Bryan snapped.
Mister Manhattan: A Hero Club Novel Page 15