“This is quite possibly one of the stranger things that has happened to me in this city,” I say quietly.
“Then you haven’t lived here long enough.”
I nod. And for the first time since I decided to move back home, I wish I could stay longer.
“Where to?” the cabbie grunts.
“I don’t have a home ...” I say, with zero explanation.
Oliver doesn’t seem to mind. And he also doesn’t take his eyes off me as he says, “152 Seventh Avenue.” The car starts rolling, and we just stare at each other before he adds, “So, Juliet, where ya been all my life?”
Oliver
One traffic-filled forty-five-minute cab ride later, and I’ve discovered my college crush has been living in my city for the last three years after completing her master’s degree and scoring a job at a corporate accounting firm.
I’ve also discovered that she’s moving back to California tomorrow morning. At five a.m., to be exact.
For being Cupid adjacent, I feel like the universe hates me.
God, she looks good. She always did. I used to see her around campus with her wacky friend, laughing and being irreverent.
I was mesmerized.
Rory is this impeccable mix of flawless beauty and sarcasm. I used to make sure we were at the campus coffeehouse at the same time so I could listen to her roast people while I enjoyed my proximity to her.
For four years I tried to muster the courage to ask her out, but it always felt like she’d eat me alive. It still does.
I pull my sweater over my head and run my hands through my hair before grabbing my spare key and some cash, since I left everything back at the restaurant. But there was no way I was saying no to leaving with her.
What kind of an idiot gets a second chance like that and fumbles the ball?
Not this one.
I lock up my apartment and head down the hall to get back downstairs to Patty’s, where I left her sipping an Irish coffee.
The moment I pull the door to Patty’s open, I spot her laughing with the owner/bartender and keeper of the spare key. She’s in good hands.
Patricia, a.k.a. Patty, smiles at me as I sidle up to the bar and sit on the stool next to Rory.
“Fancy seeing you here,” I tease.
She giggles, finishing off the sandwich she’d ordered. I like it.
Her hair falls over her shoulder as she grins at me. “I still can’t get over how crazy it is that we’ve run into each other. I was telling Patty I haven’t seen you in, like, what, five years?”
I nod and take a sip of the Guinness now in front of me before deciding to jump in with a full-court press of charm.
“Yeah, five years tomorrow. But I’m surprised you remember my face since you were too busy shoving your tongue down my throat.”
She almost chokes on her drink before laughing and slapping my arm. “Shut up. You kissed me.”
“Lies. I distinctly remember you listing reasons for us to kiss ... your good grade being one of them. I tried to be a gentleman, but you were feral ... It’s understandable, it was Valentine’s Day. Everybody wants some.”
Her mouth hangs open as she blushes. It makes me bite my bottom lip.
“Okay ...” she draws out. “That’s enough from you. Were you always this full of yourself? Or is this a new personality trait?”
I wink and she rolls her eyes playfully.
