“’Cause it’s my… my birfday soon! Do you think Grampa will be back by then?”
Unable to prevent it, tears suddenly spring into my eyes and I bury them in Nick’s hair with a kiss. “No, baby, I’m sorry. He won’t be able to make it. Remember he’s gone to be in heaven with Charlie, your hamster?”
“Oh, yeah.” Nick nods, yawning deeply once more. “Maybe… maybe next year, then.”
3
ELIJAH
“Flight 280 to San Francisco will begin boarding in thirty minutes. And from all of us here at JFK International, we wish you safe flights this Happy New Year.”
The booming announcement drowns out the faint audio from the television set resting high behind the bar, where the countdown completes and hundreds of fireworks light up the night sky.
Happy New Year.
I drown that thought in my beer, drinking until my lungs burn and the fizz attacks my nose just enough to be unpleasant. The sooner I get on that plane, the sooner I can leave this rotten city and its rotten people behind.
“Another?” The bartender arches a brow at my now-empty glass.
I nod. “Please.”
“Coming right up.” The empty glass, gleaming with leftover foam, vanishes from sight and is replaced with a fresh one beforeI’ve even got my phone out of my pocket. The screen lights up with hundreds of automated New Year’s well-wishes, and they have to be automated because everyone I know is likely up to their eyeballs in drink right now and incapable of using a phone.
It’s the perfect night for me to slip away, leaving behind everything I’ve ever known.
None of it is worth remembering.
Picking up my glass, I gaze down the airport toward the gate where my plane will be boarding. Twenty-eight more minutes and I’m out of here.
I pick up my glass and savor the fresh chill of my next drink as my phone rings and a name flashes up on the screen.
Cheating Cunt.
The fuck does she want?
Tapping my earbud, I answer the call but don’t speak. A second later, her voice floods my ears and fills my aching gut with dread.
“Elijah? It’s Imogen. Are you there? Elijah? Can you say something? Hello?” Silence drags on for a few long seconds. “Are you seriously not even going to speak to me? How fucking childish are you?”
A pulse of anger licks at my skin and I grit my teeth. “I said everything I needed to say while we were in court.”
“Oh, Elijah.” She sighs in relief. “I knew you were there. Why would you answer if you didn’t want to talk to me?”
“Curiosity. What kind of shit could you spew at this time of night?”
“It’s New Year’s.” She pauses. “Do you remember last year? At the roof party with all of our friends? It was such a beautiful night.”
She speaks wistfully as if remembering one of the best nights of her life. All I remember is trying to get drunk and then a lot of rain. “What do you want, Imogen?”
“I hate how we’re leaving things.”
“What did you expect?”
“I don’t know.” She sighs again. “I just… everything feels so final.”
“That’s what happens when you need to use the court to equally split everything with your cheating girlfriend who threw your relationship away four months after that supposed beautiful New Year’s.”
“I told you it was amistake,” she snaps, losing all the faux sweetness from her voice. “Why won’t you believe me?”
