“Tonight’s party was amazing because of your ideas.”
“You implemented them. You could have shut me down completely, but you didn’t.”
Sarah managed a small smile. “Stavros would have been disappointed.”
“Still. You took a risk.” Lizzie glanced down the street. “So what are you really doing out here? Besides walking.”
“Honestly? I needed to get out of my apartment.”
“Yeah. Same.” Lizzie hesitated. “I was going to check out a few more bars for the crawl, but I don’t really know which ones to look at. Chrisla gave me a list, but there are like fifty bars on this street.”
Sarah made a decision on the spot. Clearly she could not avoid Lizzie. And she wasn’t’ so sure anymore she wanted to. “I’ll help you. I’ve organized enough bar crawls to know which places work and which ones don’t.”
“Really?”
“Really. But first, have you eaten?”
“Not since lunch.”
“There’s a crepe place two blocks down. They’re still open.”
They walked together down the crowded sidewalk. Sarah pointed out various bars as they passed. The crepe place was small and tucked between two souvenir shops. Inside, it smelled like butter and caramel. They ordered at the counter and found a table by the window.
“So you’re from Brooklyn,” Sarah said once they were settled with their food. She had read her resume more than once, even though she wasn’t going to admit that it was out of a personal interest. “What made you want to study English literature?”
“I want to be a writer. Novels, specifically.” Lizzie took a bite of her Nutella crepe. “I know it’s a long shot, but it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”
“What kind of novels?”
“Literary fiction, I guess? I’m working on one now about a family in Brooklyn. Three generations, all the secrets they keep from each other.” She smiled self-consciously.
“We had a huge library when we lived in Aspen. First editions, rare collections, the works. Not so much mine, but my late husband’s.”
“He was a big reader?”
“He was. He got me reading more. Although I prefer audio books. I like being able to do two things at once.”
Lizzie let out a laugh. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“Billy always said I wasn’t happy unless both my hands and my feet were doing different projects at the same time.”
“He sounds fun. What was he like?”
Sarah considered the question. People asked about Billy all the time, but more about his business, not about who he was as a person. “Kind. Genuinely kind, not just polite. He believed people deserved second chances. He took risks on people others wouldn’t hire.” She paused. “He saw potential in me before I did.”
“You were an assistant, right?”
“At first, I was a maid. But then I became an assistant. Which is a fancy way of saying I answered his phones and scheduled his meetings and tried not to spill coffee on important documents.” Sarah smiled at the memory.
“And you fell in love?”
The question was so direct it caught Sarah off guard. She took a sip of water, buying time. “Our relationship was complicated, but it worked for us.”
Lizzie nodded like she understood, though Sarah doubted she did. How could she?
“What about you?” Sarah asked. “Anyone special back in Brooklyn?”
“No. I dated someone freshman year, but it didn’t work out.” Lizzie picked at her crepe. “I don’t really have time for relationships. Between school and work and trying to write, there aren’t enough hours in the day.”
