SHANNON:We’re just in Times Square. Dan says the Hard Rock Cafe here is supposed to be really good?
Ah yes, Dan who has been in New York for one day. Thankgodhe’s here to be our tour guide. Where would we be without his amazing suggestions?
ANNIE:Trust me when I tell you it won’t be worth it. This place is a lot less touristy and also close to your hotel
I watch as she types, then stops, then starts again.
SHANNON:Dan wants to have a drink here first so we’ll need to meet a bit later. 7:30 instead?
Everything about this message is annoying. How have I become the third wheel on my own girls’ weekend? Last time I checked, she was here to visitme.There’s absolutely no point arguing with her, so I don’t. It would be easier, geographically, for both her and me to meet at Times Square, but I decide to stay petty and let them experience the joys of trying to get frommidtown to Brooklyn at this hour. Seems only fair to Dan—he is, after all, very passionate about Ubers. I’d hate to deprive him of the surcharge.
I text her back with a thumbs-up and then quickly check my sister’s Instagram. Just as I predicted: she’s already posted a picture of her standing in Times Square. I stand and go looking for Connor. I want to tell him I was right.
—
Of all the styles of meeting rooms we have in this building, these ones are extra insane—a corridor filled with compact, windowless rooms designed for recording audio and video. Each has a little screen beside the door to say who’s booked it, plus a lightbulb that flashes red or green, depending on whether or not they’re in use.
It doesn’t take me long to find Connor’s name on the door, and I listen before knocking to make sure he is in fact hiding, as Ben suggested, and not on a video call that I’m about to rudely interrupt. When I’m confident, I rap a knuckle lightly on the door and then poke my head aroundit.
He looks up at me, and I hold my hand up to my ear in the universal sign forare you on the phone?When he smiles and shakes his head, I let myself in. The room is extremely simple, just a table with two chairs, pushed up against a wall with a TV mounted above it. There’s padding on the walls for soundproofing.
“Just came to tell you I’m not such a bad tour guide after all. Look at this,” I say, handing my phone to him. He squints down at the screen then laughs.
“Looks like you know your sister better than you think,” he says, smiling atme.
How I wish that were true.
“Not wearing any of their Taskio merch, I notice,” he says, passing the phone back tome.
“I bet they binned it instantly.”
“Oh, no doubt,” he agrees. “Probably before they’d even left the building.”
He smiles and I smile, the glow of our shared joke passing betweenus.
I look around us. “So you’re hiding from Brad in here?”
“Hiding from you,” he says, then adds: “You’re very distracting.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “You seem to get plenty of work done.”
“It’s a constant battle.”
It doesn’t feel like he’s kidding. I clear my throat.
“They’re having a drink at the Hard Rock.”
He nods. “Are we meeting them there?”
I shake my head. “I told them to stick with the plan. They’ll meet us in Brooklyn.”
“Evil,” he says. I only shrug.
“So you’ve got some extra time on your hands,” I tell him. “To…work.”
He closes his laptop. The look he’s giving me is heated.
“I’m done.”
