Jodi stopped in her tracks and Beth turned to face her. ‘I’m not babysitting. I’m protecting you from yourself.’
‘You’re protecting me?’ Beth exclaimed. ‘I didn’t realise that I was in danger.’
‘Maybe not physical danger,’ Jodi chided. ‘But I have a feeling that this whole thing is going to land you in trouble. I don’t know how, but I just have a feeling that something really bad is going to come from this. So, like I said, I’m protecting you from yourself.’
Beth started walking again. She saw her building ahead of her and decided that a different approach might work with Jodi, in an effort to get her off her back. She knew that Jodi liked to be in charge and she was likely to be much more accepting if Beth simply acquiesced. Or at least appeared to. If she continued to butt heads with her like this, well, then she was likely to have Jodi follow her up to her apartment and stand guard outside the door.
‘OK, fine. I understand that you’re just concerned about me, and that you simply care about my welfare. You’re agoodfriend.’
Jodi’s eyes narrowed. She was clearly suspicious about Beth’s sudden change in tune. ‘So you give up? No more treasure hunt?’
Beth nodded but said nothing.
Jodi crossed her arms over her chest and considered her friend. She caught Beth’s quick glimpse over her shoulder, as if plotting an escape route and smiled. Beth was a bad liar, especially when working to fool someone like Jodi, who had an internal lie detector that could sniff any untruth out.
‘OK, fine. I only do this because I want to protect you, you know. I care about you. That’s all.’
Beth nodded and reached forward to give her friend a hug. ‘I know, and I appreciate it. So now, if I have your permission,’ she teased, ‘I’m going home. See you at work, OK? Have a good evening and thanks for walking me home.’
The women said their goodbyes and Jodi watched as Beth went through the motions of walking the remaining distance to her building, saying hello to Billy, and then disappearing inside.
***
Jodi turned round, heading back towards the subway. She knew exactly where Beth would go next: back uptown to the Waldorf Astoria. That meant she would have to head to the subway and return the way they’d come.
Jodi considered the neighbourhood. Quickly she spied a bar on the opposite corner from where the stairs to the subway platform were located. She could go in there, have a drink, and wait for Beth to enter the subway, and then she could call her out on her lie and maybe embarrass her into giving this up once and for all.
Feeling that she had a plan, she walked towards the bar, checking behind her every few feet just to make sure that Beth hadn’t immediately circled back, thinking Jodi was already gone.
But no, the path was clear.
Jodi walked into the bar, ordered a JD and Coke, and sat next to the window, which looked out onto the street. Now she just had to wait. She stared in the direction from where Beth would eventually come. She took a long swig of her drink and settled in.
***
Beth stood in her doorway, feeling that she had been able to read Jodi’s mind. She crossed her arms, determined to wait it out.
She smiled in the usual way at Billy, but there was no denying that she now felt hugely uncomfortable around him. Still, just then she needed his help. ‘Billy, there is somewhere I need to go, but Jodi doesn’t want me to. Can you go out onto the street and see if she is walking away? Just act as if you are doing your normal concierge thing,’ she added airily, referencing the way so many New York doormen would walk the path regularly in front of their buildings as if they were sentinels to the property.
Billy considered the request, eyes twinkling. ‘And what is thisthingthat Jodi doesn’t want you to do, lovey? I hope it’s nothing that’s going to get you in trouble.’
Beth tried to see if she could read anything into this response other than friendly interest. ‘No, nothing that is going to get me in trouble,’ she replied evasively. ‘No danger that I know of. Jodi is just being Jodi. Will you check, please?’
Billy opened the door and casually looked down the block. He looked down the opposite way, waved to someone he obviously knew and then turned back towards the building.
Opening the doors, Beth was all over him for an answer. ‘Well? Was she there?’
He shook his head. ‘No, I didn’t see her anyway. The street was clear. She probably already went down to the subway.’
Beth considered Billy’s words, but couldn’t shake the feeling that something didn’t feel right. Hell, these days it was impossible to take anything for granted. But she worried now that if she decided to go back uptown via the subway, her plans would be hijacked. She guessed that was exactly what Jodi was planning on, and wouldn’t even put it past her friend to be waiting close by, probably on the platform, hoping to catch her in the lie.
So, she would just have to do something that Jodi hadn’t planned on.
‘Billy,’ she requested sweetly, ‘I need a cab.’
Within minutes he had secured a cab for her and she was heading in the direction of uptown, leaving her friend – wherever she might be lurking – in the dust.
She had also taken the opportunity to swear Billy to secrecy, although she wasn’t sure how long that could last against any subsequent assault from Jodi. Nevertheless, she would have to chance it. Beth hoped that if Jodi truly was looking out for her she would take her at her word, and just go home.
