"Uh huh."
As my car drove me back from the office, I passed by a familiar blonde in a red coat. I told the driver to stop and let me out.
"I'll walk the rest of the way," I told him.
Chloe was so engrossed in taking pictures that she didn't notice me come up behind her. I couldn't resist kissing her neck just behind her ear. She had her hair up in a bun, and her neck was smooth when I pressed my lips to her skin.
She screamed and whirled around.
An older woman passing by looked at us in bemusement.
"You know," she said to Chloe, "a homeless man kissed me like that this morning. Count your blessings it's someone who looks like him." She gestured to me.
"Sure, yep," Chloe said. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold. I couldn't tell if she was irritated with me or not.
"You're wearing a coat," she said.
"Just an overcoat."
She reached out and ran her fingers down the front of the coat. "Nice," she said.
I wished she would run her hand down something else.
She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.
"Come back to the tower with me," I told her.
"No."
"No?"
"I have to make more pictures," she said. "I have to feed the Instagram beast. I don't suppose you know of any places filled with Christmas cheer? In fact, I probably shouldn't hang around you if I want nice Christmas pictures. You're like a black hole of anti-Christmas. What's that Christmas monster? The Krampus? That’s you."
"Really," I said, as she turned to leave. In two strides, I was next to her, and I matched my pace to hers, which earned us dirty looks. True New Yorkers did not walk right next to each other because it blocked sidewalk traffic. But I had to be next to her.
After the third dirty look, I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to my body. She made a little squeaking noise and started to pull away.
"Someone's going to stab us," I told her, pulling her back against me. "We take up too much room on the sidewalk."
"It's because your shoulders are really wide," she replied. She was tucked neatly under my arm. "It's weird being this close to you."
"Chloe," I said in mock admonishment. "This is a public place. Get your mind out of the gutter. Besides, we fit perfectly together."
She rolled her eyes. "Where are we going?"
"I was following you," I told her.
"I need pictures," she whined.
"So demanding."
"My followers are all I have," she muttered.
"What do you mean?"
"Never mind." She seemed grumpy.
I hesitated for a moment then said, "I know of this place. No one else will have pictures like this. It’s a bit of a subway ride, though."
