“Is this true?” Michelle demanded of me.
“He was being a prick, but I shouldn’t have pushed him,” I said.
“You barely touched him!” PVC girl yelled.
“Okay, okay.” Michelle pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’ll handle it. Are you all right?”
“I will be,” I said, “but I need to find Elliot.”
“Ah.” Michelle’s face softened. “I’ll take care of this.” She turned cold eyes to Ralf and Vivian. “And you two. Out. Now.”
I shot Ralf a victorious smirk. I may have lost years’ worth of work to his machinations, but at least I wasn’t covered in pond slime. A small win. I followed the signs to the exit and out on to the street and pulled out my phone to order an Uber, but as I tapped the phone’s battery finally gave out.Great.One glance across the road at the train station serving the NYBG told me it was closed, so I headed back towards the Gardens.
One of the waitstaff was ambling out, white jacket slung over his shoulder and a cigarette firmly in his mouth. He caught my eye. “Have a great night,” he said.
“You too,” I said, then, “do you know where I can hail a cab round here?”
He took a deep drag on his cigarette. “Not too many around at this time of night,” he replied. “You tried Uber?”
I waved my phone. “Dead.”
He pointed to the ground. “You dropped something.”
I followed his finger to see a small white card that had flipped out of my clutch bag. Picking it up, I realized it was Ivan’s card, the taxi driver I’d met when I first arrived in New York. I couldn’t call him, could I? It was now past midnight. But then the thought of Elliot in Manhattan alone saw me asking the waiter to borrow his phone, which he kindly allowed. To my surprise, not only did Ivan answer the phone, but he also sounded very awake.
“Lucie!” He cheered when I explained who I was. “How is the movie business?”
“It’s … eventful,” I said truthfully. “Listen, I need help, are you working?”
“Just finishing,” he said. “Dropped someone off at University Heights and I’m about to head home. Are you okay?”
My heart sank. I couldn’t ask this man to drive me into Manhattan when he was about to turn in for the night. “I’m at the Botanical Gardens and something’s happened. I just need to get to Manhattan, and I can’t get a taxi—”
“—so you called Ivan for help,” he finished.
“I’m sorry, it was rude,” I said. “I shouldn’t presume.”
“Lucie, you need help,” he told me. “I’m glad you thought of me. I can’t take you into Manhattan though, as I gotta get back to my kids but … tell you what, I’m not far from the Gardens. I can get you to Tremont Avenue subway, take it from there, okay?”
Relief flooded through my veins. “Are you sure?”
He laughed. “Lucie, I’m a New York taxi driver, I don’t do anything unless I’m sure of it.”
“You’re a hero, Ivan,” I said.
“I should get that on a T-shirt,” he quipped. “Give me ten.”
Minutes later, a yellow cab screeched to a halt and Ivan leaned out of the window, hollering. “Lucie the Brit! Come with me if you want to live!”
Despite my worry over Elliot, I couldn’t stop laughing at the way he mangled Schwarzenegger’s accent. I threw myself in the back seat and Ivan took off like a rocket.
“Thanks again,” I said.
“I hope everything’s all right.” His voice was gentle, even as we raced down the boulevard at high speed.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said. “I’ve been in New York a few weeks and I’ve had my work stolen, pushed a producer into a pool and—” my breathing turned ragged “—I think there’s a very good chance I’ve fallen in love.”
The taxi braked to a sudden stop at some traffic lights. “Holy shit, Lucie, that’s straight out of the movies.”
