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To his credit, my father looks mortified, but I’m not sure it’s because he’s being told off by Elodie, because I’m in love with a man, or because I didn’t keep my word about changing the book into less of a tell-all. I’m not holding out much hope that he actually has regrets, but there’s not no hope either.
Watching what happened to Drew after he lost his father, whom he wasn’t even close with, made me wonder what it would be like—what it will be like when that day comes for me. All I can really hope for, though, is there’s someone at the end of the day to get me through it.
“I think we’ve heard enough,” my mother says, without a hint of remorse. It’s still such a cold, bitter slap in the face. “We’ll sue the publisher. That book will never see the light of day.”
“That’s what you care about?” Drew asks.
My mother looks at him like he’s a bug she stepped on. “Excuse me?”
“Seriously, after everything your son just said, your big concern is what it’s gonna look like? Lady, do you really think the truth is gonna surprise anyone? I’ve known you five minutes, and it doesn’t shock me at all.”
“I don’t know who you think you are, Drew?—”
“I was his doorman. On the night shift. You’ll read all about it in the book.”
My mother gasps, and even I have a hard time not laughing. Elodie, however, loses the battle. She dissolves into helpless giggles at my side, and what sounds like a loaded platter crashes in the kitchen.
My father drops his face into his hands. “I think you three should go.”
Drew looks at me like he’s in complete agreement. I don’t need to be told twice.
I can’t say I’m satisfied with how brunch went, but it had its memorable moments. Still, I don’t feel great, and the hurt I was feeling when I came in hasn’t magically disappeared now that I’ve come clean with all my dirty deeds.
Drew takes charge, standing first, offering Elodie a hand up and then giving my back a pat. My parents won’t even look at me, so there’s nothing else to do but get up, too.
He puts an arm around me, and we head for the door. Elodie still has a few laughs to get out as we wait for the elevator, but we make the ride to the lobby in silence.
Once we’re on the street, Elodie tells us she’s meeting up with Matthew, and Drew suggests he and I head to Brooklyn to check in on the brownstone.
It’s a good idea. Keep it moving. Focus on the road in front of us instead of what we’re leaving behind. Not that I’m sure it’ll help me shake this sudden funk, but it’s worth a try.
Still a little shell-shocked, I nod, and then somehow, beyond my control, we’re on the subway.
“What is that smell?”
“Shh…” Drew says, and that’s when I notice the homeless man across from us. Pretty sure that’s where the smell is coming from.
It’s a very, very long ride from the Upper East Side to Brooklyn, but the stinky guy gets off a few stops down, and though his body odor lingers a few stops more, it’s eventually overwhelmed by the other sweaty people coming and going.
I’m in total sensory overload. The sounds, the people, the repetitive jostling as the train barrels down the tracks. “Never again,” I tell Drew.
He just laughs.
Brooklyn was a pretty big surprise for me when I first came to see this house. I’d only ever been at night, and only a handful of times. But the neighborhood where we’ll live has trees, it’s relatively quiet, and there are so many people walking dogs all the time, I halfway wonder if it’s a homeowner’s requirement. I wouldn’t mind a dog, I don’t think.
It’s a Sunday, so I don’t expect any workers in the house, but I’m glad to see the front door is closed and locked.
“I love this place so much. You did so good, baby,” Drew says, looking around the facade as I unlock the door.
“I hope the water’s running,” I say. “I need a shower after what you just put me through.”
He leans in and gives my neck a good, long sniff. “You still smell good to me.”
I shudder. “You’re giving me chills. Stop it.”
He chuckles before he pulls away to let me open the door.
The remodel has come a long way, even in the last two weeks. Everything had to go. Walls. Windows. Floors. Ceilings. The only thing in decent shape was the staircase, but I didn’t trust it, so I had it reinforced and refaced, but tried to keep with the old-world style.
