AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s out of your way,” she says, her feet firmly planted as though she has no intention of getting in. When I don’t break her gaze, she rolls her eyes and gets inside, sliding across the seat to the other side.
“Think of it as a thank you.” I wait for her to tell the taxi driver her address.
Her shoulders fall. “Go to Inwood.” She glances at me before spitting out her address.
The cab pulls away from the curb.
I chuckle. “Do you think I’m going to stalk you or something?”
“What? No.” She shakes her head. “It’s just… forget it.”
“What?” I’m intrigued by why this is a problem for her. I shift in my seat so I’m better able to see her.
“You probably live around here, and I live in Inwood. I’m not ashamed, I’m proud of where I live. I worked hard to buy my condo, but to you it’s Inwood.”
I laugh. “You’re kidding, right? You think I’d think less of you because you live in Inwood?”
“Well, I’m assuming you have a doorman on the Upper West Side.”
I shake my head. “You assume wrong. Tribeca.”
She appears genuinely surprised. “And here you are going out of your way to take me to Inwood.”
“Please, I go to Brooklyn every weekend to see my parents. I’m not some snob who’s never left Manhattan.”
She looks out the window. I can tell it’s still bothering her that I’m escorting her home, but she has nothing to worry about. I was there once. Moving out of my parents’ before I was able to crack into the ad business sucked. She thinks Inwood is bad? I shared a two-bedroom with three buddies in Flushing. With one bathroom, I might add.
“That’s where you grew up?” she asks after a minute.
I nod. “Born and raised. My parents are immigrants. My dad works for the city, and my mom does odd jobs at home. Caters out of our house but keep that on the down low.”
She smiles at me. Maybe a little of my history will convince her that I’m not judging her.
“What about you? Where does Beth and your dad live?”
She turns to face me. “Beth and Sam are in Soho, and my dad lives in Midtown.”
“Why did you guys move to the city from Connecticut?”
“My dad is an attorney and he would commute, but then my mom decided the last thing she wanted to be was a mother, so she left. My dad moved us to Midtown because otherwise he’d never see us.”
“How did you like growing up in Midtown?”
She rolls her eyes. “It wasn’t Connecticut. Ever have those memories where you think maybe you’re making it more than it was? I think those years in Connecticut were happier for me than anyone else in the family. My dad much prefers living in the city. But Manhattan is home now. I’m used to it. It’d be hard to go back.”
“It’s weird how you think you’ll never get used to something at first, but then it becomes your new normal and you can’t imagine how it could be any different.”
She nods. “Oh, this is me.” She leans forward to tell the taxi driver.
How on Earth did we get to Inwood in so quickly?
She digs into her purse. “Here.”
I raise my hands. “I’m not taking your money.”
“Please. Come on, Mr. Mancini.”
Even I notice how weird that sounds coming from her mouth now that our working relationship has turned into more of a tenuous friendship. “Enzo.”
