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2
Karen was standingoutside Nina’s new apartment building, stomping her feet, the breath leaving her body in puffs of cold air. Her coat was emerald wool, perfectly tailored to her svelte body. Nina had a flash of envy. Karen had managed both to have a son — now in college — in her early thirties and to retain her slenderfigure.
Nina had managed neither, her body becoming measurably less defined during her years in the suburbs, as if an aging body was some kind of twisted gift from the universe, the only way she actually fit in with some of the other moms. She’d been able to reverse some of the damage with a vigorous gym schedule in the months since Peter had moved out, but she would never be as slender asKaren.
“Thank god!” Karen said when she spotted Nina. Her fiery red hair was blown out into perfect curls, her makeup polished but understated. “I was about to light a fire in one of the dumpsters to keepwarm.”
“Don’t be silly. It’s not that bad. Besides, you could have gone up andwaited.”
“With Melissa?” Karen made a face and pursed her painted lips. “I’ll take the dumpsterfire.”
Nina laughed. “She’s not thatbad.”
She reached for the buzzer and pressed 2A, making a mental note to have the Super put her name on thedirectory.
The door buzzed a few seconds later and Karen reached for it. “You sure you want to do this?” she asked, holding it open forNina.
“I’m sure,” Nina said. “It’s not like I have a choice anyway. I need aplace.”
“Yeah, but not in Brooklyn.” Karen’s distaste was obvious. “You don’t even have anelevator.”
“The exercise will be good for me,” Nina said. “Besides, I’m on the second floor. It’s not a bigdeal.”
“The offer to stay at my place still stands.” Karen’s heels clicked on the stairs as she followed Nina to the secondfloor.
“I appreciate it, but I’mgood.”
Karen’s apartment was gorgeous — a two bedroom on the Upper West Side in a building with both a doorman and an elevator — but Nina hadn’t even been tempted. They’d both changed since they’d first met as college roommates. Nina wasn’t sure their friendship would survive being roommates at this phase of theirlives.
Besides, as terrifying as it was to think of being totally on her own, it was a little thrilling too. She was ready — to decorate a space with nobody’s taste in mind but hers, to take walks alone at all hours of the day and night, to dance in her living room and stay up late watching old movies without apology orexplanation.
She didn’t want to be beholden to anyone — not even Karen — and there was no way she could afford something in the city. She’d blow through her money in sixmonths.
The second floor opened onto a dingy, narrow hall with chipping paint. Nina’s door was right at the top of the stairs. The other four apartments on her floor were spaced around the hall on the way to the staircase leading to the third and fourthfloors.
They’d barely stepped off the stairs when the door to 2A opened, Melissa smiling from the other side of thethreshold.
“Welcome home!” shesaid.
It had the feel of something practiced, a well-worn line pulled out and dusted off with every new tenant she placed, but Nina couldn’t begrudge her. The enthusiasm seemedgenuine.
Nina stepped over the threshold. “Thankyou.”
Karen and Melissa exchanged greetings with the chilly air of women who felt themselves rivals for no discernible reason, and they all moved into the livingroom.
Nina immediately felt more relaxed. She remembered now how much she loved the little apartment, how golden the morning light was coming in through the two windows, the black iron of the fire escape standing like an abstract sculpture beyond theglass.
The living room was large enough to accommodate both the couch that was being delivered later that day and a small desk, although right now she had no idea what she’d do with a desk, given her lack of a job. The room had high ceilings and opened onto a small but efficient kitchen. Beyond the living room a short hall led to a bathroom and a singlebedroom.
Melissa clicked her way to the half-wall separating the kitchen from the living room and slid a leafy plant towardNina.
“A little housewarming present for you,” she said. “You get such great light here. I’m sure it’ll grow likecrazy.”
Nina smiled. “Thank you somuch.”
“And of course,” Melissa said, picking up a pen next to a sheaf of papers, “thelease.”
Nina skimmed the paperwork — they’d already gone over the terms — and took the pen. She held it over the signature line,hesitating.
