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Twelve hours later,she was surrounded by friends and feeling good. The sofa had been delivered on schedule, along with the bed she’d bought from Ikea, and the movers had come with the paltry personal belongings she’d taken from the houseupstate.
She’d spent the day putting together the bed, surprisingly easy despite the fact that Peter had refused to buy anything from Ikea, insisting it wasn’t worth the hassle. She’d stood back when it was done, taking in her work and feeling proud ofherself.
After washing her new sheets in the apartment’s basement laundry room, she’d shopped for food and wine for the cozy housewarming Karen had insisted Nina host to celebrate her newplace.
She’d protested at first, but now that everyone was there, gathered around the living room, laughing and drinking wine, telling raunchy stories, Nina had to admit Karen had been right. There would be lots of time for Nina to be alone. It was nice to be reminded she didn’t have tobe.
“So I asked him what I could do to help him get hard,” Karen was saying. “And he said, “What do you mean? I amhard.”’
Nina shook her head and laughed along with everyone else as she got up to get a new bottle of wine. She looked at the women in her living room with a mixture of affection and detachment. She hadn’t had any close friends other than Karen in a long time, and she was still figuring out how she fit into Karen’s citycircle.
There was Robin, a woman Karen had met years ago at a communications conference. Robin was small and curvaceous, with chic silvery hair chopped short and a tattoo of a phoenix on her wrist. Nina had met her a few times in the past and had immediately admired her youthful spirit, her willingness to pick up and travel to exotic places at the drop of a hat for her employer, an NGO that advocated for clean, accessible water in underprivileged communities around theworld.
Amy was Robin’s polar opposite. Raised by a Chinese Tiger Mom, Amy had been all but cut off from her family when she came out, marrying her longtime partner and adopting a baby girl. Amy’s life looked charmed from the outside, but Nina always felt a pang of sadness when Amy talked about her parents, sorrow apparent on her delicate face. She’d gotten an MBA from Harvard, but her choice of a life partner had been a deal-breaker.
“I like this place,” Robin said when Nina returned to the living room with wine in hand. “It’s homeyalready.”
“I might have a way to go to homey,” Nina said, pouring more wine into Robin’s glass. “But thank you. It does havepotential.”
“Now we just need to get Karen to Brooklyn,” Robin said from her cushion on thefloor.
Karen almost spit out her wine. “When hell freezesover.”
“You’re such a snob,” Amy said, taking a drink from herglass.
Nina poured herself another inch and returned to her seat on thesofa.
Karen lifted her eyebrows. “Says the woman with four-hundred-dollarsheets.”
“Hey!” Amy protested, laughing. “I work seventy hours a week. Nice sheets are myindulgence.”
Karen held up a hand. “You don’t have to defend the choice to me. I have a doorman. I’m just suggesting you might not have much credibility on the snobberyfront.”
“Point taken,” Amy said. “But seriously, all the fashionable people live in Brooklynnow.”
Karen lifted her glass to her lips. “Definefashionable.”
“A pillow might be coming your way right now,” Robin said. “If there were any pillows, Imean.”
“I’ll work on throw pillows next,” Nina said. “That way you’ll have them in your arsenal for nexttime.”
“I have a feeling I’m going to need them if we keep meeting in Brooklyn,” Robinsaid.
“No way.” Karen reached for a piece of cheese from the platter Nina had set out. “Next time you guys come to me. In fact, you can start tomorrow by coming to myreading.”
“Can’t,” Amy said. “Moira has a work thing. I’m on munchkinduty.”
Robin made a sad face. “I’m afraid I’m out too. Sarah is in town with her new boyfriend. We’re doingdinner.”
Robin had three children. Sarah was her oldest daughter and worked for an app company in SanFrancisco.
“Is it the tech guy?” Amy asked. “Tom…Ted…”
“That was Tom,” Robin said with a sigh. “He’s long gone. This one is in venture capital. I think his name’sMark.”
Karen made a face. “I’ve dated two Marks — one had a microscopic penis and the other had a microscopicvocabulary.”
