AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Please, this is very important,” I say to him as the doors begin to close. “Weird, but important. You have to call me later when you get off work. Please.”
And with that I scramble after Ms. Cho and leave Elijah and the answers behind.
7
elijah
I look down at the phone number hastily scribbled onto my palm. The first thought that pops into my head is that my manicurist would have a field day seeing ink recklessly marking my well-cared-for hands. The second thought: What are the odds I’d run into the pretty girl from the airport here at Haneul?
“Whoa, what just happened? Did that girl just give you her number right here in a packed elevator?” Jason asks. “Damn, that’s like straight out of a K-drama or something. And here I was trying to get her attention with a banana.”
“I’m not sure,” I say. Though obviously, there’s a number written right here on my skin.
There were twelve people in this elevator including myself and she just took my hand and gave me her number. That took some guts. But I get the sense it wasn’t an act of flirtation. I mean, it’s kinda weird that it’s now the second time we’ve run into each other. And there definitely was something about the wild, almost desperate look in her eyes when she asked me to contact her that doesn’t sit right with me. That situation is not what it seemed.
“I wish I was that badass sometimes,” Grace says.
“Same,” Roy agrees.
“Badass like our boy Elijah here, who got himself a number after one day of being in New York?” Jason adds. “Or badass like the girl who gave it to him and peaces out without a goodbye?”
I can’t get the expression on her face as the doors of the elevator closed out of my head.
She didn’t look badass or confident.
No. She looked freaked out.
She also seemed like she needed answers as much as I did after everything that went down yesterday. It was obvious something, everything, was off.
But I was just having too good of a time to worry about it.
These strangers all took me under their wing. They seemed to like having me around, and I like being around them. So much so that I slept in a bunk bed in a stranger’s generic T-shirt. I got up at an ungodly hour and rode the subway to the office this morning, seated next to someone who may, in fact, call the subway his home. And I let myself be pushed around, not even blinking twice when I was asked to get coffee for the Intern Coordinator this morning.
Listening to people my age talk about how this internship could be life-changing for their futures, planning years ahead and hustling to make their dreams happen, it’s so different from everything I’ve known. And here I am doing anything and everything to hide all my privilege, not wanting any of these responsibilities, and hoping I won’t get found out, at least for just a little while longer, so I can enjoy the summer.
And having zero interest in my dad’s company.
I honestly thought the jig was up when our intern leader did roll call and asked for a Jessica Lee. I knew there was no Jessica in our group as of last night. And there wasn’t going to be an Elijah Ri on her list. So I raised my hand and took a chance, asking if she meant Yoo-Jin Lee. And there it was, passing my lie off as someone else’s mistake. Even letting her apologize for it. The list must have been wrong, she tried to explain.
I let everyone teasingly call me Jessica.
How much do you wanna bet that the girl from the elevator is Jessica Lee. Double or nothing that her Korean name is Yoo-Jin Lee.
Just like mine.
I’m not sure how this happened, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she happened to wake up in an Upper East Side brownstone this morning about as scared of being found out as I was.
Whatever is going on, I’ll make it through this day and then give her a call after work so we can get to the bottom of it all and figure out a plan on how to explain it to everyone we’ve met today.
All I know is, if it’s anything like what life has been like so far for me here in New York, I’d be happy living out a role like Jessica’s this summer.
I text the number Jessica left on my hand and suggest we meet for coffee around the corner from the office.
“I hear this halal cart is the best in the city. You sure you don’t want to grab dinner with us?” Jason asks.
The way Jason and the others are making sure to include me in plans, like we as a group move as one, is so new to me. I have friends back in Seoul. Kind of. But not like this. I’m not sure if I’m made uncomfortable by it because I like it or because it creeps me out.
“Thanks, man. But I’ve got something important I need to take care of tonight,” I say. Jason looks down at my hand where I’m mindlessly rubbing the phone number I’ve already saved onto my phone.
