AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And that’s why she left it to you. She knew what she was doing,” Max said.
“I applied for a volunteer job at the Met today. I want to put down some roots now and get to know more people.”
“That’s a great idea. I volunteer once a month at a food pantry. They’re always looking for more people, too. If you’re interested, you can come along with me next time I go.”
Sophie was intrigued. “What do you do there?”
“I help with the deliveries that come in once a month. We unload boxes of food off the truck and put it on the shelves or in the freezers. It only takes an hour or so. And every Thanksgiving, I help put together the baskets that they give out to needy families.”
Sophie smiled. “That sounds fun.”
“We make it fun. We order pizza and children from the church come and help.”
“I’d love to help with any of that,” Sophie said.
“Great, I’ll keep you posted.”
“Does Millie volunteer with you?” Sophie asked.
Max stayed quiet for a moment and took another bite of pizza before answering. “No, I mentioned it a few times, but she always says it never works with her schedule. She travels a lot. She left for Paris this afternoon and has a job there for the next week and then she’s on to Greece.”
“That is a lot. Will she come home in between?”
“I doubt it. She says it’s easier to just go right on to Greece. The shoots are back to back, with only a day off in between.”
Sophie grabbed another slice of pizza. “I like to travel a little, but I don’t think I’d like to do that much.”
“No, neither would I.”
They turned on the show and watched two episodes. Max headed home around nine and Sophie insisted that he take the leftover pizza with him.
“I’ll keep the salad,” she said.
“All right, then. If you’re around this weekend, I think some of us are going for dinner and drinks on Saturday. It’s a fun group. Might be good for you to meet some people now that you’re staying.”
“I’d love that.” Sophie felt the sadness finally start to lift a little. She looked forward to meeting some of Max’s friends and getting back to the real estate office.
Chapter Twelve
It felt good to be back at Fulton Real Estate. Everyone seemed happy to see Sophie again, especially Andrea, who greeted her warmly when she arrived Monday morning. “Kara told me that you’re interested in this as a temp-to-perm opportunity? We’d love that and I wouldn’t have to interview anyone else.”
Sophie smiled and assured her that she was definitely interested.
Rick gave her a high-five when he saw her and then immediately handed her the morning’s tape to type up. “Glad to have you back, Sophie.”
Sophie spent the morning getting up to speed on the new listings that had come in since she’d been gone. She started with typing up the notes of the morning meeting which had all the newest listings and updates. And then in between calls, she studied the list of new properties and read through the descriptions. She also took note of the sales board and which properties had closed since she’d been gone. She was happy to see that the Soho property she’d suggested to Rick’s client had just closed a few days ago.
Caroline and Tessa stopped by to chat on their way out to preview a new listing.
“We’ll have to definitely get drinks later this week,” Caroline suggested, and Sophie happily agreed. Aside from Saturday night with Max and his friends, she had no plans at all.
She brought her lunch in each day and went outside and to a small park area nearby to sit in the sun and eat her salad. The days went by quickly and by the time she got home at night, she was tired but in a good way. She went for long walks along Fifth Avenue after supper and then curled up and read for a bit or watched a little television with Charlie by her side, before heading to bed around ten. She was settling into a routine and while she still had many sad moments, when she wanted to tell Aunt Penny about something that had happened at work and realized she couldn’t do that anymore. But the moments passed quickly and by the end of the week, she was looking forward to having drinks with Caroline and Tessa.
They went to a different place this time. Milady’s was a restaurant bar and according to Tessa had the best smash burgers. It was crowded when they arrived at a quarter to six, but after ordering drinks at the bar, some seats opened up ten minutes later and they grabbed them. Tessa went with an Aperol Spritz, which Sophie knew was a hugely popular cocktail, but she’d never cared for the taste. She ordered a classic cosmopolitan and Caroline decided to get the same.
“So, what’s new and exciting since we last saw you?” Caroline asked.
Sophie hesitated for a moment. “Well, there is some sad news, my Aunt Penny died. She was the one I was living with.”
