“You’ve been to the pier, right?”

The pier is the place where lots of guys bring dates. There are all kinds of fun activities. The inky black sky is dotted with stars - it’s the kind of sky you don’t see often in the city. It’s the kind of sky that you usually only see in the country, away from the city’s bright lights. Up in the country, nature isn’t competing with the skyscrapers. It gets to be on its own without having to be overshadowed.

But the city is fun. I love it. And the pier is fun, and what Molly and I just did back at my office was fun.

I’m watching her ass move in her little black dress, but she would honestly look just as fucking good in pair of old overalls. Or what about one of my white button-down collared shirts on a Saturday morning when she wakes up at my apartment for the first time? I’d love that. I can imagine her sitting on the couch watching her beloved retro sitcoms while I make pancakes for her.

“Yeah, I think I’ve been here,” she says, walking ahead of me excitedly. “I remember that my mom and dad brought me here when I was a kid. I think they had ice skating here. Or maybe it was in Queens. I don’t really remember.”

“That’s okay. We’ll make lots more fun memories together that I’m sure you won’t forget.”

“So where are we going, anyway? Ice skating? Rock climbing? What else do they have here? Hot dog eating contest?”

“Wrong borough, wrong day. And I don’t want to bore you with go-karts or anything like that. I was thinking we would go up.”

“Oh! Rock climbing?”

“Higher.” I point up and she grabs my hand excitedly.

“Sky diving?”

“Not that high.”

I weave my fingers through hers and start walking toward the water, where the heliport is located.

“You ever been on a helicopter before?”

“Ohh!” She squeals and jumps up and down, clapping her adorable hands together.

“So you do like me,” I say.

“My friend had a birthday party where she did a helicopter tour when we were in junior high. I had the chicken pox so I missed the party.” She turns toward me and puts her arms around my neck. There is still some hesitation in her touch. I haven’t completely captured her mind or her heart yet.

“Baby, come on. Let’s go.”

We walk to where the helicopters are assembled and her bouncy, natural brown hair whips around in the air. The lights of the heliport shine on her like a spotlight. I know she doesn’t like attention, so I’m happy we’ve been able to connect during a time that the cameras are focused on some other bastard, despite the chaos going on in my life at the moment.

I guide her to the helicopter reading Anderson Equities on the side. Eric and I argued over whose name should go first, so we decided to just have it say the name of the firm.

“What?”

Molly’s mouth hangs open as she turns to me and points to the helicopter. “I thought we were renting one for a couple of hours. Why’s your name on the side of that thing?”

“It’s one of my toys, baby. It’s not a big deal.”

“Hi, captain,” I say to my friend, Toby. He’s a guy Eric and I grew up with, and he always loved flying. I texted him when I left Molly alone in the reception area of my office and asked him if he wanted to come to the West Side to help me out for a few hours. He’s been a licensed pilot for years, and I envy the guy.

He’s got a wife and two kids. He’s the picture of perfect married bliss.

“I just got my two most important clients into bed, so this was perfect timing,” he says as he reaches out to shake my hand.

“This is my new girlfriend, Molly. Mol, this is Toby. She’s my most important client right now. I’m trying to woo her into entering this deal with me.”

Molly flashes me a smile, her brown eyes grinning and the hint of a dimple forming on her left cheek.

“It’s nice to meet you, Toby. So, what is it that you do? Are you in real estate like Drew? Finance? Law?”

“Nah. I’m a middle-school math teacher.”

Toby pushes his hair away from his forehead and smiles at my girl. She cocks her head to the side and looks a little puzzled.

“But...clients? Getting them into bed? Isn’t that code for getting them into some juicy deal? Something secret?”

“Let me rephrase. When I say clients, I mean my kids. I think I work harder for them than Drew’s ever worked for one of his clients.”

“Yeah,” I add, “and when he says he got them into bed, he means he literally gave them their dinner and tucked them into bed.”

“And here I was, expecting some corporate espionage,” Molly says.

“That what you want, Mol?” I ask, opening the door on the side of the helicopter for her.

“I don’t know, Drew. Do you think I’d be any good at it?”

She slides into the seat and I get in after her, closing the door and giving a thumbs-up to Toby through the window.

“Actually, I do. I think you have a lot of business savvy. You know how to deal with people. You’d have to, if you work at a newspaper.”

“I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be working there, to be honest.”

“Oh? You finally doing your reevaluation? In my world, we call it an operational overhaul.”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

Something in her voice changes.

“Hey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it,” I say.

“It’s not your fault. It’s just that I’m not so sure I want to work at a newspaper anymore. I guess you actually helped me to figure that out.”

“If that’s the case, then I’m glad I could help.”

“You’re just different from any guy I’ve dated before, Drew. You know that. Look at me.”

The helicopter’s propellers speed up and we lift off the ground. It’s still my favorite part. I’ve been in the copter so many times, and I’ve even driven it a few times. But the take-off, the moment when you leave the earth and ascend to a new height, is always still the most exciting part.

I grab Molly’s hand and squeeze it tight.

“I highly doubt that I’m very different than the guys you’ve dated before. Let me guess the profile of the guys you’ve dated. I already know you love nerds, so the guys all have glasses. I wear contacts, myself, so that’s not much of a departure for you.”

“Okay, yes. I like a guy in a cute pair of specs.”

“And the guys you’ve dated are driven but sometimes a little confused.”

“But that’s not you, Drew. Maybe that’s the guys I’ve dated, but that’s how you differ from them.”

She looks away from me and casts her gaze out the window at the lights below us quickly falling away.

“What were the other guys confused about?”

I see her chest rise and fall in a wistful sigh.

“Me.”

She turns her attention to me and slumps down in her seat, her eyes cast into her lap. She picks at her nails nervously.

“That’s not possible. No guy could ever be confused about you.”

“My ex. He was. He said he wanted to move to California. So he did. And if he really wanted to be with me, he could have stayed.”

“I’m sorry, Molly. I had no idea. But that guy is a piece of crap.”

“He’s just a little bit immature. He went to California because he didn’t like New York weather anymore.”

“To be honest, I can see his point.”

Her expression softens and she looks at me with sympathy. It’s as though she’s comforting me, somehow. But I should be the one comforting her.

“I don’t know,” Molly says. “That’s part of what I like about New York. The weather. It can be unpredictable. I love it.”

“That makes sense coming from you.”

She turns to look out the window again and nestles back into my chest.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re a planner. You like order. If you find something you can’t control, then you like it to be a little wild. There’s no way you’re going to be able to harness the weather, babe, so you like that it’s out of control.”

“Look at us, talking about the weather. I don’t know if this feels like a first date or a thousandth date.”

“It doesn’t matter. And don’t try to change the subject.”

She tenses up in my arms, but I slip my hands onto her shoulders and she relaxes a little.

“Maybe you’re right. I do like things to be just-so.”

“You’ve got everything, babe. Just take a breather. You don’t have to figure everything out right this second. Just breathe and think about what you want to do next.”

“That might already be determined for me, you know. I saw some guys in the building. My neighbor, Mrs. M., said she thinks they want to buy the building. You don’t know anything about that, do you?”

So she does know. I’m disappointed. I don’t want her to be hurt, and I know moving would be a huge pain in the ass for her. But even if Lee gave a good price to Rich, I’m sure he won’t want to sell.

“Actually, yeah. Just between us, I saw the guys in the building and I happen to know them. It’s the firm that Eric and I have this stupid dispute with right now. But I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I know the owner, and I don’t think he wants to sell.”

“I hope not. A lot of the people in the building have memories there. It would be a shame to see the building made into something else.”

I pull her in close me to. We’re high above the city now, and moving East, over the ocean.

“Let me take you away, Molly. Let’s go across the pond. You ever been to London?”

“Nope. Never been to Europe.”

“You want to go?” I ask, pulling her closer.

“I’ve always wanted to. I hear that London is a lot like New York.”

“It’s true. But even older, if you can believe there’s any place that’s older and has more history than New York.

“There’s lots of places older than New York. Ever hear of the pyramids? The cloisters? The colosseum?” she asks. “I guess I’m just nostalgic for the place I love.”

I wrap my arms around her more firmly. She’s soft and fits me perfectly.

“You really mean it about wanting to take me away from it all?” she asks, reaching back and touching my face.

I lean down to kiss her plush, pink lips, high above the city.

“Yeah. I really mean it.”