I spend the morning wandering around Central Park. It’s a beautiful crisp fall day and the leaves are just turning shades of gold. I love the crunchy sound they make under my feet as I walk. It’s still warm, in the low 60’s, so I take the opportunity to sit down on the bench and people watch for a bit. It’s amazing how much time there is in the day when you don't have to go to work. Now, there seems to be time for almost anything. Day dreaming. Reading. Walking around in the park. Just grabbing a cup of coffee without rushing somewhere. My job didn’t feel particularly stressful, but now that I’m no longer working there, it definitely feels like a weight has dropped off my shoulders.

“Ellie?” a familiar voice asks, tapping me on my shoulder. I turn around and come face-to-face with Tom.

“Hey.” I smile.

“What are you doing here?”

“Um, nothing really. Just relaxing. Enjoying the day. And you?”

“Same.” He shrugs. “I took a day off. I need some time.”

He slouches a bit and looks down at the ground. I know Tom well enough to know that he’s waiting for me to ask him why. But I don't want to indulge. I don't want to see him actually, and I’m a bit peeved that he’s here interrupting my alone time.

Without an invitation, he sits down next to me on the bench. I decide not to indulge him. Instead, I turn my attention to the Kindle app on my phone.

“What are you reading?” he asks after a few moments of silence.

“You wouldn’t like it,” I say.

“And how do you know that?”

“Because you think romance novels are trashy.”

“No, c’mon tell me,” he insists.

“It’s a billionaire romance with steamy sex scenes,” I say.

“Hmm. Is the girl the billionaire or the guy?”

“The guy.”

“How original,” Tom says sarcastically.

“Listen, I didn’t ask for your opinion, did I? The sex is hot and the writing is fast paced. It’s a nice way to unwind.”

Tom nods without really agreeing.

I’m about to ask him to leave when my phone rings. It’s Aiden.

“Hey.” I pick up the phone.

“Hey, stranger,” Aiden says. “I have a surprise for you. Tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“I’m sending a package over to your place now with a courier.”

“A present?” I ask. “For me?”

“Yes. Hope to see you in it tonight.”

“Will you pick me up?”

“No, the directions where I want you to meet me will be in the package,” he says.

“Can’t wait.”

When I hang up, my heart is still fluttering a bit, but then I look over at Tom. The sour expression on his face tells me everything I want to know.

“Who was that?”

“Nobody.”

“Nobody?”

“It’s just a guy I’m seeing. It’s none of your business,” I say, standing up. “Listen, I have to get back home. I have some work to do.”

“What work? You’re unemployed.” He chuckles.

“You know, I don’t know how I didn’t notice this before. You can be such an asshole sometimes.”

---

***

When I get home, the package from Aiden is waiting for me with the doorman. It’s a big white box with a pink bow around it. I take it up to our apartment and unwrap it as soon as I enter the foyer. Inside, I find an exquisite short black sleeveless dress. I don't know what it’s made of it, but the material definitely feels luxurious and very expensive. When I put it on, I feel like a princess. I twirl around the living room and watch as the fabric rises and falls with me. Since it’s a little black dress, almost any shoe goes with it. So I reach for my $100 DSW pair of black pumps. Unlike Caroline, I do not have an expensive shoe habit.

I arrive at the bar in mid-town promptly at eight. It’s an upscale bar where everyone is dressed in suits and ties and dresses. I’ve never been here before and, at first, I’m a bit apprehensive about grabbing a seat at the bar by myself. I’ve never really sat at the bar by myself before because it’s the prime location for all sorts of creeps to hit on you. But this time, I decide to be brave. Besides, Aiden is going to be here soon, right?

I take a seat at the far end of the bar and order a mojito. While I’m waiting, Aiden comes up to me and kisses me behind the ear.

“Hey there, stranger.”

“Oh, hey!” I say and give him a brief hug. He takes the seat next to me and orders an Old Fashioned.

“Thank you so much for the dress.”

“No, thank you for wearing it. You look gorgeous in it.”

“How is it that you can pick out clothes for me so easily? I mean, when I find a dress I like at the store, I have to try on a few different sizes before I find the one that fits right. And yet, you’re two for two.”

“Ah, it’s a skill, I guess,” he says, nodding to the bartender when his drink is ready.

“No, seriously, I want to know.”

“Seriously? Seriously, I have a buyer. She saw what you look like, and she has an expert eye for these things.”

I take a sip of my mojito when it arrives. It’s incredibly fresh and the combination of acid and sugar on my tongue makes me salivate and crave it more and more.

For a few minutes, we lose ourselves in our conversation and in each other’s eyes. Everything he says makes perfect sense to me and I agree with it wholeheartedly. And everything I say resonates with him as well. There’s no other way to describe this moment other than that we are completely in-sync.

“Well, hello there.” I hear an unfamiliar female voice behind me. When I turn around, I see a tall woman with razor sharp cheekbones and a razor-sharp aggressive haircut. Don’t get me wrong. She’s gorgeous. But the way her eyes flicker when she speaks makes my stomach turn in fear.

“Alexis, what are you doing here?” Aiden asks. The shocked expression on his face convinces me that this is not a planned surprise.

“Your secretary said you would be here.”

“Why are you even asking her about me?” He demands to know. “Can’t you see that I’m on a date?”

“I’m asking about you because you’re my husband.”

“Ex-husband. Of many years mind you. Why don’t you talk to your present-day husband about whatever it is you’re bothering me with?”

Suddenly, the expression on Alexis’s face changes. The hardness vanishes as tears start to roll down her cheeks.

“Aiden, I’m so, so sorry. I just didn’t know who else to turn to. You know that I don't have any friends except for you. And I really needed to talk to you.”

Aiden shakes his head like he has heard this before, but doesn’t ask her to leave.

“The thing is that he left. He just took off on Rory and me. Can you believe that? I mean, I haven't heard from him in a week. And I haven’t been sleeping again. And I really need a sleeping pill again.”

“No, Alexis! No. Absolutely not. You cannot not take any pills. You're an addict. Do you want to go to rehab again?”

“No,” Alexis sobs, wiping her eyes with my napkin. When the spot next to Aiden opens up, she gladly takes the seat.

“No, you’re not sitting down, Alexis,” Aiden says sternly. “I’m on a date.”

“I know. But I don't know where Tyler is; do you know what that’s like? I mean he might be dead.”

“Tyler’s not dead, Alexis. He’s probably in Vegas gambling away Rory’s college fund.”

Alexis drops her head and continues to sob. Suddenly, I feel like a third wheel.

“I’m going to go,” I whisper to Aiden and get up. He tries to stop me, but I brush him off and walk away. Whatever is going on in there is none of my business. She clearly needs him and I don't want to feel like an uninvited guest on my own date. But Aiden doesn’t let me get away that easily. He catches up with me halfway down the street.

“No, you’re not leaving,” he says defiantly. “She has taken up enough of my life already.”

“But she’s your ex and your friend.”

“I don’t care. You don't know her, Ellie. Alexis is the type of woman to have drama piled on drama. Her life is always in ruins and ready for someone else to save. Well, I can’t be that person anymore. Please, just wait for a second. I’m going to put her in a cab and send her home. I’m not dealing with her tonight.”