Chapter 3
Madison
I stretched my arms up over my head and rolled over on my back, reaching as far as I could. It was finally my day off, and no one had bothered me. It helped that there were no shows at the gallery this weekend. Otherwise, I was pretty sure Lee would have called me at least seven times by now.
I purposely got a PO box so I didn’t have to give him my address. If he knew where I lived, I would not be surprised if he showed up at my apartment to drag me, kicking and screaming, to work. I grabbed my cell phone off the nightstand and looked down at the time. It was eleven, the latest I had slept in probably six months. I could hear Charlotte cooking breakfast in the other room of the apartment.
When we found this place, we had to put some real creativity into it in order to make it work for the two of us. Apartments out here were expensive. When we found this loft under rent controlled housing, we jumped on it.
First, we moved everything that we had into it, situating it just how we knew we would want it if there were actual walls. Then, we went out and bought long, thick pieces of fabric that looked like big sheets and fastened them to the ceiling, making separate areas of the apartment. It worked for physical privacy, but you could hear every single thing that went on in this place. Most of the time, I was spared Charlotte’s one-night stands, but every once in a blue moon, I’d go to bed with headphones on and music blasting so I didn’t have to hear the moaning and squeaking of the mattress.
As soon as I heard the sound of bacon dropping in the pan, I jumped out of bed and shuffled across the wood floors. I pulled back the curtain to the kitchen and peered inside, watching Charlotte whip up some eggs and finish brewing coffee. This was one thing I loved about living with Charlotte. She was an excellent cook. If it weren’t for her and her creative solutions for food, I’d still be eating ramen and dry cereal.
At one point, I had come to terms with the fact that I would never have a hot meal again, but Charlotte wasn’t having that. She tried to teach me stuff, but I was never gifted with the whole cooking gene. Growing up, my parents were divorced, but there was always something on the stove at both of their houses. Either my mom was making a casserole, or my step-mother was baking cookies. For a while there, I was pretty sure they were in competition for my approval.
I pulled a mug from the shelf and poured myself a cup of coffee. Charlotte handed me the sugar without looking, and I smiled, thankful that my best friend knew me so well. We were like a couple but without the sex, so pretty much every marriage after you reached the ten-year mark. At least, that was my experience.
I watched as Charlotte moved seamlessly through the kitchen space, taking the hot pan from the stove and scraping the fluffy eggs onto each plate. As she finished filling the second plate full, her phone rang and she looked down at the number. She hurried over to the sink and dropped the hot pan in the water, a loud sizzling steam coming up from the pool. She smiled big at me so I assumed it was something about this guy I was supposed to randomly meet.
I sat down at the counter and tried not to listen as she talked to her cousin, Hudson. I had met him a couple times. He was some big shot CEO of a company that made too much money for any one person. He was cool, but I felt like he was really sleazy. All he talked about was doing chicks in the bathrooms of bars.
I knew there were girls out there that were down for that, but I didn’t realize there were, like, at least ten in every bar. Now when I walked into places, I tried to pick out the bimbos I thought would end up, balls deep, in the men’s bathroom by the end of the night. Either way, I hoped Hudson’s friend was not as disgusting as he seemed to be. Though I would never say that to Charlotte, even though I was pretty sure she already knew that about him.
“So,” Charlotte said as she walked back through the curtain, smiling. “You are going on your blind date tonight. The guy, whose name is Zach, is going to be picking you up at six. The attire is cocktail.”
“Tonight?” I gawked. “Isn’t that kind of soon?”
“No,” Charlotte said, giving me a dirty look. “Stop, okay. You are going to have an amazing time. And if you don’t, well, you got some drinks and food out of it.”
“And what in the hell am I supposed to wear to a cocktail attire event? I have nothing but art showroom clothing.”
“Well, I guess we are going to have to do some shopping then,” she said excitedly. “We can’t have you show up on your first date looking like the brooding, starving artist, can we?”
“I am the brooding artist,” I replied, shoveling eggs in my mouth.
“True, but he doesn’t need to know that. So, finish your eggs and go throw some clothes on. We are going to pick you out something amazing.” She was way too happy about this whole thing.
I finished my eggs and sipped at my coffee, putting it down and dragging myself to my room to change when she gave me the threatening look. It was no secret that I really hated shopping in New York. The stores were always packed, everything was more expensive than it needed to be, and trying on clothes was a real buzz kill. However, seeing as I was apparently going to something somewhat formal for the date, I figured I should suck it up and let Charlotte drag me around the stores.
When I was ready, we grabbed a cab and headed to Manhattan Mall, a three-story mini-metropolis filled with stores that catered to everyone and every age. I could get lost in a place like that. Lucky for me, Charlotte knew exactly where to take me, a small boutique tucked in a back corner, waiting for someone like me to be dragged inside.
Charlotte whipped around the place, talking excitedly to the attendant while I perused the racks, wondering what creation Charlotte was going to come up with. As I rounded the racks toward the back, she popped out of nowhere and piled about eight dresses into my arms and pointed at the dressing room. I sighed and marched to the back, not ready to be judged.
There were several options that seemed like they could work. For others, I just yelled that it was a no and moved on. Finally, after trying on those, plus about ten others Charlotte threw over the door, I found the dress.
I looked in the mirror, surprised at how elegant and sexy I looked. Going to the gym so much has paid off, and my body had never looked better. When I showed Charlotte the dress, her mouth dropped open, and she stood shaking her head furiously. Even the woman behind the counter gave me a thumbs up. I guess this was the one, though it seemed like an awful lot of trouble and money for a date with someone I didn’t know at all.
After we purchased the dress, which ended up being Charlotte’s treat, we grabbed some iced coffee and headed over to the nail salon, where I reluctantly got a pedicure. I hated when people touched my feet, but we had bought strappy heels to go with the dress, and I needed a new coat of polish on my toenails. As the hot bubbling water washed around me, I leaned my head back on the vibrating chair and closed my eyes. I could start to feel a pinch of nerves floating up in my stomach so I turned toward Charlotte to take my mind off things.
“You think he’s cute?” I didn’t really want a response, but I was trying to stay calm.
“He’s extremely good looking,” she responded.
“Wait, you’ve met him before?”
“Yeah, it’s been years, though,” she replied. “I know you’ll think he’s hot, and he isn’t too bad to talk to, either.”
“This is kind of nerve-racking,” I said, leaning my head back.
“Relax, woman, everything is going to be just fine,” she said, tapping my knee.
By the time we got back to the apartment, it was four so it was the perfect amount of time for me to get ready. It usually took me twenty minutes, since my hair was rarely down and my makeup was pretty simple. Some eyeliner, mascara, powder, and go. However, with this dress, everything changed.
I had to make sure my hair was perfect, my makeup was on point, and I had shaved my legs properly. When everything was put together, I stood in front of the mirror on Charlotte’s side of the apartment and stared at the girl I didn’t recognize. It wasn’t like I was normally a slob, but I was an artist, so my fashion sense was edgy, not sophisticated. In this outfit, I looked like a million bucks. As Charlotte walked up behind me, I could hear her whistle, and my cheeks blushed.
“That dress was made for you,” she said as she tucked in my tag. “Seriously, you look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” I replied with a wide smile.
“I’m going to grab us some wine to help you relax,” she said with excitement.
I didn’t think I would be nervous, but I was. At the same time, I was incredibly curious about who this guy was. I didn’t do things like this, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit excited at the thrill of meeting someone new with no preconceived notions or expectations. In reality, I had no idea how I felt so I took a deep breath and leaned against the wall, looking out at the street. It was a gorgeous evening, with the sun starting to sink below the line of tall buildings. I loved the city, but there was definitely something amazing about the sunsets I got to see when I visited Charlotte’s family in upstate New York. They were colorful and peaceful, unlike the ones here which came early, and you never actually saw the transition into night. It was just kind of day and then night, in the blink of an eye. As I stared out the window, I looked down and saw a limo pull up, and immediately, nerves shot through my body.
I took the glass of wine and scurried back to the bathroom to make sure my hair and makeup were perfect. Charlotte watched me curiously as I dodged the curtains on my way back. I could hear her laughing from the bathroom when she realized what had happened.
“Relax,” she yelled.
I stood in front of the mirror, staring at myself and trying to get my anxiety under control. He was just a guy, just another person that I may or may not have anything in common with. There was no reason to be freaking out like this. I took the tube of lip gloss and touched up my lips. No matter how much I told myself to relax, I realized it was not going to happen. This mystery guy was going to knock any second, and I had no idea what to expect.