CHAPTER 16

MAGGIE

“I thought you were dead.” Cici read me the riot act while I walked the few blocks from my valet station to the office.

“I know. I had too much to tell you over texts. I was going to call you after my nap yesterday, but I ended up sleeping until morning.” I sighed. “I had the best dreams.”

Cici sighed, too, but hers was different. “Maggie, you have got to move on from these dreams.”

I made a sound that was a little too girly, even for me. “Oh, Cici, I have moved on. You won’t believe me when I tell you.”

“Mags, I stopped finding anything you say unbelievable a long time ago. Did you meet someone?”

“Yes!” I squealed.

“At Comic-Con?”

“Yes!”

“Jesus, you could find a penis at a eunuch convention. Spill it. What’s his damage?”

“It’s Finn!” I had so much to say all at once that I couldn’t spit out more than a word or two at a time.

“What’s Finn?”

“The man I met! It’s Finn! I found him again and he’s perfect and we destroyed an H&M dressing room and he loves the Hudson River.”

“The garbage river? He loves the garbage river?”

“That’s not the point!” I was so hopped up with excitement about seeing him again soon. I had too much energy.

“Sorry, that detail was distracting. Are you sure this is the same guy? That was a long time ago.”

“I’m certain. He’s so fantastic. He kicked a rat for me and we rode the ferry and he bought me a hot dog for breakfast. It was the most romantic thing I’ve ever experienced.” I sighed again. I stood in the lobby of my office building so we could finish our conversation. I didn’t want to take a chance on losing the signal in the elevator.

“Wait. You rode a ferry and ate a hot dog with him? Does his purple people eater shoot out fireworks or something? Are you being held hostage and trying to signal me for help?”

“No!” A few sensitive people hissed in my direction at that outburst. I hissed back at them. “He just gets me, and he makes me want to try new things. I’m so in love with him.”

Cici was quiet for a minute. “The big L word already?”

“You know how I don’t like to waste time. Why play games when I know what I want?”

“Okay. I’m ready to do the best friend thing now. What’s he like? What nightmare of a quasi-job does he have? How much of a circus is it going to be when your family meets him?”

“You’re not going to put up a fight?” I adjusted the purse on my shoulder.

She laughed. “I learned a long time ago you’re going to do whatever you want anyway. I might as well enjoy the ride if I’m tagging along.”

I loved my best friend. “Well, he knows his way around the Harry Potter fandom, so bonus points for that. He’s smart and sexy. He makes me forget my name without even touching me. I have no idea what he does. He probably works at a comic book shop or something. He said he doesn’t have a real job. I’ll ask him when I see him at lunch. And my parents aren’t meeting him for a while. I don’t want to run this one off.”

Cici laughed. “I have no idea who I’m talking to right now. I don’t know what to do with this version of Maggie. She’s interesting.”

I tsked. “I’m putting on my imaginary Psych 101 glasses so I can tell you that you may have been onto something when you said I sabotaged all my relationships with men. I found one I don’t want to sabotage. The end. I’m still the same Maggie.”

“Well, I can’t wait for you to bring him over so Leroy and I can vet him. We want to make sure he’s good enough for you.”

An outsider would think she was kidding, but I knew she was serious. “Your damn cat is not going to vet my boyfriend.” Boyfriend. Finn was my boyfriend. That had a nice ring.

“He has good instincts about people, Mags. Do you remember that time he kept throwing up in my ex-boyfriend’s shoe, and then I found out he was cheating on me? Leroy is always right.”

“I think that’s my cue to get to work. I’ll call you later. I love you. Over.”

“I’m not saying it.”

“Do your damn line.” That was our thing. I may have moved on from my trucker fixation—mostly, but I still had an affinity for CB lingo. Cici did, too. She just wouldn’t admit it.

She exhaled for two seconds. “Ten-four, good buddy.”

***

I had to keep myself from running to the restaurant after dropping off my car. We had texted off and on all morning. He said he had trouble getting out of work on time and asked me to meet him at Delmonico’s in the financial district. I imagined his boss must be a tyrant.

I found Finn already sitting at a table near the front. He got more handsome overnight. He stood to kiss me, but I was frozen. He was in a suit. Like, a nice suit. This was an odd ensemble for a professional tightrope walker, which is what I had decided he was.

“Is something wrong?” He grabbed my hand and squeezed my fingers.

“You’re in a suit.” That was all I could say. This didn’t match what I knew about him. He was crazy, and fun, and nontraditional. Finn didn’t belong in a suit.

He pulled my chair out for me, and I sat out of habit.

“Oh, yeah. I had to look sharp today to represent the company. Personally, I wanted to dress as Loki to ring the bell, but the board members wouldn’t have it.”

I still wasn’t sure what this had to do with tightrope walking. “Bell? Board members? Why are we meeting in the financial district? I thought you said you didn’t have a real job.”

Finn laughed. “That’s right. We never got around to talking about that. I don’t have a real job. Well, not anymore. Some college buddies and I started a company that makes action figures. But I just sold the company, so I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing to fill my time.”

“You what?” None of this sounded right.

Finn reached for my hand across the table. “Scott and one other friend of ours started Funby in college.”

Everything stopped. “Wait. You are Funby?” I hadn’t missed the release of a single one of their action figures. I hoped I never had to choose between a loved one’s funeral and a release party. Funby was a huge company.

“Well, not anymore. Hasbro made us an offer we couldn’t refuse, so we sold it to them. They gave me a seat on the board, which was nice. The CEO wanted me to ring the bell this morning to celebrate the sale. It was silly, but I committed to it weeks ago, so I had to go.” He shrugged like this was no big deal.

“What bell?” I had so many questions, but I asked the one I already knew the answer to.

“The bell to open the stock market. Are you okay?” He scooted his chair closer to me. “You look really pale.”

“I think I’m in a nightmare.” Finn was eyeglasses deep in everything I spent my life avoiding. Even my father had never rung the stock exchange bell. And he was the biggest fan of capitalism that had ever been born. This was all wrong. How had I run so far from this to end up back where I started? Finn’s life should’ve never intersected with the out-of-touch, uptight industry leaders who frequented the boring parties of my childhood.

The sudden appearance of a waitress caused me to jump. I looked around the table and realized we had water glasses and an appetizer I never saw delivered.

“Glad to have you back, Mr. Vandergriff. Would you like your usual?” She seemed oblivious to the fact that I was having a life crisis.

I held up a hand to stop everyone from talking.

“Vandergriff? Of the New York Vandergriffs? Distant relatives to the royal family of the Netherlands? Daphne and Gerald are your parents?” I held my breath until he answered.

He looked confused, but he didn’t hesitate. “Well, yes, but we usually just call ourselves the Vandergriffs. The other was too long for the mailbox.”

Of all the bad luck.

“Do you have a brother named Oliver?” I didn’t want to hear the answer to this one.

“I’m Oliver. Oliver Finn Vandergriff.” He reached for my hand again, but I pulled it away. “Maggie, where is this coming from?”

I wanted to scream and flip the dining table. My dream man was the one my parents had picked for me. Cici would call this karma. I called it really shitty. How could I love someone who represented everything I hated? I wasn’t sure what to think. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel right in my own skin. I wanted to tell him how much I hated the way I loved him.

“I’m Maggie Vincent. My parents set us up on a blind date years ago. I blew it off and went to Coney Island instead. They remind me about their disappointment constantly.” I tried to keep my voice level, but it cracked a couple of times.

A huge smile stretched across his face. Our waitress dissolved back into the interior of the restaurant. “You’re Margaret Vincent? I love your parents. They are so funny. I wish you would have joined us for lunch, but I had so much fun with them. I can’t believe this coincidence.”

Now I was sure I was in a nightmare. This was Finn. But he was also a suitor hand-picked from a shallow pool of dreadful applicants. I couldn’t win here.

“Finn . . . Oliver . . . What do I call you?”

Finn laughed again like this was funny. “I go by Finn, silly. Same as always.”

“Finn, you have to understand something. My whole life, my parents groomed me for someone like you. And I hated it. I don’t want to be like them. I don’t want to be like their friends.” Is this what nervousness was? I had never felt this before. “I have to be my own person. They have to see me as my own person. I don’t want this life. And I’m sorry, but that means I don’t want this either.” I gestured between the two of us.

I couldn’t look at his face. I wanted to remember him happy if I ever dreamed about him again. I grabbed my purse and hurried out the door.