A Twist of Fate (21 page)

I strolled over
to baggage claim and collected my suitcases. I had slept on the
plane so I wasn’t tired, but I still couldn’t help yawning.

I was overly
hot; dressed in jeans, a long sleeve cotton top and woollen pea
coat, but I knew winter in New York was chilly so thought it best
to dress preparedly. I passed through immigration and customs
quickly and walked out to the arrivals area.

I was surprised
to be welcomed by Hannah’s smiling face. She looked amazing, as
always. Her face beamed as she waved excitedly in my direction. She
was flanked by two burly gentlemen who wore sunglasses, large coats
and were chewing gum furiously.

“Lexi!” she
squealed.

“Hey Han!” I
waved back, struggling with my suitcases.

One of the two
big, burly gentlemen walked over to me. “We will take these for you
Ma’am.”

“Thank you,” I
responded just before I embraced Hannah in a big hug.

“How was the
flight?” she asked.

“Flight was
great but happy to finally be here.”

Hannah
introduced me to her two “friends”. The larger of the two and the
one who helped me with my bags was named DarNell and the other was
Bear (I was fairly sure that wasn’t his real name but I wasn’t
about to argue).

As we walked
out the double glass doors we were met by a piercing, icy wind. It
was December and there was already a light dusting of snow on the
ground. I was thankful for my foresight as I snuggled into my pea
coat, the chill soaking into my bones. Brrrrrr I was going to have
to get used to this. The cold didn’t seem to bother Hannah at all
as she continued to chat excitedly. Bear grabbed his mobile phone
and dialled, telling the recipient of the call to “Bring the car
around” he then hung up. Huh, a man of few words I take it.

A big black
Suburban pulled up to greet us, DarNell and Bear loaded my bags
into the back as Hannah and I clambered inside the car. “We’ll drop
you off at your apartment first and then if you aren’t too tired we
can go back to my place. James and the boys are excited to see
you!” she chattered. I fastened my seat belt and took a deep
breath. I knew I would have to face Alex sooner or later, it was
probably best to get it over with.

“Sure, we can
do that. I’m not tired.” I mumbled as my stomach knotted. DarNell
climbed into the front passenger seat next to the equally large
driver and Bear climbed into the seats behind us. All three men sat
silent, looking forward apparently uninterested in our
conversation.

“So, how is
everyone? How’s Mike doing?” I asked.

“He’s doing
great Lexi. He’s up and walking around. It’s still a long way off
till he’s 100 per cent but he’s healing really quickly. The doctors
are pleased.” She sighed. “The guys are all fine. Dan is,
well...Dan. He went down to Cabo with some mystery blonde last week
and ended up with a new tattoo that he doesn’t remember getting.
Troy isn’t letting him live it down, making him paranoid that maybe
he got something else while down there as well,” she giggled. “Troy
and Jason have been having their own adventures. They went out one
night in Troy’s VW Baha Beetle and ended up in Pennsylvania. Jase
met some girl while he was there and is now kind of sweet on her so
they have been talking on Skype and she sometimes flies up on
weekends. Troy has been doing some work with the local high
school’s marching band too, which is really cute. The cheerleaders
have been all over him!” She smiled broadly as I nodded
enthusiastically, willing her to continue. “James and I have been
doing some redecorating” she whispered softly as she rubbed her
belly.

“What?” I
screamed, startling poor DarNell who turned around suddenly.
Hannah’s face beamed as she continued in her hushed voice.

“It’s early
days yet, we found out last week. We haven’t even told our
families. By my calculations it was that night you and I got
smashed on Tequila! Ha, can you believe it? I just had to tell
someone. We are so excited!”

“Oh my God
Hannah, that’s fantastic. I am so happy for you both. You are going
to make wonderful parents,” I whispered back. Obviously she trusted
these men implicitly to be having this conversation where it could
potentially be heard, but still I felt a little self conscious. I
squeezed her hand; I was genuinely excited for her and felt so
honoured that she had shared that information with me.

“What about
Alex?” I asked trying to sound indifferent.

“Don’t ask!”
she muttered. “Bear picked him up from the airport on Monday
morning; he refused to tell anyone where he’d gone and has been on
a bender since. He’s been out late every night partying and
drinking and just generally being a class A jerk. James is a lot
more patient with him than I am. I think it’s the hormones,” she
mused, her tone trailing off. My heart skipped a beat and I felt
like I was going to be sick. He hadn’t told anyone about what had
happened, he had (as I had guessed) flown right home after our
“talk”. I desperately wanted to see him, to make sure he was ok. To
see his beautiful face smiling again but I knew I’d hurt him and he
probably hated me. It was too late; I’d made my bed, now I had to
lie in it.

“Hmmm well I
guess I’ll have my work cut out for me when I start on Monday.
Sounds like a PR nightmare!” I tried to keep my voice from
wavering.

“Don’t stress
Lexi, Chris is all over it. I didn’t mean to bring up work,” she
apologized.

For the rest of
the drive, I was only half tuned in. Hannah animatedly chatted
while I nodded and smiled in the right parts. My mind was tormented
with horrible thoughts and my heart felt like it would explode in
my chest cavity. I wasn’t sure if it was guilt or worry that
consumed me. My head was still spinning when the car finally
stopped.

We had pulled
up in front of a beautiful apartment building on the Upper East
Side, a short walk away from Central Park.

Entering my new
apartment for the first time was surreal; I slowly roamed around
the rooms and absorbed what was to now be my home. It was amazing,
Chris had truly outdone herself and I loved it. My two bedroom, two
and a half bath home was decked out with gilded art pieces while
still outfitted with modern conveniences (I counted no less than 5
TVs). It was the perfect combination of classic and modern. The
living room hosted a large over-sized plush cream sofa that was
accented by equally large gold-blush and cream pillows. A small
walnut side table along the wall hosted a tall glass vase filled
with pristine white Lilies, drawing my eyes to the two double glass
doors which opened up to my breath-taking private balcony where I
could survey the view. I felt like a Manhattan princess. The Master
bedroom was no less spectacular; an obscenely large bed took centre
stage. The opulent, quilted bed head was pushed flush against the
spectacular diamond patterned wall, while the opposite wall housed
a massive gold framed mirror.

“Do you like
it?” Hannah asked, breaking the silence which had seemed to last an
eternity.

“It is
amazing,” was all I could utter, rendered speechless by each new
room and discovery.

“Chris will be
so pleased, I’ll let her know she can go ahead and sign a long term
lease.” Relief was evident in Hannah’s voice. I strolled back into
the living room where my suitcases had been placed (no doubt by
DarNell or Bear, who had now disappeared back down stairs). I
collapsed into the sofa, it’s soft pillows encasing my tired limbs.
Hannah’s face smiled as she watched me study my surroundings.

“It’s amazing,”
I repeated, slightly overwhelmed with the turn my life had
taken.

“I can let you
get settled if you like?” Hannah read my need to decompress before
switching into work mode. “TJ can swing by in a few hours and pick
you up. Let me know if you need ANYTHING!” Hannah explained as she
made her way to my front door.

“Thanks Hannah”
I breathed as I struggled to my feet so I could say goodbye.

“I’ll see you
soon.” I hugged her tightly as she made her exit, “And thanks for
meeting me at the airport.”

“No problem
Lex, see you in a few hours.” She smiled as she left.

My heart
stopped as my phone buzzed, I quickly picked it up to inspect my
messages.

Been arrested
yet? :-P I have a friend on the force if you need anything. NYPD-
New York’s finest – Matt xo

I tried hard to
not be disappointed. Alex hadn’t contacted me all week; he wasn’t
going to magically start now. I missed our flirtations, his witty
sense of humour but most of all, I just missed him.

HA! Not yet but
there is still time! Tell me more about this friend, Lexi xx

I missed Matt -
he had grown to be my best friend in such a short time. Perhaps
that is why I had put off having a roommate for so long, knowing
that inevitably the closeness in proximity would lead to another
type of closeness, one that I had avoided for so long, especially
with a man. I smiled at the message; of all the things I was going
to miss about my old apartment, I was going to miss him most of
all.

Call Alex. Just
talk to him Lex, he will understand. xo

It’s too late
for that, this is for the best. I miss you xx

It’s never too
late! Call him! Miss you too Lexi, place isn’t the same without you
xo

I put down my
phone on the coffee table. It was too late. What I had said to Alex
the last time we spoke had clearly cut him deeply. He had tried to
be patient with me, whittling away at my emotional wall. But in the
end, the thought of a relationship scared me too greatly and I did
the only thing I knew how to do to escape it. I knew by telling him
I had no feelings for him that he would run, especially after
pouring out his heart and telling me how much he wanted to be with
me. His honour was too great; he had too much pride to stay where
he wasn’t wanted. I knew that by causing him a little pain now that
I would save us both a lot of pain later. It hurt me too; I missed
his touch, his scent, his body... his smile. Ughhhhh I need to move
on! It’s over!

I dragged my
suitcases into my bedroom and pushed them into my large walk-in
wardrobe without unpacking them (seriously, real estate like this,
in this location, must be costing a small fortune) and curled up on
my new bed. I wasn’t tired, just a little emotionally drained. I
sighed as I waited for sleep to come, my mind refusing to shut
down. I closed my eyes hoping my mind would take my body’s cue when
I was startled by my unfamiliar doorbell. I sat up. It was too
early to be the driver to go to Hannah’s and he would have buzzed
first. Could it be Alex? Did he want to see me? I leapt from my bed
and raced to my front door. I paused to regain composure as I swung
it open.

“Hi! I’m
Taylah, I live in 7B next door... You just move in?” The tall,
sassy, attractive brunette questioned while she strained to peer
inside my door. She had dark brown eyes, with perfectly manicured
brows; her porcelain skin accentuated her dark features. Her hair
was styled into thick chunks, which were layered and straight. Her
lean frame, pressed against the doorway with her slender, artful
fingers curled around an art deco pendant that hung from her long
angular neck.

“I’m Lexi,
yeah... Just got here today,” I answered coolly, deliberately
keeping the door and my body positioned so she couldn’t gain too
much of a view.

“Oooo you’re
Australian,” she squealed. “We’ve never had one of those!” Her big
brown eyes glistened with excitement.

“Dave, get out
here... we got an Aussie living next door” she called out to the
hallway, her broad New York accent raising an octave. Great, I
sighed, only I would move into an apartment where my neighbours
were swingers! Matt was going to have a field day with that little
gem!

“Taylah, as
much as I would love to socialize right now, I need to unpack.
Maybe, we can catch up later?” I volunteered not wanting to be rude
but equally not entertaining the notion of a threesome with Taylah
and Dave.

Before I was
able to close my door, Dave stepped out in front of me. He was tall
and grungy looking, kind of what you’d expect from a 90’s rocker.
He had shoulder length shaggy brown hair with a neat beard and
goatee. His arms were covered with large ornate tattoos. His tight
black t-shirt and jeans did little to disguise his athletic frame.
He was attractive in a dirty, bad boy sort of way but clearly this
was of little consequence to him as he flicked his long fringe out
of his dark eyes.

“I’m Dave.” He
offered his hand, his accent smooth, relaxed and very different
from Taylah.

“Lexi,” I
replied as I accepted his handshake.

“So Lexi, what
brings you to New York?” Taylah mused, interpreting my pause as an
invitation for further conversation. I might as well get this over
with; my swinger neighbours obviously weren’t going to take the
hint. I removed my extended arm from the door jamb and gestured for
them to come in. Taylah wandered over to the sofa and made herself
at home, Dave nestling closely beside her as I settled on the
armchair opposite them. I spied matching wedding bands, which
further puzzled me about their relationship.

“I’m here on
business,” I stated. “I work in Public Relations and I’ve accepted
a job here.”

“Oh, PR!”
Taylah exclaimed. “How exciting, guess I can come to you for some
juicy gossip! Representing anyone we would know?” she inquired,
batting her long eyelashes.

“A band,” I
retorted offering as little information as possible. I watched as
both Taylah and Dave’s eyes widened with excitement. I began to
think this was a really bad idea. Damn it Lexi, you should have
just shut the door.

“Really?” asked
Dave, “Which one?” his voice was no more excited than it had been
when he greeted me.