Bicoastal Babe (35 page)

“Sure. What’s up?”

“The night you walked in on Victor and Jen, you had just flown in to New York to start your new life there.”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“So… why did you leave? Why did you come back to Chicago? Why did you go back to the airport at all that night?”

“It’s hard to explain,” I mumble.

“I mean, was it all about Victor? Your wanting to live in New York?”

“No. Definitely not.” I put down my knife and top off my glass of wine. “But it was always hard for me to separate the two in my mind. Victor
was
New York to me – New York come to life. And when he let me down, and I was standing there all by myself in the rain with nowhere to go, I got scared that the city would let me down too.”

Holly bites into one of the cookies as she listens.

“When I went back down to the street to catch a cab, New York didn’t feel exciting and glamorous to me anymore. It suddenly just felt cold and really, really big. Or maybe I just felt cold and really, really small. And that’s when it dawned on me. I do love New York. But I need California to balance it out. They’re like a two-piece puzzle. One doesn’t work for me without the other. And I realized that if I absolutely had to pick one… then I was going to have to pick neither. So I came home.”

“But it all worked out.”

“Well, almost all of it.” I look down at the cookies. “I still have both places, but they’re both going to be a lot lonelier, especially at first.”

“You’ll just have to make new relationships, that’s all.”

I roll my eyes. “Slow down there, Cupid. I just want to get my bearings in place.”

“I didn’t mean with men, Lindsey. I meant with the cities.”

•   •   •

Later, after Holly is gone, I sit at my table, staring at our new creation. What in God’s name am I going to do with all these cookies? All that work, and I’m not even hungry. Still, just for good measure, I put a few cookies on a plate and pour a glass of milk. Then I bring it all into my bedroom and lie on the bed, watching the snowy night out my window.

It’s true—New York won’t be the same without Victor. But that’s a good thing. And L.A. won’t be the same without Danny. But that’s… well, not so good. I wonder what he’s doing right at this moment. I wonder if he’s thinking about me too.

I reach into my nightstand and pull out the one-way plane ticket I bought earlier in the night. I know it was a good idea, but something doesn’t feel quite right, and I can’t put my finger on it. Hmmm.

Lying there in the moonlight, I pick up one of the Santa cookies and take a bite. Mmmm – they’re really yummy. I take a gulp of milk, then push the entire rest of the cookie into my mouth like an eager little kid. And then, as I chew the cookie like a big chipmunk and brush the crumbs off my sheets, it suddenly hits me what I need to do.

•   •   •

“What the hell do you have in here, a ton of cement bricks?” Scott asks as he lugs an enormous box down my apartment stairs to the sidewalk.

“I think that one is my
Cosmo
magazine collection. Be careful so you don’t bend them!” I run back up the stairs for another load.

Holly and Danielle are packing my remaining junk into boxes, each of which has a color-coded sticker: blue for truck number one and red for truck number two. In other words, blue for New York and red for Los Angeles. That’s right, I have two moving trucks in front of my apartment, and they’re going in opposite directions.

“Can I put some of the plates in with the shoes?” Danielle shouts from the kitchen.

“Do you want me to divide your underwear into two piles?” Holly shouts from the bedroom.

Aargh! Why did I leave everything until the last minute?

“Hey, Lindsey? Where did you put that plane ticket? You know, the one-way ticket we bought. I thought you said you hid it in your nightstand.”

I shove an armful of towels into a blue box and look up at her. “I did.”

“It’s not there.”

I shrug. “I’m sure it’s somewhere.”

“I just don’t want you to lose track of it, that’s all.”

When she goes back into the bedroom, I glance out the window worriedly. I’ll be pulling out in a couple of hours, and…Well, I just have to keep focused on the packing.

“Hey, Lindsey!” Scott shouts from the sidewalk. “Does the white chair go to the blue truck or the red truck?”

“Blue!” I shout back.

“This is crazy.” Danielle comes out of the kitchen holding a dusty coffee mug that says, Somebody in Wisconsin Loves Me. “Could you have more useless crap if you possibly tried?”

“Lindsey.” Holly walks out of the bedroom holding three pairs of striped leg warmers. “You told me these went to Goodwill three years ago.”

“Look, you guys. Just shove it all in a box and get it on the truck. I have a very long drive ahead of me, pulling a very heavy U-Haul trailer, and I really don’t need the peanut gallery giving me shit about my prized possessions. And while you’re at it, is there any food out there? I’m so hungry I could eat a petrified rat right now.”

“I’ve got some cookies,” a voice says behind me. Danielle and Holly gasp.

I turn toward the door, and there he is. Danny Wynn, in a huge parka with fur lining the hood, holding up a postmarked box of crushed Christmas cookies and an airplane ticket stub. “But you forgot to send the milk. And we could probably use it for the drive.”

A big grin spreads across my face. “You’re so easy.”

•   •   •

“You have the address?” I ask the mover who is on his way to deliver half of my furniture to New York. He nods. “Call me when you get there?” He nods again, then hoists himself into the truck and drives away. Then I turn to my friends, who are standing on the sidewalk, looking exhausted from packing, but excited for me nonetheless.

“Thank you so much, you guys. I could not have done this without you.”

“You can say that again,” Scott says, then pulls me in for a hug. Then as Scott goes to shake Danny’s hand, I grab Danielle and Holly for a big three-way bear hug.

“We’re really happy for you,” Danielle whispers in my ear.

“And he’s gorgeous!” Holly whispers in the other.

Then they pile into Scott’s car and, waving out the window in the snow, drive away.

I look at Danny. “So you made it.”

“I’m a sucker for a road trip.” He smiles. “And the big box of cookie crumbs didn’t hurt.” He looks over at the U-Haul. “Shall we?”

I nod, but instead of walking over to the truck, Danny puts his arms around me and kisses me on the nose.

“Tell me why you really came,” I ask quietly.

“Tell me why you wanted me to,” he says, then wipes my stuffy nose on the back of his glove.

“I wanted to see if you’d survive for a few days away from the beach?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “Not good enough.”

“Um… I could tell by your bulging biceps that you’d be good at navigating a three-million-pound truck through a blizzard on the highway?”

“Nope. No-go. Try again.”

“Ummm… then can I just say it has something to do with the Un-Reason?”

“What’s the Un-Reason?” he asks with a quizzical look.

I pull out of his arms, suddenly shy. Then I run over to the U-Haul, but Danny chases me, and just as he tries to grab me back we slip, falling smack into a huge pile of snow.

“Tell me.” He grins, holding me down. “Or I’ll suffocate you with a snowball.”

Laughing, I push him off and head for the truck. As I pull open the heavy door of the U-Haul, I can hear my cell phone, muffled by all my winter layers. Fishing beneath my parka, I dig it out. But just as I flip it open, a big blob of snow falls onto the screen, blurring the name on the caller ID. On the other side of the truck, Danny is motioning for me to get in.

“Aargh,” I mumble, clicking “Talk” on the phone.

“Hey, babe.”

My heart skips a beat. It’s Victor.

“Are you there? Lindsey?”

I glance over my shoulder. Danny’s waiting patiently in the truck. “What the hell do you want?” I hiss.

“Not very friendly,” he observes. “Is this a bad time?”

“Couldn’t be worse.” I motion to Danny to give me a second, and turn away from the truck.

“So I’ll make it quick. When are you back in New York?”

“What’s the difference? It’s not like you’ll be seeing me anytime soon. Or ever again, for that matter.”

“Oh, but I actually will,” he says. “I have a surprise for you.”

“I don’t want it. Shove your surprise up your ass.”

“Is that the way you usually talk to your boss?”

“Excuse me?”

“Remember when I told you I was investing into a new business venture?”

“I wasn’t listening.”

“You should’ve been.”

“Victor, get to the point. I have to go.”

“I’ve partnered with your new company, Lindsey. I bought out
The Pulse
.”

His words drop like a ton of heavy snow.

“Liz said that she told you about it. Not that she knows we’re already acquainted or anything. But you and me – we’re partners, babe. Well, creative partners. But you’ll be reporting to me, of course.”

I look up in desperation to see Danny waving and honking the horn.

“Don’t say anything now. Just get your sexy ass out to New York next week so we can get started. See you then.” I hear a click, then a dial tone.

Oh, my God.

“Lindsey, come on!” Danny calls from the truck. “It’s freezing!”

Frozen, but not from the cold, I get in and pull the door shut.

“So tell me. Right now.” Danny smiles. “I’m not moving until you do.”

“Huh?”

“The Un-Reason! The suspense is killing me.”

I look up into his big blue eyes and he taps me sweetly on the nose. And for a moment I let everything drift away. For now. At least for now.

“Come on.” I smile. “Let’s hit the road. I’ll tell you on the way.”

C
YNTHIA
L
ANGSTON grew up in Wisconsin and graduated from Northwestern University. She currently lives in Los Angeles, where she owns and operates a company that researches consumer trends and insights. This is her first novel.