of my bedroom watching the movers remove the last decade of my life.
“No. But I don’t have a choice.” I didn’t need the bed frame at Brandon’s, so I was giving it to Elijah. He’d rejected the mattress saying he didn’t do used mattresses.
“What happened to the air-conditioning?” he asked, fanning himself. “It’s a million degrees in here.”
“I sold the window unit to my neighbor.” He was right. The apartment was sweltering. Summer was having a heyday.
The plan had been to wait until mid-September to move into Brandon’s, but he didn’t see the point of that when I had to spend the night tonight because he would be out of town for the next day’s game. So in a matter of two days, he had managed to get my whole world packed up with a couple of phone calls. I suspected Carson had been doing the bulk of the arrangements. He was the one who had me signing electronic documents for tax purposes and non-disclosure papers.
I also thought that he probably was the one who had paid my landlord my back rent on Brandon’s orders. At first, I thought maybe my friends had chipped in to get me square, but then when my landlord stopped by to get my keys earlier, he had said, “Tell Macnamara we need to get to the playoffs.”
He would not have known that I even knew Brandon unless Brandon had paid my back rent.
“Are you sure Coach Sexy Ass won’t care that I’m coming with you to help you get your room together?”
“He said he didn’t care at all. I think he wants to make sure I’m settled in as fast as possible. He has to leave at eight o’clock for New Orleans.”
“That sounds fun. The Big Easy.”
“It’s for work,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You know, the coaching thing.”
“Hey, have you met the quarterback? He shares a name with you. Dakota. Dakota North.” Elijah gave a dreamy sigh. “That is a beast I would like to tame.”
“No, I have not met him. He is definitely good-looking,” I said. “And a party animal.”
“My type completely.”
“Given the number of women he’s been seen with, I think it’s safe to say he’s straight.”
“I don’t have to buy. I’m just looking.”
That made me laugh. “Fair enough.” I moved to my kitchen, stopping the mover who was about to grab an open box on the counter. “Oh, can you leave that? Thank you.”
“Sure. We’re all done here. We’re going to take a lunch break, then we’ll meet you at the next location at two, okay?”
“Sounds great, thanks so much.”
After they left, I dug a bottle of champagne out of the box and two plastic cups. “We have to toast to the end of an era. Bye to Harlem. Hello, Upper West Side.” I twisted the cork until it popped. “God, I’m going to miss this terrible, horrible, hellish apartment.” I glanced around, feeling very melancholy. It was a dump, but it had been the symbol of my “success” as a New Yorker. I could pay rent. I had made it.
This was a low point, that was for damn sure. Yes, I felt fortunate I had somewhere to land temporarily, but this wasn’t a proud moment for me. I poured the bubbly and handed a cup to Elijah.
“Here’s to who we are and who we’ll become,” he said, raising his glass.
“Aw. That was beautiful.” I took a sip. “Oh, God, that’s good when it’s so freaking hot outside. Don’t let me get drunk. That would really impress Brandon when I’m supposed to be taking care of his kids.”
“Do you even know how to be a nanny?” he asked. “Like, seriously.”
“I love kids,” I said, avoiding the questions. “I volunteer at the hospital all the time.”
It wasn’t exactly the same. But it wasn’t totally different either, right?
“Okay,” he said, before taking a sip.
I put my cup down and dug into the box again. I pulled out a dream catcher.
“What is that hideous thing?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “When I moved in here, the previous tenant left it with a note and the date. It said ‘I hope you catch your New York dreams’ and I thought that was the coolest thing. I saved it and now I’m adding a second note to it and leaving it for the next tenant.”
He opened his mouth and I put a hand up.
“Stop! Do not say something cynical or bitchy. I will not tolerate it. I’m not the most sentimental person in the world