Haze - By Andrea Wolfe Page 0,6

about a month, he felt like a close friend already.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Maybe I'll hook up with your boss in your bed after the event," I said sarcastically. "Us single gals can get crazy."

"Eh, how about you don't do that. Monday would be pretty awkward. Well, tomorrow morning, too. And tonight."

I continued tidying up my hair. "I'm not really into assholes though. So you probably don't have anything to worry about."

Jesse smiled again and then looked at his cell phone. "All right, can we please be on our way, huh? We can keep talking about your very particular tastes on the trip."

I grabbed his half-finished glass of wine from the counter and downed it all at once. "To loosen my nerves," I said meekly. He shrugged as he opened the door and motioned me into the hall and down the stairs.

The city air was warm and inviting. My dress was actually pretty appropriate for the summer weather. There was a cab waiting for us downstairs; a nice surprise, although it would have been amusing to ride the subway dressed as nicely as we were.

After a short trip, we were at 455 Madison Avenue, in front of the historic New York Palace, a hotel I never could have afforded in my wildest dreams. Even this morning, if you had told me I'd be showing up at this place tonight, I would have told you that you were crazy. Yet here I was with my roommate, whom I had randomly found on Craigslist. Quite the lovely coincidence.

Jesse paid the cab driver and then led me inside, checking in with a very unhappy looking man holding a list before we got into the restaurant. The interior was just as beautiful as the exterior, and I felt wildly out of place no matter how hard I tried to conform. Still, I could feign some confidence, and here would be the place to do it.

We walked into the restaurant together, immediately greeted by a waiter with champagne. I snatched up a glass and smiled as I took a sip. Oh yeah, this was the good stuff. The bubbles tickled my throat on their way down. Jesse politely declined, probably assuming that he could get better drinks somewhere else. His loss, I guess—or maybe mine.

They had booked the whole restaurant for their party. Some folks were at tables while others stood in social clumps. No reservations available tonight, folks.

There were tons of rich, old men in the room of all shapes and sizes, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. Light piano jazz hummed behind the chorus of voices, the whole ordeal pretty much exactly what I would have expected given the situation. I thought we were some of the youngest people in the room until I noticed the group that Jesse was leading us to. They appeared to be in their mid to late twenties, presumably Jesse's fellow interns.

He introduced me to everyone in sight—explaining that I wasn't his girlfriend Laura grew tiresome fast; the alcohol and free food definitely helped me remain patient—and then he led me to another area, claiming that he needed to say hi to his boss. On the journey, I scored a puff pastry and some smoked salmon and I scarfed them both down before we stopped walking. I couldn't believe how delicious everything was. I made a mental note of the guy with the salmon so I could try to find him when we came back.

By that point, the champagne was kicking in and I was feeling pretty good. "Effie, I want you to meet Tom Benmore. Tom, this is my roommate, Effie."

Tom reached his hand out to me and I awkwardly shook it, trying to do my best to appear professional. He was handsome, probably in his early fifties. Tall, but not gargantuan. "So you're the one that moved in with Jesse, huh? How can you deal with such a slob?"

Jesse immediately piped in, interrupting my possibly awkward response. "My apartment is a lot cleaner than my office, Tom! Jesus, I didn't know you thought so little of me."

They both broke into a hearty laughter, and I just smiled to complement their jovial moment. "So what do you do, Effie?" Tom asked.

"Uh, I'm working in accounts at MCI Music Group."

"MCI? Really?" he asked. "That's a big deal for a gal like you, I'm sure. Living here for such a short time, and you're already at MCI. Great, really great." His enthusiasm seemed genuine, even though I assumed