My Stepfathers Desire

"We should go to a bar and party."

I wasn't surprised by my roommate's emphatic statement. Cary Taylor found excuses to celebrate, no matter how small and inconsequential they were. I always have considered it part of its charm. "I'm sure drinking the night before starting a new job is a bad idea."

"Come on, Eva." Cary sat on the floor of our new living room in the middle of half a dozen moving boxes and flashed his winning smile. We had undone our suitcases for days, and yet it still looked magnificent. Thin, haired black and green-eyed, Cary was a man who was rarely absolutely stunning, no matter how may be the day of his life. I could have been angry with him if he hadn't been the right person for me. most expensive in the world.

"I'm not talking about a master," he insisted. "Just a glass of wine or two.

We can

have happy hour and arrive at eight o'clock.

"I don't know if I'll be able to turn back time." I gestured to my yoga pants and my fitted workout tank top. "After timing the walk for me go to work, I'm going to go to the gym."

"Walk fast, train faster." Cary's perfectly executed arched eyebrow made me laugh. I really expected his face to be worth a million dollars one day appear on billboards and in fashion magazines around the world entire. No matter his expression, he was a knockout.

"And tomorrow after work?" I offered as a replacement. "If I succeed in passing the day, it will be worth celebrating."

"Deal. I'm going to the new kitchen for dinner.

"Um..." Cooking was one of Cary's joys, but it wasn't one of his talents.

"Great."

Pushing a stray strand of hair out of his face, he smiled at me. "We have a cuisine that most restaurants would kill for. There's no way to waste a meal in there.

Doubtful, I left with a wave, choosing to avoid a conversation about the kitchen. Taking the elevator up to the first floor, I smiled at the doorman when he let out into the street with a grand gesture.

As soon as I stepped outside, the smells and sounds of Manhattan embraced me and beckoned me

to explore. I wasn't just halfway across the country from my old home in

San

Diego, but apparently on the other side of the world. Two large metropolises, one infinitely temperate and sensually lazy, the other full of life and energy frantic. In my dreams, I imagined living in a walk-up building in Brooklyn, but being a dutiful daughter, I ended up on the Upper West Side. Without Cary alive with me, I would have been miserably alone in this sprawling apartment that cost more per month than most people earned in a year.

The doorman tipped his hat to me. "Good evening, Miss Tramell. Will you need a taxi this evening ?"No thanks, Paul." I swayed on the rounded heels of my fitness shoes.

"I'm going to walk."

He smiled. "It's been a little quieter since this afternoon. It should be nice. "I was told I should take advantage of the June weather before it gets really hot."