42nd & Lex (10 page)

***

“Good morning all.” As expected Lindsey,
Max, and Brooks are waiting for me. It is 8:59 and change. Mr. Jones’ assistant
walks passed my door with a thick file, looking for her next victim, just as I
am putting my purse away. I have managed to avoid being tagged. “How late did you
guys stay out last night?”

“The question is how late you stayed out
last night, my dear.” Max has his eyebrows raised at me. 

“Technically, I was home by eleven.” I am
not willing to admit much about last night, but I know I will have to cough up
something before these three will scurry off to their own offices.

“Just not your home, right?” Brooks beats
Max to the punch line and Max scowls at him.

“What would make you say that?” Maybe if I
am coy enough they will get bored and leave. Lindsey hasn’t said anything yet,
but I can practically see the light bulb turn on over her head.

“That’s a new suit isn’t it Abri?” Damn
she’s quick. “It’s nice. What is that?”

“Versace,” Max says accusingly. “Part of the
new spring line that isn’t due out until next month to be exact.” Leave it to
Max to know every piece of couture available on the market. He is now glancing
down at my feet. “And I must say, those shoes go with it wonderfully.” His look
says don’t lie to me sister, I know you would never wear those to work if you
had a choice.

“All right, since I have a hearing in about
an hour, I’m going to cut to the chase on this one with you Nosey Nellies. We
went to dinner. We went back to his apartment and I fell asleep from too much wine.
I got home really late. Nothing else happened.” There is a collective gasp
followed by a round of ‘I told you so’s.’ It is mostly the truth. After all, I
did fall sleep at Lucan’s apartment, however, wine was not the culprit.  

“That explains the suit,” Max says. His face
has resumed the same displeased look he wore yesterday after seeing the calling
card.

“What explains it?”

“You don’t own, nor would you buy, a Versace
anything. Let alone a suit from a collection that is not available yet. He gave
it to you didn’t he?”

“Technically.” I admit, using the word for a
second time in as many minutes. I have no a logical explanation for Lucan giving
me a yet-released Versace suit so I don’t offer one.

I am torn between wanting to spill my guts
to my friends, if for no other reason than hearing myself say it out loud might
solidify in my mind as actually having happened; and checking myself into the
nearest psych ward for evaluation. Of course, if I told them they would
probably check me in themselves. I decide not to risk it in favor of making my
hearing this morning.

“I have court. Max, can you get me the
Stewart file? Lindsey, lunch as usual when I get back? Brooks, good to see you
again,” I fire off in rapid succession. I don’t mean to be brusque, but if I stand
here much longer, I am going to tell them everything. I am no good at keeping a
juicy secret.

Max nods; his displeasure is obvious as he
walks out of my office. Lindsey does pretty much the same thing and turns to
leave with Brooks. I sit down at my computer to check my email while I wait for
Max. 

My Inbox is full of the usual firm
announcements, junk mail, and client questions, which I delete or sort for
later. It is the last email in the box that catches my attention. It has a time
stamp of just seconds ago. The sender is obvious, who else can [email protected]
be? 

Good Morning!

I trust you slept well and are enjoying your gift. I
thought about getting you something from your own closet, but figured that
might be too forward, entering your apartment and all. If you want, please use
the Evora. Leo will be waiting for you with the keys. She suits you better than
me. I will see you tonight. Good luck today.

Lucan

Too forward? And a Versace suit isn’t
forward? I consider which would have been more disturbing: finding a selection
from my own closet sitting at the foot of the bed this morning or knowing Lucan
saw my disaster of an apartment when he went to retrieve it. I stop short of
considering how he knows where I live or how he would have gotten inside.  

And hell yes, I’m going to use the Evora. It
would be rude not to, right? There is a parking garage across from the
Courthouse I can use.

“Here you go, Abri. And don’t think you’re
going to get away without a full report when you get back.” He knows I am
withholding information. I suspect he’s holding back as well after his reaction
towards Lucan and the Enclave’s crest. “Girl, you’re going to be late if you
don’t hurry.”

“I have time.” I smile knowing what I am
about to do. “See you when I get back. Come to lunch with Linds and me. That
way I only have to tell this once.”

“Already planning on it. I really like Lindsey
and Brooks. We had a great time last night after you left.”

“Max, that’s great. I’ll see you later.” I am
happy they made friends. Max and Linds are two of my favorite people, even if
Max does annoy me sometimes. I grab the file and my jacket that they remembered
and draped over the back of my chair. Wait, this isn’t my jacket. It is black
like mine, but not boring weather resistant nylon like mine. It is cashmere. Lucan.
I pretend not to notice the difference, and apparently, Max doesn’t either for
once. Under the jacket is a matching scarf and leather gloves. Now I consider
how he got into my office. Even if he took my keys, I didn’t have my security
badge on me last night. Score one in the vampires have special skills I'm not
ready to know about column.

Secretly I hope that Lucan will be inside
the elevator when it opens. Of course he isn’t. I feel slightly strange pushing
the button for the service elevator. Luckily, the car is already there and I
don’t have to wait. I get in and look at my choices: basement, garage, or
service deck. I settle on garage as the obvious choice and the elevator reacts
in kind. The same guard that took the Evora’s keys last night greets me when
the doors open.

“Good morning Ms. Cole. Mr. O’Reilly tells
me you will be requiring the car this morning for Court.”

“Uh,
yes. Please.”

“Wonderful. I trust you can drive a stick?” He
smiles warmly at me but I can tell he is studying my face as if I might lie.

“Sure. I learned on a ’65 Mustang.” He eyes
me suspiciously. “I’m sure Mr. O’Reilly wouldn’t offer his car to me if he
believed I was unable to handle it.” I add sweetly. I don’t mean to be
spiteful, but it bothers me when men assume something because I am a woman,
especially when it comes to driving or cars. I want to add that I can also
drive a John Deere harvester that’s worth more than any car down here, but
think better of it.  

He raises his hands in surrender before turning
over the keys and opening the door. I decide against tipping him but make a
mental note to ask Lucan about it later. It is much easier to lower myself into
the driver’s seat this time with my nerves intact. Leo shuts the door and steps
back.

Once the key is in the ignition the computer
screen in the middle of the dash blinks to life. “Setting Driver Preferences”
it reads. The seat, mirrors, and steering column begin to adjust to my height. “
Welcome
Abri
,” says a disembodied voice.

Lucan must have programmed it this morning.
How early did that man get out of bed? While I wait for the set up to complete itself,
I touch the button for the CD player. The Radiohead song we heard the night before
begins to thunder through the speakers so I back it up and start it again. 

“
Set up Complete
,” the voice
confirms.   

“Thank you.” I mouth to Leo through the
heavily tinted glass. He motions for me to roll down the window.

“Your security card is in the glove box, ma’am.
I’m sorry I forgot to mention it earlier.”

 “Awesome. Thanks again, Leo.”

I haven’t driven in months, since the last
time I visited my mom, and it feels strange to behind the wheel. The gas pedal
is sensitive but not uncontrollable. I hope Leo is watching because I don’t
scratch the transmission at all on the way out. The computer screen flashes
again and a navigation screen appears. 

“Calculating route to 60 Lafayette
Street, Manhattan.”

It is a good thing too, because I have no
idea how to get to the courthouse by car, only subway and bus. Maybe it knows
where to park as well.

It takes about fifteen minutes to get to the
courthouse and I am able to park the car about a block away. If my hearing is
short enough I plan to drive the car a little more before returning it. There
is a promise of snow in the air today and I snuggle into the cashmere coat a
little before getting out of the car, imagining that it smells a little of
Lucan’s cologne.

The hearing lasts just over an hour and I have
to stop myself from running back to the garage. I decide to try to find the
Enclave again using the navigation system. The NAV screen is up and prompts me
for an address. I enter 726 Carlisle and press OK.

“
Address not found.
”

Okay, so maybe that is not such a good idea.
Plus, I might run into that creepy valet guy with the vampire rule problem
again. It’s nearly lunchtime; I might as well just head back to the office to
meet Linds and Max. I send Linds a quick text at the next red light to let her
know I’m on the way back.

It takes twice as long to return to the
Chrysler as it did to get to Court. Now I remember why I‘ve never had a car
here. I pull around to the rear and open the glove box to retrieve the black
card. I’m a little bummed it doesn’t have my name on it in silvery script. The
gate opens and I drive in slowly, careful not to let it bottom out.

Leo is nowhere to be seen so I decide to
take the keys with me; I’ll just give them back to Lucan tonight. My phone
buzzes with a text from Linds just as I get into the service elevator. They are
heading downstairs for lunch and will wait for me. As luck would have it, they
are in the elevator directly across from the service elevator and we arrive in
the lobby at the same time.

“Abri? What are you doing on the Service
Elevator?” Lindsey asks.

“I, uh, I was just checking to see where it
goes. Just noticed it the other day and I was curious,” I lie badly. Lindsey
knows I have never been curious about anything to do with elevators. I give her
a weak smile. “I just got your text. Let’s head out before the crowd gets
worse. I’ll just carry my file with me.”

“Okay.” Lindsey sounds unconvinced but
doesn’t question me further.

I’m sure she will think of plenty of questions
between here and the restaurant. My new coat keeps me warmer than the old one
ever did on our two-block hike to the restaurant. I can’t help snuggling into
it again. This time I am sure I smell Lucan’s cologne on the lapels.

“Nice coat. Is it new too? It goes well with
that suit.” Max hisses at me quietly, so the others do not hear.

“Thank you, Max. It is,” I reply, ignoring
his tone. I have never known him to be so snarky…with me at least.

As predicted, Geisha Sushi is getting
crowded. The waitress shows us to a table for four near the windows. The cold
is radiating inside so I keep my coat on. As soon as we place our drink orders
and the waitress leaves my companions launch into their questioning as
expected.

“Spill,” Lindsey commands as she pulls off
her bulky coat with some help from Brooks.

“I did this morning. Nothing’s changed since
then. I was in Court.” I didn’t really spill anything this morning, but I’m not
going to start now. I still needed some time to sort it out my own. 

“I mean about why you were in the Service
Elevator. That thing only goes to the basement and the loading dock. Creepy.”

“Like I said, I was curious. I wanted to see
if it went to the 30
^th
floor. Like an alternate route to avoid the
masses or something. I just noticed it the other day and I wanted to check it
out.” The last part is at least true; I did just notice it last night. Max is
being uncharacteristically quiet during all of this. I glance over at him and
he is scowling at me. “What Max? Do you think I’m lying?”

“I didn’t say that,” he retorts. He doesn’t
need to.

I am no good at keeping secrets. While I am
not really sure my seeing Lucan or borrowing his car is intended be a secret, I
nevertheless feel I owe it to myself, and him, to keep it one for now. I know
Brooks will shit when he finds out about my excursion today; he is a big
foreign sports car fan. We bored Lindsey for a good thirty minutes on the topic
last night.

“So why don’t you guys tell me about last
night after I left. It seems like you must have closed the placed down.”

“Oh,” Lindsey gasps. “Lemme tell you. These
two started talking sports and more cars and micro-brewed beer. It was like I
didn’t exist. You better never leave me alone at happy hour again.” I wait for Lindsey
to laugh at her own joke, but she doesn’t. She just crosses her arms and gives
Max and Brooks a dirty look. 

“Speaking of cars,” Brooks interjects. “I
went to meet a client’s car out front this morning and I saw the craziest
thing. Someone was coming around the corner like a bat out of hell in the
hottest Lotus I’ve ever seen. You guys would have loved it. It was one of next
year’s models that are not even out yet. I read an article on them in
Car
and Driver
last summer.”

 I nearly choke on my hot tea. I hadn’t been
very bat like, had I? The irony of his choice of metaphor nearly chokes me
again. “Wow. I read that article, too. I’d really like to drive one of those
babies!” I say, unable to resist prodding him to drool a little more over my—Lucan’s
toy.  

“Geez, Abri, not you too.” Lindsey is
clearly tired of all the manly talk. “I liked it better when all we talked
about was reality T.V. and celebrity gossip.”