Crazy in Love (24 page)
“Naw, it’s a terrific choice,” I assured him. “I can take it.
It’ll be nice to be a customer there again. Besides, even if I
did spend the best months of my life toiling away behind the
take-out counter there, I can’t deny the fact that they have
the best hot-fudge sundaes this side of the Rockies. It’s the
perfect place to celebrate.”
“Celebrate?” Rachel looked puzzled. “What are we
celebrating?”
“You and Saul,” I said.
“You and Sallie,” added Saul.
“Sallie and Nick,” suggested Rachel.
“The Sallie-and-Saul songwriting team.” Even Nick was
getting into the spirit, and he hardly knew any of us.
“And I think we should celebrate one of life’s basic
premises, as summed up earlier this evening by one of the world’s most notable philosophers, Mr. Saul Rodriguez.”
“Yes?” asked the other three in unison.
“ ‘There are no guarantees in life, only opportunities to
keep on trying.’”
“You said that, Saul?” Rachel asked dreamily. The two of them locked gazes, and even in the dim light of the
streetlamp across the way, I could see that they were crazy about each other. He took her hand as we all started out for Peppermint Park. That seemed like a good idea, and so
Nick and I followed their lead.
It had turned out to be a beautiful night, with a huge
glowing moon that looked as if it were smiling down at us from its home high in the midnight-blue sky. The air was
crisp, just cold enough to make it necessary to cuddle up
next to someone special as the two of you hurried down the street, matching strides. I felt exhilarated and free, happy to be laughing and joking with three of my best friends as we
made our way toward the promise of delicious ice cream,
thick chocolaty sauce, and an evening of laughter and
joyous closeness.
That evening seemed to capture the very essence of New York City, at least for me. The world was at peace, I was at peace, and suddenly all things seemed possible. I looked around and saw buildings that reached up to the sky, and streets that stretched on for miles and miles, and so many
lights that from a distance we must have been as bright as
the sun. I saw Rachel and Saul, hand in hand, flirting and giggling and just being happy together. Next to me, Nick glowed as he told me all about the Alpha-Beta songwriting contest.
I’d read a poem in school once, by e.e. cummings. One of the lines that stuck in my mind for a long time was, “At
that magical moment when is becomes if.” I hadn’t
understood what it meant when I first read it, and I spent the
longest time trying to figure out what it was all about. And then, as the four of us turned the corner onto First Avenue,
laughing and singing against the gentle wind tinged with the
icy promise of winter, I knew that I finally understood.
Copyright © 1988 by Cynthia Blair
Originally published by Fawcett (ISBN 0449701891)
Electronically published in 2014 by Belgrave House
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No portion of this book may be reprinted in whole or in part, by printing, faxing, E-mail, copying electronically or by any other means without permission of the publisher. For more information, contact Belgrave House, 190 Belgrave Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94117-4228
Electronic sales: [email protected]
This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.
