Falling Into You (12 page)

“It’s
okay,
Sophia
. I was looking forward to this, remember?
A day all by myself in New York. It will be fun.
”

“
Are you sure you don’t want to come with us? They have this absolutely to die for little package where you get pampered for two days straight, head to feet. You’re guaranteed to lose at least five pounds after the wrap part, and your skin comes out all glowing and
fabulous
.
Cleo
says she’s totally sorry that she forgot to mention it yesterday, too, and that you’re more than welcome to come along.”

I cringe
at the thought of thousand-dollar haircuts and diamond-encrusted facials
and some terrifying masseuse wrapping all of my fat up
. “No, no, no
. I would never want to do that, to interrupt your time. And really, I need some time to see the city. You’re supposed to wander around New York alone.”

“But
I had promised
you Chinatown. Shopping. A new wardrobe. Shit.”

“
Sophia
, it’s completely fine.
” I try
a different tactic. “
You know I have that art history class next semester, and I wanted to do some work
for it
anyways. I will be more than happy to spend the day and night bumming around the
most exciting city in the world and going to the museums.
And we
’ll still
have
almost
two
weeks
for Chinatown and shopping when you
get back.”

She sighs and hugs
me. “You are totally the best friend ever. Probably the only real friend I have.”

She meant it. I hug
her back, meaning my words
, too
. “
Sophia
, I’m grateful to be here. I will be completely fine.
I’m not helpless. I’m just from Ohio.”
.

She laughs
. “
Fair enough.” Then, a gleam comes
into her eye. “Go raid my closet. You’re going to need some new clothes. And I have an idea.”

I kno
w the look in her eye, and
it stops
me from arguing with her
.
She meant business.
She grabs her phone, shoves
me into her room, and wink
s
at me. I stare
into the walk-in closet that was bigger
than my room at home, and sigh
. She was never going to let me leave here without grabbing at least a few things.
I
shake
my head. We weren’t even the same size, particularly after she went on that post-Thanksgiving crash diet.
Sophia
’s surgery-enhanced curves put mine to shame,
and that was in addition to the fact that I’m
at least three inches taller than her.

Voices drift
as I’m staring at the overstuffed closet, trying to figure out which items she would never wear again and wouldn’t miss if I borrowed
.
She
had the phone on speaker,
as she always did, and even though I didn’t want to eavesdrop, I could hear two voices through the closet door
. I could barely make out what the other person was saying, but
Sophia
came through
loud
and clear.

“I need a huge favor,” she says
in her best cajoling tone.

Nothing. No sound.

“I have this friend in town from college and I have to go on this spa trip with my stepmom, because she’s
a total bitch and is making me. M
y friend absolutely can’t be left alone, because she’s never even been to New Yo
rk before, can you believe that?
And she doesn’t know anyone here!
I need help. Babysit her, please. I’ll do anything you want.”

Ugh. She was making me sound like a charit
y case. I knew barging into her
room and telling
her
to stop this whole mess was never going to work. My only hope was that the mysterious friend on the other line was somehow able to completely ignore all of
Sophia
’s charms and whatever she was willing to promise
for a day of
shepherding
her little friend from college
around the city
.

“
Sophia
, I
…” It’s definitely a male voice
but it
trails
off
and I can’t make out the response
.

“Yes, it’s a huge favor, but I would owe you forever. Just take her downtown or something. You can just be on your phone
all day
. Just make a little small talk, show her around, and drop her back off. She wouldn’t be any
trouble. She
really is a doll
.
I think you’ll like her. Really.
”

“I am not babysitting some random girl all day. What would we even talk about?”
The voice is louder now, angry.

Great. Now I was a charity case and a child.

“Talk. Don’t talk. Just do it. I promise. Whatever you want.
”
Sophia
’s voice
is pleading
.

“I can’t,
Sophia. I really can’t.
I have all of this…”
I can’t make out any of the words, but
his tone had shifted and was uncertain. He was caving. Great. Now I was stuck with one of the asshole boys from the night before.

It would be okay. I knew better than to argue with
Sophia
, but there was always a way out. I would definitely be able to get rid of him. All I would need to do was to tell him that I would tell
Sophia
that we had a wonderful time. H
e would get paid with
sexual favors (from her, not me)
and I would get to spend the day in the museum. Everybody would be happy.

“Be at my house as soon as you can
.
S
he’
ll let you in. You’ll figure out something fabulous to do, because I have total faith in you
. You are the best. Thank you,”
Sophia
says
, her tone quickly turning from cajoling to dismissive.

“
Hallie
!
”
Her voice is
triumphant.

I grab
an incredibly soft sweater and a camisole fr
om her shelf to appease her and emerge from the closet, holding out the clothes
.

Sophia
squeals
when she
sees
it. “Perfect,” she s
ays
. “Now, I don’t have much time, so change as I talk.”

I thr
ow
the clothes over my head
as Sophia talks through the door of her closet. I don’t bother
to lo
ok in the mirror,
because my plan is to rip the sweater off and get back into my own clothes as soon as she leaves.

“
So,
Cleo
said to call the car service for you, but I have a much, much better idea.
How would you feel about doing some recon for me?”

I
come
out, puzzled. She gi
ve
s
me a long look up and down, nodding in satisfaction. Recon? Who the hell did she call?

She touches
my shoulder, her words coming out in spurts.
“There’s this guy I knew from high school, and
I’m curious about what he’s been up to
.”

My
eyes
narrow
.
Sophia
was hardly ever curious about what any guy gets up to.

“
It’s nothing like that,
”
she
says
quickly, covering up whateve
r scheme she had been cooking
.
“Just an old friend that I find interesting
. Just
talk to him, find out if he’s dating anyone.”

“
Sophia
.
”
I
figure
that
trying to get out of this tour guide/recon mission
was at least worth a shot
. “I’m not going to be some pity project for one of your friends. I’m sure this someone has better things to do.”

“No, he doesn’t.
Just make him feel like he’s needed. Ask some questions about New York and then
see what you can get out of him
.
You know, broken hearts, skeletons in the closet, that kind of thing.
People
are always spilling their guts to you
in the corner
at
parties. I know it drives you nuts, but just go for it. For me. Pretty please?
”

I was going to have to give in.
“Fine.
I’ll do the whole tour guide thing.
But I’m not spying on so
me poor, unsuspecting guy.
”
I’m firm on this point
. She would have to do her own dirty work.

She
gives
in, too, although the tiny pout on her face tells me that she doesn’t like it. “Fine.”

“Ok, then we have a deal.”

“I love you!
” She throws her arms around me. “
I’ll be back by tomorrow night, a
nd there’s this party at Sam’s. I promise that
I will ignore all of my so-called friends and we will spend the whole night dancing
and you can show all of them up with your skills. We will
have the best time ever.
”

I
give her a long look
.

Undaunted, she continues.
“
I
f you need anything,
there’s a bunch of cash that
Cleo
and
William
left for us in the kitchen. Use all of it. There’s more where that came from, too. And
when you
use the
car service number on the door
to the pantry,
just use my name, ok?”

And just like that, in a
cloud
of perfume, she was gone.

This was totally great. Yep.
Sophia
was passing me off, and I had been given a mission to find out everything about a total stranger who was probably counting the time he had to spend with me as community service hours. I should have insisted, told
Sophia
that I would be more than happy to go spend the day in a museum or wandering around the park. But she had run out the door before I could say anything and now I was stuck in the middle of the most beautiful home I had ever seen and I felt even more out of place than I had the night before.

I fiddled with my phone, reading through
Ben
’s texts again before deciding that I couldn’t figure out anything else to say. I send
off a quick one to my mom, careful to add the apostrophes
before checking to
make sure everything
is
spelled correctly.

The first night was fun. I’m off to see the city today. I’ll take pictures for you.

A few seconds later, I look
back down at my phone.
Have fun. Love you, baby
.

I look
down at my purse. Keys
Sophia
had given me? Check. Debit card? Check.
I glance at the envelope on the k
itchen counter and peek inside
. I gasp. Thousands and thousands of dollars. I shove the enve
lope int
o the first drawer I see. There’s
no way I’m
spending even a cent of that money.

I run through my options.
I
could technically
hide in my beautifully appointed guest room. I could stay in there and pretend like I hadn’t heard the doorbell ring. Just as I was about to go with that plan
or at least get back into my own clothes, I hear
the bell.

There’s another option
.
I’ll just tell whoever it is that we can make a bargain. I’ll tell
Sophia
that we had a nice New York day, and he can go off to do whatever it is that he had to do anyways. Perfect. I run over the words I want to use in my head,
practicing the speech and tone of my voice. It’s a little trick that I’ve been planning to use
for years. Of course, I don’t have the opportunity to use it much, because I’m
usually
saying the fir
st thing that pops into my head
. But
this time,
I’ve crafted a pr
etty nice little speech
. Then the bell rings
again
.