One Night in London (4 page)

“Hello, lovely.” I smiled.

“Look at you, all cozy in your jammies already.”

“As much fun as I had in London, I’m happy to be home.”

“Me too. Sam keeps texting me. He said he misses me already and wants to plan a trip to New York to come and visit.” She rolled her eyes.

“Are you going to let him?” I asked as I sipped my tea.

“I don’t know. Even though sex with him was utterly boring, I kind of like his company. How are you doing? After that wild night of sex, you must still be thinking about that hot man.”

“No, I’m not. He’s a distant memory now.”

“You’re lying. I know you, Chloe, and you get involved, even though I clearly try to teach you differently.”

I sighed. “Okay. So what? I am still thinking about him and I can’t help it. I just wish I would have gotten his name.”

“Tsk tsk.” She waved her finger. “Goes against the stranger rule. Besides, even if you did get his name, what were you going to do? Stalk him? Google him? Find a thousand guys with the same name in the US and then call them one by one, asking if they were the sexy guy who made you orgasm multiple times in London?”

“Why do you have to be like that?” I rolled my eyes.

“You love me and you know it. Anyway, I just wanted to check in and make sure you made it home safe. I have to go shower because I need to be at work bright and early tomorrow morning. I have a big client coming in and his demands for the perfect ad are annoying, so I have to be on top of my game.”

“Have a good night and we’ll talk tomorrow. Good luck with your meeting.”

“Thanks, love. Ta ta.”

Two Months Later

A
rriving at work, I set my bag down as Silas called over to me.

“Chloe, Mr. Black is here and wants to talk to you.”

“Really? I didn’t know he was coming.”

“We didn’t either. He was here before us.”

Walking into the back office, I smiled when I saw him sitting behind the desk.

“Good morning, Connor. Welcome back to L.A. Silas said you wanted to see me.”

“Good morning, Chloe. Have a seat.” He smiled.

Taking a seat across from his desk, I was a little nervous as to why he was here and why he wanted to talk to me. I didn’t think I was in trouble for anything because my work was impeccable. Oh God, maybe he was laying me off. A thousand reasons were swimming around in my mind and it started to worry me.

“You’ve been working here for a little over a year now, correct?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you like it here, Chloe?”

I thought that was a strange question to ask and he caught me off guard.

“Yes. Very much.”

“More than New York?”

“Well, my friends and family are in New York and I miss them, but so far, L.A. is working for me.” I smiled.

“Have you made friends here?”

“Some.”

“Are you currently seeing anyone?”

Okay, now this was getting weird as far as I was concerned.

“No,” I replied in confusion.

He chuckled. “Okay, I’ll get right to the point. I can see you’re getting a little irritated with all my questions. How would you like to move back to New York?”

I was stunned by his question. “Are you serious?” I asked with a hint of excitement.

“Yes. I’m opening up a new art gallery. Much bigger than the one you interned at and way bigger than this one. The reason I offered you this position here is because I didn’t want to let you go, but at the time, I didn’t have anything available in New York. You’re an excellent employee, Chloe, and Ellery and I would love for you to manage the new gallery. Your passion for art and history is exactly what this new gallery needs. You did such a great job when you interned for us and, to be honest, Ellery was quite pissed at me for not creating a position for you in New York. I thought it would be best for you to work here for a while. You passed the test. You’ve done an outstanding job helping out, but you aren’t developing your full potential being an assistant.”

I sat there in shock as I listened to his praise. Words wouldn’t escape my lips. I felt like I was dreaming and any moment I’d wake up in my bed.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” He smiled.

“I would be honored to run your gallery back in New York. I’m sorry, Connor, but this is such a shock to me. I wasn’t expecting this.”

“A good shock, I hope.”

“Of course. New York is my home and I’d love to move back there.”

“Good. I was hoping you’d say that. Ellery will be extremely pleased. How soon can you move back?”

“I don’t know. I still have my lease here for another three months on my apartment.”

He waved his hand in front of his face. “Don’t worry about your lease. I’ll take care of it. I would like you back in New York as soon as possible. Even as early as next week. I will hire a moving company to move your belongings, so you don’t have to worry about that. You’ll be on a salary with health benefits, vacation time, sick time, and a 401k plan.”

“Wow. I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Connor. Something like this has always been my dream.”

“You’re welcome, Chloe. I have the gallery scheduled to open in a couple of months. That should give you plenty of time to get settled and get everything set up. I want the opening of this gallery to be the biggest and best, so the work involved is going to be quite intense.”

“I know, and I promise you that I can handle it.”

“I know you can.” He smiled. “That’s why I offered you the job. Also, I’m going to have my realtor get in touch with you. He’s one of the best and he can help you find an apartment. In fact, I’ll text him your phone number now.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and grinned. “I received a text message from Ellery asking if you took the job.”

“You can tell her that I fully accept and I can’t wait to get back to New York.”

“I certainly will.”

“Connor, I have one question.”

“What is it?” he asked as he turned around before walking out the door.

“Why are you opening up another gallery in New York?”

“For Ellery, of course.” He winked.

As soon as he left, I did a happy dance and silently screamed as I jumped up and down. I couldn’t believe that I was moving back to New York. My parents and Sienna were going to be so happy.

****

S
aying goodbye to Corey was hard, but he promised to come to New York and visit. This was a new start for me. It felt like the beginning of a new life. My parents were beyond thrilled that I was moving back and staying with them until I found an apartment. They told me just to live with them and they promised to give me my privacy. As much as I loved my parents more than anything in the world, living with them permanently wasn’t an option. They were, how do I say it, a little different from your average parents. They were modern hippies. Throwbacks from the sixties living in today’s modern world. Being the free-spirits they were, growing up was a lot of fun, but also embarrassing at times. When I called and told them about Corey, they were happy for him, that he finally re-birthed himself and accepted who he really was. I agreed, but the way they said it was as if I shouldn’t have been hurt or upset by it. I spent nine months with him in a relationship. As happy as I was now for him, it did hurt a lot when he told me.

As soon as the plane landed at JFK, I stepped off and took in the New York City air. It was good to be back home.

“There’s our baby girl,” my mom shouted as she ran to me. My dad followed behind.

“Hi, Mom. Dad.” I hugged them both.

“Do you have any idea how happy we are to have you home?” She hugged me tightly again.

“Yeah. Actually, I do.” I tried to breathe.

My dad grabbed my two suitcases and we hailed a taxi back to their apartment. Stepping into my childhood bedroom, I smiled. I’d forgotten how much I’d missed this room when I was in L.A. As I started to unpack, I heard a knock on the door and a voice that was music to my ears. Running out of my room, I ran to Sienna and threw my arms around her.

“Thank God you’re home for good. I’m sorry I couldn’t be at the airport. That damn meeting I was in ran late.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I smiled.

“Hi, Sienna,” my mom spoke. “You’re just in time for dinner. I’ve made a vegetarian macaroni and cheese.”

Sienna made a face at me. She wasn’t fond of my mother’s cooking, but being the sometimes polite woman she was, she graciously smiled and took a seat at the table.

“So tell us how work is going, Sienna,” my mom asked as she scooped some macaroni and cheese onto her plate.

“Oh, the usual. My coworkers are backstabbing bitches, my boss won’t stop hitting on me, and one of my clients hated the advertising campaign that took me two months to develop. But overall, it’s going well.” She smiled.

“Are you seeing anyone?” my father asked.

“No. Not really. I did meet this guy on the plane on our way to London. He lives there. He’s supposed to come to New York to visit next month.”

“He is?” I looked at her in shock. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“Oh. Guess what? Sam is coming to visit next month. Too bad you don’t know where Mr. Sexy lives. You could have invited him and we could have double dated.”

“Who’s Mr. Sexy?” my mom asked.

“The guy she met in London. Didn’t she tell you?” Sienna opened her big mouth.

“No,” my dad replied. “Tell us about Mr. Sexy, Chloe.”

I shot Sienna a look and she gave me the “oops” face. “I’m sorry. I thought you told them. You tell them everything.”

She was right. I did tell my parents everything. We always had an open relationship and no subject was ever off limits. Hell, my mom was so sexually open that for my sixteenth birthday she bought me a vibrator. But I didn’t mention what happened in London to them.

“He’s just a guy I met at the hotel bar on our last night there. That’s all.”

“What’s his name?” my mom asked.

“I didn’t get his name.”

“Why wouldn’t you get his name?” my dad asked.

“Don’t people who meet usually introduce themselves?” my mom chimed in.

“We had sex. I didn’t want to know his name, and I didn’t want to know anything about him. It was on my list.” I took a bite of macaroni and cheese.

“What was on your list?” My mom cocked her head.

“To have sex with a stranger in a foreign country. We did. He was beyond amazing, and when I woke up the next morning, he was gone. So now you know. Can we please talk about something else?”

There it was. The reason I didn’t tell my parents about him. The truth was not a day went by since that night that I hadn’t thought about him. No matter how hard I tried to push him out of my mind, I couldn’t. Even though I planned on leaving him before he woke up, it bothered me that he left first. Having sex with him affected me more emotionally than I thought it ever would have.

After dinner, I hugged Sienna goodbye and went to my room. My mom followed me and sat down on the edge of my bed while I hung up some clothes in my closet.

“Are you okay, Chloe? I can sense something is going on with you. Your chakras are all out of whack.”

I sighed. “I’m fine, Mom. It’s just ever since that night, that total stranger is all I seem to think about. Why can’t I forget about him?” I sat down next to her, clutching a sweater in my hand. “It’s been two months.”

“Well, you said you had amazing sex, right?”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “Totally like nothing I’d ever experienced with a man before.”

“It sounds to me like the two of you had a connection. More than just physical.” She kissed the side of my head. “Try not to think about him anymore and don’t let your experience deter you from finding the right man. There are others out there. What’s to be fated, will be. You know that. I’m teaching yoga tomorrow morning at eight o’clock. Why don’t you come and clear your mind?”

“I can’t. I’m meeting the realtor tomorrow morning and then I have to get to the gallery.”

“Okay, sweetheart. Don’t deviate from your spiritual well-being. You know how important it is.”

I gave her a small smile as she walked out of the room.

“W
ell, what do you think?” Jason, my realtor, asked as we walked around the apartment. “The best part is that it’s within walking distance to the art gallery you’ll be working at.”

“I like it. I like that it’s a brownstone, the apartment is on the second floor, and that it was built in the 1900s. The architecture is so beautiful. Oh, and I like that it’s in my price range.”

“Excellent. Would you like to fill out the renter’s application?” He smiled.

“Yes. When would the apartment be ready to move into?”

“Next week. The owners are anxious because they’re leaving for Italy for six months, so they want this taken care of before they leave.”

“A week is perfect.” I smiled.

The apartment was definitely a lot smaller than my place back in L.A., but this was New York and the spaces were small. When I stepped inside, I instantly felt at home. It was the kind of place where I could envision myself relaxing after a long day at the gallery.

Jason handed me the rental application and I filled it out on the spot and handed it to him.

“Perfect.” He grinned. “I’ll get this processed right away and let you know tomorrow. It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Kane.”

“Thank you, Jason. The pleasure was all mine.”

As I stepped out onto West 82
^nd
Street, I looked down at the tree-lined street. Pulling my phone from my purse, I facetimed Sienna. Her stressed face appeared on the screen.

“What’s wrong?” I laughed.

“This client is driving me bat shit crazy. He’ll be lucky if I don’t go to his house and murder him in his sleep. Where are you?”

“This is West 82
^nd
Street, where I found an apartment. Look at the brownstone.” I held the phone up.

“Hey, I know that place. A girl that I work with used to live there. So when are you moving in?”

“The realtor is processing the application today and he’ll let me know tomorrow. If everything is approved, I can move in next week.”

“Woohoo. I’ll help you and we can have a decorating party.” She smiled.