Authors: Marie Astor
When Annabel got home, it was after six o’clock at night. Not having planned anything for the evening, she had walked the last twenty blocks to the rent
-
controlled
,
alcove studio apartment on
York Avenue
she and Jeremy called home. At the time, a walk seemed like a good idea, but now it felt like a foolish one as Annabel kicked off her shoes, massaging her tired feet.
She looked around the tiny apartment and wished Jeremy were there. It was Jeremy who had found the apartment six years ago, through a friend of his who was upgrading to more pristine digs. The walk-up building was nothing to write home about, but it was rent
-
controlled and about the only option they could afford on Annabel’s starting salary for a job that she had taken because of Jeremy.
Right after graduation
,
Annabel was offered an editorial assistant job at a major publishing house that she turned down in lieu of a better pay
ing one
at the advertising agency where she still worked now, so that she could support the two of them while Jeremy wrote his novel. It had been their agreement: first she would support him, and as soon as he publish
ed
his novel, Jeremy would return the favor. Writing advertising copy had not exactly been her life’s ambition, but it paid the bills. Over the years she had published short stories in various magazines, but her work at the agency did not leave her much time or inspiration to write anything longer than ten pages. Well, now that things were looking up for Jeremy, this was bound to change.
The answering machine light was on, and she pressed the play button.
“Ann, it’s me
. J
ust calling to say hi. It’s pretty much your typical boring seminar, only this time I’m one of the panelists instead of the wannabes, so that makes it a nice change.” At the sound of self-contentment in Jeremy’s voice, Annabel suppressed a pang of annoyance
. D
espite his non-stop complaining about the chores of being a panel speaker, she knew that Jeremy reveled in the attention. “Anyway, it looks like this thing is going to run late, so I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you, babe.”
The answering machine turned off with a click, and Annabel reached for the phone to dial Jeremy. Normally, she would not have bothered to call since Jeremy did say he would be busy, but after the Doug incident, she wanted to hear her fiancé’s voice. Not that she had anything to be suspicious about
. S
he just needed to hear that she and Jeremy were all right.
The dial tone kept ringing
,
and Annabel was about to hang up when she finally heard Jeremy’s voice in the receiver.
“Hi,
h
on
. I
s everything all right?”
Was she imagining things or did Jeremy sound out of breath?
“Hey, everything is fine
.
I just wanted to hear your voice. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“No, no it’s nothing like that. I was just getting ready to go downstairs. This seminar is relentless
. W
e are having a presentation at dinner
,
and then there’s a cocktail mixer afterwards.”
“I’m glad you’re having a good time,” Annabel murmured, suddenly feeling down for no apparent reason.
“Hey, what’s wrong? You sound funny…”
“Everything is fine
.
I just miss you, that’s all.”
“I miss you too, babe. You know I’m doing this for us, right? I’ll be home tomorrow afternoon
. I
’ll be there before you know it.” There was a muffled noise on the other side of the line. “Look,
h
on, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to run. I’ll call you tomorrow. Love ya.”
“Bye, Jeremy, I love you too.” From the clicking sound in the receiver, Annabel realized that Jeremy had already hung up.
Annabel woke up bright and early the next morning, determined to make the most out of her Sunday. As she poured milk into her bowl of cereal, she mentally organized her day
. F
irst, she would clean the apartment, and afterwards she would catch up on some of the wedding minutia
e
. S
he still had to decide on the party favors and centerpieces.
It had been a while since the last clean up
.
Jeremy was never one to volunteer
,
and they could not very well afford a cleaning lady. Normally, she would make Jeremy pitch in, but this time she decided to cut him some slack for being stuck at the conference.
As Annabel began to attack the dusty corners of their cramped studio with the vacuum cleaner that her mother had given her as a housewarming present, she was struck by how much dust had accumulated in such a small space
. She
made a mental note to be more on top of things
. I
t was easy to get complacent
,
and before long you ended up living in a dustbin without even realizing it.
Talk about being complacent
, Annabel thought, suddenly catching her own reflection in the mirror
. S
he was wearing sweats with sagging knees and her old college t-shirt. Granted, she was cleaning, but she had to admit that she had been guilty of wearing similar attire around Jeremy – something she never did when they first started dating. Were she and Jeremy in a rut without her realizing
it
?
It was hard to believe that it had been six years since they
had
graduated college together
. T
here was no denying that their relationship had changed over the years. Jeremy was busy with his book
,
and she was busy at work
,
so, inevitably, they got sucked into a routine. But then
,
wasn’t that the natural progression of things? Besides, there was comfort in routine, a reassuring stability. Of
course,
there were also drawbacks. The changes felt more palpable as of late. They did not have sex as often as they used to when they first met, but then who did? Annabel frowned, trying to remember when she had last worn lingerie, but drew a blank
. T
hat was not a good sign. Perhaps it was time to shake things up a bit. She would surprise Jeremy tonight. She remembered seeing a lingerie shop a few blocks away
. R
ight after she finish
ed
vacuuming, she would run over there and pick up something special for tonight.
Annabel had been so intent on vacuuming that she barely heard the doorbell ring
. I
t was not until she heard loud pounding that she rushed to open the front door.
“Hey
,
Lilly!” Annabel made a conscious effort not to sound disappointed
. F
or a brief moment
,
she had hoped that Jeremy had arrived early.
“Is this a bad time?” Lilly asked, walking inside without waiting for Annabel’s answer.
“No, no it’s fine
.
I was just doing some cleaning. The place is a mess.”
“I think I’m in love,” Lilly announced as she plopped herself on the couch, stretching dreamily.
“You are? W
ith
w
hom
?” This was surprising news, especially given the fact that for the past ten years
,
Lilly had maintained that all men were cheating, lying scoundrels
,
and
that
she would never entrust her heart to any of them.
“A man I met last night.”
“Spill.” Annabel threw aside the vacuum cleaner and took a seat next to Lilly.
“Last night, I was at this nightclub event that my friend Alex was hosting
. B
y the way, I sent you the invite, but you said you couldn’t make it,” Lilly added accusingly.
“I was busy.” Annabel looked away
.
Lilly was always sending her invites to lounge and nightclub openings, but it just was not her scene.
“So there I was, drinking my drink, shooting the breeze with Alex, when this hot, gorgeous guy comes up and asks me if he could buy me a drink. And when I say gorgeous, I mean gorgeous
. A
n Oliver Martinez look-alike: dark brown eyes, jet-black hair, tan skin, six feet tall, and best of all
,
he is French. I mean, this guy could make ice sizzle! I have to stop here
.
I’m beginning to sound like a porno ad!” Lilly giggled. “So, we start dancing and talking and before long he tells me that he’s been in New York for a year on assignment for his job, but of course
,
as my luck would have it, his term is ending, and he’ll be going back to Paris in a little over a month.”
“What’s his name?”
“Simon, Simon Barnette
. E
ven his name sounds perfect! Too bad that he’s leaving so soon.”
“Well, you’ll be going to
Paris
in three months.”
“Yeah, but who knows what will happen then.” Lilly waved her hand dismissively.
It was just like Lilly to fall in love with someone who would be moving halfway across the world in a month
. T
his way she could be sure to have an e
xpiration date on her feelings.
“Well, if the two of you really like each other, you could make it work. You know, long distance relationships do happen
,
and sometimes they even turn into marriages.”
“No
,
thanks
. T
he last thing I need is to sit around worrying if he’s screwing someone else in
Paris
. I’d rather have my fun when I can and be done with it – no collateral damage.” The romantic Lilly had vanished as quickly as she had appeared.
Annabel understood the root of Lilly’s caution and decided to hold her tongue for now. Lilly Clayton’s father divorced her mother when Lilly was eighteen, shortly after making a fortune from an IPO of his online pet supplies store – the store that ex Mrs. Clayton
had
helped him start after Mr. Clayton got laid off from his engineering job. The divorce papers became final right before high school graduation, and Lilly used to joke that they were her father’s graduation present.
Currently
, Mr. Clayton was married to a wife who was only two years older than Lilly
,
a circumstance that Lilly used continuously to substantiate her conviction that all men were cheating, lying scoundrels. With the exception of a random email, she refused to communicate with her father - a decisi
on that did not preclude her from
allowing him to pay her rent and send her a generous monthly allowance while she struggled to get her fashion business off the ground.
“But I did have a really good time last night,” Lilly added sheepishly.
“Are you going to see him again?”
“Tonight.” Lilly nodded excitedly. “Normally I would never do anything like that
. I
t just reeks of neediness, but he’s leaving in a month, so who cares.”
Obviously you do
, Annabel thought, but she knew better than to argue with Lilly, so she conceded
,
“Yes, who cares?”
“So, what are you doing for the rest of the day? Do you want to grab some lunch, or maybe go for a walk? I feel like I could use some air.”
“Yes, sure,” Annabel agreed, guessing that what Lilly really wanted was to dish about her new love interest.
“I have a few errands I need to run, but I’m up for lunch.”
“Can I help?”
“I wanted to go shopping…” Annabel stalled, deliberating whether she should disclose her plans
. I
nviting Lilly along would most definitely result in an extravagant shopping spree.
“Shopping for what?” Lilly prodded.
At times Annabel thought that if Lilly had not become a designer, she would have made an excellent detective.
“Lingerie. I wanted to get something special for when Jeremy gets home tonight. You’re welcome to come with me if you’d like.”
“Count me in. I could use a few new things myself.”
Annabel raised an eyebrow, wondering what Lilly had in mind
. S
he had once seen Lilly’s arsenal of lacy undergarments
,
and it had every possible thing imaginable.
“Let me just get out of these sweats and then we’ll go.”
“Sounds good to me.” Lilly grabbed the remote control, turning on the TV. “Hey, don’t you have cable?”
“Sorry, we don’t
.
Jeremy thinks it’s too commercial.”