“Then why did she tell me that?”
“I don’t know, but I assure you, you’re not going anywhere.” He looked determined and he didn’t say anything more as he walked past me. I turned and followed him, but stopped when I saw where he was headed: right towards Leslie’s office. I watched as he knocked on her door, but it didn’t appear as if he waited long enough for a reply before he was opening it and walking inside. I was too far away to see inside the office and I wasn’t about to go snooping around, so instead I stood there, nervously waiting for Drew to come back.
Court and Anna Beth returned as I stood by my desk.
“What’s going on?” Court asked me.
“Drew’s talking to Leslie,” I told them.
“Why are you so interested in his conversation?”
“She told me today that my position was done. Drew didn’t seem to know anything about it.”
“And there’s no way he’s letting you leave,” Court mumbled and I wondered if Anna Beth had heard him.
Drew’s head popped out of the door a second later and Court and Anna Beth seemed to scatter. Drew motioned for me to come to him and I did.
“Would you come in here please, Natalie,” he said, ushering me inside and closing the door. Leslie still sat behind her desk, but the smugness on her face was gone. She looked over to me and by the look on her face it appeared Drew had reamed her out. “Leslie would like to speak with you.”
“I appear to have been mistaken, Natalie. Drew has informed me that the position is to remain open indefinitely. I apologize for any worry I caused you.”
“Thank you, Leslie,” I said, but I wasn’t stupid. I saw the quick glare she shot my way and I wondered if Drew did as well. I knew Leslie didn’t want me around. She never had. She’d probably been elated to get rid of me and I knew Drew’s insistence that I stay on board did not sit well with her.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to work,” she said, dropping her eyes from mine, but not before looking over to Drew who seemed to be staring her down. I felt Drew’s hand on my back and we left Leslie’s office without another word.
“I’m sorry about putting you through that, Natalie,” he said once we were out of earshot from Leslie. “She had no right to make that call.”
“You didn’t have to do that, Drew,” I told him. “I’m pretty sure my position was only supposed to be until the Tashawa project was finished.”
“Things change, Natalie. You were an integral reason the project went so well. I can’t let you go now just because it’s done. I need you,” he said, but the way he looked at me told me he wasn’t referring to my work contribution. Before I could say anything back though, he turned and walked away.
Twenty-Six
I tried putting the drama with Leslie out of my head for the rest of the day and went about checking my phone, waiting for a text or a call or something from Ethan acknowledging my birthday, but other than a phone call from my parents, nothing came. He had a matinee at one o’clock and another show at eight so I knew the day would be a busy one. He sometimes came home briefly between shows and as I rode the subway home at five o’clock, I wondered if he’d make a trip home tonight to at least wish me a happy birthday.
I was sorely disappointed though when I walked into the apartment and saw it looked the same as it did when I’d left. There was nothing there for me. Nothing at all. Not even a card or a note. Nothing. I’d held out hope most of the day, but when the clock showed five-thirty, I accepted the fact he’d forgotten my birthday. I tried telling myself it didn’t hurt as badly as it did. He was busy. He was working all the time and it just slipped his mind. I told myself it was okay and that he hadn’t meant to hurt me, but it did hurt and when I blinked my eyes, staring at the lonely apartment, quiet tears streamed down my face. I wiped them away quickly and went to our bedroom, stripping out of my work clothes and changing into a pair of sweats and the hoodie I’d bought in Japan and then went to the kitchen to see what I could scrounge up for dinner.
I was dumping a can of soup into a pot on the stove when my phone beeped. I forgot about the soup and went quickly to find it. I knew there was no way he’d forgotten.
I found the phone and unlocked the screen, but I saw the text was not from Ethan, but from Drew.
DREW: HAVING A NICE BIRTHDAY?
I didn’t answer right away. I didn’t know how to respond. Should I tell him the truth or should I lie and tell him what a fantastic birthday I was having? I decided the truth was best.
ME: NO. ETHAN FORGOT.
I waited for a few minutes for a response and I wondered what he would say.
DREW: I’M SORRY.
I was taken aback by the short response. I expected him to lay into Ethan, but all he did was apologize. I knew he felt sorry for me.
ME: I’LL BE FINE. I’VE GOT A BOWL OF SOUP AND NETFLIX TO KEEP ME COMPANY.
DREW: SOUNDS LIKE A FINE WAY TO SPEND YOUR NIGHT.
ME: COULDN’T THINK OF A BETTER WAY.
DREW: GOODNIGHT
ME: GOODNIGHT
I put the phone back down, and returned to my soup. I turned on the burner, but as I stared down at the watery mess in the pot, my appetite was suddenly gone.
“Happy birthday to me,” I said, dumping it into the sink and flopping myself onto the couch.
There was a knock on the door a little while later. I paused the episode of
Friends
I was watching and forced myself off the couch. No one ever came to our door, except for Doris on occasion, so I was shocked when I looked through the peep hole and saw Drew standing there.
“What are you doing here?” I said, opening the door, noticing the white box he was holding.
“That’s quite a greeting,” he said, walking past me, right over to the kitchen counter where he set the box down.
“How’d you get in the building?”
“My charm.”
“You know that makes you a stalker, don’t you?”
“Undeniably,” he said smugly and I couldn’t help but smile.
I shut the door while he took something out of the box. It didn’t take me long to see it was a small cake, covered in chocolate frosting.
“You brought me a birthday cake?”
“Of course I did,” he said, sticking a single candle on the top, lighting it with matches he pulled from his pocket and then picking up the cake and walking slowly towards me. “Happy birthday to you...happy birthday to you…happy birthday dear Natatlie…happy birthday to you.” When the song was over, he was only a foot away from me, holding the cake towards me and I couldn’t hold back the smile at the sweet gesture. “Make a wish,” he grinned, pushing the cake even closer and before he could tell me again, I closed my eyes, wishing that I could somehow figure out my life, and then blew out the candle, opening my eyes again. “What’d you wish for?”
“If I tell you, it won’t come true,” I said before he walked the cake back to the counter and he started searching through the cupboards. “Where are your plates?” he asked when he didn’t find them.
“Right here,” I said, pulling two plates out of the cabinets above the sink.
He found the silverware drawer and pulled out two forks and a knife and then cut a slice of cake for each of us.
“I got chocolate because of your addiction. I went to the bakery and got the chocolatiest cake I could find. And I made sure it was milk chocolate based. None of that vile dark chocolate.”
He pushed a plate towards me.
“This is amazing. Thank you so much for thinking of me.”
“I thought about you all day,” he said, taking a bite. “And when I found out he’d forgotten, I couldn’t have you sitting here.”
“He’s just been really busy lately. He’s trying to prove himself at
Jersey Boys
and he’s still working at Carmine’s too.”
“I’m not judging anything, Natalie, but I couldn’t have you sitting here alone on your birthday.”
I smiled at him, surprised at how calm he was being. I thought for sure he’d rip right into Ethan for being an asshole or something, but he didn’t.
“While you look undeniably adorable in your sweats,” he began once we’d finished the cake. “It will not do for the show.”
“What show?”
“
Chicago
.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re going to see
Chicago
.”
“No, we’re not.”
“Yes, we are. It starts in an hour so you’d better get yourself ready.”
“I can’t go to
Chicago
with you!” I protested.
“Why not?”
“Because. You know why not!”
“There’s no rule about two friends going to a show together.”
I just stared at him. I’d wanted to go to a show ever since we moved here, but we couldn’t afford it and we never had the time. But he was here, offering to take me out on my birthday when my boyfriend had forgotten, and I wanted to go. I knew I wanted to go with him.
“Fine,” I finally agreed. “I don’t really have anything to wear to a show though.”
“Just wear something you’d wear to work. The days of ball gowns and tuxedos are gone on Broadway.”
I nodded and I started to walk past him to my bedroom, but then I stopped and turned to him.
“Thank you, Drew.”
“The pleasure’s mine.”
I went into my room, scouring my closest for something acceptable, eventually deciding on a simple black dress. I slid on a pair of black tights and black heels and then went back into the living room where Drew was looking around at all the pictures I’d put around the apartment.
“Enjoying a glimpse into my personal life?” I asked as he was looking at a picture of my family.
“You have no idea,” he said, turning to give me a little smile. “I take it this is your family?”
“You are correct. My parents and my brother, Wes. We look straight out of American Gothic, don’t we?” I laughed, looking at the picture taken outside my grandparents’ farm.
“I like it,” he said, looking more closely. “Very Americana. When was this taken?”
“About five years ago.”
“So you were what…eighteen?”
“I’d just turned eighteen.”
“Then I don’t feel creepy telling you even then you were hot,” he said and I blushed, ignoring his comment as he moved his gaze to a picture of Ethan and I in a speedboat on the Mississippi River. “Looks like you and Ethan were having a good time.”
“That was a fun day,” I said, thinking back and then smiled. “Even though I ended up with the worst sunburn ever.”
“You guys looked happy,” he said, turning his eyes to meet mine.
“We were,” I said, but I knew what he was implying, that we weren’t anymore, but I wasn’t going to be sucked into this conversation. “I need to finish getting ready. I’ll just be another few minutes,” I told him and walked quickly to the bathroom where I touched up my make-up I hadn’t removed after work and then pulled my hair out of the messy ponytail I’d thrown up earlier. I ran a brush through it and decided it would have to do.
“I’m ready.”
“You look great,” he said, smiling in a way that made me blush.
“Thanks. It’s all I have.”
“Well, you look beautiful. We should get going though if we want to make it.”
I nodded and went to get my coat, but he grabbed it first and held it out, helping me slide it on.
“Thank you,” I said and he smiled as I grabbed my purse and we walked out, only to be greeted by Doris sitting outside her apartment, Gene’s TV blaring into the hall.
“Who do we have here?” Doris’s voice echoed loudly in the hallway and I could see she was checking out Drew.
“Doris, this is my friend, Drew.”
Drew held his hand out and Doris stood up, taking it.
“Aren’t you a tall drink of water,” she laughed.
“Nice to meet you, Doris,” he grinned and I could see he’d caused her to blush too. Drew’s charm didn’t have an age limit.
“Where’s Ethan? I never see him anymore.” Doris said and she gave me a suspicious look.
“He’s working.”
“So, you’re gettin’ a little somethin’ somethin’ on the side?” she laughed, elbowing me and I just shook my head, because she didn’t know how true her words were.
“Sorry to disappoint, Doris, but I’m just her friend taking her out for her birthday since Ethan has to work.”
“It’s your birthday?” she asked, looking over to me and I nodded. “Happy birthday, honey.” She leaned over, hugging me with her thick frame. “Go have fun,” she said and then her voice got quiet so only I could hear. “And get some of that if you get the chance.”
I tried not to laugh, but a little chuckle escaped and I didn’t respond.
“We’ve gotta get going,” I said instead and she let me go.
“Nice to meet you, Doris.”
“I’m sure it was,” she said and Drew laughed as we headed out of the building.
It was cold outside and we walked until Drew spotted a cab. He hailed it and we got inside. Drew told the driver where we needed to go and then we were on our way.
It was almost eight when we got there, so Drew hurried me inside and not long after we sat down the performance started.
I sat engrossed for the next three hours and it was even better than I’d ever imagined. When it was over, we stood and cheered with the rest of the audience and it occurred to me that Ethan’s show was probably just ending too.
“What’d you think?” Drew asked me as we inched our way out of the crowded theater.
“It was incredible. Really, Drew…thank you so much.”
“I’m glad you’re having fun,” he said, placing his hand on the small of my back and a patch of goosebumps formed beneath his touch. “Do you want to grab something to eat before we head back?”
Part of me wanted to say yes. I didn’t want him to leave and I didn’t want to go home, but I had to. I knew I had to.
“It’s late,” I said, but I think he knew I didn’t want the night to end. “I should just go home.”
He nodded and we continued out onto the cold street. It still amazed me that New York never seemed to sleep. It was always busy. Now was no different and it took Drew a little while to hail a taxi.
“That really was so amazing. I can’t get over it. I can’t wait to see another show,” I said once we were in the cab and heading Uptown to my apartment.
“Just let me know and I can get you tickets to any show you want,” he said and I nodded, knowing he meant it.
When the taxi stopped in front of my apartment a little while later. I was surprised to see Drew pay the driver and follow me out to the stoop. The cab drove away and it was surprisingly quiet on my street as we stood at the bottom of the steps.
“What about the cab? How’re you gonna get home?” I asked.
“I feel like walking.”
“It’s like twenty blocks though.”
“I could use the fresh air,” he said with a confident smile. “Plus, if I get tired, I can just get another cab.”
“True,” I said with a light laugh, before I smiled over to him. “Thank you, Drew. Thank you for tonight. This was one of my best birthdays I can remember.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Natalie.”
“I do,” I said quietly. “Thank you…thank you for thinking of me…”
“You should never be forgotten, Natalie,” he interrupted, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Never. Happy birthday.”