Kelly motioned toward a building around the corner, and a minute later, the limo stopped there.
“Interesting,” she said. “You’re sweeter than you let on. We all knew it, but I think being pregnant has made you a little soft.”
I gazed up at the pretty twelve-floor building near the bay and hugged myself as I asked, “You think that’s the issue?”
She spoke to the front desk, and we were directed to the elevator.
“Want to tell me what’s going on so I can be a better friend?” she asked.
My heart raced. I hadn’t been ready for how my life would spin out of control. “We’re going home to see my parents.”
She narrowed her gaze. “I didn’t even know you had parents still alive.”
My heart raced as I hadn’t been completely open with my circle of friends. “And my perfect sister.”
Her eyes widened. “Perfect? She must be because you’re the strongest of us all, the most successful, and the most fun.”
Fun wasn’t something I’d been lately. I’d been moping. I took a deep breath and said, “I… I’m not that bad, then?”
We stepped out of the elevator, and Kelly got out a key. “So pregnancy brain is stealing your confidence, I guess.” She went to a pair of curved black double doors, clearly custom, and unlocked them.
I took a deep breath, following her, then said, “No… it’s me. I don’t know who I’m supposed to be.”
She held one door open for me and switched on the lights. “You’re supposed to be you.”
“In this apartment?” I asked as I stared at the bright light of the day coming through the many windows offering a skyline view. Then I focused on the center of the living room, complete with a fireplace.
I’d only seen places like that in magazines, and tears formed in my eyes.
Kelly asked, “You like it?”
I nodded and pressed a hand to my belly, which was bubbling either from nerves or this was how pregnancy now was or maybe just gas. Bodily feelings at all weren’t something I’d ever noticed until now. “I love it. Fuck, it’s nice.”
She walked me to the side and said, “This is the nursery, and in the opposite direction is the indoor pool.”
I followed and saw an empty room overlooking the bay with a view of New York. I couldn’t even imagine a pool too.
Kelly stopped and said, “You’re crying.”
I took my friend’s hand and a deep breath. Last night, Michael had been tender and sweet with me. I rocked back and forth. “I kept Michael a secret all this time because… I thought he was never going to fit in my world, but the truth is so different.”
She took my hand and walked me the other way as she asked, “And that’s bad?”
I swiped at my eyes, saying, “I’m just a mess, and I’ve never been a mess in my life.”
She bumped shoulders with me. “Ahhh, we love you just as you are.”
We walked into a long, thin natatorium with a glass roof to the sky, and the air felt more humid, so the pool must have been heated. My heart thumped. This home would have everything.
I stared at Kelly and said, “Well, let’s tell Michael this place you found in Soho is my favorite.”
She squeezed my hands. “Then go home and tell your man you love him.”
My eyes widened, and I froze. We weren’t there. I wasn’t even sure Michael, with those titles he’d told me about, even had a middle name. Love was too much.
But she was right that I needed to find out and stop being so circular about everything.
I hopped back into the limo and headed home. My small one bedroom, really a converted studio, had no view other than a brick wall.
