“But you were? Recently?”
“Not exactly.”
“Is that a real answer?”
“When I have a real answer for you, Esquire, you’ll know it.”
“Fair enough.”
“If you must know, I had a…buddy. But he moved to Miami.”
Very interesting. “Awill dobuddy?”
“A friend with benefits. He did do quite nicely, actually. As did the buddies who came before him, but something always ends it.”
“Yeah. Something always ends everything.”
“Yeah, but you know. At least when you have an arrangement like that, the endings aren’t messy.”
“How do you know it wasn’t messy for them?”
She shrugs and takes a big bite of her hot dog, as we step back from the vendor and lean against the side of a building. Gotta like a girl who likes to eat. The only time I ever saw Vanessa really enjoy consuming anything other than grilled salmon salads or smoothies was when she would inhale a red velvet cupcake once a month.
Bernadette’s free hand sweeps the length of her torso. “I’m sure it’s difficult to believe that any guy could have sex withthisand not fall crazy in love, but you’d be surprised what a few well-defined parameters can do for two people who don’t want to get involved with each other in a serious way.”
Intriguing. Intriguing that she feels this way and intriguing that she’s sharing this information with me. I want to read into it, but I’m too busy staring at her mouth as she chows down on that sausage.
“So, you don’t let things get messy, is what you’re saying?”
She makes some kind of noise as she takes another big bite of hot dog. Once she has lowered the thing from her face, I slowly reach my hand up. She stops chewing, holds still but keeps her eyes on me as I barely lean in and wipe the huge gob of mustard from the corner of her mouth with my thumb and then hold it up for her to see. Her whole body relaxes when she realizes that’s all I was doing, and she resumes smiling and chewing. When I suck the mustard off my thumb, I hear her gulp so loudly it’s comical.
Her eyelids flutter. She has a very confused expression on her face. It’s kind of sweet. And now it’s gone. She clears her throat.
“Should we head back?”
“Sure.”
We polish off our breakfast as we stroll. I take the waste from her and toss it in a bin when we pass by one. It’s a beautiful spring day and it’s the first time I’ve gone for a stroll around here without Daisy, and even then I’m usually looking at my phone. I’m actually starting to like it up here. I’d like to suggest we head over to Central Park, but my strolling companion seems hesitant now.
“Don’t you have someone more interesting to hang out with today? I seem to recall Dolly saying you were always out and about.”
“All my interesting friends live downtown and they refuse to come up here unless it’s for an event of some kind.”
She gasps. “Are you telling me that hanging out withyoudoesn’t qualify as an event of some kind?”
“Not for my guy friends.”
“Ooohhh. Enticing.”
“Don’t get too excited.”
“Oh, but I am! I’m so excited to be walking up Broadway with you! Those downtown people don’t know what they’re missing! I mean, we just ate a hot dog for breakfast—we are crushing it!”
She holds up her hand for me to high-five her. I oblige, but the sarcasm isn’t lost on me. Her earlier revelation isn’t lost on me either. I am about to bring it up again, when I notice a striking woman who’s staring at me as we cross the street. It takes me a second to recognize her, which is weird. That stunning face that I saw every day for years, in every possible hairstyle, every possible expression. Vanessa is standing on the sidewalk outside of Zabar’s, holding a big Zabar’s bag, watching me and Bernadette as we unwittingly walk towards her. And she’s holding hands with some douchebag in a suit.
“Hello Matthew,” she says. Her tone accuses me of following her here, once again. “Small world.”
“Vanessa. What are you doing up here?”
