MAYA
It’s a little after five-thirty in the morning. The city is sleeping, and the river is smooth and unblemished. The sun stains the sky with hues of pink, gold and streaks of lilac.
“This is what I’d planned for your birthday, before I realized I’d be able to go to your party.”
Zach turns to me, eyes shining, cutting the engine. “Thank you.” He wraps his arms around me and holds me close. His familiar, fresh and spicy scent, the feel of his chest against me, and his arms around me, these things anchor me. They have a permanent place in my world now, but hey were cruelly snatched away before we understood the manipulation his father was capable of.
While I gave Zach that first, sexy birthday gift I hope he’ll always remember, I have another gift for him today. The moment we once dreamed about, to watch the sunrise near the boathouse on the Knight Estate—something we never managed to do—is a memory I want to create today.
We’re on a small motorboat drifting along the Hudson, with the skyline rising like a spray of watercolors around us. But even though the early morning boat ride was my idea, I’m not as confident with boats as Zach is.
He cuts the engine, and we stand there, holding hands, watching the sunrise, silently. It feels like taking a step back into time, doing this all these years later, when we’re so much older, so much wiser and, against the odds, have found one another again.
“I wanted to share this with you back then,” he says, quietly.
I turn to face him, not wanting him to feel bad. “We’re sharing it now. Don’t dwell on that time, Zee, you weren’t to know what your father was capable of.”
We lower ourselves onto the bench seat near the bow, still holding hands. I’m still getting used to living in the Tribeca apartment. I haven’t really moved there. I just happen to sleep there most nights. I’m surprised that Fleur hasn’t asked me a million questions about Zach. We don’t see one another much, and that’s mostly because I don’t stay at the apartment a lot.
Fleur doesn’t yet know that we have our own little love nest. I’m still getting used to it myself. Most days I have to pinch myself when I wake up, because it still seems unreal.
“Weird, huh?” Zach asks, his voice croaky. “You, me, this, us.”
I nod. Strange how life works out sometimes. If I hadn’t found the job at Stella, or if I’d left before the VIP event, Zach and I would never have crossed paths. Maybe.
There is so much for us to remember, and plan for. So many conversations and events from our past that we recall fondly, while also looking forward to the future, because it doesn’t seem as hard, or as bleak now. I still wonder how I’ll navigate being around Zach’s father. But Zach always reassures me that he’ll always be by my side, and that I’ll never have to suffer him alone.
By the time we dock, the city is buzzing with people. We meander around, stopping for a coffee, sharing a pastry, soaking in the atmosphere.
“I don’t mind,” I answer, peering ahead of me. I blink a few times. “Oh. My. God!” I gasp, coming to an immediate stop on the sidewalk as I stare at the vision before me. “It’s Fleur.”
“Where?” Zach follows my gaze.
My roommate is sitting at a small café table, leaning forward and gazing into the eyes of a man sitting across from her. Only, this isn’t just a polite smile. This is real; something I don’t often see in Fleur. Stripped of sarcasm and sharp edges, her face is softer, and she seems quietly, and blissfully happy.
“I think … I think she’s on another date.” I narrow my eyes, trying to laser in and get a good look. “I think she likes him, whoever this is.”
“Want to go over and say ‘hi?’” Zach asks.
I nod, super excited. “I sure do. I’m not walking past pretending I haven’t seen her. I need answers, and now!” But as I approach, she clocks me, her eyes widening.
“Maya! Zach!” She stands up, face flushed. “You’re up early.”
“I could say the same for you,” I reply. She looks almost sheepish. My gaze falls to the guy sitting opposite her. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
Fleur looks slightly flustered. “This … this is Dave,” she says.
“Dave?” I blurt. “You mean Dating-App-Dave?”
The guy chuckles with laughter. “Guilty.”
“Dave, my roommate, Maya, and Zach,” Fleur says. I watch her closely. She keeps glancing at him, and for once she doesn’t retreat behind sarcasm.
This is … serious.
This is not a disaster date.
Come to think of it, I don’t even think this is a first date.
No wonder I haven’t heard from her. She probably doesn’t even realize I’ve not been at the apartment.
“Lovely to meet you, Dave. At long last,” I say, feeling a flood of warmth, because, he seems ordinary enough. At first glance, and first perception, he doesn’t seem to be emotionally unavailable, and he doesn’t have jowls. He looks to be of similar age to her. Medium build, dark hair, blue eyes. Eyes that shine when he looks at Fleur. Having heard about him for months, it’s nice to put a face to him, and to realize, with relief, that he seems like a good catch. I like him already.
“Likewise,” he says, before nodding at Zach.
“How long has this been going on for?” I ask Fleur.
“A few weeks, maybe,” she admits.
“A few weeks?” I cry. “You didn’t tell me!”
She grins. “I didn’t want to jinx it.”
Dave looks amused, “For what it’s worth, the app’s a lot better now.”
Fleur gives Dave a proud, loving look. “He’s been fine-tuning it.”
“Has he now?” I can’t help but smile seeing these two together. It’s strange, yet fitting how they found one another in the strangest of ways.
“If you have any single friends who might want to give this a try,” Dave says, “I’d be happy to let them have a free trial.”
I suddenly get an idea. “I might know someone. A fifty-something, high-flying corporate woman. Do you think this could help her?”
Zach arches a brow. “You’re seriously going to suggest this to Katherine?”
“I absolutely am. What’s the worst that could happen?” I answer. “She hasn’t had much success with the exclusive dating agencies. What do you say, Dave?”
“Sure. I’d be happy to,” he replies.
Fleur sits down and they gaze at one another, still wrapped up in the cozy glow of new love. I glance at Zach, because I’m starting to feel like a server at a table for two.
“Let’s all four of us have dinner one evening,” I suggest.
“Sure.” Fleur and Dave answer in unison.
“See you around,” I say to them both, and to Fleur. “Call me. We need to talk.”
Zach slips his fingers through mine as we walk away. “They seem happy,” he says. I nod in agreement.
“Fleur could write a book about dating disasters. You had to hear her stories to believe them.”
Zach looks pensive. “He seems like a nice guy, and your friend seems different, though I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
But I know what he means. There’s a quiet calmness about Fleur now. She’s been searching for someone for months, and all that time he was right under her nose.
Not quite like my situation.
Zach was pushed to the further corners of my mind, and he belonged to a past I tried to bury, but life pulled him back to me. Now, I can’t imagine my life without him.
The past doesn’t feel heavy anymore.
It feels complete.
And we’ve both moved on to a brighter future.