Page 54 of Engineering a Love Story

From: Chelsea Lefevre

Subject: New York

Hi Simon,

Thanks again for the wedding invitation. I’m looking forward to it.

Any chance you need me in New York next week? Maybe on Tuesday afternoon? I’d tell you more, but it’s messy.

Chelsea

Not five minutes later, I have a reply.

Chelsea,

Great to hear from you. I’m glad you’ll be joining us at the soiree later this month. I phoned Dinesh at Citibank. He’s expecting to meet with you—in-person—next Tuesday afternoon. You should plan for the meeting to run late. I’ll book you a hotel?

Simon

After letting Simon know no hotel is needed, I scoot back to the conference room, close the door, lean against it, and dial Seth.

“I’ll be there Tuesday. Just one night. You’ll send hotel information. And you’re in charge of dinner reservations. Obviously.”

“I cannot wait. Bring fancy. Maybe heels?”

We hang up and I dawdle in the conference room for a few minutes, stifling a pricking anxiety. Involving Simon, leaving the office on a weekday to meet Seth. These are lines I’m crossing, but I’m past the point of caring. I’m like a kid gobbling Halloween candy after being denied sweets—greedy and sick.

***

I have to rearrange a few meetings, but scheduling a trip to New York isn’t difficult. Howard doesn’t blink when I say Simon requested I meet with Citibank the following week. He’s pleased with the volume of views the Market Spotlight is getting on Gilroy’s website, and he knows I’m prepping for a big consulting engagement in Chicago later in the month. Peter Lublin from Alliance Bank, whom I sat next to at lunch at the Aurelian event, has engaged Gilroy, and me specifically, to assist with the selection of a vendor for Alliance’s online project. I crushed last quarter’s writing targets and already have a jump on this month’s writing as well.

I can do no wrong, as far as Howard is concerned.

Finding the right clothes for New York is a bigger hurdle. Fancy? I have all those dresses I wore to weddings, but I danced with Ash in all of them.

Though I get nervous simply thinking of it, on Saturday I go to Newbury Street. I stroll the boutique-y neighborhood, trying not to be intimidated, wondering if I’ll ever feel comfortable entering stores like the ones here.

Eventually, I choose a shop that looks at least moderately approachable, and I dart to the back in search of markdowns. I find a narrow black skirt I can reuse for work. As I go into the dressing room, a tall sales clerk with a crown of spiky pink hair offers to bring me tops to go with it.

With skirt and blouse in hand, I want a break before tackling shoe shopping. I’m not far from where Travis and Daisuke live, so I call to see if they’re free for lunch.

Travis says they’re meeting Lian. And her roommate Brittany. He thinks they’re both a little in love with Daisuke. “Join us,” he says. “Please.”

We meet at Stephanie’s and ask the waitress if we can lower the umbrella on the patio to enjoy the October sun. Lian tells us about her recent trip to Texas to visit Ryan. She doesn’t share exhaustive details, but it’s clear she and Ryan remain in limbo, with her hoping he’ll ask for a more serious commitment and him perfectly content with their long-distance quasi-relationship.

Seeing Lian’s angst, I’m sympathetic but also certain my situation is different. While Seth and I haven’t made any promises, our affection is obvious. What shape it will take, I don’t know, but I’m warmed by his attention even when he is three thousand miles away, the glow in my cheeks coming not solely from the patio sun.

Daisuke asks to see the clothes I purchased, and I hold up the black skirt and blouse. He wrinkles his nose. “This is to meet your man?”

“What man?” Lian asks.

Travis squints and tilts his head in an apology. I told him yesterday about my planned trip, and I don’t care that he told Daisuke, but making up a story now for Lian seems lame, especially when I know she cares little about Gilroy anyway. I give her a condensed version, saying only that I’ve been seeing someone. “But he works at a vendor in my research area, so it’s a little dicey. I’m meeting him Tuesday night in New York.”

“And you’re going to wear that?” Lian points at my skirt-blouse combo, confirming my prediction about where her concerns would lie. Brittany also gives her head a quick shake.

They take me shopping. We go into one of the stores I’d never have braved on my own, and Lian is animated in a way I’ve never seen her. She puts me in a dressing room and brings me things to try on.

In the end, I buy an emerald silk slip dress. It’s tight across my abdomen and falls below my knees with a little flare. It has only thin straps and I question its suitability to both the October weather and dinner on a Tuesday, but Lian and Brittany shush me. There’s also a tiny, creamy, cashmere sweater and mahogany heels. The whole thing pulls together nicely, and I don’t look at the price as I give the clerk my credit card.