High Heels in New York (18 page)

“I am your best friend,” Angie started to explain. “I would never do anything like that to you.”

“Whatever,” Melissa said, wiping her face with a dry paper towel.

“I tried calling you a hundred times today and it went to voicemail. It’s not the type of news I can leave in a voicemail,” Angie said.

Melissa remembered that she didn’t have her cell phone all morning because of Claude. Maybe Angie was telling her truth. “Why didn’t you tell Christina? She would have told me.”

Angie shrugged her shoulder. “I wasn’t sure how much Christina knew.”

“You should’ve found a way.”

Angie’s voice softened, “I know.”

“Did you even ask Valerie why she did this to me?” Melissa asked. “Why she took Jonathan from me?”

“She didn’t know Jonathan was even seeing anyone. He told her he was single,” Angie said. “She didn’t know until you showed up at the restaurant.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and as soon as she told me I wanted to tell you. But I couldn’t reach you by phone. Then I was going to tell you when I saw you at SPIN,  but you disappeared,” Angie leaned in closer, lowering her voice as a group of girls walked inside the bathroom, “I can’t believe you threw up on her!”

“Oh.” Melissa looked away embarrassed, “It was an accident.”

“And Valerie felt so bad about everything that she wanted to make it up to you so she came up with a plan that would force you to have to meet up with her,” Angie said.

“The interview?
I was wondering why she had picked me to do it. I thought it was to throw her relationship with Jonathan in my face.” Melissa was starting to feel like the scum of the earth. She was so ashamed that she didn’t
know what to do with herself.

“What’s wrong?” Angie asked, seeing Melissa pacing and fidgeting.

Melissa desperately wanted to tell Angie everything but it would break her heart to know that just when she had found her sister, she had lost her. And Melissa didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news. Not after they had finally made up. So she did what she was unfortunately getting good at, she lied.
“Nothing.
I don’t feel well. I think I’m going to call it a night,” She said, pushing back the tears.

13

It had been raining all morning. The sound of the
rain
hitting the double glass pane windows in Melissa’s living room was soothing. And that’s exactly what Melissa needed. Sitting on the window seat,
she
stared out onto the busy Manhattan Street through
the
bay windows. Even then, with all the rain, everyone had someplace to go, someplace to be and
perhaps, she thought,
someone to go home to.

She had no one.

Taking
a sip of chamomile tea, which is what she always drank whenever she wasn’t feeling well
, she
contemplated calling Angie
.
But what would she say and how? She had to take her time and come up with the right words to say
,
and still hadn’t when her cell phone rang from an unknown number.

“Hello,” she said, sounding dismal.

“Good morning Ms. De La Rosa, this is Jennifer Harley with Fox 6 News. I’d like to know if you’d like to come into our studio this afternoon for an interview.
”

“What?”
Melissa asked, confused.
“
How about no?
”

“But wouldn’t you like for everyone to know your side of the story?”

Her side?
She had a side? All she knew was that her life was destroyed by a man she loved and trusted. If that was what they wanted to hear well then fine, she would tell them. “Listen, all I know is that a week ago, I was going to marry a very kind and loving man who turned out not to be. If you want to post that
on your little network
feel free,” s
he said and hung up. The tears began to fall quickly when the phone rang again. “I said I’m not interested,” she yelled into the receiver.

“
Woah
.
I was only calling to say hello,” Claude said coolly.

“I’m sorry. I thought it was someone else,” Melissa said, wiping her tears away.

“I can call back? And then you’ll know it’s me and you can say something nice,” he said.

Melissa laughed. “Why are you calling me?”

“To ask you out,” he said.

Melissa wasn’t in the mood to have this conversation with him. But it was better than talking to that reporter. “It’s raining,” she offered as an excuse.

“Yes it is.”

“W
here
would we go in this weather?” S
he asked looking out of the window. The rain had not discouraged anyone
from
being
outside. There were still lots of people going about their day.

“Someplace indoors, where it’s not raining,” he said.

“Is there a time when you’re not joking?”

“You’ll have to spend time with me and figure that out by yourself,” he said.

She thought about it. She could stay home like she had been all day and cry or she could spend time with a guy who easily makes her laugh.
“Okay,” she said, finally giving in.
“But it’s not a date,” she warned and then gave him her address. After they’d hung up she realized that she hadn’t asked him where he was taking her and that was very important. Without that information she wouldn’t know what to wear. So, she called him back.

“Hello,” a woman’s voice answered and Melissa quickly hung up the call.
I guess I must’ve dialed the wrong number
, she thought. She dialed the number that called her last, this time
double checking for accuracy
a
nd once again
a woman picked up the call.

What the hell?
She thought. “Hi, I’m looking for Claude?” she asked, wondering who this woman was.
He
couldn’t have asked her out on a date while being already involved, right?
Then
she remembered that Jonathan proposed to Valerie
while
being engaged to her so it was very plausible.
She became very angry and by the time he got on the phone, she was boiling hot. “I
can’t
believe you asked me out on a date while
there’s
a woman at your place!”
S
he screamed.

“Who
that
?”
He laughed, tauntingly.
“
A
re you jealous?”

“
This is not the time to be joking. What you did was disrespectful and you don’t deserve to breathe.”

“Oh really?”
He asked, with a low chuckle.
“Are you done?”

“Excuse me?”

“That woman is my mother,” he explained and instantly Melissa
felt
embarrassed
.

“F
ine,” she said.
“
Well, I need to know where we are going so I
know what to wear.
”
She pounded her fist against her head unable to believe what just happened.

“You can wear whatever you like,” he said. “See you in an hour.”

“
Fine.
”

“
Fine.”

An hour later, Melissa was sitting in the passenger side of Claude’s car, picking at the skin on her bottom lip.
She was wondering when he was going to bring up the fact that he had seen her on television or ask her about Jonathan. She surely wasn’t going to volunteer the information.

“Are you nervous?” Claude asked.

“No,” she quickly put her hand on her lap. “Look, about earlier
…
”
she paused.

“Oh, you’re not used to apologizing huh?”
he said, grinning at her as he drove down Broadway.

“I do too. I’ve just never had to say it,” Melissa said
. Thinking about it he was right. She couldn’t remember the last time she really apologized to someone. Then again, she’d never needed to.

Claude turned into a parking garage and
valet
the car, opening the door for Melissa like a true gentleman.

“Thank you,” she said.

He smiled, holding an umbrella over both their heads. They only walked for a minute when Melissa saw the awning to Phantom of the Opera. She sighed, remembering that Jonathan was supposed to have taken her there and never did. As she walked past she felt raindrops on her head and turned around. Claude had stopped walking and was holding the glass door open for her.

“Aren’t you coming?” He asked.

He didn’t know it, but at that very moment, she could’ve kissed him.

After Melissa stopped being upset that she hadn’t dressed up because Claude hadn’t told her where they were going, she
let herself enjoy the show. And she cried, through the entire thing.

“That was beautiful,” Melissa said as they walked back to the parking garage.

“Yes it was. Can you believe I’ve seen it eleven times?” Claude said.

“Seriously?”
She didn’t expect him to be the type of guy who liked Broadway shows let alone see one that often.

“Yup,” he said.
“
Hey,
I know a really great place to have hot chocolate,” Claude said as they got back inside his car.

Seeing as she had had a good time so far, Melissa agreed to go.
When they arrived at Max Brenner’s Melissa was speechless.

“I used to come here a lot as a kid,” she said as they sat down. Besides the menu, nothing had changed. It looked exactly like it she remembered.

“
Yeah
?”
Claude said, looking up from the menu. “I come here at least twice a week. There’s something about their frozen hot chocolate that keeps me coming back.”

“There’s something about it that keeps me avoiding it,” Melissa said. “Like the calories.”

He looked at her, quizzically. “What do you have to worry about? You look great.”

She knew he was being nice but she blushed. Then again, was he just being nice or did he actually think she really did look great?

The waiter came over just in time to break up the sexual tension that was starting to heat up. “What can
I
getcha
?”

“I’ll have the frozen hot chocolate,” Claude said.

Melissa laughed.

“What?” He asked, laughing. “I can’t help it.”

She nodded her head. “Everything looks so good,” she wasn’t sure what to choose until a picture of something very delicious caught her eye. “Can I have the Pearl Sugar Chocolate Waffle please?”

“Coming right up,” The waiter said and then walked away.

“That sounds delicious,” Claude said.

“Too bad.
I don’t share,” Melissa said.

“Me either,” Claude said looking directly at her. She instantly blushed but when a couple seated next to her began pointing at her and whispering, she regained her self-control and looked at Claude.

“Can I ask you something?” Melissa said, in a low whisper.

“Shoot.”

“How come you haven’t asked about…you know?” She couldn’t even bring herself to say it out loud.

“Whether you’re a top or a bottom?” He said, tauntingly. “I didn’t think it was appropriate.”

Melissa gasped and threw her table napkin at him. “Rude!”

“You’re starting to scare me,” he said, holding the napkin in his hand. “I’m going to have to tie your hands together so you don’t throw stuff at me.”

“Well, if you don’t say things like that I won’t have to throw anything at you,” Melissa retorted. “And you know what I mean. I’ve been all over the news the last couple of days. I’m surprised the waiter didn’t ask for an autograph.” She stared at him, waiting for an answer.

“You would’ve told me eventually, when you were ready,” he said. Once again, he found a way to make her feel safe and comfortable. She didn’t really like that it was so easy for her to like him. But it was a nice feeling to have.

When they were done, he drove her back home, opening the door again for her and thanking her for going out with him.

“You don’t have to thank me because it wasn’t a date,” she said, smiling. 

“Oh really?’ he said, walking her to the entrance of her apartment building.

“Yup,” she said.

“Then if it wasn’t a date you won’t mind if I do this,” he said, turning her around gently to face her and then he did it, he bent
down and kissed her. It was a very soft and passionate kiss. Like the kiss Jake gave Molly
Ringwald
in sixteen candles, except she wasn’t sixteen, even if her heart was beating like one.