Page 10 of One More Weekend

“Killed it.” I smiled as she took her seat. “I have an idea. You can say no.”

Raising an eyebrow, Jenna sipped her cocktail as she prepared her ears for my pitch. “Go for it. But just know, as a former Management company intern, I hear a lot of pitches.”

No pressure.

“What if I take you on a tour of New York?”

Jenna opened her mouth to argue, but I slammed my index finger into her lips to silence her dissent. I knew I needed to tread carefully, no matter what I did or said, there was nothing I could do to convince her to stay if she had her mind set on leave.

Hell, I wouldn’t want to convince her… it would just be a convenient benefit.

“Let me finish,” I winked as I pressed my finger into the flesh. “You just said that you didn’t ever do as much here as you wanted to. So, what if I show it to you? I’ll give you a goodbye tour of New York City. At least then if you decide to move at the end of the lease, you’ll have seen all it has to offer.”

Jenna fell silent, letting the tone-deaf teens fill the emptiness. Lifting her cup to her lips, her mind worked through the offer.

Eventually, she sucked her teeth. “But that tourist shit is expensive and we’re both about to be tight on money.”

“Let me figure that out.” I waved her off, hoping it was convincing enough on its own.

Taking in a deep breath, Jenna nodded. “Okay, but this is a goodbye tour that I’m allowed to change my mind on.”

Pumping my fist, I smiled at her. “Of course, we can stop at any point and it's your choice if you want to stay here or not regardless.”

Jenna eyed me suspiciously, a part of her knowing there must be something else behind all of this. But she stuck out her hand and grabbed mine. “Deal.”

Just as the words leave her mouth, the college students step off stage and I know I’m up. I still had no idea what Jenna had chosen for me but I was about to find out.

Maybe it was a good thing I didn’t have to make the choice. I was about to have to plan a whole summer of iconic friend dates all across New York. And my entire friendship – and living situation – hinged on its success.

8

JENNA

Maybe it was a terrible idea,maybe letting Sy do all of this for me would blow up in my face. But honestly, I was completely out of ideas. I couldn’t leave New York without a proper send-off and I couldn’t stay without a job.

This summer was my last chance, my last possibility at a life here.

I watched as Sy walked her lanky ass up to the platform, a subtle swagger to each movement. Even from my spot in the booth, I knew she felt confident like she’d won something.

But I wasn’t easily impressed and I’d been sent on dates throughout this city for the last eight years. She was going to have to pull out all of the stops to show me the New York I’d been missing.

If anyone could do it, it was Sylvia Robbins.

Just as she stepped onto the stage at the center of Winnie’s Bar, the song popped up on the monitors.Dancing On My OwnbyRobyn.

Looking down at me, Sy raised her eyebrow and shook her head. She mouthed,cheeky bastard.

I shrugged as I settled into my seat. Even now, I could see the nerves as she prepared for her solo. She’d always hated karaoke but she did it, every week, just for me. I wasn’t sure how I’d ever convinced her to do it in the first place, probably because we had fat crushes on each other when we first met.

Interrupting the silly memory, the bumping synth of the song rang out from the speakers.

Sy tapped her foot along to the beat as she brought the mic to her lips. “Somebody said you got a new friend…”

Completely tapped in, Sy found her rhythm and started to bop her head along with her foot.

As the chorus sounded, the group of college kids jumped in with uproarious joy. “I’m in the corner, watching you kiss her, ooooh oh ohhh.”

A smile took over Sy’s face as she kept up with the lyrics. Playing to her crowd, Sy held the mic out toward them. “But I’m not the guy you’re taking home.”

---