Page 56 of One More Weekend

Everything pointed in my favor.

For Sy’s sake – and my own – I needed to keep a level head and make sure I didn’t get anyone’s hopes too high.

Sy guided us across the street to Madison Square Park, finding a grassy spot near the corner of Madison Avenue and E 23rd Street. The whole park was abuzz with gathering people.

“Sy, what on earth are we doing?”

“Having a picnic.” Sy smiled as she threw out a large picnic blanket, anchoring it down with the basket and her shoes.

Opening up the wicker basket, Sy pulled out an entire charcuterie board of snacks. Cut cheese, salami, crackers, fig jam, and berries were all neatly laid out across the blanket as we ate.

Checking her phone, Sy nodded. “Dig in, we have about an hour before we need to get up.”

“Get up? Is this not the whole thing?”

“Nope.” Sy shook her head as a devious smile took over her face. She’d been very secretive about the whole thing, not willing to let a single thing slip about what we wereactuallyhere to do.

So instead, we snacked and laughed. The sun started to lower in the sky as I laid out on the blanket, resting my head on Sy’s thigh as she ran her hand through my hair.

Around 8:15, Sy rubbed my arm. “Time to get up.”

I wrinkled my forehead as we packed up our basket and threw on our shoes before walking over to 23rd Street. But Sy stopped us on the sidewalk with hundreds of other pedestrians, all lined up on the curb.

“Oh my god, no way! I’ve never seen it before!” I jumped with excitement.

A natural phenomenon, Manhattanhenge only happened twice a year. And somehow, I’d never been able to see it.

As we joined the crowd, the streets slowly got quiet as pedestrians made their way to the center of the road, watching as the sun started to lower down toward the horizon.

My jaw dropped as I watched it align perfectly with 23rd Street, cradled by skyscrapers on either side as it cast an orange glow down the entire island.

Standing behind me, Sy wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her chin on my shoulder. We stood like that in silence as the orange light intensified, the sun falling lower and lower.

Some in the crowd pulled out their phones to record it, part of me wondering if I should take one myself.

But I didn’t, letting my hands rest on Sy’s forearms as I leaned my head back into her chest.

As the sun neared the horizon, the bottom of the sphere just above the Jersey hills, the crowd started to gasp. Right when it touched, everyone erupted into claps.

It really was awe-inspiring. Amongst the hustle and bustle of a thriving, growing city, it had been just so perfectly designed that the sun would set right on the lines of the grid, lighting the city up in magnificent, fiery hues of yellow and orange.

No one moved until the sun disappeared behind the mountains, the whole world feeling like it ground to a halt just long enough to watch the sunset.

The crowd started to shift, the brief moment of stillness in the city that never sleeps coming to an end.

From my pocket, my phone buzzed with an email.

My heart skipped a beat as I pulled it out and waited for it to load.

Subject Line:Agent Assistant Position, Final Decision.

My chest tightenedat the words.No offer.

But I forced myself to read the body of the email.

Hi Jenna,

It wasa pleasure to get to know you over the last week. Your resume speaks for itself and we have no doubt that you have a bright future.

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