Page 47 of Simply Irresistible
“Look,” Melanie said, slapping an apartment magazine down on the table in front of me.
“They had those in the bathroom?” I asked, picking it up and flipping through.
“No,” she said and pointed to the rack by the counter. “Over there. I know we haven’t decided on anything, but I thought it might be fun to take a look at what’s out there. See what our options might be.”
I nodded. “Good idea.” I looked at the index and flipped to the first page of the Manhattan listings. I knew that city real estate prices were going to be ridiculous in comparison to the other burroughs, but I couldn’t imagine moving out of the city and I was pretty sure Melanie felt the same way. That was something we’d definitely need to talk about if the rent in Manhattan was too steep.
We spent breakfast flipping through the listings, pointing out the apartment features we liked and ones we didn’t like. We talked about all the things we needed to talk about, like where we would choose to live if we couldn’t afford to stay in the city. We shared our favorite neighborhoods, and the areas we wanted to steer clear of. It turned out that Melanie’s lease was up in four months and mine was up in three, so we were both within the required time frame of letting our respective landlords know we’d be vacating.
In the end, we’d highlighted several properties we were interested in looking at in person and all but one of them were in the city.
Everything was going so well for us, and I couldn’t help but look forward to what the future held.
25
Melanie
Tyler stabbed at the grilled chicken on his plate, not actually trying to lift it with his fork. I learned that about seven stabs ago; he would have accomplished that by now had it been his goal. Something was on his mind. Something he didn’t want to talk to me about, but I had an idea of what it was. His boss, Roger, was publicly reprimanded by Preston for not producing anything innovative for the magazine. I was sure Roger was taking his frustrations out on Ty.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“You just did,” he mumbled, seeming to come out of his haze a little bit. He looked at the shredded chicken with an odd expression, as though he didn’t know how it got to be shredded when the rest was perfectly cubed.
“Ha-ha,” I said, not amused with the semantics of the English language. “You’ve got some columns written now...why are you still staying at a job that you hate?”
He sighed. “It’s not that simple, Mel.”
Yeah. If his handy work with the chicken wasn’t already an indication of his off mood, him calling me by a variation of my actual name was. He almost always called me Spice. I just wish he’d talk about it, instead of letting it fester.
“It can be that simple,” I pushed. “Why not present your idea to a cooking magazine, or even a lifestyle magazine? You could try for a column in one of the newspapers, too. There are possibilities out there, Tyler.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“You don’t act like it.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I’m trying to understand, but you won’t talk to me about it.”
He sighed again. If he kept that up, he’d end up blowing everything off the table.
I looked at my watch. There wasn’t enough time to have a deep discussion. We each had about fifteen minutes left of our lunch hour, and Tyler would be packing up and hauling ass in about five minutes. We might only be a couple minutes from our office building, but Tyler never returned to work late from lunch. He refused to give Roger fuel, whether he was in the office or not.
Case in point why Tyler needed to find a new job.
I piled my silverware on my plate and fished out a few bills to pay our tab. Tyler glared at me as he took out his own wallet, and I tucked my money away. No use in poking the bear today.
As we walked back to the office, weaving through the crowded sidewalk, I couldn’t help but ask again. It concerned me that he was so unhappy at his job and that Roger treated him so terribly. Tyler’s brother-in-law owned the magazine, for crying out loud. What was happening was unacceptable, and the only person who had the power to do anything about it was Tyler.
“I don’t understand why you at least won’t tell Preston. Obviously, he’s concerned with Roger’s performance. Now would actually be the perfect time-”
“I’m not telling Preston anything,” Tyler snapped. “You don’t get it, Melanie.” At least he was speaking softly when he called me by my first name again. “You grew up in the suburbs with a normal, really great family. You’re lucky.”
I laughed. “There’s no such thing as a normal family.”
He grinned a little, and I was pleased to see that little bit of Tyler spark. “I’m just saying that you had a normal family dynamic. I didn’t have that. My sister and her husband were essentially my parents, and as much as they loved having me around—and still do—I always felt like an outsider. I wasn’t their kid. I was way too old to be their kid, and they were way too young to be my parents. But they took me in, and I appreciate that. This job...it’s not the ideal situation, but it’s stable for now. I got it on my own merits, and I’m taking care of myself. If I were to quit my job, Hannah would worry.”
“You don’t have to quit without another prospect, Ty.”
