Page 2 of Partner Pursuit
The heat shimmered off the asphalt street. A messenger guy on a bike swooped in and out of the cars on Eighth Avenue, blowing his whistle.
Winnie:This is my friend Audrey, right? Who lives at the office? Who wants to make partner in six months?
Audrey:Haha. Very funny.
Winnie:Call you later.Havefun!
She darted across the street before the light changed. She jogged down the metal subway stairs, the familiar dank smell of ammonia mixed with sweat greeting her. The countdown clock showed her the 1 train was arriving. She slid her MetroCard through the turnstile and ran down the next set of stairs just in time to squeeze onto a train. She reached around the woman in front of her to hold onto a pole, trying not to touch her, to maintain an inch of physical distance. There were definite benefits to working late and taking a car home on the client. A couple smooshed in behind her. The man had his arm tightly around the woman, holding her balanced against the jerking of the train. Audrey averted her glance and focused on the subway posters. One had a picture of a couple on a beach. That was the opposite of her summer so far, working nights and weekends. But romance suddenly seemed possible—not this summer, not before she made partner, but maybe after. Tim had reached out to hug her at the end of their Popflicks pitch, out in the hallway, under the portraits of the founding partners. But he’d stepped back as if electrocuted by that professionalwork-colleagueboundary. Still, it was something, and it made her smile as the train pulled intoherstop.
She pushed through the subway turnstile at 72ndStreet. She passed by the Gray’s Papaya with its slogans in bright red letters on its yellow façade and turned the corner to walk down thebrownstone-linedblock. Birds chirped; a teenager walked their golden retriever up ahead. Trees grew within small,fenced-off,neighbor-plantedflower beds, with different variations of “Don’t let your dog pee onme” signs.
She reached the corner Korean grocery store and admired the sea of pink roses, sunflowers, and hyacinths for sale.The bright yellow sunflowers stood especially tall outside. Eve would like those. Audrey picked out a bunch and paid the man at the makeshift counter at the end of the row of flowers.
Walking away, she slid her wallet back into her purse just as her phone rang.Winnie.Fumbling to check it with her one free hand, she bumped into a hard body and droppedher phone.
The owner of said hard body was tall with wavy brown hair and chiseled cheekbones, and he was carrying a case of beer. His fitted, worn grayt-shirtshowed off his lean muscular frame.
“Sorry, I was distracted.” She blushed as she bent to pick up her phone, trying to do so gracefully in a pencil skirt and heels while holding thelong-stemmedsunflowers.
“No worries,” he said, turning away from her. “I was trying to make the light.” The light glowedred.
She checked her phone so she looked busy as she stood next to him, waiting for the light to change. That hard contact had her flustered. Had she stared at him like a lovestruck teenager?She really needed to get out of the office more often. Fortunately, her mobile had survived the fall. The caller ID had identified the call she thought was from Winnie as a scam call. Now his phonerang.
He shook his head. “Being on call. It’sso…”
“Essential, right?” She nodded. It allowed her the freedom to leave the office, but still be available wherever shewas.
“I was going to say annoying.” He answered the phone. “Jake here.” He listened to the caller and then said, “Yes, come on by. You know my opinion: you’ve got to shake it off and get out there. Dating in New York for a guy is like shooting fish in a barrel.” He slipped his phone back in his jean pocket.
“I’ve always preferred the metaphor that honey catches more flies than vinegar,” Audrey said. “You might want to try sweet bait on your hook, rather than your shotgun approach.” She raised an eyebrow, less than charmed by his remark.
He laughed. “You’re right.” Her gaze met his; his eyes were warm blue with hints of green and gray, like the Atlantic Ocean on a calm day, and her stomach did a little flip. “Can I help you carry anything?” He waved at her purse and the flowers.
“Thanks, but I’m good.” She was tempted to hand him the flowers to carry, just to keep talking to him, but he was carrying a case ofbeer.
A little boy scootered past them, over the curb, into the street, towards the busy intersection. She stared in horror, her feet glued to the sidewalk as if stuck in cement. Jake bolted after him, scooping the child up with one arm as the scooter fell to the ground, just past the parked car. And then her feet moved and she sprinted over, picking up the dropped scooter from the street and following Jake back to the safety of thesidewalk.
A mother with a baby stroller laden with Trader Joe’s shopping bags ran up, screaming. “I told you to stop at the curb,Eddy!”
“I tried, Mommy, I tried.” The boy started crying. “I missed the brake.”
Audrey and Jake exchanged a look of “that was close.” Her heart was still hammering. And she felt shaky. Jake wiped his hand onhis jeans.
The mother hugged her son tightly and turned to Jake. “Thank yousomuch.”
“No problem.” Jake bent to his knees so he could look Eddy in the eyes. “I’ve got a niece about your age who likes to scooter. And you know what I’ve told her? She can scooter ahead, but she has to stop where the buildings stop. Then if she misses the brake, that gives her time to find it. What do you think about tryingthat?”
Eddy nodded. Audrey found herself nodding as well; that was good advice.
“Thank you both again,” the mom said. Audrey just waved it off. She felt guilty that she hadn’t moved fast enough—that she’d been stuckin shock.
“No worries. I’ve had practice with scooter crises.” Jake looked embarrassed at the mom’s gratitude. The light changed, and he quickly crossed.
Audrey followed him, still quivering from thenear-accident. Her phone rang again. This time, it was Winnie.
“Hey, what’s the importantnews?”
“I heard a rumor that litigation isn’t doing well. They might only make two partners instead of four. I was going to wait and tell you tomorrow because you deserve a night off, but then I thought I’d bettercallyou.”
