by Cassie Cross
“Let’s see…I was thinking about how gorgeous you looked, how much I wish I had my camera so I could capture that moment of gorgeousness. Then I reached for my phone, because—camera!—but I remembered that it’s either still on the floor of that elevator lobby, or in someone’s pocket by now. And I thought maybe after the paparazzi situation—with the cameras in your face—you might not have wanted mine there, either.”
Finn lets out a short laugh, and his breath warms my skin. “That was quite a ride,” he replies, smiling.
“There’s just a lot going on up here.” I motion toward my head, and Finn catches my hand, wrapping it inside of his.
“All of this is probably overwhelming,” he says, alluding to the fact that I walked into an elevator with a stranger, and walked out of it with a freaking celebrity.
“Yeah,” I whisper. I don’t want to make him feel bad, but I don’t want to lie to him either. I’ve actually seen him with some of the women he’s dated—the other halves of the relationships that just didn’t fit. All famous, all gorgeous, all followed by relentless animals who bring shame to people whose livelihoods come from the camera. I’m not famous, so would anyone care about me? Would we be hounded relentlessly? Every time I walk out of a building, would I have to wonder what’s waiting on the other side of the door?
“I can actually hear you thinking,” he teases.
“Sorry. It’s not a value judgment against you as a person, but after getting a little taste of it today, if that’s what your life is like-”
“It’s not always like that,” he interrupts. “I don’t want you to think it’s always like that. But…it is like that sometimes. Especially now since there are rumors circulating about what my next move is gonna be, now that it’s out that I’m taking a break.”
The uncertainty in his voice is a little heartbreaking, because he thinks I’m using the attention as a reason to turn him down. I twist in his arms until I face him, then bring my hand up to his cheek.
“Hey,” I say softly. “I was just gonna say that if media attention like that is a steady fixture in your life, then I don’t blame you for wanting to get away from it for a little while.”
Finn lets out this long exhale of relief, relief that’s written all over his handsome face.
“Not steady. Occasional. Most of the time I can avoid it, but that took me by surprise. My manager told me to have a security detail with me while I was out here, just to deal with situations like that, but I didn’t listen. It’s New York, you pass by ten celebrities on your way to Sunday brunch, you know?”
I slide my fingers along the collar of his jacket. “Ten is an exaggeration.”
Finn laughs and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I just want you to know what you’re getting into. Being with me would be…different. People will be interested.”
“Maybe,” I say firmly, sliding my arms around his waist, “you shouldn’t start talking me out of something that’s barely even started. Let me see what there is to handle, and decide if I can handle it.”
He presses a soft kiss to my lips. “Okay.”
“Good.” I turn around, and rest my elbows against the railing. “Now put your arms around me and let’s watch this gorgeous sunset.”
Finn does as I ask, wrapping me up, and tucking his face into the crook of my shoulder.
“How do you have access to this place?” he asks.
“It’s one of the benefits of my job. The upside to occasionally not having steady work is having access to some of the truly great, unknown parts of this city.”
“You’ve done a shoot up here?” he asks.
“A couple. Sometimes when I’m feeling down about something, I come up here just to look at the city. It’s so quiet and peaceful from this height; makes it easy to forget about all the bullshit that goes on at street level. I did some promo shots of the building interiors for the owner’s website. Unrestricted access to the roof was part of the benefits package.”
“Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“You’re welcome.” I turn my head, press my lips against his.
“So,” Finn says, nuzzling my cheek with his nose. “No party tonight?”
I lean into the warmth of him. “I don’t want to go to the one Caroline invited me to, but I think we can make our own, don’t you?”
I didn’t mean that to sound quite so suggestive, but the heat in Finn’s eyes indicates that doesn’t really matter. “Yeah,” he replies, his voice rough. His lips brush along the side of my neck, raising goosebumps all over my arms and shoulders. “What do you feel like doing?”
“Hmmm…I don’t know. Stuff?”
Finn smiles against my skin. “Stuff sounds good.”
“You just have to kiss me at midnight.”
“I can definitely do that.”
“And before midnight,” I add.
Finn plants a kiss on the curve of my jaw for good measure. “What about after?”
“Definitely after,” I sigh, melting into him. “Lots and lots of after.”
Finn and I linger on the rooftop until just after the sun goes down.
As we make our way to the elevator, Finn wraps his arms around me and pulls me close. “Let’s hope this trip goes better than the first one we took together.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Can’t say I’d be too upset about getting stuck in a dark, confined space with you again. Just maybe not tonight.”
“I never thought getting stuck in an elevator would be a blessing,” he says, smiling down at the ground. “It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to know someone as just Finn. Just…talk to someone who didn’t know who I was, without any of the pressure and expectation that comes along with it.”
“I’m glad I could give that to you,” I tell him. I truly am. It seems ridiculous that a mechanical malfunction could bring this much bliss into my life. It’s only been a day. What’s it going to be like a month from now? A year?
I’m getting ahead of myself, I know. But this tingling, fluttering feeling that keeps making my heart skip a beat also fills me with endless amounts of anticipation and optimism.
The elevator doors open, and we smile at each other as we take tentative steps inside.
“We’re going to have to stop and get more champagne,” Finn says as he hits the button for the lobby. “And candy. We left your bag in the elevator.”
“A man after my own heart.” If he remembers to keep me in champagne and candy, this could be a match made in heaven.
Finn flashes a wicked grin. “Most definitely.”
The elevator opens to the lobby, and Finn keeps his arm slung around me, my body tucked close to his side. The place is completely devoid of people, and I’m relieved to not have a repeat of earlier.
“Happy New Year, George!” I say to the friendly security guard who let us in earlier. He’s on the phone, so I offer him a little wave as we make our way out.
“Wait, Zoey!” George yells, but it’s too late. Finn pushes the door open, and I see the frenzy that George wanted to warn me of.
This time it isn’t just a gaggle of photographers, it’s a group of fans screaming his name. Finn handles it all with practiced ease, leaning down and saying, “It’s okay. I’m just gonna sign for them and then we can go.”
I want to ask him how he’s going to sign for all of these people, but he lets go of my hand and picks up a Sharpie. I move over to the side of the building, out of the way. But the more he signs, the more people swarm, and eventually things get out of control. They’re yelling at him, and he gets pulled in deeper, to the point where I can’t make him out, because I’m too short and it’s too dark to see any damn thing.
The screams reach a fever pitch when a shiny black SUV reaches the corner, and three large men descend into the crowd, fighting off the girls surrounding him. Finn is yelling for me, frantically searching the crowd, but there’s a wall of people in front of me, and I can’t get to him. I can’t make myself heard over this pandem
onium, and panic rises in my chest as I watch him get pulled into the back seat.
“Finn!” I yell, but it’s too late.
The car is driving away.
8
Chapter Eight
I wait ten minutes for Finn to return, but he doesn’t. When I ask George if he knows what happened, all he can tell me is that he received a call from Finn’s livid publicist who’d seen the pics the paparazzi shopped around of the two of us exiting the elevator earlier today.
Someone who saw us enter this building earlier sent a tip to the paparazzi in exchange for some spending money, and when Finn’s publicist caught wind of it, she’d contacted the building to let George know she was sending a security detail to safely extract Finn from the premises.
That’s who George was on the phone with when Finn and I walked outside. If we’d waited just a few minutes longer, we wouldn’t be separated right now.
I guess we can’t always have good timing.
I ask George for the publicist’s number, but he doesn’t have it. The number was blocked on his Caller ID.
Great. Just great.
Not really sure what to do, and definitely not wanting to go home alone, I make my way over to Caroline’s apartment.
I knock once, and her door flies open, like she was just standing on the other side waiting for me. She’s all decked out and ready to go to the party, her hair a festive bundle of curls piled on top of her head. The dress she’s wearing is amazing. Sparkly and red with a slit that practically reaches her hip.
“You look gorgeous,” I tell her.
But no way does she hear me, because she greets me with a shrill, “Finn McCall? Finn McCall! Holy shit. Holy shit. Do you know how many people have been texting me after they saw the pictures?”
Her eyes are wide with excitement, and her whole freakout on my behalf would be incredibly cute if her voice didn’t cut through the air like a siren. I’m worried her neighbors are going to start filing out into the hallway, and the very last thing I need right now is even more attention called to whatever it is I have going on with Finn.
“Hello to you, too,” I tell her sarcastically. “Can we maybe take this inside?”
She nods furiously, holding the door open for me. She seems surprised that I’m the only one coming in. Looking out into the hallway, she says, “Where is he?”
“He’s gone. I took him to the top of the Centurion to watch the sun set, and there was a swarm of fangirls waiting for him outside. His publicist sent a security detail for him, and we got separated in the crowd. I don’t even think I gave him my last name.”
Caroline sighs, then leads me into her apartment and onto her couch. “You guys really aren’t having good luck today, are you?”
“Not with crowds, or paparazzi, or elevators. But I think that everything else has been pretty great.” I can’t help the dopey smile that spreads across my face as I think about Finn.
“You’re already pretty far gone on him, aren’t you?”
“Hmmmm,” I tease.
“Did you kiss him?” she asks excitedly.
Not gonna tease her about that. “Oh yeah.”
“Did you…more?”
I can’t help but laugh. “Not yet, but I was kind of hoping that would happen tonight. I don’t know, maybe it’s good that I got a little bit of a break to get my head on straight. I felt…lost in him. It’s only been half a day, and it already felt so intense.”
“Sometimes when you know, you know,” she tells me, patting my hand. “And you look happier than I’ve ever seen you the entire time I’ve known you.”
“It’s a lot to take in,” I admit. “There’s a lot that I’m going to have to get used to with him if…if anything comes of this. Paparazzi. Fans. Women lusting after him.” I don’t like letting the niggling doubt that’s been hanging out in the back of my mind have any kind of a voice, but it finds one anyway. “He offered me an out earlier, and I didn’t want it. I don’t want it, but-”
“You two have had a lot thrown at you in a few short hours,” she says. “Taking a breather isn’t the same as taking an out.”
I nod, because that’s certainly true. “Yeah.”
“Wanna know what I think?”
“Always,” I tell her.
“I think that the right person is worth it, no matter what you have to go through to be together. Do you think he’s the right person?”
With a deep breath, I shrug. Half a day in an elevator and a couple of hours on a rooftop isn’t a whole lot to go off of, but I know I want to find out if he could be the guy for me. I’m not ready to give up, no matter how many crowds of screaming women I have to endure. “I think he could be.”
Caroline gives me a soft smile. “Then there’s your answer.”
“Now I’ve just got to figure out a way to get in touch with him.”
“That’s tomorrow’s problem,” she tells me. “It’s getting late on New Year’s Eve, and there’s not a whole hell of a lot you can do about it right now. Tomorrow morning, we’ll find his agent, his publicist, whomever we have to. Tonight, though, you’re not going to sit around wallowing or being upset, okay? I refuse to let you. You’re going to come out with me.”
I’m not in the mood to celebrate. I’d much rather go home and shut myself in and google the hell out of Finn so our reunion can happen as soon as possible. But, Caroline’s right. It’s getting late, and even if I do manage to get in touch with someone, I’m probably going to have to get on their good side to get them to help, and interrupting a New Year’s Eve party or whatever probably won’t get me off on the right foot.
Caroline’s not going to let this drop, and I’m not in the mood to argue with her about it anymore.
“Do you have anything I can wear? I’m going to need some makeup, too.”
Caroline squeals, then pulls me up off the couch and toward her bedroom. “C’mon,” she says. “I have the perfect thing.”
I end up squeezing into a dress of Caroline’s that fits me like a glove. She tames my hair a bit, and we stop at a Duane Reade on the corner near her apartment so I can pick up some mascara, concealer, and gloss. I put on my makeup in the back of an Uber, and somehow manage not to blind myself in the process.
The party is in a bar on the rooftop of a trendy hotel in SoHo. There’s loud music, great food, and even better wine. Everyone present seems to be having a wonderful time. Couples are everywhere, but there are more singles than I thought there’d be.
Under normal circumstances? I would’ve enjoyed myself. In fact, I feel a little foolish for having resisted coming all along. If I hadn’t met Finn, if I hadn’t gotten a taste of the thrill of something new with him earlier, I probably would’ve had a really great time.
But I can’t mingle with these people and pretend like I’m having fun when I know there’s something—and someone—out there waiting for me. I want him, so there just isn’t anything here for me. I stick it out as best I can, try to have a good time. I make a sad little game with myself, imagining scenarios in which Finn will just show up, even though there are a thousand parties in the city tonight, and he has no idea where I am.
It works for a little while, but around 11 o’clock, I just want to go home.
Caroline’s out on the dance floor with her boyfriend Marcus, and they both look like they’re having the time of their lives. Since I don’t have my phone, I can’t text her and let her know I’m leaving, but I don’t want her to worry about me. I manage to snag a pen and a cocktail napkin from a cute bartender, and slip a note in the the breast pocket of Marcus’s jacket, which is slung over a chair at the corner of the bar.
I make my way down to the ground floor, and because the universe is cruel, I catch a poster for an upcoming movie of Finn’s on my way to hail a taxi.
Seeing him now—even the 2D version of him—makes my chest ache.
The streets are lively, but I flag down a cab relatively quickly. I watch couples strolling along the sidewalks as the ca
b drives me back to my apartment, all the while formulating a plan of action regarding locating Finn and putting my lips on his as soon as humanly possible.
The cabbie is friendly, and he took the quickest route without me asking, so I give him the rest of the cash I have on me—enough to cover my fare with plenty left over for a solid tip.
He wishes me a Happy New Year, and drives off as I step onto the sidewalk, rummaging through the small bag Caroline left me to find my keys.
“Hey.” A deep, familiar voice grabs my attention.
I look up and can hardly believe my eyes when I see Finn standing right in front of me. Even better: Finn in a tuxedo. Wow.
He smiles. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find you?”
9
Chapter Nine
I can’t help but smile as my heart starts pounding at the sight of him. It’s strange how he can get me all riled up, then calm me again with the sound of his voice and the touch of his hand.
“How did you find me?” I ask. For all I’d plotted and planned in the cab on my way back here, this is one scenario even my overactive imagination hadn’t dared to dream up.
“It wasn’t easy. I got in touch with the manager of the building we got stuck in today. Maybe I used my name to gain a little bit of influence. I told him you were a photographer, and asked which office you might’ve been there to visit today.”
“Wow.”
“He apologized for the elevator,” Finn adds. “He says they’re going to get that fixed right away. After he hung up with me, he got in touch with a friend of yours named Betty. Very pleasant woman.”
I laugh, pressing my hand to my mouth. “Oh god.”
“I managed to persuade Betty to come down to the office—in a limo that I promised would take her wherever she wanted to go—and get me your address. She was very concerned about giving it to me without your consent, and since you didn’t have your phone…well, I had to promise to make an appearance at her granddaughter’s bat mitzvah next month. Even then, she wouldn’t give me your exact address. Just your street, your block, and your last name. She told me if I wanted you that badly, I’d have to find you myself.”
