by Nancy Krulik
“Maybe she went home without you,” Connor suggested.
“Stella would never do that,” Alana insisted. “Even if she got sick or something, she’d still find me or text me to let me know she had to go.” She pulled out her cell phone to check for a text. “Nope.”
“Then she’s got to be here somewhere,” Connor told her. “We just have to find her.”
“She was with Leo last time I saw her,” Alana said. “Maybe he took her some place where the band hangs out. Like a VIP room. He might do that if he was trying to impress her.”
Connor looked around at the shabby couches, scratched up floors, and peeling paint. “You think Stella gets impressed easily?” he joked.
“You know what I mean. It would be a good place for them to hang out and talk. Get to know each other.” Alana pointed to a stairway near the back of the club. “Maybe they went up there.” She hurried over and started up the stairs. Connor followed closely behind. She stopped suddenly as a weird sound became audible. At first it was low and rumbly, and then it became louder and gravelly. Kind of like a dog barking or something.
“What is that?” Connor asked.
“I don’t know,” Alana said. “And I’m not sure I want to find out.”
“Whatever it is, it’s coming from behind that door,” Connor said, moving his way ahead of Alana on the stairs, to ensure that he’d be the one faced by whatever was behind the door before she was. He eased the door open slowly and peeked inside the dimly lit room. He looked inside for a moment and then shut the door before bursting out laughing.
“What, what is it?” Alana asked. She listened at the doorway as another gravelly bark became audible.
“Oh, you don’t want to see this,” Connor insisted.
“Yes I do,” Alana told him, pushing her way toward the door.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Connor whispered to her as whatever was behind the door barked again.
Alana opened the door and stuck her head into the room. And that’s when she saw them—Stella and Leo—making out on the couch in the VIP room. Her red hair was barely covering his face from view. The two of them were so lost in their mutual attraction that neither of them seemed to sense an additional presence in the room.
“Aroooooooooooo!”
Alana jumped back, startled by the noise. She got herself out of that room as quickly as her feet would move. “It’s Leo,” she whispered in disbelief.
Connor was roaring now. “He’s a barker,” he said between choking fits of laughter. “The guy’s a barker.”
“It’s so bizarre,” Alana said. “I don’t see how Stella can keep from losing it.”
“It doesn’t seem to be bothering her,” Connor pointed out. “She looked pretty happy to me.”
“Ar…ar…aroooooo!”
Alana covered her ears at the onset of another of Leo’s howling yelps. “Oh, man, I can’t take this. I have to get her out of there.”
“Why?” Connor asked. “She’s having a blast. Maybe she likes a guy with animal magnetism.”
“He sounds more like a dying wolf,” Alana groaned. “And it’s got to stop. If we don’t leave soon, we’re both going to miss our curfew.” She stopped for a second, wishing she hadn’t said that. Connor wasn’t in school anymore. He was out on his own. Technically a grown-up, although he was only eighteen. She didn’t want to sound like a baby to him. She didn’t want him to look at her as some high school kid, the way Sammy did.
But Connor didn’t feel that way. He wasn’t the type to look down on anyone. Instead, he was concerned about Alana’s safety. “It doesn’t appear that Stella cares too much about her curfew right now,” Connor said. “But the last thing I want you to do is get in trouble. Let me take you home. You can text Stella and tell her you couldn’t find her.”
“But I did find her,” Alana insisted.
“Do you want to let her know you saw—and heard—that?” Connor wondered.
Well, when he puts it that way… “Okay,” Alana agreed. “I don’t want to embarrass her or Leo. Although I don’t know how I’m going to look him in the eye at the dog run on Monday.”
Connor chuckled. “Just ask him if he can talk to the dogs in their own language. You know, kind of like Dr. Dolittle or something.”
“You are so bad,” Alana said, poking him in the ribs as she followed him down the stairs and out of the club. Along the way she pulled out her phone and sent Stella a very straightforward and nonjudgmental text:
Lost track of you and Leo. Had to get home by curfew. Call me.
“Did you ask her if she had a howlin’ good time?” Connor asked. “Or if Leo’s bark is worse than his bite?”
“Ouch. That was bad. You have to stop,” Alana said, playfully scolding him.
Connor grinned at her and then stepped off the curb, waving his arm.
“What are you doing?” Alana asked him.
“Getting us a cab. You don’t want to walk all the way to the Upper West Side, do you?”
“But it’s forty blocks to my house,” Alana told him. “You know what that would cost in a cab?”
“Don’t worry; I’ve got it,” Connor insisted.
“Oh no. I can’t let you do that. I’ll just take the subway.”
“And I can’t let you do that,” Connor told her.
“A cab costs way too much. How about we take the subway together?” Alana suggested. She paused and thought about that for moment. “No, that won’t work because then you’d have to take the subway back by yourself. Maybe you could take the bus. This time of night, that’s safer.”
“A cab’s quicker,” Connor told her.
“No way. I’m not going to let you spend that kind of cash…,” Alana began.
Connor sighed and looked at her face. He was searching for…something. Alana wasn’t quite sure what it was. “Look, Alana, I can afford it. Honest. The thing is…I’m not…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a brown and white dog ran up to Alana and began sniffing her leg.
“Rufus!” the dog’s owner, a tall, thin, middle-aged woman with dark curly hair, scolded firmly. “Leave that girl alone.”
“It’s okay.” Alana bent down and scratched the little guy behind his ears. “He’s adorable. What kind of dog is he?”
“I don’t know,” the woman told her. “The vet thinks part terrier, part spaniel. And maybe a little shepherd, too. He’s not sure. Basically, he’s just a dog. We got him from the pound.”
“Oh, you lucky little pound puppy,” Alana cooed, giving Rufus one more good scratch before standing up.
“I’m the lucky one,” the woman assured her as she led Rufus away and down the block.
“That’s the kind of dog I want one day,” Alana told Connor. “Just a sweet, friendly mutt. It makes me so crazy the way the people I work for make such a fuss over their purebred dogs. I can’t stand the way those people pay breeders a fortune for purebred puppies when sweet dogs like that need a home. And rescued dogs are always so grateful! Rufus probably doesn’t go to some fancy dog spa or eat designer dog biscuits made by French chefs. But he looks happy. I wish rich people would get their priorities straight.” She stopped for a moment and looked at Connor. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to go off like that. Besides, you wanted to tell me something. What’s up?”
Connor frowned. “Nothing. We’d better get going if you insist on taking the subway. The trains don’t run on a regular schedule this time of night.”
“At the end of the world, you’re the last thing I see….” Alana’s cell phone blasted her out of her sleep on Saturday morning. She ruefully reached over onto her nightstand and fumbled through the lipstick, eyeliner, and nail polish until she finally got her hands on it. She flipped open the lid. “Hello,” she mumbled.
“Did I wake you up?”
The sound of Stella’s voice definitely got Alana’s attention. Stella never sounded perky—ever. And especially not first thing in the morning. But “perky” w
as definitely the only way to describe Stella’s tone this morning. Well, maybe “chirpy” would work too.
“No…I was just sort of lying here,” Alana told her.
“I’m sorry we got separated last night,” Stella apologized. “Leo and I were in this room talking, and I guess I just kind of lost track of the time.”
Alana choked back a laugh, remembering. Talking? More like barking. Or howling, even.
“He’s so incredible, Alana,” Stella continued. “Really smart. And cute. I can’t believe you didn’t fix me up with him earlier.”
“I thought you hated fix-ups,” Alana said.
“Usually,” Stella admitted. “But Leo is definitely the exception to the rule. He’s so cool. He wants to be a journalist. I tried to convince him to work for an online newspaper, so he could save trees. At first he tried to convince me that the energy that people use to run their computers isn’t exactly eco-friendly, but I said that it was better than killing trees. Then he suggested there be a law that newspapers be made of recycled paper, and I’ll tell you, Alana, I got so turned on.”
Everyone has her own form of foreplay, Alana thought. Aloud she asked, “So, did you give him your digits?”
“Oh, yeah. And he called already this morning. He’s going to come help out tomorrow afternoon with the recycling,” Stella replied. She paused for a minute. “Wow. Just the thought of it gave me goose bumps.”
“Imagine how you’ll feel when you actually see him bundling up the papers,” Alana teased.
But Stella didn’t seem to catch the humor. “I know. I can’t even bring myself to think about it.”
Alana knew how she felt. Sometimes she had to fight to keep thoughts of Connor from her mind, just so she could actually function during the day. Of course, at night, when she was asleep, she had no control over her thoughts. She grinned slightly as the dream Stella had woken her from replayed in her mind.
“Are you coming tomorrow?” Stella asked her. “We could use the help. You could bring Connor.”
“I’ll be there,” Alana replied. “But I don’t think Connor can make it. He’s got some family thing tonight, and he hasn’t actually said anything about Sunday, so I think he probably has things to do.”
“Oh, wow. Bummer. You mean you aren’t going to get together with him all weekend?”
“I saw him last night,” Alana told Stella. “He surprised me and showed up at the Red Rooster.”
“I didn’t see him,” Stella said.
But we definitely saw you, Alana thought, recalling the scene in the darkened lounge. She didn’t say anything though. No point embarrassing Stella. Not that Stella embarrassed too easily.
“He came after you and Leo sort of disappeared,” Alana explained.
“Did you call him?” Stella wondered.
“No. Somehow he just knew when to show up,” Alana said. Connor had a real talent for that. He’d just “shown up” at a point in her life when she really needed someone to show her what love really was about. The Stanhopes were pretty shallow, selfish people. But someday she would have to thank them for living in the Beresford, so that she could meet their handyman. Although people like them probably would never understand why that would be a gift.
“Hello? Alana? Are you there?”
Alana blinked suddenly. “Oh, yeah, sorry. I just was thinking.”
“So you want to meet for brunch and debrief?” Stella asked.
“Sure. How about Popovers?” Alana suggested.
“Perfect,” Stella said. “It’s real close. I don’t want to walk too far. I am absolutely dog tired.”
Dog tired. After her night with Leo, Alana could understand why.
Fifteen
“Okay, once you’ve got the papers bundled, just load them onto the truck,” Stella explained to the group of volunteers who had gathered at the high school on Sunday afternoon. “Then we’ll get them to the recycling center later.”
Alana grabbed a spool of twine and began to wrap it around the stack of newspapers she’d gathered. Leo came up beside her, a huge smile on his face.
“You look happy,” Alana told him.
“Do I?” Leo asked. The smile grew larger.
“Mmmhmm. Any special reason?”
Leo chuckled. “She’s amazing, you know that? I mean, look at her. The way she takes charge is incredible. She’s the kind of person everyone looks up to.”
“She always has been,” Alana told him. “Since we were kids. I swear, our elementary-school teachers used to ask her for advice.”
“I believe it,” Leo replied. “I wish I had known her then. There wouldn’t be so much to learn about her.”
“With Stella, what you see is what you get,” Alana told him. “She doesn’t keep anything hidden.”
“I saw her, and it just fit, you know?” Leo told her. “Like I found the one piece of the puzzle that was missing. What I can’t believe is how fast it happened.”
Alana could believe it. She knew exactly how Leo felt. One day you’re wandering through life, sort of happy but not really, and the next minute, someone appears who makes you feel whole. Someone with unbelievably sexy eyes, tight abs, hair that you just want to run your fingers through…
“Alana? How many times are you going to wrap that rope around the papers?” Leo asked her.
Alana looked down. She’d used up half the ball of twine. Man, she really was a ditz these days. Love could do that to a person. “Oh, sorry, I drifted off.”
“Yeah, and I’ll bet I know where,” Leo replied with a laugh. “You were taking a little trip down to Connortown.”
Alana flushed slightly and bit her lower lip with embarrassment. “Guilty,” she admitted.
“You really like him, huh?” Leo asked.
“Yeah,” Alana admitted.
“Well, he’d better be good to you,” Leo told her. “Otherwise, Stella and I are coming after him. You deserve the best.”
“He’s good to me,” Alana assured him. “More importantly, he’s good for me. He’s such an incredible person, he makes me want to be better. I mean, I complain all the time about having to pay for part of college next year, and there he is, working so hard to keep his apartment and get his real career going. But he never complains. He just does it.”
“Yeah. That is cool,” Leo said. “He lives down in the Village, right?”
Alana nodded. “Somewhere near Pomodoro Pizza.”
“Pretty nice neighborhood,” Leo said. “Not far from my dorm. Wonder how he can afford it?”
“I don’t know. Probably a rent-controlled apartment. Or maybe a sublet,” Alana replied.
“I wish I could get a deal like that, because I definitely want to stay here for the summer. But the dorms close and…”
“The summer?” Alana sounded surprised. “It’s only October, Leo.”
“I know,” he admitted. Then he glanced over at Stella. “But I kinda already know that I’m in this for the long term.”
“Oh,” Alana said slowly. “Okay. Well, I’ll ask him to keep his eye out for any cheap apartments.”
“Or maybe he wants a roommate, just for the summer,” Leo said. “I’m very neat. Does he live in a studio or a one bedroom?”
Somehow Alana couldn’t imagine Leo and Connor as roommates—even for a few weeks. Connor was so relaxed and laid-back, whereas Leo…well…Leo was the kind of guy who planned for the summer in October. And as for the apartment, she had no idea. “Um, I’m not sure how many rooms,” Alana told him. “I’ve never been up there, actually.”
A smirk formed on Leo’s lips. “Not that he hasn’t tried to get you there, I imagine.”
Alana thought back to the few times Connor had playfully tried to get her to come see his photos at the apartment. But she hadn’t gone. She wasn’t ready for…well…for whatever might happen if she and Connor ever found themselves alone in a place with a bed. And she wasn’t sure she’d be able to resist him if she were in that position. Not that Connor would ever
force anything on her. He was too gentle and kind, too respectful and honorable. But he was also an unbelievable kisser, and their make-out sessions always left her wanting more. Which was exactly why Alana had stayed far from his place.
“Um…Leo, can I see you for a second?” Stella called suddenly from the other side of the recycling table.
Leo smiled at the very sound of her voice. “Sure,” he called back to her. Then he turned to Alana. “M’lady calls,” he said with a bad British accent.
“Then thou had best run,” Alana replied with an equally awful one.
She watched as Leo hurried over to Stella and wrapped his arm around her waist as they spoke. Stella seemed to just melt into him, more comfortable and relaxed than Alana had seen her in a long time. It was amazing how quickly that kind of familiarity could occur between two people. They stood there a minute, reading something in the pile of leftover Sunday New York Posts Stella was recycling.
They must have noticed Alana staring at them, because they looked over at her for a moment. Alana waved and smiled. But Stella and Leo didn’t smile back. Instead, they focused their attention right back to the newspaper.
A moment later Stella walked over to Alana. “How ya doin’?” she asked her.
Alana looked curiously at her best friend. There was something really weird in her tone. “Fine?” she replied. For some reason it came out more as a question than an answer.
“Good,” Stella said. She paused for a minute. “Um…Alana, what did you say Connor’s last name was again?”
Alana paused for a minute. Funny, in the few weeks since she’d met Connor, she’d never asked him that. Then again, he’d never asked her either. It was a detail they’d both sort of forgotten about. It just hadn’t seemed important. “You know, I don’t know,” she told Stella.
“You don’t know?” Stella sounded incredulous.
“It’s never come up,” Alana replied matter-of-factly. “Why?”
“Because I think I found out what it is,” Stella said. “He’s in the paper.”
Something in the way Stella looked and sounded suddenly frightened Alana. She could feel the color draining from her face. “Oh my God! Is he okay? Was he in an accident or something? Was he hurt?”
