needs. Tay found herself paying for more and more of their evenings together. He and a few friends sometimes took over for bands at a club while the group being paid took a break. He, however, never made a cent.
After a month he’d told her that a friend of his was vacating an apartment in Brooklyn Heights and he urged her to pick up the payments so they could move in together. “What’s wrong with living together here?” she’d asked.
“It’s a nice place, but it’s too girly.”
“Girly? We can redecorate, add guy stuff. It’s got plenty of room for us.”
“I understand, but Donny’s place is where it’s at. There’s a club around the corner that might have a job for me and the band, so it would be really convenient.” Of course the job at the club had fallen through, but they’d moved anyway.
“I’ve got a job,” Tay said to Lissa, considering moving to Westchester to care for her friend’s animals. “I can’t just drop it, and although telecommuting part time might work, I have to be in the city several times a week.”
“You work near Grand Central and this house is five minutes from the train station. Or you can drive into the city.” Lissa was talking even faster now. “I’m leaving my car, so you can use it while I’m gone. We need someone to watch the house, see that the cleaning folks don’t slack off and, of course, take care of my animals. I talked it over with Daddy and he agreed that you’d be a great solution.” Lissa’s voice dropped. “He even agreed to cover any extra expenses you’d have and it’s a great opportunity for you to get a new start over in a new place. No lingering Steve anywhere.”
Lissa sounded like she was dishing out a sales pitch, but Tay cut her some slack. She knew how much this meant to her friend. “Tell me this. Can you go on this safari if you don’t find someone to take over the house and your animals?”
She could hear a long sigh and Lissa’s speech pattern slowed. “Frankly, no. It’s one of Daddy’s conditions and I think he hopes you won’t be willing to do it.”
“Doesn’t he want you to go along?”
“Oh, he knows I’m talented with a camera, all right, and he really could use the extra hands on this one, but he’s always been a loner.” She chuckled. “Having his kid along might cramp his style with the ladies, too. Please, Tay, do this for me. It fits all the parameters for both of us.”
Tay hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“Think about it. Please,” Lissa wheedled. “We’ll be leaving in three weeks and I’d need to show you everything around here before I go, so there’s not a lot of time. Get back to me soonest. Please! Do this for me!”
Before she could offer another protest, Tay heard the phone click off, leaving her to realize just how Lissa got her father to agree to this adventure.
As she thought more about Lissa’s offer she wandered into the tiny kitchen and grabbed a box of trash bags. She’d let things go for too long. She opened the top drawer of what had become Steve’s dresser and began to stuff items he obviously no longer wanted into one of the trash bags. She held up the deep burgundy cashmere sweater she’d bought him. He’d looked so great in it, but she guessed it didn’t fit his grunge image. It was a great sweater and she might just wear it herself, she thought, tossing it onto the bed. Slowly she pulled out a pair of Steve’s torn jeans and stuffed them into the bag. “Bastard,” she muttered. “Smart up, Tay,” she told herself, “and get over him. You were a shmuck and he took advantage. Whose fault was that?”
She picked up her pace, rapidly slamming items into the trash bag, and when it was full, she grabbed a second one. Grab and stuff, grab and stuff. She found herself getting madder and madder. Then, when she finally deflated, she dropped onto the bed and wept. She’d loved him…or maybe she’d just loved the sex. Whatever, that phase of her life was gone, so she’d just have to get over it. Finally drained, she carted all the stuff down to the building’s Dumpster, dropped the bags inside and slammed the lid. Done! Over! Why did it still hurt? Who was she mad at?
As the late afternoon sun set, she realized that she felt better having exorcized the evil spirits, as it were. She collapsed onto the bed, eyes crispy, shirt now sweaty, and thought about Lissa. What was wrong with spending six months in swanky-ville? Lissa and her father lived in a custom-built house in the middle of Westchester. Somewhere near the Clintons, she thought. She’d been there several times and been overwhelmed by the opulence of the place. Olympicsized, heated pool, a sauna, a spa on the deck outside the master bedroom and another one in the yard by the pool. There were a zillion bedrooms and baths, framed copies of Dave Bonner’s award-winning photographs all over the walls of everything, shelves of trophies along with figurines, statuettes and plaques. The furniture always looked like no one ever sat on anything. Actually, as she thought about it, most of the time the entire house looked like nobody lived there, and the cleaning staff kept it that way. It would be like living in a museum, but maybe she could bunk in the little guesthouse for the duration.
However…It would solve lots of problems. She pulled the scrunchy off the bottom of her braid, finger-combed her hair and rubbed her scalp. She would have to leave this place anyway. It was lonely.
Living at Lissa’s would give her a whole new start and she did want to help her friend out. The commute wouldn’t be bad at all, really, and she’d have six months or more to enjoy the luxury of it all. She’d also have no rent, no health-club fees, so she could bank a good part of her salary to replace the money she’d spent on Steve. She took a deep breath and flipped her cell phone open.
When Lissa answered, Tay said, “Why the hell not?”
“Oh my God, you’ll do it?” Lissa shrieked. “Of course you will. Oh God. You’re a lifesaver. I’ll tell my dad he’s stuck with me.” She paused. “Oh, Tay, I’ll learn so much. I want this so much. I’m even going to use my mom’s maiden name so no one will think I’m just Dad’s kid.”
Lissa’s mother had died of breast cancer several years before, as had Tay’s mother, and Tay and Lissa had participated in several “walks for a cure.” As Tay listened to Lissa ramble on, she wished she could be like her friend, so dedicated, so involved, so sure of what she wanted out of life.
At twenty-nine, Tay hadn’t a clue. Sure, she liked her job, but that wasn’t life. Lissa droned on about her trip, then finally wound down. “How soon can you make it up here?”
“I need to give notice here and I’ll have to pay April’s rent since I can’t give them thirty days. It will take me a week or so to get organized, but then I’m yours. How about you come down weekend after next and we can pack up your car? I don’t have much. Just my clothes and books and a couple of things from around here.” She gazed at a small painting of a cat sunning itself in a sunny window. “I’ll spend evenings packing a few boxes, but that will be about it. And my books, of course.”
“Do you want to bring any of your furniture? We’ve got plenty of room in the garage. Or we’ll rent you one of those storage units nearby. Whatever works.”
“I might decide to rent one of those storage places.” She paused, looked around, then continued, “On second thought, no. I don’t think I want to keep anything.” Now determined to get rid of everything from this life, she said, “I’ll have an apartment sale and ditch all of it.” She was amazed at how quickly she’d jumped into the whole idea, but suddenly it seemed the absolutely right thing to do. Looking around again, she said, “With no rent to pay, by the time you guys get back I’ll have enough money
