By the time our conversation is over, I’m back in my office. My inbox is full of mail, and one of them is from Laurie.
Look what I found. His brother is even more delicious.
There’s a link, and I click on it to see an article in one of the online gossip sites. There’s a picture of Landon with a younger man as they walk out of a popular Manhattan restaurant.
Hotel Magnate Landon Court Celebrates Birthday With Baby Brother Aidan.
He’s wearing the suit he had on when I met him, complete with the discarded tie I’d seen in his living room. He does look delicious. My eyes don’t even go towards the brother, instead my mind travels back to that night in his apartment, and the memories my body isn’t yet ready to give up.
I sigh. I’m not going to obsess over my one-night-stand. I should be more concerned with planning how to act with Jack when I inevitably run into him again. Already the office is buzzing with news of his engagement. Chelsea, as nice as she’s beautiful, and one of the few people who’d seen past my friendship with Jack to the fact that I was in love with him, had already asked if I was alright, and assured me that she was always available if I wanted to bitch about Jack.
It’s tempting, but the less I say or think about him, the better for me. He hasn’t called me, and I haven’t seen him since Chadwick’s party, so whatever the reason why he came to my apartment that night, it probably wasn’t important.
The mail from Laurie is still open on my screen. I type my reply.
‘Yeah whatever. I see how productive you're at work. Anyway, get ready, we have a VIP pass to Insomnia tonight.’
She replies via text with a long ‘Yay!’
I spend the next few minutes answering the rest of my work emails. I’m almost done when my phone rings.
It’s my mom.
“Darling.” Her voice is low and smooth. “How are you?”
I imagine her washing paint off her arms as she speaks, phone tucked between her shoulder and her ear, with her red hair pinned up. That’s the image I always have of my mom. She’s a successful painter, artsy, and sometimes silly, the direct opposite of my dad, who is serious and a little nerdy. He was the business side of Trent & Taylor, the ready-to-wear clothing line he founded with his twin brother, my uncle Taylor, until they sold a large percentage of the company to a multinational chain. He totally adores my mom. Together, they’re a walking true love cliché.
I grew up dreaming about having a love like theirs. I waited for it, and when I found Jack and fell so hard, I thought I’d finally found it. How wrong I was.
“I’m alright Mom. You?”
She laughs. “Oh! I’m fine. How’s work?”
I shrug. “Perfect.”
“It doesn’t sound all that perfect, from the tone of that voice. Not that I blame you. You must be the only travel writer in New York who has never been outside the city for work.”
“I’m not a travel writer, mom. I just…”
“…write for a travel magazine. I know.” She sighs. “I hope you can make it this Sunday. I’m making lunch. Laurie already confirmed that she’s coming with Brett. She also said you’re free this weekend so don’t bother to give me an excuse. Your brother won’t be there, but your uncle and aunt will.”
I roll my eyes. Mom likes to plan these family reunions at least once a month, and she connives with Aunt Jacie to waylay us into coming. She probably told Laurie that I’d already agreed to come.
“Fine. I’ll be there.”
I hear a pause in her voice. “Laurie told me about Jack’s engagement.”
I close my eyes, unsure whether to channel my annoyance towards Laurie for telling my mom, Jack for breaking my heart in the first place or at myself for letting him.
“Aren’t you glad I finally got the wake-up call I’ve needed for almost two years?” I ask. My mom’s opinion on my fixation on Jack has always been the same as Laurie’s.
“Oh sweetie,” she sighs. “I just hate that you’re hurting. I remember how excited you were when you first started seeing him. Of course, you romanticized him, and you were more in love with your idea of him than with who he really was.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know more than you think I know. I’m your mother. Anyway, now you’ll get over him.”
“How’s Dylan?” I ask, eager to change the subject. My baby brother is the apple of my mom’s eye.