“‘Course it’s okay. He gave me his keys. Wait ‘til you see the place.” I’d been over to Steve’s many times, along with the firm’s other attorneys, but he didn’t lower himself to socialize with paralegals. Another thing I hated about the firm.
Not an hour later, we headed out in my car. Yeah, I drove to work. They gave me a parking space, so why the hell not? I sometimes gave Maizy a lift home so she didn’t have to take the subway. But more often than not, I was at the office until nine p.m. She was usually long gone by then.
I glanced over at her scrolling through her iPhone while I navigated the horrendous rush hour traffic in my Volkswagen Golf. The people at the firm gave me shit for driving a car like that, but I couldn’t have cared less. They could take their BMWs and Teslas and shove ‘em.
“Just checking in with Sparkle,” she said. “Wanted to let her know where I’d be.”
“How is the sparkling Sparkle?” I’d met her a few times, and let me just say that woman was a piece of work.
Maizy laughed. “She’s fine. Dating a new guy. They seem to like each other. At least they sound like they like each other. The other night, they were at it in her bedroom until they finally conked out at around two a.m.” She shook her head.
“Oh, shit. I forgot about the joys of having a roommate.” And boy, was I glad those days were behind me.
I pulled up to the garage at Steve’s building and after flashing the card he’d given me, pulled right into his spot.
What a life, to have a permanent parking spot in Manhattan. It was what I aspired to.
Not really.
But street parking, which was what I had when not at work, did pretty much suck. First, it could be a bitch to come by, and second, car break-ins were endemic. I practically had the place that fixed broken car windows on speed dial.
We grabbed the elevator that went straight to Steve’s apartment using the security key he’d given me.
“Good lord, they have a private elevator?” Maizy asked.
“Yeah. Can you believe it? Wait ‘til you see the place.”
The elevator doors opened, and I got a whiff of what promised to be an incredible dinner, thanks to the cook he left behind to feed me. Maizy gasped.
“Oh. My. God. Look at this place,” she said, walking in and doing a three-sixty degree turn.
“Yeah. Lawyering has been good to Steve,” I said, looking around with her.
Two walls’ worth of windows provided expansive views of Lower Manhattan, and the other walls were covered in what I was sure was very expensive artwork. Maizy was drawn right to it.
“Check this out,” she said, craning her neck to see more.
“You can walk around. No one’s here except the cook. I’m gonna check in with her. You feel free to roam.”
“Okay,” she said, wandering down a marble-tiled hallway.
“Hello, Mr. Cato,” the cook, Mel, said.
“Hi there. Smells great,” I said, heading over to the stove to get a look at our feast.
“Dinner will be ready in half an hour, Mr. Cato. Can I bring you and your friend some drinks?”
“That’d be great, thank you. Um, I’ll have a scotch, and she’ll have some champagne.”
I settled into a cushy sofa in the living room while I waited for Maizy to return from her snooping. Mel dropped off our drinks just as Maizy made her way back. God, I loved watching her walk through that gorgeous apartment.
“This place is out of control,” she said, continuing to look around. “Just, wow.”
She settled into the sofa next to me. “Oooh, bubbly. Thank you.”
“So, Eva still ragging on you?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Of course. She wouldn’t be Eva if she wasn’t.”