Alice
Chapter2
Alice
My stomach was rumbling as I made my way to the coffee shop where Rosalie had chosen for us to meet. I looked at my watch to make sure I wasn't going to be late. I had about five more blocks to go, and I was wearing heels, so I couldn't exactly run. As I passed a boutique, I looked into the windows and saw some absolutely stunning summer dresses. I stopped for a few seconds and stared at them, wishing I had the funds to treat myself to a dress. I let out a deep sigh and made my way back down the street. No point in making myself sad. There was no way I could buy a new dress right now. Shoot, I couldn’t even buy a pair of socks without feeling it in my wallet.
I really needed to find a job and make some money. I had been in New York City for three months now and was living with my best friend's brother, Foster Sloane. I bit down on my lower lip as I thought about Foster. He had been gone for the past month on a business trip, but I knew he was coming back this weekend. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that. This would be the first time he and I were living alone without Rosalie and her fiancé, Oliver. The scenario was thrilling but potentially dangerous. Living with Foster would be a delicate balance of being grateful and happy without crossing the line.
Rosalie was my best friend and had been since childhood. When she'd graduated from college, her parents had said she could either move back home or move to New York City to be with her brother. She elected for the latter and moved in with her brother and his best friend, Oliver.
Rosalie had had a crush on Oliver since we were kids, and it turned out Oliver also had feelings for her. It hadn't taken long for their chemistry to sizzle, and they'd gotten together. Now they were engaged and had just moved into their own brownstone in Chelsea.
I was slightly envious but super happy for my best friend, especially because she also figured out what she wanted to do with her life. She was working at a school as a teacher's assistant and was hoping to become a full-time teacher. She'd even signed up to take classes to get her certification.
I followed Rosalie to New York City because I wanted to be with my best friend and I'd always wanted to live in New York, but I hadn't been quite so lucky yet. I hadn't found a boyfriend, I hadn't even gone on any dates yet, and I still didn't know what I wanted to do for a living. I'd worked for a couple of weeks at a coffee shop but had to quit when the manager cornered me in a back room and told me to get on my knees. I'd looked at him in confusion, and when I'd realized what he was saying, I'd shaken my head, alternated between laughing and crying, and left within a couple of minutes.
When I told Rosalie what had happened, she'd told me that I should find what I really wanted to do, and she'd lend me a couple of thousand dollars. That had been absolutely amazing of her, but I didn't want to take her kindness for granted. I knew I needed to find a job, and I also wanted to find a man. Well, that wasn't exactly true. I wanted Foster. I’d had my eyes on Foster since I could remember. I had been around him for so many years, and I'd seen his personality, and something about him just made my heart race. Probably his incredible good looks and the way he could make me smile and laugh in any situation. Whenever I was around him, I felt a surge of electricity running through me, and he just made me feel safe.
"There you are, Alice." Rosalie ran toward me from outside the coffee shop with a huge smile. Her long dark hair had been recently layered, and she looked trendier than ever.
"Hey. Sorry. Am I late?" I said, opening my arms and giving her a big hug. She looked absolutely radiant. She'd been really glowing since she and Oliver had officially started dating. I guess love did that to you.
"Just a couple of minutes, but I know we're in New York, and I'm sure the subway had delays." She was so gracious about me being late because she was normally the one who was running behind.
"Thanks, girl. I actually got on an earlier subway. It's these heels." I looked down at my feet. "They hurt so bad but—"
"You want to look good because you're in New York." She finished my sentence as if we were telepathic twins. We knew each other almost better than we knew ourselves. At least in almost every way. She didn’t know that I fantasized about her brother more then teen boys fantasized about Victoria's Secret models.
"You got it," I said, laughing. "So how are things?" We linked arms and walked into the cozy coffee shop. I loved coffee shops. I loved the ambiance of small spaces and delicious coffee beans and pastries. Something about quaint coffee shops made me feel like I was a part of a community.
"Amazing," she said, beaming. "Oliver said that I can have a destination wedding wherever I want. And…” she said, grinning, "we're going to pay for all my guests."
"Whoa, what?" My jaw dropped. "How?"
She shrugged. "I guess the brownstone didn't cost as much as Oliver had anticipated. And he knows that a lot of my friends are right out of college and can't really afford a destination wedding. My parents are paying for most of the costs, but Oliver will buy the flights for my friends." She grinned at me. "And..."
"Yeah?" I prodded her.
"He said that…"
"What?" I said, slightly annoyed at the way she was dripping words like breadcrumbs. We weren’t Hansel and Gretel, and I just wanted the entire story at once.
"We can do it within the next six months if I want."
"No way. What, Rosalie?" I gawked at my friend. "Are you sure you want to get married so quickly?" I paused. "Wait, are you pregnant?" I stared at her belly. I knew Rosalie wanted kids, but this was really fast.
"No, silly." She giggled and hit me in the arm. "Though I'm sure Oliver would love to get me pregnant." She winked at me in a naughty fashion, and I wrinkled my nose as I thought about my best friend and her fiancé getting down and dirty. I really didn’t need to think about them trying to get pregnant. Even though when we were younger, we had practiced what our O faces would look like with each other. We’d been young then and hadn’t even really known that much about sex.
"Oh my gosh. Really, Rosalie?"
"What? I'm just kidding. You know I'm on the pill." She shrugged and then giggled. “No babies anytime soon.”
"I know. That's what I was thinking. So are you really going to get married in six months?"
"I don't know," she said, shaking her head and looking at me thoughtfully. Her brow was furrowed, and she was playing with her fingers. "I need to decide where I want to have the wedding. I was like, do I want to go to England or France or Hawaii? Or maybe even a safari in Uganda." She looked over at me. “I just want it to be the most romantic wedding ever.”
"Wow." I stared at her. "That's a lot of different options."