I touched the disconnect button on my cell phone, rested the back of my head against the soft leather sofa, closed my eyes and laughed out loud. The conversation with my ex-college roommate, Meghan, had been hilarious. We had kept in touch over the years since college, both of us just having passed the 30-year old mark, but not nearly as much as during past year since Meghan's divorce from Jack.
Meghan lived in South Carolina and was coming to New York to stay with me for an entire week.
"We need to do some serious man-huntin'," she told me in that humorous southern drawl she could turn on or off in an instant. "You're needin' it worse than me, Annie," she had continued.
Maybe she had a point. I had warped into a the stereotypical career woman. Yeah, I'd dated Jim for almost three years, and I thought at one time we were becoming pretty serious, but then we started to drift our separate ways. I blamed him first, but hind-sight might tell me that my career was a big reason.
After putting my nose to the grindstone, I found myself on a fast lane toward the top. Well, not really upper management, but still it was management in the large corporate world. My apartment in upper Manhattan was to die for. I opened my eyes to look through the floor-to-ceiling windows which covered the entire width of my living room wall. The sun was slowly fading in the west, ending another Manhattan day. Soft shades of orange, red, and blue streaked behind the puffy white clouds above the city's towering skyline. I think I loved the view the most at night. I could see the city lights stretching endlessly into the darkness. Lights that twinkled or were motionless, lights that formed a steady stream from cars on freeways, lights that blinked a red or green warning on tall buildings. My apartment was on the 17th floor of a new high-rise. Beyond my windows was my private balcony that spanned the entire width of the glass. The sidewalls of the balcony were solid brick, allowing for privacy from my neighbors; a secure railing protected my hot-tub which constantly emitted steam into the cool, night air. My kitchen was open to the living room--of course solid granite and stainless abounded everywhere. My living room floor was black slate, and I had covered the area in front of my sofa with a soft, oriental tan rug. A matching black leather love-seat was positioned to the left of my sofa facing the kitchen. I had one bedroom with a king-size bed and en suite bathroom with a soaking tub and roomy, glassed-enclosed shower. The only other room was a small powder room, so the apartment was not huge, by hey, this is Manhattan.
Meghan originally told me that her plane would arrive around 5:00 P.M. She of course missed her flight, that was Meghan, and would now be coming in around 8:00. This was fine with me; I had taken off the entire week from work. Meghan was partially right, I did need this. I had just stepped out of the shower when Meghan called to tell me of her flight change. I was still in my robe, stretching lazily on the sofa with my feet touching the soft rug and my back resting against the supple leather. I noticed that my robe had fallen open below my stomach and that I was pretty much exposed to the world. Of course, no one could see into the room this time of day, but my modesty still dictated that I cover myself, so I did.
I arrived at the airport about a half hour before Meghan's plane was to land. Parking was not difficult to find and I easily worked my way through the terminal with time to spare. I spotted Meghan walking out of the tunnel as the passengers arrived. When she saw me, she threw her arms into the air and rushed toward me with a big smile and a huge hug, her long blonde hair flowing behind her. Her hair was as blonde as mine was black.
"It's so good to see you, sweetie!" she exclaimed.
"It's so good to see you too," I replied as I hugged her back.
Darkness had come before we left the terminal to find my car. The drive home was not long, we talked about everything and nothing all of the way. Well, mostly Meghan talked and I listened. It was as if we were still in college and the past ten years had changed nothing.
"I bought two bottles of Krug Champagne and stowed them away in my suitcase," she was saying. "We're going to have our own little party tonight. I've missed you so much. I can't believe you're the big executive now. Okay, enough work talk for us; this week is going to be no-work and all-fun for Annie and Meghan. So did you get us some man meat to carve out this week?" she continued with a huge grin.
"Tomorrow night," I laughed. "We're going to meet a couple of guys for an off-broadway play, after which the plan is to go out for dinner. I only know one of the guys, and I really don't know him very well. I hope I didn't make a mistake," I added cautiously.
"Honey, it can't be a mistake. We'll have fun even if these two aren't the right fit. I'm sure not opposed to looking elsewhere the next night," Meghan answered with enthusiasm.
Planning for the night's festivities, I had called Mark. Mark worked for the same company that I had before transferring to my new job last May. He was good looking and about my same age. I had never had a date with Mark, although I always felt he would have liked to explored this avenue. I was still dating Jim at the time and I was pretty sure that was the reason neither of us pursued our relationship. Mark did pay special attention to me and it was sort of flattering. With Meghan's big push to get something going, I decided to see if Mark might be available. I was pretty nervous making the call, but after we hung-up, I began to feel really good about the decision. Mark was so kind and willing, not desperate by any means. He was going to be a quite a catch for someone. Mark told me that he had a good friend named Todd who was not seeing anyone right now, and he was pretty sure that Todd would be available. So we sort of had a double date set up.
We arrived at my apartment with Meghan trailing her suitcase. I had emptied an extra drawer in my bedroom dresser for her to put her clothes. I really hadn't given much thought to sleeping arrangements. I decided that I would let Meghan sleep in my bed and I'd throw something over the sofa. I did notice that Meghan brought a lot of sexy evening tops and designer jeans, but I did not see any form of pajamas.
Meghan kept the conversation going throughout the unpacking before stating, "I think it's time to pop the cork on the bubbly. What do you think?" she laughed.
"I think that's a great idea."
We walked to the kitchen where I promptly grabbed two Champagne flutes. Meghan stopped at the counter and began untwisting the wire and cork of the bottle. It popped loudly and started to spill a bit on the granite. We both giggled.
Meghan teased me even more when she saw the flutes. "Hey girl, we're going to drink tonight, not sip. You got something that holds more of what we need?"
I laughed in return and grabbed my Cabernet glasses. "How about these?"
"Wonderful!"
