The Goy Next Door (Girl Meets Goy #2)

Chapter 4 The drizzle affect

With her cheeks still flushed, Leah pushed open the door of Stone Street Tavern. The place was mostly empty, as most of the Wall Street happy hour clientele was still finishing up their business of the day before they could let loose in the bar.

But Gabe was already there, sitting at the bar with a short glass in front of him. He was smiling at the male bartender who was drying glasses and laughing at whatever Gabe had said to him.

As she approached him, Gabe flicked his head and his eyes lit up. He stood up and waited for Leah.

“Do you want to sit here? Or should we get a table?” he asked while he kissed her cheek in a completely familiar but uncomfortable movement. His proximity intimated Leah, who both wanted him closer, but also felt guilt shield her and push him away.

“The bar is fine,” she answered and she let him pull the barstool out for her.

“This guy’s a keeper,” the bartender said. “What can I get you? On the house.”

“Oh, he’s not—this is a business meeting—we’re talking about work stuff.” Leah fumbled over her words before ordering herself a fruity cocktail.

“So, was Tony impressed?” Gabe asked while Leah watched the bartender pour orange, red, and clear liquids into a shaker, which he violently popped closed and shook next to his ear.

“Oh, yes, I mean, everyone was!” Leah giggled. She wrote up her article about Zoomburger, quoting “sources involved in the takeover” and had submitted it to Tony just minutes before leaving. She saw Tony had been about to put on his jacket, but instead, he sat back down and stared at his computer. When Leah was leaving, he called her name from his office.

“Rosenberg! Who is your source?”

“I can’t say,” she responded, wondering if she would need to tell her editor. “He needs to be anonymous.”

“You don’t see journalistic integrity like that anymore,” Tony responded. “Good job cultivating your source, Rosenberg. Don’t waste that talent at Teen Club!”

“Thanks,” she responded as she left the office, blushing all the way to Stone Street. She had hoped the flush in her cheeks would fade by the time she arrived, but as soon as Gabe asked her if Tony was impressed, she felt the color continue to bleed.

“That’s great, Leah,” Gabe said. “I’m happy I could help.”

“Actually I wanted to ask your help about something else,” she said just as the bartender placed down her cocktail. It was a bright orange with a couple maraschino cherries floating on top.

“Oh no, Leah,” Gabe shook his head with a cheeky smile. “WinterRock Capital doesn’t have any comments or any more exclusives about our upcoming deals. If I didn’t know you better, I’d feel very used right now.”

“No! Oh, I’m sorry, no, it’s not that.” At this point, Leah wondered if the red would ever fade from her face. “I just want your advice.” She explained the offer she had received from Tony after their lunch—to move to Teen Club where she could be a reporter at the magazine she had always dreamed of writing for with the editor she idolized. Gabe sipped his drink thoughtfully as she spoke. “What should I do?” she ended her speech, hoping that Gabe would just give her the right answer.

“Wow, that’s quite a compliment from the Teen Club editor,” was his first response. “What’s your first instinct?”

“I don’t know! I want to write for Teen Club! But I actually am starting to really like my job at Club Business. And I am good at what I am doing! And maybe Tony is right, that Club Business is better for my career long term,” she blurted out all the factors that were running through her head.

“You have to take everything Tony says with a grain of salt. He has an interest in your decision. He might be right that it’s better for your career long term, if you want a career in business. But what if you don’t? What if you want a career at Teen Club?”

Leah thought. She could see a clear career path from Club Business. She could go on to working for a bigger news outlet or one day move to the other side, working for an investment house or hedge fund or another type of fund with lots of money. That’s what Club Business reporters did after working there. They wore suits until they retired with lots and lots of money.

The career path at Teen Club was unclear. Would she move up in the world of fashion or makeup or advice? Did she still find those things interesting? Would she find those things interesting in twenty years?

“So you think I should stay at Club Business?” she asked, still hoping that Gabe would just give her the answer.

“As much as I like seeing your byline when I read the newspaper, I can’t tell you to stay there,” Gabe said and motioned to the bartender for another drink.

“How about a shot?” the bartender asked and before they could answer he started shaking blue liquid in the shaker. He poured three turquoise shots and lifted one up. “Cheers.”

“To decisions that affect the rest of our lives,” Gabe said as he raised one of the shot glasses. “May we make the right decisions or at least be happy with the decisions we make.”

“Amen,” the bartender responded and watched as Leah picked up the third glass.

“Amen,” she repeated and even though she thought Gabe was referring to her present decision, she couldn’t help but think of her decision to choose Asher over him. Was it the right decision? Was she happy with it?

The three of them took the shot and the bartender poured Gabe another drink as the bar started filling up with people in suits. With more alcohol in her system, Leah spoke freely about her present decision with her job. She knew she was talking too much and that she was starting to repeat how much she adored Marnie Gray but also she felt like she learned a lot from Tony, despite his bitterness and tendency go off on completely irrelevant diatribes. She knew he did it because he wanted to help the younger reporters, he wanted to impart his experience in the only way he knew how.

“I think you know the right decision,” Gabe said once she stopped to take a breath. “No one can tell you what to do.”

She nodded because she did know the right decision and spending the last hour hashing out her thoughts to Gabe had helped her realize it. She finished her cocktail and noticed that Gabe’s drink was empty too.

“Should we get another?” she asked hopefully. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him yet, realizing she hadn’t let him talk about anything since they sat down.

“I really shouldn’t,” Gabe responded. “I’m training for the New York Marathon.”

“You are? You didn’t tell me that! That’s a big deal!” Leah felt very selfish that she hadn’t given Gabe a chance to talk about his news.

“How do you know someone is training for the New York Marathon?” Gabe said with a smile that Leah recognized as his joking face.

“How?” she said, eager to hear his punchline.

“Don’t worry, they will tell you,” Gabe said and Leah couldn’t help but laugh because even she knew that was true. Just that morning, someone she didn’t even know in the Diamond Media elevator had mentioned to her that he too was training.

“That’s exciting, Gabe!” she responded when she stopped laughing.

“Yeah, but it’s also a lot of work and commitment, so I really need to get going,” he said as he waved to the bartender for the bill. “I’ve got to get up early for a run.”

“On me!” Leah insisted when the bill came. “You paid for lunch!”

“Thanks,” Gabe responded without protesting. Leah wondered if it was a sign that Gabe’s romantic interest in her was completely gone. She paid the bill and they walked outside where it had started raining.

“How does this affect your training?” she asked.

“The same way it affects your decision,” he said smiling.

“It doesn’t.”

“Exactly.”

They walked together to the Subway, sharing their commute uptown to their neighboring apartments on the opposite end of Manhattan. The ride was faster than Leah was used to. Why couldn’t the subway have gotten stuck underground the way it did on her first day of work, making her late? Why was the train so efficient when she wished she could have a few more minutes? When they got off the subway, there was only another block before they would head their separate ways.

They stood on the corner and said a friendly goodbye with a half-armed hug. It was still drizzling, making their goodbye more rushed than Leah would have wanted. As Gabe walked away, Leah watched him before turning down her own path, wondering if it was a decision she was happy with.