“It’s a surprise.”
“Can my cat come?”
“Sure. She might like flying.”
Oh shit. I said, “I’m not sure either of us is ready for a ride in your Cessna.” He’d offered to take me flying at least a dozen times, but I’d always made excuses to get out of it.
“Please give it a try. It would mean a lot to me.”
“Really?” When he nodded, I asked, “Why is this so important to you?”
“Because it’s something I absolutely love, so I want to share it with you.”
“If I start to freak out, do you promise to turn right around and land?”
“Absolutely.”
After a brief inner debate, I finally said, “Okay. I guess I could give it a try.”
It was worth saying yes just to see the delighted smile that brought a light to his eyes. “You won’t regret it.” He kissed my forehead and said, “See you in half an hour,” before heading out the door.
I searched for Madame Leota and found the cat curled up on the bottom shelf of my bookcase. “Looks like I’m going flying,” I told her. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you go along. I don’t actually think it’s dangerous, but there’s a good chance I’ll start to panic, and that always makes you freak out in turn. We don’t need that much drama at ten thousand feet.”
* * *
Exactly thirty minutes later, I stepped into the sunny dining room. The only people in there were Gabriel, who usually worked the front desk, and Vee. I poured myself another cup of coffee and joined them at their table.
After we said good morning, I asked Gabriel, “Did you make it to the party last night?” He was a beautiful, androgynous guy with long, dark hair and a slender build, and he was dressed all in black in a tunic-length sweater, leggings, and ankle boots. The outfit looked effortlessly chic on him, as did his red lipstick. I’d always admired his style.
“I did, but only for an hour or so early on. I wanted to ring in the new year on my own.”
Vee was slumped in his chair and wearing sunglasses, and I asked, “Why are you up? You look like you should be sleeping it off, which seems to be what everyone else is doing this morning.”
“No idea. I woke up an hour ago and couldn’t go back to sleep.”
“Did that guy spend the night? What was his name, Greg?”
“Craig. He spent it passed out on my bed after getting totally hammered. In fact, he’s still there. I slept on the couch.”
“Did you ever determine if it was a date?”
“I’m going with no. He friend-zoned me all night.”
“Bummer. He was cute.”
“I thought so, too. It figures, though. My love life has totally flatlined, unlike yours, apparently.”
“What does that mean?”
Gabriel grinned and said, “We saw Lorenzo leaving your building a little while ago.” When I sighed, he said, “Oops. Was that supposed to be a secret?”
“I guess not. I would have told you both sooner or later, but please keep it to yourself. He won’t want everyone talking about this.”
Gabriel took a sip of tea before asking, “Why not? Everyone knows you have a crush on him, and they’ll be happy you two are finally together.”
“That’s just it though, we’re not together. The first thing he told me last night was that he wasn’t ready for a relationship. We messed around a bit anyway, but to him it was just a friends-with-benefits kind of thing.”
Vee asked, “How do you feel about that?”
I shrugged and said, “I wish it was more, but it’s all he has to give right now.” It didn’t even begin to explain all I was feeling, but I just left it at that.
Just then, Lorenzo stepped out of the adjoining kitchen with his hands full and crossed the room to our table. As he put plates heaped with scrambled eggs, fruit, and wheat toast in front of us, he said, “Good morning, everyone. I thought you might be hungry.”
Gabriel thanked him and tucked in with enthusiasm while Vee muttered, “I’m super hung over, but I can probably manage some toast.”
Lorenzo sat down beside me with a plate of his own and said, “I know you rarely eat breakfast, Will, but we have a big day ahead of us, so I thought I’d give you the option of fueling up.” He was good at that, taking care of me without actually telling me what to do.
I told him, “I don’t know if breakfast is a good idea. You and I are both going to be pretty unhappy if I throw up in your plane.”
Gabriel raised a well-groomed eyebrow and turned to me. “You agreed to go up in the Cessna?”
“Yup.”
“Why’d you finally say yes, after all those months of swearing it’d never happen?”
It was because I realized I really wanted to share that experience with Lorenzo, and this might be my last chance. I didn’t want to say that, though. Vee was sure to launch into a big speech about how I couldn’t quit acting and leave California, and I couldn’t face that right then. So instead, I said lightly, “New year, new me. Will 2.0 includes twenty percent more bravery than last year’s model.” Gabriel nodded in approval.