The Pickup (Imperfect Love 1)
We meet at Buvette in West Village and are seated immediately. After she orders a mimosa, and I order a coffee, she says, “So today’s the big day, huh?”
“Yep, I find out in a couple hours if New York is going to take a chance on me.”
“You nervous?”
“I guess.” I shrug. The truth is my mind is still on the beautiful brown-eyed woman who rocked my world and then skipped out.
“You guess? What’s up with you?”
The waiter sets down our drinks, and Celeste takes a sip of her mimosa while I pour a bit of milk into my coffee.
“That woman last night…”
“The one you left with?”
“Yeah. She skipped out on me this morning.”
Celeste cackles. “Aww…you poor baby. You got left before you could do the leaving.”
“It’s not that.” I take a sip of my coffee. “I thought maybe…” I shake my head. “I thought maybe there was something there. Something more.” I cringe at my confession as I wait for Celeste to give me shit.
And of course she does. “Oh God, Nick. You didn’t really think a woman you met at a club was going to fall in love with you. You’re an NFL player.”
“She didn’t know that, though,” I point out.
“Oh, c’mon! Of course she did.” Celeste laughs. The waiter comes back over, and we order breakfast. Once he leaves, Celeste says, “Sometimes I wonder if you’re really related to Henry and Victoria. You’re so damn gullible.”
“Because I wanted to fall in love instead of being in a money and status driven marriage like my parents?” I volley back.
“No, because even though you’ve had your heart stomped on and used repeatedly by everyone around you, you refuse to see life for what it really is.” I notice when she says this, her lips turn down into a frown, and I wonder if maybe Celeste has had her heart broken. I don’t bother asking, though. If she has, she would never admit it. She hates appearing weak or vulnerable.
“Well, then you’ll be happy to know I’ve given up. Money makes the world go round. Women are heartless, and my parents don’t know the meaning of love. You win, I lose.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Celeste leans in toward me, and I’m confused by her question.
“That I’m done with love? Yeah.” I shrug. “I mean, I pretty much gave up on it after Fiona left me. And after Liv left me a note this morning…” I release a humorless chuckle. “I think it’s time I throw in the towel and admit defeat.”
“No, not all that.” Celeste shakes her head. “Although, that information definitely helps. But what I meant was…” She bites her bottom lip nervously. “You’re thirty.”
“Yeah, so?” I shrug. “And you’re twenty-six,” I point out, not understanding her need to remind me of my age. The waiter sets our food down in front of us, and I grab my fork to dig in.
“Our pact when you were in college,” Celeste says. “If you didn’t find true love by thirty, you would marry me.”
My fork falls out of my hand and clatters against the plate.
Three
Nick
“Your tryout and evaluation were top notch, and the doctor signed off on your physical…” I’m trying to focus on what’s being said in probably the most important meeting of my career, but my mind is completely fucked up at the moment. First off, I can’t seem to get Liv off my mind, which is really fucking stupid because other than knowing her first name, nothing else I know about her will help me find her. She said in her note she had a flight to catch, which most likely means she doesn’t even live here…or maybe she does and she’s leaving on a trip. But then why would she be staying in a hotel? I tried to get the front desk to give me some information on her, but they wouldn’t budge. I shouldn’t have even tried. If she wanted to see me again, she would’ve woken me up or left her number. She did neither.
And then there’s the fact that I’m actually considering making good on the pact I made with Celeste all those years ago. When I agreed to her terms, I imagined by thirty I would be married with kids. But after having dealt with Fiona, my string of one-night stands this past year, and then Liv leaving this morning, I’m beginning to think maybe Celeste has the right idea. Fiona said it herself, I would make a horrible father, and the one woman in the past year I actually wanted to get to know better left without a trace the morning after. Clearly, I’m doing something wrong here, so maybe it’s time I do things Celeste’s way… Jesus, to even be considering this must mean I’ve lost my damn mind.