The Suite Adult Life

February (6.2)

No one liked the month of February. It was cold, it was slushy, it was icy, and it was just always a really dark gray. Dampness clung in the air and no one wanted to brave the weather. Not even for the short jaunt from the subway to their buildings. Umbrellas covered the sidewalks to inadequately protect themselves from the elements. The thing about February was that everyone knew the holidays were over and the depression from it set into people's bones quickly.

Bookstores and coffee shops brought in buskers for open mic afternoons, lit furnaces and turned on fake fireplaces making their interiors as warm both in temperature and ambiance as possible. Then, there was all of the pink. The first of the month turned everyone into hopeless romantics. If you hadn't made a reservation for Valentine's evening and weekend by New Years then you were fucked.

That was fine with Cody. So far everything was going according to plan. He let himself be open to meeting new people. He even joined a couple of dating apps. His social calendar was full for the time being. But he knew as soon as the first hit, every woman was going to be looking for a date for that special evening. So, like any older Gen Z, he went silent for the first two weeks of the month.

He was getting coffee at the shop around the corner. He refused to believe the 'all journalists must drink swill' propaganda. It also gave him a break and let his eyes reacclimate to the light after being in the dark room all morning. As he stood off to the side, his long legs crossed at the ankle, he got the assignment alert. A fist shot into the air in joy. Thank god! It had been months that he had been stuck in the city. Finally he could get away. Maybe they would send him to Florida or Mexico. He would even go to Texas as long as he got out of this fucking cold! He looked through all of the assignments and put in his bid for everything out of the city. He would even take a quiet little jaunt in Vermont if he had to.

"Latte for Bailey!" the barista called out. Cody looked slightly up from his phone, his thumb hovering over the 'send' button. No, he was imagining things. Bailey was a popular name. There wasn't just one person in the world with that name. He looked back down, pressed send and heard the barista call out the name again.

It wasn't the second call that made him look up, it was the bright and cheery "here!" that caught his ears. No. Just, no. This couldn't be happening. He thought for certain she would be back in DC by now. Why was she still in New York? He watched her grab the order not two feet from him and she didn't make any move to acknowledge him. Okay so that was weird. He wanted to debate his next move, he really did. Instead, he found himself directly in front of the petite brunette. "Bailey, hey. What are you doing here?"

Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Bailey's mind screamed. She remembered what London said about not trying to find him. But how was she supposed to know he would be here? She thought she was so careful too! She even peaked in the window to see if she could see him but the place was just too crowded to really be sure. Seeing as she had her drink first, she must have come in before him. It would be stupid to abandon a drink just to avoid her ex. "Hey... Cody... What's up?" She knew if she looked into his baby blues she would unravel. Instead she just stared at the pendant of his necklace. Intensely.

"What are you doing here? I thought you would be back in DC?" Small talk. He could do small talk. You know, work his way up to having that really intense conversation that they needed to have.

Mayday! Mayday! "Nope, back up here for work." She nodded slowly. Yes, that's it, blame it all on work. "Big case! All hands on deck!" Maybe her fake urgency would deter his interest in talking to her. Instead it was the calling of his name by the barista that allowed her escape.

At first he didn't hear his name, maybe he didn't want to. When he looked over at the annoyed woman shaking his drink at him, he held up his hands, silently asking Bailey to just wait a moment so he could grab his order. However, when he turned around, she was gone. He ran out the door and looked both ways searching for a familiar swish of the hips. Fuck! He kicked the side of the building in frustration.