It's Only Temporary

Chapter 18: The Chase

"Penny!"

David broke into a jog, weaving his way past a man in a three-piece suit and a grey-haired couple walking their dog. He barely sidestepped a pair of doormen standing beneath an apartment building awning in their matching gold-tasseled uniforms. He could feel their eyes on his back as he brushed past. He must have cut quite a figure, he supposed, running down Park Avenue in a tux.

He'd just made his escape from this evening's black-tie gala at the Whitney Museum. Leo had raised his eyebrows and looked down at his watch when David told him he was heading out. "So early?" his boss had said. "It's barely nine o'clock."

David hadn't been in the mood to socialize tonight. He'd gone to the party stag - hadn't bothered with a date. And he was glad now that he hadn't. A date probably wouldn't have taken too kindly to being ditched just now, when he'd strolled around the corner of 75th and Park, and caught sight of that flash of long blonde hair.

He spotted her again now. She had her back toward him, making her way downtown. He was just about to shout after her again, when she stopped. She stood at the edge of the curb and raised her arm. David picked up the pace from a jog to an all-out run as he saw a taxi pull over in front of her.

"Hey! Penny! Wait up!"

She still didn't turn around. She had her hand on the car door when he reached out and caught her on the shoulder. "Penny!"

She turned and looked back at him with a pair of startled eyes.

Unfamiliar eyes.

Not Penny. Not anyone he knew.

He dropped his arm in disappointment. The woman pulled a pair of earphones from her ears and shot him a blank look. "Do I know you?"

"Sorry," he panted. "Sorry, I didn't... I thought you were someone else."

He raked his fingers through the hair at the crown of his head, and her wary expression softened into a a shy smile. She jammed her headphones into her purse and tossed her hair behind one shoulder, exposing a long, graceful neck. He smiled back as she tilted her head at the waiting taxi. "No harm done," she said. "Would you like to split a cab?"

His eyes flicked down for a moment as he strained to catch his breath. Early 30s, from the looks of her. No wedding ring. He wondered if they'd ever met before. She had on a little black dress that hugged her hips and hit at the top of her knees. A pair of pedicured toes peeked out from the tips of her high-heeled patent leather pumps. A string of pearls encircled her neck, just above the collar bone. In her hand, she held a simple metallic-sliver clutch. It looked expensive.

Perfect. Split a cab, indeed. David knew an invitation when he heard one. He couldn't think of a single reason to decline. Except for the hair, of course. Blond hair. Long, straight blonde hair that he'd mistaken from behind for someone else.

He shook his head. "No, thanks," he said. "I'll catch the next one."

"Are you sure? I don't mind at all."

"I'm headed the other direction," he lied, gesturing uptown. He shrugged regretfully and pulled the car door open for her to step inside. "Sorry again. You have a good night."

David watched the cab pull away and join the stream of traffic zipping by in both directions. He put his hands on his hips and stood still, waiting for his breathing to slow and his heart rate to return to normal.

Another cab pulled up in front of him. The driver looked up at him questioningly, but David waved him on. "No thanks," he called when the man rolled down his window. "Just waiting, thanks."