New Year in Manhattan Read online

  New Year in Manhattan

  The Empire State Series – Part Three

  By Louise Bay

  Published by Louise Bay 2015

  Copyright © 2015 Louise Bay. All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  ISBN - 978-0-9928918-8-6

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Playlist

  Acknowledgments

  Other Books by Louise Bay

  Let’s Connect!

  Chapter One

  Anna

  I didn’t know how long I stood there watching, scanning the heads of travellers on the other side of airport security, heading into duty free. Maybe he’d turn back, change his mind about leaving. Maybe he’d come and see if I was still here, watching for him. And if he did, I wanted to make sure I was.

  A small child ran into me and I moved my legs apart to keep from losing my balance. As I bent down to steady her, she ran off. It broke my concentration and I looked at my watch. Five minutes past take off time. I checked the board. It wasn’t delayed. He was in the air. Gone.

  The dull ache in my stomach that had been threatening to break through since last night engulfed me. I stumbled to a nearby bench and sat with my head in my hands. He was really gone. We’d finally had the discussion about the future. Ethan hadn’t asked me to go to New York. I’d wanted him to, but he hadn’t. But he hadn’t ended it either. He’d told me he loved me. He’d told me he wanted to make it work and I’d said it all back to him. We were going to do the long distance thing. Relief and elation had held off complicated for a few hours until now. Now the reality of him heading to another country was right here, and living on different continents meant complication. That reality was almost unbearable

  I fumbled in my bag, and took out my keys and my phone. What was next? I couldn’t remember.

  I stood resolutely. Home. That was what was next. I headed to the exit and found a cab. Had I told the driver where to go? I closed my eyes and let my head fall back.

  “Miss. Miss.”

  I lifted my head from the back of the seat. It was the cab driver. The car had stopped. I looked out of the window. Home.

  “Sorry to wake you, love,” he said. “You got jet lag?”

  He hadn’t woken me, not from sleep anyway.

  I mumbled at him and pushed some money into his hand.

  I was soothed by familiar surroundings as I entered the flat. It wasn’t home but it was the closest thing I had. The ache inside me pulsed as I remembered I’d have to find somewhere to live. I had this place until the end of March. What would happen between now and then? Nothing had been decided between us other than that we wanted to make it work.

  I kicked off my shoes, went into the bedroom and, fully clothed, I crawled under the covers. I could still smell him. Feel him.

  I woke to the sound of my phone muffled by my pillow. It was still dark. I flicked my fingers across the words “Sex God”.

  “Hey,” I croaked.

  “God, you sound so sexy when you’ve just woken.”

  I couldn’t help but grin through my cloud of half-sleep.

  “You sound sexy all the time,” I said. “Where are you?”

  “In a cab. Sorry to wake you.”

  “Don’t be sorry. I’ve missed you.”

  “Already?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  “Only three weeks, beautiful.”

  We had to get through Christmas first and then I was flying to New York. “Three weeks,” I repeated.

  “And I’m still going to make you come every day.”

  I groaned and squeezed my thighs together. Ethan had assured me that the long distance thing could work because he gave good phone sex, but the thought of not touching him, of him not touching me, for three weeks was horrifying.

  “Hearing you groan like that is making me hard, and that’s just not playing fair when you know I’m in the back of a cab.”

  I grinned again. I could get to him despite being three thousand miles away. That eased my ache slightly.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

  “You don’t have to try. You just have to exist.”

  “God, I love you, Ethan.”

  “I love you. Now get in the shower because you have that meeting that starts at 8:30.” I loved that he knew my schedule. How long would that last? He knew what I was doing this week but what about the week after that?

  “What time is it?”

  “Just before seven your time,” he replied.

  I groaned again. I could sleep for a week, or maybe until it was time to fly to New York.

  “Stop, Anna.”

  “Sorry. Don’t go.”

  “You have to get in the shower. I’ll speak to you when I wake up later. Stop pouting.”

  I laughed. I was pouting.

  “Okay, I love you. Sleep well.”

  “I will, I’ll dream of you.”

  *

  I took the tube to work, like most of London, but I didn’t feel like most of London. Somehow the city didn’t seem as bright as usual, it was like someone had turned the contrast down—there was something gray about everyone. I felt disconnected, as if I knew something they didn’t. I walked at my new pace, people rushing past me, bumping me from left and right but it was okay because I was different. I knew. I knew what it was to really, truly, love someone. And it was incredible and entirely petrifying. I’d never felt so exposed and vulnerable.

  We hadn’t talked about things too far in the future, but we’d set some boundaries, created some rules. Of course we had.

  Rule one was that we would speak to each other every day. Even if it was for two seconds. Rule two was that we would see each other every month and we would always know when we would next see each other. Rule three was no bullshit. If either of us felt like it wasn’t working, we would talk about it and make it work better.

  But rules were meant to be broken, right?

  *

  “I can’t believe that I’ve got to be in the office without having Sexy Scott to look at.” Lucy landed her ass on my desk as I returned from my meeting.

  Did she think I liked her? I was pretty sure I’d never given her reason to be so deluded.

  I fingered the Hermès scarf that I’d worn to keep Ethan close to me and tried to ignore her. She kept yapping away as I opened my inbox and started going through my emails. I managed to tune her out.

  “Anna? Are you listening? He totally had the hots for me.”

  “Whatever you say, Lucy,” I said, my eyes fixated to my screen.

  “Jesus, you’re a miserable bitch.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  She finally left me alone and I cocooned myself in a bubble that I hoped screamed “leave me the fuck alone”. I wanted to get my work done and go home. Although Lucy irritated the living crap out of me, she was right. There was no joy in this place without Ethan. Not for me. Not now.
r />   Leah called, presumably because I wasn’t responding to her emails and texts.

  “We can just have a girlie night in. Daniel has a dinner,” Leah said.

  “I need to do a ton of laundry and call my parents. Maybe later in the week?” I was fobbing her off and she knew it. I just genuinely didn’t want company. I wanted to be surrounded by Ethan. And even though he was gone, I could feel close to him back at the flat.

  “Don’t become a hermit. You wouldn’t let me do that and I won’t let you.”

  “I appreciate you’re on hermit patrol and I thank you for your service, but it’s all good. I’ll speak to you later.”

  I delved into my work where I could be alone.

  Just past midday, my phone buzzed. “Hey,” I whispered.

  “I dreamt of you,” he said.

  I got up and closed the door to my office.

  “Was it a good dream?” I asked.

  “You were going down on me, so I’d say so.”

  “How romantic. You say the sweetest things.” I laughed.

  “I don’t like waking up without you,” he said, and my heart tripped.

  “I know. I don’t like you waking up without me either. Only three weeks until your next real-life blow job,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

  I heard him groan on the other end of the phone. I laughed. “Get in the shower, you bum. I’ll call you when I’m home.”

  Ethan

  I put the phone down and headed into the bathroom. Was jerking off when she wasn’t on the end of the phone cheating? I was going to have to establish rules about that. I had the hard-on to end all hard-ons and it was ruining my concentration. I picked up my phone again to see what emails had come in overnight. That should help redistribute my blood flow better.

  We’d managed two snatched conversations since I’d left. Was this what it was going to be like? I had really held myself back when we’d finally talked about our future together. What I wanted to do was throw her over my shoulder and bring her back to New York with me. But I had managed to control myself. She seemed to want to understand what I wanted and it had been difficult for me to establish what was going to make her happy. When I’d suggested trying a long distance relationship she’d seemed relieved.

  I wasn’t sure which alternative had made her anxious—the thought of me taking her back with me, or ending it. But I hadn’t pushed her. Perhaps I feared her answer. We’d promised no bullshit, but as much as I felt she was holding something back, I was too. I hadn’t demanded that she come back to New York. The thought of her in London, without me, was fucking terrifying—she could change her mind about us, or meet someone else. The thought of me without her was fucking terrifying—she had become like oxygen. I couldn’t really remember myself before her and what I did remember, I didn’t like. I didn’t want to go back to sex without complications or ambiguity. Anna was everything I’d spent my life fighting against and now the only thing I wanted.

  Three weeks. How would I survive three weeks? I was struggling to get through a few hours. I needed a plan. I’d hit the gym. That would work. I’d need to be putting plenty of hours in at the office. That would be a good distraction. And I could hang out with my old college friends, Andrew and Mandy, this weekend. That was a plan. Now I just needed to set about making sure Anna wasn’t distracted by something or someone other than me. I was going to make sure I was always front and center of her mind.

  *

  “So, are you officially pussy whipped?” Andrew asked. My smile spread across my face and I shrugged. “I knew it would happen at some point,” he said.

  Andrew had suggested lunch and I’d had my assistant organize reservations at the place where we’d not-so-accidently “run into” Anna and Leah the morning after our first night together. I’d been crazy about her even back then.

  “What can I say? She’s worth being whipped for.”

  “So, she’s coming over for Christmas?”

  “New Year’s,” I corrected. “I’m taking my folks to Aspen for Christmas. They’re disappointed not to be with Izzy, so I thought Aspen might make it up to them. And then Anna flies in on the twenty-seventh.”

  “And then what?”

  “And then what what?”

  “Well, is she going to move over permanently? Are you going to London? Are you going to marry her?”

  Yes, yes and yes? No, maybe and one day? I didn’t have an answer. I shrugged again.

  “But you love her right?”

  I couldn’t stop the grin that spread across my face. “Yeah, I love her.”

  “So make it happen, dude.”

  Andrew was a great friend. He could have been giving me miles of shit for going soft but instead he wanted me to get my girl.

  “Thanks, man. I’m going to find a way for us to be together on the same continent.”

  “Good. Girls like Anna and Mandy don’t come around very often. Don’t fuck it up.”

  “Good advice. And so very eloquently put.”

  “So, do you want to spend New Year’s with Mandy and me, or do you have other plans?”

  “I know Anna would love to see you guys, but can we do it another night? Maybe the day before? For brunch or something? I have other plans for us on New Year’s.”

  My idea was to make the evening special. I just hadn’t decided how yet.

  “Is work busy?” he asked.

  “Yeah, hopefully it will be better now that I’m back in the US. The clients are so fucking demanding. It was hard managing it from London, but it should settle down.” I wasn’t going to be late tonight. I wanted to make it home by 7pm. I had a promise to keep. I needed to make sure my beautiful girl came every day. Shit, my dick started to stir. “How’s Mandy?” I asked, knowing talking about her should settle me down.

  “Good. She wants us to go out to dinner so she can give you a hard time about leaving Anna in London.”

  “I didn’t leave her there. She lives there.”

  “I know man, but you know what she’s like. She’s excited that you’ve found someone.”

  I couldn’t help but grin. I was excited that I’d found Anna, too. We just had to find a way to be on the same continent.

  Chapter Two

  Ethan

  On the way back to the office, I texted Anna

  E: I’ll be home by 7pm. Can you wait up?

  A: All night, for you.

  E: Good. I want you in bed and naked by the time I call.

  A: Yes, sir.

  E: Stop with the “sir”, you’re making me hard.

  A: That’s how I like you, sir.

  Fuck, she could get me like steel with a text from three thousand miles away. I was like a fucking teenager when it came to her. Maybe we should have a no text rule during office hours?

  I slipped back into my work routine. Managing things from London for three months meant that being back in New York made everything seem easier and I got through things quickly. But I did have a conference call at eight that evening that I could take from home. It meant I got an hour with Anna. The thought of her in bed and naked—her creamy-soft skin wrapped in our sheets—had my dick twitching, so I tuned it out and got on with the day.

  It was just coming up to 7pm and I was stuck in traffic. Fuckety fuck. I didn’t want to waste a minute with her, so I called her from the back of the cab.

  “Hey, my handsome man.”

  “God, I love you.” I couldn’t stop myself, I loved her and how she loved me.

  “Are you okay?” She sounded concerned. Because I’d told her I loved her? I wasn’t doing it enough if it raised questions.

  “Yes, I just wanted you to know. I’ve missed you all day.”

  “I’ve missed you, too. I don’t like being here without you. It doesn’t feel right.” My gut ached hearing her say that. It felt like she might be missing me as much as I was missing her.

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m in bed.”

  “Did I wake you? Were you
sleeping?”

  “No, I was waiting for your call. You told me to be naked and in bed, so I am.”

  I groaned and the taxi driver shot me a look in the mirror.

  “Fucking traffic,” I spat.

  “Where are you?”

  “In the back of a cab. The traffic’s a bitch. I shouldn’t be too much longer. I just couldn’t wait to hear your voice.”

  “It’s fine. There’s no rush.” I hadn’t told her about my 8p.m. conference call because I didn’t want her thinking I was fitting her in amongst other things or that there was a time limit to our call. “How was your day?”

  “Good, actually. I saw Andrew for lunch and I got a lot done.”

  “How are he and Mandy?”

  “Good. They want to see you when you come over. I’m going to have dinner with them one night this week.”

  “I’m glad you have them.”

  “Me too. I left something for you, in the top drawer, where my stuff used to me. Go take a look.”

  Anna

  “You did? What is it?” I asked.

  “Go take a look,” he repeated.

  I scrambled out of bed, went over to Ethan’s drawer and pulled it open. The sight of the almost-empty space made my stomach flip. Another reminder that he wasn’t here anymore. But it wasn’t completely empty. There was a small orange box stamped with the now familiar Hermès logo. I grinned, grabbed it and headed back to bed.

  “Did you find it?”

  “I did. You don’t need to buy me gifts.”

  “I want to. I think you’re the only girl ever born who complains about getting gifts.”

  “I’m not complaining. I just don’t want you to think you have to.”

  “I want to. Do you like it?”

  “I’ve not opened it.”

  “We should be doing this by video call or something. I want to see you.”

  “Three weeks. Where are you now?”

  “We’re just pulling in. Open your gift.”

  I did. I loved that he’d thought about leaving me something when he was gone. He was good at this boyfriend thing, even if he hadn’t had much practice. It was a beautiful blue enamel bracelet. “God, Ethan, I love it. Thank you.”