The Suite Life (2 page)

And she was equally open to learning about Jesus Christ and the Blessed Mother. Now and again she would join me for the short noon Masses at Our Lady of Victory, located just up the block from our office, every Monday, and would ask about my rosary-collecting hobby, which had started when I picked up a string of white plastic beads I had almost stepped on in the street when I was walking to my mother's funeral. Priti seemed to be fascinated by that glimpse into my past, as she was by everything I had to tell her about the rites and rituals of Catholicism.

One day, on impulse, I grabbed her hand and dragged her along with me to Mass. On hot summer days when you could actually see the heat rising in waves from the tar-covered streets and it was too hot to sit outside on a bench, we'd often sit in a cool, dark pew and talk quietly about the mysteries of faith, or pray silently in our own ways. In the peace and quiet of Our Lady of Victory, I am always reminded that I still find comfort in church—and that is no small thing.

That said, however, it was often harder to keep the faith in other areas. Yes, I was still writing, but also still waiting for the break that would allow me to actually live in Manhattan instead of just working there. When my mood got too bleak, Priti inevitably sensed when I was feeling low and was always there to cheer me up.

“What's with the long face?” she'd ask, her lively dark eyes peeking over the partition between us.

“Nothing,” I'd answer, automatically fingering the rosary that found its way into my hand whenever I was anxious. “Just thinking about things.”

“You girls working?” our ever-vigilant boss would invariably roar through the open door of his glass-enclosed office across the aisle.

“Yeah,” I lied every time he asked the same question. I figured if he hadn't already fired me for my less-than-stellar typing skills, he wouldn't send me packing just for having a little over-the-partition chat with my friend.

“Who's zoomin' who, Ms. Bonti?” he asked, quoting the Aretha Franklin song. “Get back to that projection I've been waiting for too long already.”

“Keep the faith, Sam,” Priti would whisper as she sank back into her cubicle.

Okay, okay,
I said to myself, turning back to my keyboard.
I guess everyone is waiting for something
. Despite a rush hour commute that would depress a saint, Priti's encouraging words generally kept me in a positive frame of mind until I got home, where I was greeted by the painting of the Blessed Mother that hung above my bed.
There are a lot worse roommates,
I told myself every time I saw it.

Some days, however, as I was preparing my go-to, cheap-but-healthy brown rice and broccoli dinner, the dreariness of my surroundings and the bleakness of my prospects really got to me—and on those days neither Priti nor the Blessed Mother could raise me out of my funk. I was in just such a mood one morning when I heard a familiar voice behind me at the bus stop.

“My, oh my. I'm not sure the Big Apple is ready for you today.” It was John, my old friend from Brooklyn, who worked near my office downtown.

I smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek, self-consciously
smoothing the skirt of my blue-and-white-striped suit. Mom had bought it for me at a thrift store—it was so old that it had become retro and it was still in good shape all these years later because I had long since learned how to take care of the limited wardrobe I had. The skirt was pencil straight and clung to the curves on my petite frame in the right places but demanded to be worn with heels, which was okay with me. I'd always hated the way women look rushing for the train or the bus in their business suits and clunky sneakers; talk about not knowing how to feminize a suit.

“Nice suit, Bonti. I don't know how anyone in your office gets any work done with you walking around in that getup,” he said, draping an arm across my shoulders and nudging me closer.

“Easy, John—it's just a suit,” I retorted, elbowing him playfully and secretly loving the compliment. I'd been in a funk for so long, wondering how I'd become one of the dreary corporate drones commuting to Manhattan every day, that I'd forgotten how nice it was to get a little male attention.

“What can I say—you wear it well!”

I loved John for how sweet, honest, and supportive he was. He was a few years ahead of me in high school, and knew Tony, so he knew where I had truly come from, which scared most guys. But not John. He was always a gentleman, always ready with a compliment or kind word—and we both knew he'd always wanted to be more than friends, but the spark just wasn't there on my end. We rolled into lower Manhattan and stopped at a cart for coffee before parting ways with our customary two kisses and a hug.

I looked at my watch and picked up my pace—I was late already. I'd walked those two blocks from the bus to the office so many times that my feet took me there without my even paying attention to where I was going. I was still deep in thought when,
steps from the glass and steel monolith that was my home away from home, I squeezed the white plastic rosary in my pocket and, without looking up, took a sharp left toward the door. As I did that, something caught my shoulder and spun me around. I lurched awkwardly to prevent myself from falling and spilling my coffee. “What the . . .” The words were almost out of my mouth when I looked up—and up—into the deep, laughing blue eyes of the giant who had almost bowled me over. The guy was huge . . . and gorgeous. At least six foot two and about two hundred thirty pounds, he had a full head of wavy black hair and an impish smile that compelled me to smile back. His perfect teeth were whiter than white against his tanned skin, and as I glanced down at the arm still on my shoulder, I could feel myself beginning to blush. That wasn't like me at all. But there was something about this man that took my breath away—and it wasn't the force of his blow to my shoulder.

“I'm sorry,” he said, even though he didn't sound very apologetic. “I hope I didn't hurt you, but I think you're beautiful and I couldn't think of any other way to get your attention. My name is Alec, by the way.”

“Well, thank you, I guess. You certainly do have a forceful way of introducing yourself, Alec,” I shot back, having finally regained at least some of my composure. “I'm Samantha.”

“Pleased to meet you, Samantha. And I'm truly sorry if I scared you. If you don't have a boyfriend or a husband, I would love to take you to brunch or dinner.” He glanced at my left hand—the surreptitious ring check—and I realized I was still clutching my rosary. He turned on his thousand-watt smile: “You're not a nun, are you?”

Now it was my turn to smile. “Don't worry,” I said, “I'm not married, and I'm definitely not a nun” (although my social life had been about as active as a nun's even now that I was free of Tony). “But I am very late right now.” The guy had a nerve, but
he was so charming that it would have been impossible to stay angry with him.

“So am I,” he said, grin widening.

“Look, Alec, it's been great and all that, but I really have to go now,” I said with as much conviction as I could muster.

“Yeah, I missed the opening bell, too,” he confessed. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out a card case, and leaned in close to my ear. “Call me, Samantha,” he whispered, slipping a business card into my hand and allowing his fingers to brush mine for the briefest of instants, “next time you have an open Saturday or Sunday.” And with that he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

I took a deep breath and steadied myself.
Holy shit, what just happened there?
I thought, shaking my head in disbelief as I pulled open the door to my building.
By the way, what is brunch?

Fingering Alec's stiff business card, I tried to slip unobtrusively into my cubicle and look as if I were busy at my desk. I propped the distinctive slate-gray card with white lettering against my monitor and stared at it as I considered the brash but beautiful man who had given it to me: Alec DeMarco, Managing Director, Transglobal Equities. There was something tasteful yet assertive about the font, I thought. Just like Alec.

“I'm dying to know the reason for that ridiculous grin on your face,” Priti teased as she poked her head around the partition.

“Very funny, P,” I said, shuffling some paper.

She glanced toward the boss's office. “Okay, I'll let you catch up now, but I expect to hear everything at lunch. Twelve-thirty sharp at the bench,” she hissed, retreating into her cubicle.

I shook my head to get rid of the overwhelming flood of emotions produced by my sidewalk encounter with Alec and tried to concentrate on the pile of paper in front of me.

“You gonna give me more than ‘Just some guy I met,' or do I have to beat it out of you?” Priti complained as we settled on
our favorite bench with our sandwiches. “Give it up, Sam. You're killing me.”

“It all happened so fast, I can hardly remember. It's all a blur, really. This big guy grabs my shoulder right outside the building and spins me around. He asks for a
brunch
date, of all things. I mean, what's brunch anyway? We exchange a couple of pleasantries, he whispers in my ear to call him, and then he disappears.”

“Is he hot?”

“I'd say that's putting it mildly.”

“Really? That's saying quite a bit, considering it was
all a blur
.”

“I know,” I said, “but he just made a huge impression. He's rough and smooth at the same time, and his magnetism is really . . . powerful.”

Priti grabbed my elbow gently. “Whoa, girl. Slow down. I know it's been a long time, but we can't have you rushing off to do him in his office.”

Priti's name meant “delight, joy,” and I couldn't help laughing about how much of both she got from my obvious discomfort.

“I know, P,” I said softly. “But I've never met anyone who had such an effect on me so instantly.”

Priti nodded. “I can see that,” she said. “I'm just worried that you're going to be suckered in too quickly and end up hurt by some slick operator.”

In an instant my relationship with Tony flashed through my mind. “Don't worry, Priti,” I assured her. “That isn't going to happen to me—not again.”

“So are you gonna call him?” she asked, obviously still concerned.

“In a day or two . . . or three.”

“Good.” She nodded. “Just so long as you keep your pretty little head screwed on straight.”

At home that evening, and for the two evenings after that, I jotted a few notes in my journal. Alec was never completely out of my mind.
What if John and I hadn't stopped for coffee that day? What if Alec and I hadn't both been late? If there'd been a speeding fire truck or an ambulance, or some other distraction that slowed either of us down for just a moment?
I decided that the whole thing must have been, in one of my Jewish grandma Ruth's favorite Yiddish words,
beshert,
meaning “destiny” or “fate.”