As I nudged him, I saw why he’d stopped me from going any farther; the moment those doors opened, a wave of people surged out. Getting stampeded wasn’t the way I wanted to start my career.
Once the last people were trickling off, he wove his arm through mine and moved us on board. There weren’t any seats available, so he grabbed one of the vertical poles, indicating I should do the same. Even when I did, he kept his arm twisted through mine.
Being so close and still, he let out a groan when he examined how I wasn’t at eye level with him. “The heels. I thought I told you they were a no-fly zone when I was around.” The toe of his Con tapped my heel. “I’m feeling less like a man every second you hover above me.”
I made it a point to stand as tall as I could. “I’m on my way to work. Models work in heels. The agencies would probably nail them to the soles of our feet if there weren’t humanitarian laws against it. I can’t slide on a pair of flip-flops because my roommate’s got masculinity issues.” I took a moment to scan the subway car. “I’m hovering over just about every guy in here. Do they look like their egos are taking a hit?”
Soren didn’t look. He was busy wrestling the box of Pop-Tarts open. “I can’t help it if I’m more macho than most guys. It runs in the Decker blood.” He ripped open one of the foil packets, pulled one Pop-Tart out, and offered the other to me. “My mom, god bless her, gave birth to four boys. My grandma gave birth to five. Macho is tantamount to the Decker name.”
“You talk a lot in the morning,” I said, taking the Pop-Tart. A person didn’t turn away free food when they were flat broke.
“That’s not just a morning problem.” He bit off a quarter of his “breakfast.”
I set my breakfast into my purse, saving it for lunch. I’d just brushed my teeth and didn’t want to chance showing up to meetings with pink-stained teeth and sprinkles in them.
“What’s your schedule like today?” I asked, my heart hammering from experiencing my first subway ride. It was everything they made it seem like in the movies, but grittier. Plus, there were the smells a screen could never recreate. It felt like every part of the planet was somehow represented in odor inside of this small subway car.
The familiar ones, to the not-so-familiar.
“I have class, baseball, work, homework, sleep.” Soren moved more behind me when the next load of passengers crawled off and on at the next stop. “That’s my schedule most every day except for the weekend. Then it’s all baseball, homework, and sleep.”
“When do you have fun?”
Soren chuckled like that was a cute question. “Sometimes I have a few hours on Thursday to go home. Makes my mom happy, and I chow down like I’m not going to see a meal for a month. Dad and my brothers bond by shouting and gesturing at whatever game’s on television. That’s about all the time I have for fun in my life these days.”
The car was getting more packed the closer we got to the heart of the city. A guy who’d climbed on at the last stop was standing uncomfortably close to me. I knew I’d grown up in a small town with probably five acres to every occupant, but this dude felt like he was trying to drape himself around my back.
Soren must have noticed the dude was pushing his boundaries too, because Soren slid around me and into my spot so the guy was sandwiched up against him instead. Weird how the perv melted back into the rest of the crowd.
“That sounds nice, and I bet it makes your mom happy.”
Soren checked over his shoulder to make sure the guy had backed off. “It’s more an exercise in survival of the fittest, but yeah, it makes Mom happy. The burden of being the favorite.” He stuffed the last of his Pop-Tart into his mouth, pointing at the door. “The next stop’s yours. Are you comfortable getting off on your own? Won’t get lost in the great city of Oz?” He checked the time on his phone, the skin between his brows creasing. “If we hustle, I can get off and take you there myself, just to make sure you know where you’re going. My professor’s pretty cool about students being late to class.”
My head shook as I felt the subway slow. “You’ve already saved my butt a half dozen times this morning. I can navigate a few blocks on my own.”
He glanced at me, giving me a second to change my mind. I still hadn’t when the doors started to open.
“Just head up the stairs. That’ll put you on Park Avenue. Depending on your address, head up or down a few blocks.” He lifted his chin at the doors. “Those doors don’t pause for anyone, not even a supermodel in the making.” His hand moved to my back, gently guiding me toward the doors as people started to shove on.
“Thanks for everything,” I shouted back at him, shouldering through the wave of people. “Have a great day.”
“Make today great!” he shouted before the doors closed.
When I waved over my shoulder at him, I barely caught him winking at me before the subway moved down the rail.
The clock on the subway wall read 7:40, which gave me plenty of time to make it three blocks. Provided I didn’t get turned around. Which I wouldn’t. Soren had saved me this morning. Now the rest was up to me.
Following the herd of people up the stairs, I emerged onto the sidewalk as the winter air blasted over me. This city was so dang cold. With all these tall buildings and people, how could it possibly feel like the cold was knifing through me straight to the bone?
Taking a moment to get my bearings, I checked the address for the agency. It was on the 1480 block, and I was currently on the 1450 block. So I was close, but I didn’t have a clue if I should head straight or turn around.
Everyone back home had told me how people in big cities weren’t like people in small towns, especially when it came to helping one another out. Whether they were right or not, I was going to ask for help until someone marching down this sidewalk gave me some.
It only took a few excuse mes before one lady paused.
“Can you tell me if 1480 is up or down?”
She kept moving, pointing over her shoulder. “It’s back that way. Few streets down.”
“Thank you,” I called after her as I started moving down the sidewalk.
I felt like I was going against traffic as I shoved through the crowds headed in the opposite direction, but I finally made it to the building I needed. It was one of those massive structures that seemed to go up so high, it broke through the atmosphere. The windows were gleaming so much, they seemed to ripple, and the people whisking in and out of the doors looked like they’d just stepped out of one of the fashion magazines I was hoping to one day have photos of me in.