Sleepless in Manhattan Read online

  “So why did you come here?”

  “Because I needed to live somewhere big and anonymous and my best friends were here. And I love certain parts of it,” Frankie conceded. “I love The High Line, the Botanical Gardens and our secret little corner of Brooklyn. I love our brownstone and I will be forever grateful to your brother for letting us rent the place from him.”

  “Did you hear that?” Eva nudged Paige. “Frankie said something positive about a man.”

  “Matt is one of the few decent men on the planet. He’s a friend, that’s all. I happen to enjoy being single. What’s wrong with that?” Frankie’s tone was cool. “I am self-sufficient and proud of it. I make my own money and I answer to no one. Being single is a choice, not a disease.”

  “And my choice would be to not be single. That’s not wrong either, so don’t lecture me. I can’t help feeling a little despondent that the condom in my purse has passed its expiry date.” Eva tucked a wayward blond curl behind her ear and skillfully steered the conversation away from relationships. “I love summer. Sundresses, flip-flops, Shakespeare in the Park, sailing on the Hudson, long evenings up on our roof terrace. I still can’t believe your brother built that. He’s so damn smart.”

  Paige didn’t disagree.

  Older by eight years, her brother had left their island home long before she had. He’d chosen to start his landscape architecture business right here in New York City and now that business was thriving.

  “The roof garden is heaven.” Frankie increased her pace. “What happened to that big piece of business in Midtown? Did that come off for him?”

  “Still waiting to hear, but his company is doing well.”

  And now it was her turn.

  Her promotion was the next step in her life plan. It would also hopefully be another step to curing her family’s tendency to be overprotective.

  Born with a heart defect, Paige’s childhood had been a raft of hospital visits, doctors and loving parents who had struggled to hide their anxiety. Growing up, she’d felt disempowered. The day she’d left hospital after what everyone hoped was her last operation, she’d vowed to change that. Fortunately, apart from the occasional routine health check, she was free from constant medical intervention and was fine now. She knew she was one of the lucky ones and she was determined to make the most of every day. The only way to do that had been to move away from Puffin Island and so that was what she’d done.

  She had a whole new life and things were going well.

  “We need to hurry. We can’t be late.” Eva interrupted Paige’s thoughts.

  “She cannot give us the ‘part-time’ speech when we were all working until the early hours last night.”

  Paige didn’t need to ask who she was. She was Cynthia, Director of Events, and the only thing Paige didn’t love about her job. Cynthia had joined Star Events a year after Paige, and the atmosphere in the company had immediately changed. It was as if someone had emptied toxic waste into a clear mountain stream and poisoned everyone who drank from it.

  “I still can’t believe she fired poor Matilda. Have either of you heard from her?”

  “I’ve been calling and calling,” Eva said. “She isn’t answering. I’m worried. She needed the job badly. I don’t have her address or I’d visit in person.”

  “Keep calling. And I’m going to try and persuade Cynthia to change her mind.”

  “What is her problem? She’s so angry all the time. If she hates the job so much, why doesn’t she leave? Every time I see her I want to apologize even though I haven’t done anything wrong. I feel as if she’s the Great White Shark at the top of the food chain and I’m a little seal she’s going to eat in one mouthful.”

  Paige shook her head. “She is never going to leave. Which is another reason I want this promotion. I’ll have less contact with her, more responsibility and my own accounts.” She’d gain more experience and one day, hopefully not too far away, she was going to start her own business and be her own boss. She’d be the one in control.

  It was her dream, but she wasn’t prepared to stop at dreaming.

  She had a plan.

  “You’ll be a brilliant boss,” Eva said generously. “From the day you organized my eighth birthday party, I knew you were going places. Of course it wouldn’t be hard to be a better boss than Cynthia. I heard someone say the other day that she isn’t happy until she’s made everyone cry at least once.” Eva did an emergency stop beside another store window, seals and sharks forgotten in the face of retail nirvana. “Do you think that top would fit me?”

  “Maybe, but there’s no way it’s fitting in your closet.” Paige dragged her away. “You need to throw something out before you buy anything new.”

  “Is it my fault that I get emotionally attached to things?”

  Frankie walked to the other side of Eva to stop her window gazing. “How can anyone be emotionally attached to clothes?”

  “Easy. If something good happens to me while I’m wearing something, I wear it again when I need to feel positive. For example today I’m wearing my lucky shirt to make extra sure that Paige’s promotion comes with a massive pay raise.”

  “How can a shirt be lucky?”

  “Good things have happened to me while I’ve been wearing this shirt.”

  Frankie shook her head. “I don’t want to know.”

  “Good, because I’m not telling you. You don’t know everything about me. I have a mystical side.” Eva craned her neck to try and look in windows. “Could I—”

  “No.” Paige gave her a tug. “You’re not mystical, Ev. You’re an open book.”

  “Better that than cruel and inhuman. And we all have our own, individual addictions. Frankie’s is flowers, yours is red lipstick—” Eva glanced at her. “That’s a nice shade. New?”

  “Yes. It’s called Summer Success.”

  “Very apt. We should celebrate tonight. Or do you think Cynthia will want to take you out?”

  “Cynthia doesn’t socialize.” Paige had spent countless hours trying to understand her boss but still had no insight. “I’ve never heard her talk about anyone or anything except work.”

  “Do you think she has a sex life?”

  “None of us has a sex life. This is Manhattan. Everyone is too busy to have sex.”

  “Apart from my mother,” Frankie muttered.

  “And Jake,” Eva intervened quickly. “He was at the Adams event the other night. Sexiest guy in the room. Smart, too. He gets laid regularly, but I guess being scorching hot and having that killer body helps. I can see why you had a crazy teenage crush on him, Paige.”

  Paige felt as if someone had thrust a fist into her stomach. “That was a long time ago.”

  The thought of Jake having sex shouldn’t bother her; it really shouldn’t.

  “First love is very powerful,” Eva said. “The feeling never quite goes away.”

  “So is first disappointment. That feeling never goes away, either. My crush on Jake ended a long time ago, so you can stop looking at me like that.”

  But the relationship wasn’t easy.

  There were days when she wished Jake wasn’t her brother’s closest friend.

  If he’d been some random guy from her teenage years she could have moved on, laughed and forgotten about it, instead of which she was destined to carry the embarrassing memory around like a ball and chain. It was always there, clanking behind her.

  Even now, so many years later, she cringed when she thought about the things she’d said to him. Worse, the things she’d done.

  She’d been naked—

  The memory made her want to slide through a hole in the floor.

  Did he ever think about it? Because she thought about it a lot.

  Eva was still talking. “I’m willing to bet he’s on a million women’s bucket lists.”

  Frankie shook her head in disbelief. “When people are compiling a bucket list they usually choose skydiving or a trip to Machu Picchu, all amazing life experiences,
Ev.”

  “I’m pretty sure being kissed by Jake Romano would be an amazing life experience. Much better than skydiving, but then I’m scared of heights.”

  Paige kept walking.

  She was never going to find out.

  Even when she’d thrown herself at him, Jake had never come close to kissing her.

  She’d dreamed of him being overcome by lust. Instead he’d gently disentangled himself from her clinging limbs, as if he’d suddenly found himself covered in laundry blown by the wind.

  His patient kindness had been the most humiliating blow of all. He hadn’t been fighting lust; he had been fighting her, fending her off.

  It was the first and only time she’d ever said “I love you” to a man. She’d been so sure he had feelings for her and the fact that she’d got it so wrong had governed all her interactions with men since. She no longer trusted her instincts.

  These days she was very, very careful with her heart. She exercised, she ate her five portions of fruit and vegetables and she focused on her work, which always proved more exciting than any of the few relationships she’d had.

  Paige paused outside the offices of Star Events and breathed deeply. She didn’t need to be thinking about Jake right before the most important meeting of her life. He had a tendency to turn her brain and her knees to jelly. She needed to focus. “This is it. No more laughing. Fun is not allowed inside these walls.”

  Cynthia was waiting for them by the reception desk.

  Paige felt a flash of irritation.

  Surely she could manage one small smile on a day like today?

  Fortunately even Cynthia couldn’t spoil the job for Paige. She loved it. Managing every detail and making each event a memorable occasion was fun. The most important thing for her was a happy client. As a child she’d loved organizing parties for her friends. Now it was her job, and her job was about to get a whole lot bigger.

  Anticipating the new level of responsibility lifted her spirits and she walked across the foyer with a smile on her face.

  Senior Event Manager.

  Already she had plans. Her team was going to work hard because they wanted to, not because they were afraid of repercussions. And the first thing she was going to do was find a way to hire back poor Matilda.

  “Good morning, Cynthia.”

  “As far as I recall, your contract says nothing about working part-time.”

  If anyone could kill the excitement of the moment, it was Cynthia.

  “The Capital Insurance event didn’t finish until past midnight last night and the trains were packed this morning. We were—”

  “Taking advantage.” Cynthia glanced pointedly at the clock on the wall even though she knew perfectly well what time it was. “I need to see you in my office right away. Let’s get this done.”

  This was a meeting about her promotion and she wanted to “get this done”?

  Her friends melted away, and Paige heard Eva softly humming the theme from Jaws.

  It lifted her mood.

  Working with her friends was one of the best things about this job.

  As she followed Cynthia toward her office they passed Alice, one of the junior account managers.

  Catching a glimpse of reddened eyes Paige stopped walking.

  “Alice? Is everything—”

  But Alice passed her quickly and Paige made a mental note to seek her out later and find out what was wrong.

  Boyfriend problems?

  Work issues?

  She knew several of the staff had been horrified that Matilda had been fired after her unfortunate accident with a tray of champagne. It had created a general atmosphere of unease. Everyone was secretly wondering who would be next.

  Following her boss into her office, Paige closed the door.

  Soon she’d be in a position to make her own decisions about staffing. In the meantime, this was her moment. She’d worked hard for it and she was going to enjoy it.

  Please let the pay raise be good.

  Eva was right, they should celebrate later. A few glasses of something cold and sparkling. And then maybe dancing. They hadn’t been dancing in ages.

  Cynthia reached for a file. “As you know we’ve been looking at ways to streamline Star Events and reduce costs. I don’t need to tell you that we’re operating in a challenging market.”

  “I know, and I have some ideas I’d love to share with you.” Paige reached for her bag but Cynthia shook her head and held up her hand.

  “We’re letting you go, Paige.”

  “Go? Go where?” It hadn’t occurred to her that promotion might mean transferring to another office. And there was only one other office. Los Angeles. The other side of the country. This, she hadn’t expected. She loved New York City. She loved living and working with her friends. “I assumed I’d be staying here. Moving to Los Angeles is a big step.” Although if she wanted promotion she should probably be prepared to accept that it might involve relocation. Maybe she should ask for a little time to think about it. That was acceptable, wasn’t it?

  Cynthia opened the file. “Why would you think we were relocating you to Los Angeles?”

  “You said you were letting me go.”

  “We’re letting you go from Star Events.”

  Paige stared at her stupidly. “Excuse me?”

  “We’re making cuts.” Cynthia leafed through the file and didn’t meet her eyes. “Putting it bluntly, business has fallen off a cliff. Everyone in the hospitality industry is laying off employees and reducing hours.”

  Letting her go.

  Not promoting her or moving her to Los Angeles.

  Letting her go.

  There was a buzzing in her ears. “But—I’ve brought in nine major new clients in the past six months. Almost all the new business growth has been down to me and—”

  “We lost Adams Construction as a client.”

  Shock flashed through her. “What?”

  Chase Adams, the owner of the most successful construction company in Manhattan, had been one of their biggest clients. It was after an event for his company that Matilda had been fired.

  Karma, Paige thought. First Cynthia had fired Matilda and now Chase Adams had fired them.

  And she was a casualty.

  “I wasn’t in a position to argue.” Cynthia continued. “That stupid girl Matilda ruined their event.”

  “That’s why he fired us? Because of an accident?”

  “Spilling one glass of champagne might be termed an accident, but dropping an entire tray is closer to a catastrophe. Adams insisted that I get rid of her. I tried to persuade him to rethink, but he wouldn’t. The man owns half of Manhattan. He’s one of the most powerful players in this city.”

  “Then he didn’t need to crush poor Matilda.” Paige could think of a few choice words to describe Chase Adams, none of them flattering. She certainly didn’t blame Matilda.

  “It’s history. Naturally we’ll give you excellent references for your next job.”

  Next job?

  She wanted this job. The job she loved. The job she’d earned.

  Her mouth was so dry it was hard to speak. Her heart pounded, a brutal reminder of how fragile life was. This morning she’d felt as if she owned the world and now control had been wrenched from her hands.

  Other people were deciding her future. Closed doors and conversations. People expecting her to wear a brave face.

  And she was an expert at that. She did it without thinking whenever life got tough, like a computer going into sleep mode.

  She knew how to bury her feelings and she buried them now.

  Stay professional, Paige.

  “You told me that if I met my performance objectives I would be promoted. I exceeded them.”

  “The situation has changed and as a commercial operation we need to be fluid and react to the needs of the market.”

  “How many people? Is that why Alice was crying? She’s been laid off? Who else?” Was it the same for Frankie and Eva?
>
  Eva had no family to turn to and Paige knew Frankie would stop eating rather than ask her mother for a single cent.

  “I’m not in a position to discuss other employees with you.”

  Paige sat still, battered by emotion. She felt a dizzying loss of control.

  She’d trusted her employers. They’d made big promises. She’d delivered time and time again, worked hideous hours and put her future in their hands. And this was what they did with that trust? They’d given her no warning. No hint.

  “This company has grown because of me. I can show you numbers that prove it.”

  “We’ve worked as a team.” Cynthia was cool. “You are good at your job. You have a tendency to be a little too friendly toward the people who work for you, and you should say no to the client more often—that episode when you had that man’s suit express dry-cleaned in the middle of a party was beyond ridiculous—but apart from that I have no complaints. This isn’t about your work.”

  “I dry-cleaned his suit because he’d spilled his drink and he was trying to impress his boss. He gave us a huge piece of business after that. And I’m friendly because I like working in a happy team and a positive environment.”

  Something Cynthia knew nothing about.

  Looking at her boss was like looking at a locked door. Nothing she said was ever going to open it. She was wasting her time.

  Instead of a promotion and a pay raise, she was out of a job.

  She’d have to turn to her family for help. Once again she’d be causing her parents and her brother anxiety. And their instinct would be to protect her.

  Paige felt her heart pound and instinctively lifted her palm to her chest. Through the fabric of her shirt she felt the solid shape of the little silver heart she sometimes wore hidden under her clothes.

  For a moment she was back in the hospital bed, seventeen years old, surrounded by get-well cards and balloons, waiting for her operation and scared out of her mind. Her brain had been conjuring awful scenarios when the door had opened and a doctor had strolled into the room wearing a white coat and carrying a clipboard.

  She’d braced herself for more tests, more pain, more bad news, and then recognized Jake.