Sequel: "You Can't Stay a Saint in This City" ›
Status: Complete ... For Now
Lost In Pacific Time
I'm Far Away But I'll Never Let You Go
My BlackBerry rings, who the hell calls at six in the morning?
“Hello?” I ask grabbing the vibrating object from my nightstand.
“Hi? Is this Ambrosia Li?” says a voice on the other end. Ugh, I suck at the whole voice recognition thing, everyone just kind of sounds the same from this end of the phone.
“Yeah, this is her.” God, I hope it’s not one of those things where a celebrity loses their phone and all of the sudden all the numbers on their contacts list are posted online.
“Hi, this is Steven.”
“Hannigan?” I’m sure mechanics work odd hours but I don’t remember giving him my number at the reunion. Maybe Milan decided that allowing Steven Hannigan access to my contract information was revenge enough for my uncalled bitchiness.
“No, Stamkos. I … I got your number from Bravo. You sound sleepy.” He says, I bet if I could see him he’s palms would be sweaty.
I yawn “Yeah well it’s six in the morning…”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m in Toronto right now so I’m three hours early, I’ll call back later.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m up already.” Might as well get this over with. ‘Is there a reason you called me?’ I want to ask.
“So what’s Toronto like? I’ve never been there.” You know what this feels like? This feels like I’m on one of those phone lines for ‘urban singles’ which is really just a poor disguise for a chat line for lonely people who have phone sex with other lonely people and get charged by the minute for it.
“There are a lot of buildings,” he says and I can kind of hear him pull the curtains open.
“Let me guess, there are a lot of cars too?”
“Yeah lots of cars.” He pauses and I hear someone call him in the background. “Listen Amber, I have to go but if you’re coming to Toronto anytime during the summer just call me and we can meet up”
Not likely “Yeah, I’ll let you know.”
“Great, you have my number.”
I look at the screen on my BlackBerry and see the ten digits. The most interesting things this morning has been that he’s got the 813 area code for Tampa instead of the 416 Toronto area code.
“I do,” just because I have it doesn’t mean I’ll call you. Well maybe considering that Milan and I are currently not talking but I’m not exactly starved for male attention.
“I’ll let you get back to sleep now”
“Bye” I say rubbing my eyes, they still hurt from my crying fit in the car yesterday.
“Bye” he says and I go back to bed.
The doorbell rings and immediately I try to configure how long it takes for a plane to fly from Toronto to Vancouver. From previous experience I can tell you that it takes 5 hours and 10 minutes at least to fly from LAX to JFK. I figure Vancouver and Toronto are comparable. I look up at the clock, its 11:11. I make a wish that no one is crazy enough to actually do that before I open the door.
“Hi,” I say looking at the familiar figure that towers over me.
“Hi, Amber” Nikola says “may I come in?”
“Sure,” I say, even though I’m still dressed in my pyjamas “take a seat wherever.” I say as we walk into my living room. “Listen if you’re here to cover for your brother, you don’t have to. I just want things to settle before I go over there.”
“Wait what you and Milan had a fight?” Nikola says. He looks like he wants to grab a cookie from the plate on my coffee table.
I move the plate of lemon shortbreads closer to him. “Yeah.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know if you knew but I used to be in a relationship with a girl named Milly Parker and it’s all true, except I never meant to be there.”
“Yeah and let me guess you told Milan you didn’t swing that way and he got pissed off because he basically looked like an idiot for the past two weeks.” Nikola says in between bites of the cookie. “These are good,”
“They’re from the bakery down the street” I reply, I bought them yesterday to cheer me up. Nothing cheerier than cookies made from real butter.
“Which means they cost like ten dollars for a dozen, not exactly in the budget for the thrifty student” despite this Nikola stuffs another one in his mouth.
“You make Milan sound so simple.” I comment, taking a cookie.
“He is simple, honestly Amber sometimes not everything has a hidden meaning. Just because the ink was blue doesn’t always mean that it’s because the writer was sad and depressed. Sometimes the ink is blue because there were no other colors available and blue is the cheapest and most common.”
“Wait so if you aren’t here to talk about my falling out with Milan then why are you here?”
“I’m applying for an internship next semester so I was wondering if you could throw in a good word for with some of the companies in New York”
“I’m doing a furniture line for Saks. I can’t promise anything but if you’re interested in working with models on their ad campaigns…”
“Yes,” Nikola says and he hands me a file of papers.
“There’s everything you need to know about me in there.” He says taking in my startled expression. “You know so you can give them my info”
“Yeah, I’ll give this to them when I meet with them back in Los Angeles.” I say and I think I’m going to need to Sharpie that up on my arm.
“Thanks, I really appreciate this Amber” Nikola says finishing off his cookie and hugging me. “And Amber?”
“Yeah?”
“Make sure you talk to Milan tomorrow.”
“I will” I say walking Nikola out.
_____
Deer Ambroshyah Lee,
My name is Macy and I want to be just like U when I grow up. U inspire me but who inspired u wen u were growing up. U R so pretty. Prettier than Snow White and Cinderella. May B even prettier than both of them combined but Disney doesn’t make many princesses that look like you. Do you have a boyfriend? I have a boyfriend his name is Oliver but it’s a secret. He and I pretend that we don’t like each other when we r around my BFFs and parents but in reel life we like 2 spend lots of time 2gether in his tree house. We’ve been 2gether for a week and he hasn’t tried 2 kiss me yet. I’m worried because I’m the only 1 of my friends who haven’t been kissed yet but I still think it’s pretty gross.
-Macy Rogers, Portland, Maine
P.S. My dad says that u said wanted to visit Portland in an interview you did in magazine and said it was ok if u wanted 2 stay with us.
Dear Macy Rogers,
Hi Macy when I was five I wanted to be a painter but then my mother told me that painters didn’t make money until after they died and spent most of their lives just getting by. Growing up Andy Warhol inspired me. He might be a bit before your time but he was a painter and filmmaker of sorts. Andy Warhol has the largest museum in the United States dedicated to one single artist because he led the pop art movement in the sixties. I learned this in AP Art History during my senior year and that’s when I became obsessed with him. One day I hope to own a piece of his art but some of his most expensive painting go for upwards of $100 million.
No I don’t have a boyfriend. I haven’t had one for years. I’m glad you and Oliver get along so well and I think it’s cute that he has a tree house. I’ve always wanted a tree house since I was young but property prices are so expensive in Vancouver that most people can’t afford to have a yard big enough for a tree to grow, let alone a tree big enough to support the weight of a child. I guess I could buy a house now and plant a tree there. That case my tree will be big enough for a tree house when I have kids. My friend Milan has a yard big enough for a tree house. I’m kind of jealous, I live in an apartment and it’s a bit like a tree house because they’re both very high up.
I don’t mean to pry but are you and Oliver still together? It’s probably been six weeks since you’ve written the letter and I know how ruthless young love can be. It’s okay if you don’t want your first kiss yet. I didn’t get kissed until I was seventeen and judging by your writing it seems that you aren’t seventeen yet (I hope). I think everyone you kiss should be special because it can feel really gross or wrong if you don’t like the person you’re kissing.
-Ambrosia Li
“Hello?” I ask grabbing the vibrating object from my nightstand.
“Hi? Is this Ambrosia Li?” says a voice on the other end. Ugh, I suck at the whole voice recognition thing, everyone just kind of sounds the same from this end of the phone.
“Yeah, this is her.” God, I hope it’s not one of those things where a celebrity loses their phone and all of the sudden all the numbers on their contacts list are posted online.
“Hi, this is Steven.”
“Hannigan?” I’m sure mechanics work odd hours but I don’t remember giving him my number at the reunion. Maybe Milan decided that allowing Steven Hannigan access to my contract information was revenge enough for my uncalled bitchiness.
“No, Stamkos. I … I got your number from Bravo. You sound sleepy.” He says, I bet if I could see him he’s palms would be sweaty.
I yawn “Yeah well it’s six in the morning…”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m in Toronto right now so I’m three hours early, I’ll call back later.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m up already.” Might as well get this over with. ‘Is there a reason you called me?’ I want to ask.
“So what’s Toronto like? I’ve never been there.” You know what this feels like? This feels like I’m on one of those phone lines for ‘urban singles’ which is really just a poor disguise for a chat line for lonely people who have phone sex with other lonely people and get charged by the minute for it.
“There are a lot of buildings,” he says and I can kind of hear him pull the curtains open.
“Let me guess, there are a lot of cars too?”
“Yeah lots of cars.” He pauses and I hear someone call him in the background. “Listen Amber, I have to go but if you’re coming to Toronto anytime during the summer just call me and we can meet up”
Not likely “Yeah, I’ll let you know.”
“Great, you have my number.”
I look at the screen on my BlackBerry and see the ten digits. The most interesting things this morning has been that he’s got the 813 area code for Tampa instead of the 416 Toronto area code.
“I do,” just because I have it doesn’t mean I’ll call you. Well maybe considering that Milan and I are currently not talking but I’m not exactly starved for male attention.
“I’ll let you get back to sleep now”
“Bye” I say rubbing my eyes, they still hurt from my crying fit in the car yesterday.
“Bye” he says and I go back to bed.
The doorbell rings and immediately I try to configure how long it takes for a plane to fly from Toronto to Vancouver. From previous experience I can tell you that it takes 5 hours and 10 minutes at least to fly from LAX to JFK. I figure Vancouver and Toronto are comparable. I look up at the clock, its 11:11. I make a wish that no one is crazy enough to actually do that before I open the door.
“Hi,” I say looking at the familiar figure that towers over me.
“Hi, Amber” Nikola says “may I come in?”
“Sure,” I say, even though I’m still dressed in my pyjamas “take a seat wherever.” I say as we walk into my living room. “Listen if you’re here to cover for your brother, you don’t have to. I just want things to settle before I go over there.”
“Wait what you and Milan had a fight?” Nikola says. He looks like he wants to grab a cookie from the plate on my coffee table.
I move the plate of lemon shortbreads closer to him. “Yeah.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know if you knew but I used to be in a relationship with a girl named Milly Parker and it’s all true, except I never meant to be there.”
“Yeah and let me guess you told Milan you didn’t swing that way and he got pissed off because he basically looked like an idiot for the past two weeks.” Nikola says in between bites of the cookie. “These are good,”
“They’re from the bakery down the street” I reply, I bought them yesterday to cheer me up. Nothing cheerier than cookies made from real butter.
“Which means they cost like ten dollars for a dozen, not exactly in the budget for the thrifty student” despite this Nikola stuffs another one in his mouth.
“You make Milan sound so simple.” I comment, taking a cookie.
“He is simple, honestly Amber sometimes not everything has a hidden meaning. Just because the ink was blue doesn’t always mean that it’s because the writer was sad and depressed. Sometimes the ink is blue because there were no other colors available and blue is the cheapest and most common.”
“Wait so if you aren’t here to talk about my falling out with Milan then why are you here?”
“I’m applying for an internship next semester so I was wondering if you could throw in a good word for with some of the companies in New York”
“I’m doing a furniture line for Saks. I can’t promise anything but if you’re interested in working with models on their ad campaigns…”
“Yes,” Nikola says and he hands me a file of papers.
“There’s everything you need to know about me in there.” He says taking in my startled expression. “You know so you can give them my info”
“Yeah, I’ll give this to them when I meet with them back in Los Angeles.” I say and I think I’m going to need to Sharpie that up on my arm.
“Thanks, I really appreciate this Amber” Nikola says finishing off his cookie and hugging me. “And Amber?”
“Yeah?”
“Make sure you talk to Milan tomorrow.”
“I will” I say walking Nikola out.
_____
Deer Ambroshyah Lee,
My name is Macy and I want to be just like U when I grow up. U inspire me but who inspired u wen u were growing up. U R so pretty. Prettier than Snow White and Cinderella. May B even prettier than both of them combined but Disney doesn’t make many princesses that look like you. Do you have a boyfriend? I have a boyfriend his name is Oliver but it’s a secret. He and I pretend that we don’t like each other when we r around my BFFs and parents but in reel life we like 2 spend lots of time 2gether in his tree house. We’ve been 2gether for a week and he hasn’t tried 2 kiss me yet. I’m worried because I’m the only 1 of my friends who haven’t been kissed yet but I still think it’s pretty gross.
-Macy Rogers, Portland, Maine
P.S. My dad says that u said wanted to visit Portland in an interview you did in magazine and said it was ok if u wanted 2 stay with us.
Dear Macy Rogers,
Hi Macy when I was five I wanted to be a painter but then my mother told me that painters didn’t make money until after they died and spent most of their lives just getting by. Growing up Andy Warhol inspired me. He might be a bit before your time but he was a painter and filmmaker of sorts. Andy Warhol has the largest museum in the United States dedicated to one single artist because he led the pop art movement in the sixties. I learned this in AP Art History during my senior year and that’s when I became obsessed with him. One day I hope to own a piece of his art but some of his most expensive painting go for upwards of $100 million.
No I don’t have a boyfriend. I haven’t had one for years. I’m glad you and Oliver get along so well and I think it’s cute that he has a tree house. I’ve always wanted a tree house since I was young but property prices are so expensive in Vancouver that most people can’t afford to have a yard big enough for a tree to grow, let alone a tree big enough to support the weight of a child. I guess I could buy a house now and plant a tree there. That case my tree will be big enough for a tree house when I have kids. My friend Milan has a yard big enough for a tree house. I’m kind of jealous, I live in an apartment and it’s a bit like a tree house because they’re both very high up.
I don’t mean to pry but are you and Oliver still together? It’s probably been six weeks since you’ve written the letter and I know how ruthless young love can be. It’s okay if you don’t want your first kiss yet. I didn’t get kissed until I was seventeen and judging by your writing it seems that you aren’t seventeen yet (I hope). I think everyone you kiss should be special because it can feel really gross or wrong if you don’t like the person you’re kissing.
-Ambrosia Li