The Difference Between California and New York

By closing time, Daniela had called me three times. I hadn’t spoken to her face to face in a few days, and I wondered what the urgency was. I didn’t really think anything was wrong; she would have called more times than three if something was. But whatever it was, I knew I was suddenly apart of it. I was the last in Flour’s; it was my turn to close up again. I punched in her number and put my phone between my ear and shoulder as I swept up behind the counter.

“It’s about time. Jeeze, don’t you get breaks?”

“It was really busy today, sorry.” I partially lied; the customers had been pretty regular as Sundays go. But I couldn’t tell her that I didn’t answer because I was talking to my secret admirer on break. She’s the kind of girl that needs to be told that kind of stuff in person. “What did you need?”

“Your help.”

“My help? With what?”

“Kirsten is coming to New York tomorrow. “A week ahead of schedule, so I need to get everything ready tonight.” Kirsten is Daniela’s younger sister, and she was turning eighteen in a week, and was originally supposed to be visiting on her actual birthday; Daniela was going to throw a surprise party for her. I stopped sweeping as the realization of what kind of help she would need from me.

“Tomorrow? So that means I have to bake a cake tonight? All of the ovens are already turned off and cooled down; I can’t turn them back on.” I heard her sigh from the other line.

“That’s why I wanted to get a hold of you earlier. But it’s okay if it can’t be a gourmet cake, I don’t think she’ll mind much since she doesn’t even know about the party. Lindsey is already over, just come over after you lock up and we’ll bake the cake and decorate the place. Sound good?” I turned and glanced over at the clock, it was only a little after nine. I didn’t have any other plans, and I suppose this is as good a chance as any to tell them about my future possible suitor.

“Yeah, that’s good. I’ll be over within a half hour. I’m just cleaning up a little bit, and then I’ll leave.” Through the phone, I heard Lindsey say something in the background but I couldn’t make out what it was and I didn’t bother to ask.

“Okay, see you soon.” I took the phone out from under my ear and ended the call.

I quickly finished up my sweeping and tied all the loose ends that were involved in closing up. I grabbed my belongings from the coat rack and slipped my arms through my jacket and draped my scarf around my neck. A sense of excitement jolted through my bones as I opened the door and I was overtaken by the cold wind for a moment. I locked the door behind me, and began to pave my way down the sidewalk. It was an excitement that was illogical and bound to disappoint, but still I couldn’t shake it. With my hands in my pockets and my chin buried in my scarf, I turned the corner and walked steadfast towards the little box under the streetlight. And as I expected, upon arrival, I was disappointed to see I would be the only one waiting for the bus.

I had known it was a one in a million shot, and I knew even better that I should just forget about Luke, but I couldn’t make myself do it. I sat down on the cold metallic bench, and huddled in on myself, trying to keep my internal heat internal. I closed my eyes, and tried to block everything out for a moment. I needed to get my head out of the clouds. Luke was gone, and I had Spencer to look forward to now. But as I opened my eyes, I could only envision the way the Luke had sat next to me just one night before.

I felt creepy for not being able to get this man out of my head. There wasn’t anything spectacularly interesting about him; he was average as far as men go, I suppose. But there was something different, different in the way he acted and spoke and I couldn’t place it. And evidently I couldn’t forget it either.

I didn’t have time to ponder long, the bus came quickly, and I left all my thoughts on the bus stop seat.

The bus let me off right in front of Daniela’s apartment building, which I was incredibly thankful for in this blistering cold. I ran up to the big golden double doors of the building and let myself inside into the smaller boxed in area. Shivering the cold off of me, I walked over to the wall and pushed the button with Daniela’s room number on it.

“Annabel?” the voice through the speaker asked.

“Yep,” I said back, and as if ‘yep’ was the magic word, I heard the next set of big double doors unlock, and I quickly walked through them and to the elevator.

I knocked lightly, and Lindsey was the one to open the door.

“Well if it isn’t Annabel, gosh, how long has it been, a few years?” she joked. I smiled at her as I walked past and began to take off my scarf and jacket.

“Yes, I know I haven’t seen you guys in a few days, will you ever forgive me?”

“You bake me a cake, I’ll do anything for you,” Daniela called as she walked from the kitchen into the living room. She looked tired, above anything else. Her red velvet hair was up in a messy bun, something she never did unless she was worn out. I looked between her and Lindsey, and then finally took notice of her apartment. There were streamers hanging from the ceiling, balloons scattered here and there, there was even a festive birthday table cloth laid out. It looked like a clown exploded in her apartment. I looked at Daniela with a wry grin.

“You know Kirsten’s turning eighteen, not eight, right?” I heard Lindsey giggle from behind where I was standing.

“I told you it was too much.”

“It’s how we do things in my family, shut up,” Daniela said back. Her eyes focused in on me. “Now, I need you and your magic little fingers to make some magic happen in my kitchen. I already have all the ingredients, I just need you to do your hoodoo and I am set.” I cocked an eyebrow at her.

“You know, contrary to popular belief, baking actually doesn’t involve black magic.” I began to make my way to the kitchen. Daniela’s apartment wasn’t small, but it wasn’t especially big either. From where I stood at the counter, I could hear her and Lindsey perfectly in the living room without so much as even raising my voice.

“I’ve tasted your cakes. Don’t even try to tell me there isn’t a little something special baked in there somewhere.” Lindsey’s voice became louder as she followed me into the kitchen. I preheated the oven, and began getting out the correct pans and utensils. I glanced over at her.

“Are you sure you're not talking about my rum cake?” She smiled but didn’t look over at me. She began washing her hands.

“Oh Anna, I know there’s something in there.” She looked over at me with a wry smile. I hated nicknames, and I hated my name because it gave so many opportunities for nicknames.

“You know I hate being called Anna.”

“That’s why I do it, Annie,” she replied, a laugh caught somewhere right behind her lips. I didn’t like Annie either. I looked back down to the ingredients in front of me, and began pouring and mixing them together to get the cake batter. I heard the water from the tap shut off, and Lindsey walked around me to grab a towel hanging from the oven handle. “So, how’ve you been?”

That was my cue to tell her about Spencer. But I suddenly didn’t want to. Instead my mind switched to something else.

“Okay, busy as always. Hey can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure.” She put the towel back down on the oven handle, sloppily. I stopped my mixing for a moment and turned to look at her.

“Have you ever met someone, and for some reason, you just can’t stop thinking about them?” Her eyes widened, and I knew I had hooked her interest. A saucy smile quickly crept onto her face.

“You mean like a guy? Oh my God Annabel, did you meet a guy?” She spoke loud enough that Daniela came in hurriedly from the living room. I could feel the heat in my cheeks before the redness even came, and upon thinking of him, I smiled.

“Yeah, kind of,” I said bashfully. Daniela’s excitement mirrored Lindsey’s and the two of them crowded me, both of their mouths hanging in an open smile.

“Oh my God, finally!” Daniela yelled. “Do you know how long I’ve been praying to cupid to find someone for you?”

“You mean how long we’ve both been praying!” Lindsey corrected. “Tell us about him! What’s his name, where did you guys meet, do you think he’s interested in you?” Their excitement was almost identical to that of a child whose parents just told them they’re going to Disney World.

They both looked at me expectantly, and I was presented with a choice. I could either tell them about Luke, or Spencer. I wanted to tell them about Luke, since he was actually the one I was talking about before, but Spencer sounded so much easier to explain, so clean cut. If I told them about Luke, they’d ask questions that I didn’t have answers for, and they’d get disappointed when they learned that he was just a onetime thing. My mind didn’t make a decision until I opened my mouth.

“We met at the bus stop, his name is Luke.”

“That sounds like a hot name for a hot guy if I ever heard one. What did he look like?” I wanted to say beautiful, but that sounded way too cheesy.

“He was cute.”

“Seriously? That’s all we get? ‘He was cute?’ Come on girl! Tell us details!” I could have told them details, about how his eyes were a mixture of sea and sky, how his hair was shaggy but shaped, about the cut on his lip. But I thought that would sound kind of creepy when I tell them that I had only seen him once, and for only fifteen minutes. I looked between the two of them.

“He had pretty blue eyes and brown hair.”

“Tall? Short?” Lindsey egged.

“Definitely tall.” His legs had been too long when he was sitting to not be at least four inches taller than me. Lindsey smiled; she loved tall guys, since she herself was the tallest out of the three of us.

“Did you give him your number?” And this was the part of the show where I want to run and hide and never mention Luke’s name again. I turned myself slightly, to focus in on my baking again.

“Uh, no,” I answered as quiet as I could without sounding sad. As expected, between the two of them, half the oxygen in the room dissipated as they gasped in unison.

“Why not?” Daniela shoved my arm slightly so I would turn back towards them.

“We only talked for like fifteen minutes. I told you, we met at the bus stop. I had to leave shortly after we met.”The two of them stared at me, and their smiles had shifted to a confused worry. There was a silence, and I knew what that silence meant, I had heard it before. This was the silence that meant that I was still alone, and they had run out of things to say.

“But,” they perked back up immediately. “I also met someone today.”

“Damn, two guys within twenty four hours Annabel? When did you become a dude magnet?” Daniela chuckled, shortly followed by Lindsey. They both laughed, but all I wanted to do was just turn back to my baking. I turned back towards the counter and continued on with what I was doing, fully knowing I was about to be hit with a brigade of questions. “Tell us about this one. And I swear, this one better go somewhere or I’m going to hit you with your own rolling pin.” I smiled, not because of the threat, but because I knew she was serious. I stirred the batter.

“When I went into work this morning, two of my coworkers told me they met someone the night before who told them he had a crush on me. He came in today and we talked a little.”

“A little? Only a little?”

“Well I had to get back to work. And I’m sure we’ll talk more on our date next Saturday.” I turned towards them as I reached into Daniela’s cabinet to grab a cake pan, and they both exploded into smiles and screams. Lindsey hugged me, so hard that I almost fell over and took everything in Daniela’s cabinet with me. She let go and her eyes were so wide and excited, it was almost scary.

“You have a date? Like an actual date? Where’s he taking you? Is it someplace nice?”

“Does he have a lot of money? If he’s taking you someplace nice he must have a lot of money. Probably a big place too. Ooh I wonder if he’s good in bed, did he look like the kind of guy who’s good in bed? Tell us everything Annabel!”

I was being bombarded about Spencer’s sexuality and they haven’t even asked him name yet. I really loved my friends.

I giggled and looked back and forth between them and then batter I was pouring into the pan. “His name is Spencer. He’s from London.” More screams.

“You’re dating a British boy!” They nearly yelled in unison.

“Uh, I don’t think I’m dating anyone yet. All we did was talk today.” I pushed the cake pan into the oven and set the timer.

“Of course you’re dating! Or you’re gonna at least. Here, come in the living room and talk to us. Tell us everything you know about him.” Lindsey started to push me towards the little doorway to the big red couch in Daniela’s living room.

“Wait.” Both Lindsey and I turned back to Daniela, who had her head stuck in her refrigerator. “If we’re gonna talk boys with Annabel, we’re gonna do this right.” She pulled out a bottle of wine. Lindsey got excited beside me, and went to go get wine glasses out, but I gave Daniela a very sullen look.

“Dani, you know I don’t really care for drinking.”

“Oh come on,” she said as she poured three glasses, “you’re not driving tonight. What’s the harm?” I looked between her and Lindsey as Lindsey held out a fuller than I would like glass of wine to me. I took it anyways, and they sashayed me into the living room for a conversation that could end very well or very bad. And I didn’t know which outcome was more likely.