“I’m just going to walk to the subway,” she said, her face bright. “Though if you wanna lend me your jacket just in case, you can.”

I laughed. I liked that we could joke about it all now, that whatever awkward weirdness that had hovered over our initial meeting had transitioned into something relaxed, playful. Intimate, even.

And yet at this moment, I still didn’t know what to say next. All I knew was that I didn’t want her to go. I wanted to do anything to make this night last, to keep her here, drenched in the light of passing cars and buildings. She was all color, a painting so lovely you couldn’t help but stop and marvel at it.

“Well,” she said, adjusting the bag hanging off her shoulder. “Good night”—she gave me a sweet smile and raised her brows—“Hayes-y.”

“Good night, Francesca,” I offered back, crossing my arms smugly across my chest.

She looked at me, brows still high, and let out a laugh.

“What?” I asked.

“I wasn’t expecting a Francesca,” she said. “You surprised me.”

“Well, hopefully, it won’t be the last time,” I said, stammering slightly. “That I surprise you. Or you surprise me. Or we surprise each other? I don’t know where I’m going with this.” I couldn’t figure out the right words to say to her.

“Good night, Hayes,” she said with one final smile. I stood there as she headed down West Thirteenth Street, losing her to New York City once again.

Feeling the weight of her absence deep in my chest, I turned toward the building and headed back to the party inside. I still had at least an hour of schmoozing left. I let my hand graze the edge of the building, feeling the cool cement against my fingertips. Anything to bring me back to reality.

Just as I reached to pull open the doors to the lobby, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned to find Franny, slightly out of breath. She exhaled as she took a final step, meeting me almost toe to toe.

“Surprise,” she said, still breathless.

I furrowed my brow in confusion and opened my mouth to reply. But before I could get a word out, her lips were there, soft against mine, lingering for what felt like years or a split second—it was hard to tell. Time didn’t so much stop, but rather sped forward, blasted me off to space and back down to Earth again. The tips of her fingers brushed my cheek, and the sensation of her skin against mine set off an electrical fire inside my skull. I reached for her face, her delicate curls brushing against my fingers.