New York, August 2020.
It's ten o'clock in the morning when Hannah is waiting at the appointed place for the girls with whom she decided to go crazy and go to the summer sales. Today's Saturday is an unusually hot day, but she loves this weather because it's only now warm enough for her.
She has no intention of sitting alone all day in the apartment she received as a gift from her mother a few weeks ago to celebrate graduating from college and getting an internship. Usually, she spends time there with Joseph, but unfortunately, he is not in town because he accompanies his father on business matters.
This time, Hannah decides to take advantage of her friends to fill her day off with some pleasant duties.
— Dissolve. — Already from afar she can hear Bella whining. The girl waves a fan in front of her face, looking at her friend with lightning eyes. — Couldn't you forgive me? I hate the heat, and just in case, I inform you that I'm out of here in an hour.
— The heat is just your excuse. I know very well that you planned this day with Tom.
— And is it my fault that your guy is out of town?
Bella sighs now and then, like an old woman suffering in the heat.
— I'm also about to wash out, but I'll be better and stay with you for two hours. — Mariah joins them. Dressed in a short skirt, she catches the eyes of men because of her long, shapely legs.
— But I have a meeting with a man, and you? After all, you are no longer with Jimmy. — Bella speaks first and thinks later. With her, it's normal.
— I'm only seeing you for the second time with my eyes, so why are you talking to me like that? I'm older than you.
Hannah rolls her eyes. Already during their first meeting, as soon as she introduced them to each other, they started a verbal war, which a moment later turned into a long chat about the same interests. And this time it will probably be the same. It's only a matter of time before they find a common topic.
— Passing by, I saw a nice store. Should we go there first? — she asks both girls, but neither of them answers her as they continue to bicker like magpies.
— And what do I seem to have offended you with at this point? After all, I told the truth. You are no longer in a relationship with Jimmy.
— I didn't like your allusion in which you clarified it that since I don't have a man, I should have a ton of time to myself. Do you think that singles do nothing twenty-four hours a day and can be at your beck and call?
— Girls? — interjects Hannah, having no intention of listening. — You are harming yourselves more than this heat. Give yourselves a break. I wanted to have a pleasant time with you, and you are jumping down each other's throats again. Find some common topics. Talk about the flaws of guys, for example. Let it relieve you.
— Flaws: Jimmy is one big flaw. His parents made him up badly. I don't know where my eyes were that I wasted so many years on him. — Mariah snorts under her breath.
— Do you think I'll talk the same way when something happens in the future and I break up with Tom?
And with that, the girls find a common theme, expressing no particular interest in Hannah, who runs from store to store, munching on the best sales.
*
The twenty-three-year-old girl sits at a table, writing another message to Joseph, who has not written her back for several hours now. Meanwhile, she eats a chocolate ice cream and looks at the people who occupy the vacant seats in the garden belonging to the café. Waitresses are running between tables and collecting orders for ice cream or drinks, looking tired from their hard work.
They have the most work to do at this time of year, considering that people need to cool off in this heat, which has been hitting New York all the time lately.
Hannah moves her leg nervously, wondering what Joseph is doing since he can't write her back.
So far, the girl has endured three years in a relationship with him, even though she has sometimes gone through hard times and there have been times when she has really had enough. There are days when Joseph is unbearable. Only now, when Hannah knows him very well and already knows everything about him, does she see his worst flaws. All he has to do is get up in the morning with his left foot, and he walks around all day like a stripper, clinging to anything small. He has a tough character, and Hannah realizes that this will never change. She willingly got into this relationship; however, she loves him and can't imagine that one day he might be missing from her life. When she doesn't see him for a few days, she misses him madly.
It is effortless for a person to get attached to something, especially to the person he loves.
The girl rests her face on both hands, looking ahead with sadness in her eyes. She doesn't notice anything going on around her, with her thoughts wandering around her boyfriend. A brunette man, walking past, stops mid-step and blinks his eyelids for a moment, wondering if he's delusional.
He leans against the fence with his hands and carefully observes the girl sitting next to him to see if she is actually someone he knows. He leans more and sticks his head out, so his face is right in front of her eyes, so Hannah lets out a strange cry. She puts her hand to her left breast, watching the brunet with wide-open eyes.
Only after a moment does she realize that she knows him. And she knows him very well.
— My God, Taylor? — At first, she completely can't believe it, so she just looked at him as if he were an alien.
— However, you have not erased your childhood best friend from your memory? — The boy smiles charmingly. — I, for one, had to look at you more closely because you had emerged so much that I had doubts whether it was really you. Let's not kid ourselves... you were not a pretty child.
The girl looks at him with joy in her eyes.
— What are you doing here? Did you somehow collude with my mother? Did she tell you where you should look for me?
— Let me first join you like a civilized person. People are looking at us strangely anyway. — Hannah looks around the garden and realizes that Taylor is right.
The boy sits down next to her.
— You asked a moment ago what I'm doing here? I came back to take revenge on you for completely breaking contact with me. That was despicable. — He smirks with displeasure.
Hannah makes a sour face. She's feeling stupid.
— Sorry. It's just that after you went abroad with your parents, I joined Horace Mann, and there on the very first day, so much started happening that I lost contact with the outside world.
— I'm free until the evening, so I'd love to hear why you pounced on me, ugly. I feel like shaking you out by all your hair.
— I'm truly sorry, but you also could have made a phone call to me, rather than waiting for me to be the first to speak.
— Calls from Europe to America are expensive...
— You see? And you have a grudge against me!
The brunet crosses his arms over his chest and looks at her with a raised eyebrow. Hannah sees that he is faking anger. He's still the same, he hasn't changed at all, even though seven years have passed since he left.
— Do you know? I feel strange. When we saw each other last time, we were both teenagers. Why don't we ask each other what's up first?
Taylor bursts out laughing.
— You haven't changed a thing, Hannah. — He puts his hand to his mouth, not taking his eyes off her. — It's okay, if you feel uncomfortable around me, like I'm a stranger...
— No, that's not what I mean. It's just... I haven't seen you for a very long time, and we are both adults now. I'd like to hear what's going on with you first, and then I'd like to explain to you my teenage mistakes.
— Okay, so be it — he says with amusement in his voice. — So, some time ago, I returned to America permanently. I found myself a pretty decent job, and yesterday I broke up with my girlfriend.
Hannah nods her head.
— I bet that girl broke up with you. If you're still the same as you were seven years ago, none of them will put up with you.
The boy opens his mouth in indignation.
— In that case, I bet you haven't changed a thing either. Who would want to be in a relationship with you?
The brunette smiles mysteriously.
— First, I'll brag to you that I graduated with a degree in accounting and finance. Now I'm doing an internship at a good company, well, and here I'll surprise you because I've been in a relationship for more than three years.
His smile dims, but Hannah does not pay particular attention to it.
— Really? I'm curious to know who the unhappy guy is in this case.
— Maybe someday you'll find out.
The signal of a received message sounds on her phone. Her eyes sparkle with happiness when she realizes it's from Joseph.
"Don't panic, little one. I'll call you soon."
Taylor looks at her happy face and has no doubt that the girl is in a happy relationship.
For a split second, he feels disappointed.
— So should I explain myself to you now? But remember that you are also to blame for breaking contact, since you didn't speak to me first.
*
Hannah puts her hand to her mouth to hold back laughter as Taylor stands still and, without blinking his eyelids, stares at a single point on the ground. His new smartphone, which he only bought yesterday, is lying on the sidewalk with a cracked screen.
— You, indeed, have changed nothing. You continue to spoil everything in your possession.
The boy is heartbroken and does not share her joy.
— Perhaps I would have laughed with you if I hadn't spent half my salary on it.
The brunette puts her hand on his shoulder. Taylor crouches down and with pain in his eyes takes the damaged device in his hand.
— Probably all your life, your companion is an evil spirit that specially annoys you.
The phone in her bag begins to ring. She finds it, and then a feeling of euphoria rises in her when she sees that it is a call from Joseph.
— I've been waiting half a day for a call from you. I was worried — she says at the outset, as soon as she puts the cell phone to her ear.
— Do you think I went on vacation with my father? — The girl makes an offended face. — The whole time someone accompanied us, I didn't even have an opportunity to write you a long message.
— All right. I understand.
The girl is disappointed that he addresses her in this way.
— Hannah, don't pout. I'm just having a nervous day and my father is only worsening it. He keeps clucking over my ear like an old magpie. He is unbearable.
Joseph does not have and is unlikely to have a good relationship with his father for the next few years. He resents him for what he did to his wife.
— I'm not angry. I was just worried about you, but now I understand. I apologize for tormenting you with this news.
— Nevertheless, it's nice that you are so panicky about me. — The boy laughs, at which she lifts the corners of her mouth upward. — How did you spend today?
— Shopping with the girls.
Hannah looks at Taylor standing next to her and prefers to keep to herself the fact that she met with her childhood friend. Joseph can sometimes be overly jealous. It's better if he doesn't know that his girlfriend now has company.
— You spent half a day shopping!
— What's wrong with that? Most women relax this way. I'd rather go shopping than sit idly at home. I don't like to be lonely.
— So without me, you would die?
— Don't add from yourself. — Hannah makes an offended face. — Although it does not change the fact that I am terribly bored without you.
Taylor glances at the girl from the corner of her eye, realizing that she is talking to her beloved.
— I'm going back tomorrow, so I'll take care of you in the evening.
— First, I have to let you into my apartment. Bye. — She laughs teasingly, then quickly hangs up. — Sorry, I had to pick up — she turns to the brunet who is waiting for her.
The boy only nods, still lamenting his damaged phone.
*
Jin sits at the bar and plays with a glass filled with expensive whiskey. Weary of waiting for the person he has scheduled an appointment with here, he watches the barmaid, who keeps pouring alcohol for customers. The men coax her, and she gets into a playful discussion with them, not taking offense when one of them says two words too many.
The boy looks to the side as someone places a hand on their shoulder.
Danielle sits down next to him with a charming smile on her face. He hasn't seen her in a very long time, so he's surprised at how much she's changed. She has red, even orange hair that reaches her waist in length. She is dressed in sports clothes, albeit in such a way that she attracts the stares of men. The only thing that hasn't changed about her is her love for baseball caps.
— I think I wouldn't recognize you on the street. Is this metamorphosis something to do with that? — he asks as the girl removes the white cap from her head and runs her hand through her hair.
— Of course. My enemies will have trouble recognizing me on the street now that I look entirely different. That was my point. — She takes the liquor from him and tilts the glass, choking the entire contents of it. — How do you feel, dealing with my awful mother?
— I never imagined that after my father's death, she would become an even worse hag. I know that, behind my back, she is doing everything to take my business away from me. I have to keep my eyes around my head. One mistake and she will take advantage of it.
The red-haired girl snorts under her breath.
— She has been a bitch all her life, nothing new.
— I'm angry that my father decided to go back to her and decided to marry her. She must have sensed what was coming.
Jin rubs his forehead, and then Danielle puts her arm around him.
— I can't look at you.... I missed you so much. Coming back to New York was a good decision, though.
— A good one? You have enemies everywhere. How do you want to live peacefully here?
— Give it a rest. What enemies? For me, they are like flies that I can simply trample with my shoe. I have them deep in my nose. Not such morons I got rid of from my life. — She shrugs her shoulders, unconcerned about the lurking threat. — If I had to worry about every mistake I made, I would have been sitting with paranoid disorder in a psychiatric hospital a long time ago. And just... what's up with my dear little sister?
The boy is not willing to talk about Hannah because he realizes that Danielle does not care about her at all. She doesn't even like her. She only asks out of sheer curiosity.
— She is happy.
— Really? So she's getting along in life?
— Yes, and don't even think about anything, Danielle. Leave her alone. You've stirred her into your dirt in the past anyway. Besides, what were you thinking when you used her name? There was a situation when she was attacked in front of the store by a man who mistook her for you. Hannah was lucky that she was with a friend at the time. She's not a devious monster like you, so she couldn't defend her.
— A cunning monster? — repeats the girl. — So she's a fragile creature who needs to be protected, and I'm a cunning monster?
— What else should I call you? Even at the age of fifteen you acted as if you had no heart.
Danielle looks indignant at his words.
— Why are you so defensive of Hannah? Do you like her? — She raises an eyebrow as he smiles under his breath.
— And why should I not like her? She has suffered a lot over the past seven years because of you.
The girl squints, watching his face carefully.
— You like her more than you should.
— I fought for a long time to regain her trust. Hannah is in a relationship with a friend of mine, so knock what you think out of your head.
— So you like her more than me?
The boy looks into her eyes for a long moment.
— What do you think? You're the one who screwed everything up, Danielle.
He gets up from his chair and leaves the money on the counter, then walks away from the bar. The girl mirrors him with her eyes until he disappears from her sight.
— Are you so perfect that everyone adores you, little sister? Maybe it's time to take that happiness away from you? — Danielle tightens her lips in anger, out of the corner of her eye, looking at the man, who does not take his eyes off her. At first glance, she sees that the man is stuffed, so she decides to take advantage of the fact that he is interested in her. Anyway... who isn't? Men are drawn to her like flies.
All but one she cares about the most.