“Thanks. I was just going to pack up.” I lifted my chin, motioning toward his bag. “Looks like you plan on working a lot more than twelve hours with that bag.”
He nodded. “I have a lot of shit to catch up on. Unfortunately, I have a dinner meeting first.”
Merrick’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, looked at the screen, and swiped to answer with a groan. “I’m on my way.”
The other person said something I couldn’t make out. It made Merrick roll his eyes. “I’ll avoid it. Thank you. See you in a bit.”
He swiped his phone off, shaking his head. “Don’t become one of those annoying New Yorkers who has to tell everyone what route to take to get somewhere.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem. I barely know my right from my left.”
Merrick smiled. I thought it might be the first real, unguarded one I’d been treated to. I pointed to his face. “You should do that more often.”
“What?”
“Smile. It makes you seem like less of an ogre.”
“So I’m an ogre?”
“Well, I think you have to be a minimum of nine-feet tall to be an ogre. So maybe a mini ogre.”
Tiny wrinkles creased around his eyes as he smiled again, even as he tried to hide it. “By the way,” he said. “That reminds me—I never thanked you for not dropping a dime on me to Grams.”
“What do you mean?”
“She told me you said I was polite and professional in our first interview. In hindsight, perhaps I was a little curt.”
“A little?”
Merrick smiled some more. His phone buzzed in his hand, and he glanced down before shaking his head. “Now I’m supposed to avoid 144th at Convent Avenue for some reason.”
I nodded. “Oh, that’s two blocks from where I’m staying. They actually have the entire block shut down. They’re filming something. I tried to get a peek at it when I passed this morning.”
“You live uptown?”
“My sister does. I’m staying with her until I can find something.”
He nodded toward the hall. “Come on. I’ll drop you on the way.”
“Oh no, it’s fine. I can take the subway.”
“I’m going right near you. I have a car waiting outside.”
“You sure?”
He nodded. “It’s not a problem at all.”
We rode the elevator down together and got into the waiting Town Car, where I gave the driver my sister’s address. As we pulled away from the curb, this time my phone rang.
“Would you excuse me for a minute? It’s my sister.”
“Do whatever you need to.” Merrick sat a few feet away, scrolling through his phone while I answered.
“Hey,” Greer said. “I just wanted to tell you I walked Mrs. Aster’s dog for you. I was taking Buddy out anyway. Plus, you’ve been getting home so late. Just figured I’d tell you in case you planned to stop in her apartment on your way up.”
“Oh, thanks so much. You didn’t have to do that. Why are you home so early?”
“I have that part-timer who closes on Tuesdays and Thursdays now, remember? So I can walk her dog Thursday, too, if you need it.”
“Thanks, but Mrs. Aster will be back tomorrow. She’s away at her sister’s.”
“You and your crazy barter deals. What does she give you in return, anyway?”