new york, new york

chapter 66

Time before Christmas kind of slipped trough my fingers. My mom had decided that we should have a big family holiday, so I baked and cooked and cleaned up. It was exhausting but good to get my feet back on ground. I was mixed up because of all my lifestyles. From Upper West Side New York to little cabin with Backstreet Boys, then to Helsinki staying in a hotel and giving interviews, and finally to my parents to that little town bourgeois life.

Two days before Christmas I received one more e-mail from Howie. He just wished me merry x-mas. I laughed out loud to his descriptions of the latest concert, which didn�t go that well... He asked if I�d still be coming back to New York as planned before and if it would be too painful perhaps to meet him quickly. �But then again�, he wrote. �It could be impossible for me to find a moment with you. We�re going trough NYC, have something on TRL again but dates are at least for me still obscure. Maybe it�s a bad idea, I don�t know. If you want to meet me, let me know.�

I didn�t call to Howie but to Jacob.
-Houston we have a problem.
-Anna! So good to hear from you. How are you? You left us pretty suddenly.
-Yeah well, got into something. I�ll tell you later. And I�m fine, thanks for asking. Stuck with housework and eagerly waiting for Christmas to give me at least some rest.
-Oh. So Christmas with family?
-Yes.
-Just family? No visitors?
-Jacob, I�m still single, if that�s what you mean.
We weren�t that close with Jacob, but he knew more about my situation with AJ than most.
-Too bad. Girl like you shouldn�t be running on the loose. You cost damage that way.
-Haha.
-So how can I help you?
-Oh yeah. Well, I should be coming to town pretty much at the new year and I don�t have a place to stay.
-So it�s true he�s going back with Helen?
-There�s more.
-Tell me! Right now! You can�t imagine what I could buy with that information.
-I thought you�re not into gossips. Now you ruin my picture of you as a seriously taken journalist, I joked.
-Anna, you know how it goes.
-I do. And I promise to tell you as soon as you get me a place to stay.
-Are you serious?
-Not sure. But it�s going to be public eventually and pretty fast. So what harm it can do? Just remember, you didn�t hear it from me.
-That�s obvious. Let me get to your problem ASAP. Is it OK to call you during the holidays?
-You should. I have to book tickets and everything.
-Do you have a date set?
-No. I should be there 10th day at the latest.
-I�m sure I can arrange something. But meanwhile, have a great Christmas!
-You too Jacob.

I felt at least little relieved after resolving that problem. Fact was that keys to AJ�s apartment were lying on his table. Anyway I couldn�t live there even if it would have been possible. And that it wouldn�t be without contacting him. And that I wouldn�t do. So case closed.

But Christmas itself was all you could dream. One morning I woke up and it had snowed. It kept snowing all day, which could have been bad for some but I just enjoyed that little storm inside decorating the last cookies. In Finland most of the Christmas is celebrated in the eve. We ate well, listened kids singing and screaming, or both at the same time, opened our presents and the relaxed with new books and chocolate dressed in new pajamas and sneaked to the fridge in the middle of the night to steal a piece of the ham. Then day after we went to church and felt pretty overeaten but ate more food and of course chocolate.

That went on for two days, then our family scattered to their own directions and peace came back to earth. I took advance for few days holiday and met my friends. During the promotion I had been too tired and confused really to contact anyone. I also attended to a tap course, trying to keep my skills up. And all the time I missed my cigarettes. I had thought after reading Howie�s e-mail that maybe it would be good time for me to quit smoking too. Being with AJ had been impossible time for that. But I felt that my life would need a change and that taking care of myself should be my number one value. I also tried to watch what I eat, emotional fall and uncertainty of everything had made me gain more than few pounds and Christmas didn�t really help! Meeting your friends in small cafes with delicious bakery goods is a good time to test your will. So I ended up drinking flavored tea without anything else. It also cost least. As I had told to Charlene, you can�t really get rich in Finland by publishing a book and I was about to prove that more than true.

I was walking on the streets of Helsinki when my phone rang. I had to stop to dig it up from my bag. As I saw unknown number, I hesitated for a second. Howie hadn�t e-mailed me for a while, I guess he was hopefully waiting for some kind of comment to that suggestion of meeting. But then I decided to answer, it could be anyone with secret number or something like that.
-Anna.
-Hey.
My heart jumped to my throat until I recognized the voice.
-Hey Jacob.
-Sorry it took me so long to search a place for you. But now I got one.
-Really? Something fancy?
I started to walk again as I listened Jacob�s report.
-Nothing like that. One graphic designer from my work is looking for a rental for an apartment she has. It�s very small studio, does include toilet and fridge, few cooking plates but not a decent kitchen or a shower. But it�s connected to her own place so you can use those there if necessary. You do have your own entrance, so that gives you at least some privacy. Rent is really low because Tina offers that to a person who can help her at home and sometimes watch the kids in the evening.
-She doesn�t have any older boys? I asked recalling my situation with Charlene and Oliver.
-No, just two girls, aged 5 and 7. So? I told her you�d come by the 5th day.
I stopped.
-Could you tell her I�ll be there as soon as I can?
-Sure. But why? Anna?
-I call you later.
Brutally I hang him up. I was standing in front of a little store. There were headlines of the new gossip magazine.

�Anna�s secret life in USA: I hang out with the celebrities. See revealing pictures of her with the Backstreet Boys!�

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