Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

pointing to a second story building with fire engine red windows and Playwright Restaurant
engraved on the sign hanging above them. “No particular reason, I just liked the name and thought it
looked cool from the street. But as soon as we got inside and my mom saw the prices on the menu, her
whole demeanor changed. Since she was a single mom, we always lived on a pretty tight budget. I
wasn’t even sure where she found the money for a spontaneous weekend trip. I was ecstatic when I
realized we were actually staying in the city because I figured she would want to stay outside the city
to save money. The restaurant isn’t even that expensive, it’s pretty reasonable by New York City
standards, but to her it was a lot and she had already splurged on the hotel. My mom’s a frugal
woman; growing up, she always made me order water at restaurants because god forbid she have to
overpay for a fountain drink. But I knew she wouldn’t tell me no even if she wasn’t comfortable with
the prices because this trip was supposed to cheer me up, you know?”
He smiles faintly. He doesn’t say anything, but I think I see where this is going is written all
across his handsome face.
“So, I told her I changed my mind and we skipped out before the waitress came to take our order.
Pizza by the slice seemed much more affordable, so we popped into Ray’s for a couple of slices
instead.”
“Did you ever get to go?” he asks, nodding toward the restaurant.
I nod. “Yep. Charity took me there for dinner and drinks for my birthday a couple of years ago,
then we went to see Wicked.”
“Good show.”
“Great show,” I agree.
“Did you and your mom have a good trip?”
I nod. “We did. We hit the M&M store,” I say, gesturing across the street when we’re about to
pass it. “The Hershey store, the Disney store. Toys R Us was here back then, so we went there, too.
She had sticker shock everywhere we went, though. New York isn’t the most budget-friendly city in
the world.”
“No,” he agrees, smiling faintly.
“I loved it, though. The feeling of anonymity in this crazy busy city. It was like no matter how big
my problems were back home, this place was so big it would eclipse them. It felt like I could escape
it, and escape was this very tangible place.” I shake my head, my eyes probably twinkling with
fondness. “I knew I had to live here someday. I didn’t know how I would given the cost of living here,
but I was determined to make it happen.”
“And you did.”
“And I did.” I smile, looking over at him. “What about you? Have you lived in New York all
your life?”
“Not quite. My parents live in the suburbs in Connecticut, but close enough. We made trips into