26. Alicia and the Empire

"What do you mean you've broken up with Heath? I thought it was going well between you guys!"

Alicia gave a casual shrug as she continued rooting through her locker. Her best friend Kelly leaned against the locker next door, her eyebrows raised as she tried to determine Alicia's demeanour.

"It was," Alicia sighed finally. "But you know Heath. He's a huge goofball."

"Duh," Kelly giggled. "That's why you liked him so much."

"Yeah... But I just don't think there's a real future for us. He just refuses to be serious, y'know? Sure, he's great as Mr Right Now..."

"But he's not your Mr Right," Kelly rolled her eyes as she easily finished Alicia's sentence. She had heard the same speech enough times.

"He seemed to understand."

As if by clockwork, the West Virginia native strolled through the corridor; his backpack slung on one shoulder and his long ginger hair bouncing along with his stride. Kelly was the first to notice him.

"Quick, here he comes," she hissed, quickly grabbing Alicia's arm and trying to guide her away. Alicia shrugged her off and looked up in her ex-boyfriend's direction.

"How you doin' Leesh?"

Kelly was shocked. Heath was approaching the pair with a bright grin on his face.

"Hey Heath."

Alicia flashed a bright smile back and brought him in for a hug.

"Your hair looks fantastic today," she complimented him. In response he ran a hand through it and for a moment it seemed like he was blushing. "Anyway, Kelly and I need to go meet up with the girls. Good luck at the game this weekend."

"Thanks," Heath nodded, still smiling brightly. "See you around."

Alicia closed her locker and linked her arm through Kelly's as the two began heading down the corridor. The blonde was still gaping at her.

"Are you sure you guys have broken up?"

Now it was Alicia's turn to roll her eyes. "I told you, he understands where I'm coming from. It was amicable, just like it always is."

She wasn't joking. Alicia Fox was known just as much for her serial monogamy as she was for her smooth breakups.

"But anyway, all the stuff with Heath is the least of our concerns. Tell me all about you and Dolph Ziggler, girl!"

"There's nothing to tell," Kelly giggled, but all it took was one knowing look from Alicia for her to break down and divulge all the details of her budding relationship with one of Springfort High's most eligible bachelors.

Alicia had never felt so small in her life. Strolling through Times Square, her breath was taken away as she gazed around at the sheer magnitude of the buildings around her and the endless stream of people passing. Right now she felt like anything was possible. All that she had dreamed about... no, all that she had worked towards felt like it was about to come to fruition. Even on a rainy afternoon in Manhattan, the possibilities were endless.

But now, there was no more time to sit around and dream. In just a few seconds she was going to be stepping into the office block that was about to become her new second home; or in other words, her workplace. As she stepped into the elevator, she found herself taking a few deep breaths. As the doors closed she shut her eyes and murmured some words of pep talk to herself. Of course she was nervous. She had been living in New York for a matter of days. Half of their boxes remained unpacked but they had already jumped straight into work. They'd barely even sat down to have a meal together in their new home, nor had they even made love in their new bed yet.

For that matter, Wade and Alicia had barely had one conversation with each other since leaving Eve's house after her dinner party. The several hour drive to New York passed in what was a mix of stony silences and uncomfortable small talk. Alicia's outburst at him must have had an effect of him as he hadn't once brought up the issue of the pre-nup since. All the same, Alicia was doing her best to carry on as normal. In the big Skype chat the girls (minus Kaitlyn, who remained off the grid) had had before she jumped in the car headed for New York, she had gritted her teeth and acted like she had made no mention of the pre-nup. And to both her surprise and her relief, none of their girls brought it up either.

But it wasn't like she had time to think about any of that now; not the girls, not Wade, not the pre-nup. The first day of her dream job was ahead of her, and she was quick to remind herself of this fact as she looked down at her black and white Giuseppe wedges. In the reflection of the elevator door she gave her outfit one last cautious examination: a black midi skirt that clung tightly to her figure, paired with a white off-shoulder blouse that she had tucked into the skirt. Her jewellery was relatively minimal: she wore a red and silver chained necklace that added the slightest splash of colour, and of course her diamond engagement ring. She had swapped her stark red weave for a shorter, darker style that today was straightened. In essence, her intention was to look as conservative and office ready as possible, and with the subtle infusion of her own style, she felt confident that she had achieved just that.

She hummed to herself as each level passed and people came and went. Most were dressed in dark suits and either had their phones glued to their ear or were tapping away at them. Every now and again Alicia would try to exchange a smile, but nobody seemed to be interested. Just three levels below the one she needed, a pair of men stepped into the elevator. Both were in shirts and smart trousers and looked no older than Alicia. They seemed to be in a lighter mood than anyone else Alicia had seen that morning, too.

"...and so I snuck out this morning and left a note saying I'd call her later."

The tail end of the smaller man's story left both of them in a fit of laughter.

"You're unbelievable," the second man shook his head.

The first was just about to say something else but as soon as he looked up and saw Alicia, he quickly decided against it.

"Please excuse my friend," the second, the one with the dark blonde hair, said to her. He then smacked his darker haired friend on the arm with his newspaper and the two laughed again.

"He's excused," Alicia replied brightly, to their surprise. "Yours are the first smiling faces I've seen this morning so I can't complain."

The two men looked at each other, but by this point Alicia was back to examining the red gel extensions of her newly manicured nails. She let out a satisfied breath when the elevator finally reached her floor.

"Ah," one of the men said as she went to leave the elevator. "You must be new."

She frowned but quickly understood what he meant as soon as all three of them stepped out of the elevator and onto the ninth floor.

"Uh," she said nervously. "Yeah, I am. What makes you say that?"

The two men once again looked at each other and exchanged a knowing grin. The darker haired one gestured towards the winding hall that seemingly led to the office. "Let's just say these might be the last smiling faces you see today," he said as he and his friend led her past the orange walls.

"Not to scare you or anything," the blonder man held open the set of double doors at the end and stood back to let Alicia enter. She walked in ahead of them and stopped in her tracks as she gazed around the office with a dropped jaw. It was a spacious, open-plan set-up, mostly minimalistic but with splashes of colour here and there – just like Alicia's look today, she thought – with windows all around that looked out onto the bustling city of Manhattan. People hurried around with sheets of paper in their hands or chatted away on the phones at their desks, but not a soul seemed to register the entrance of their new co-worker.

"Come on rookie. You better go introduce yourself to the boss."

"And the three month itch strikes again."

Alicia rolled her eyes and threw a cushion in Kaitlyn's direction. "Ha ha." She said sardonically before returning to her mascara application."

"She has a point," Kelly grinned as she sat beside Kaitlyn on the edge of Alicia's bed. "As long as I've known you, you've never gone three months without having a boyfriend."

"Guys," Alicia whined. "It's just one date. Jack's cute and really nice, but who knows where it'll go?"

Kaitlyn and Kelly looked at each other.

"Alicia Fox," Kaitlyn folded her arms. "When have you ever just had 'one date' with a guy? They take you out to dinner and bam; they're ready to marry you!"

"That's so not true."

"You need to work some of that magic on the rest of us," Kelly sighed. "I can barely talk to guys and you just have a whole line-up of them waiting to date you!"

Alicia rolled her eyes as Kaitlyn and Kelly continued to discuss her love life.

As Alicia walked through the office, she desperately wished the two men from the elevator were still flanking her. She kept her focus straight ahead of her and made a beeline for the receptionist's desk. The woman behind the desk was young looking, most likely Latina. She had long dark hair that fell in waves and her face was caked in make-up, but she still had a certain element of natural beauty to her. She sat talking on the phone and scribbling down notes as she did so, but when Alicia approached she held a finger up and mouthed 'one second' before finishing her phone call. When she did, she looked up with a large smile.

"Hello," the woman said. She looked Alicia up and down and her smile became even wider. "You must be Alicia."

It was more of a statement than a question but Alicia nodded eagerly in response.

"Great."

The receptionist jumped to her feet and stepped out from behind the desk, her heels clacking as she gestured for Alicia to follow her further through the office.

"Stephanie told me you'd be starting today," the woman chatted away as Alicia looked around the office. "It's so exciting when someone new comes in. I've been here for almost three years now, since before Stephanie's new magazine took over! She's a total boss," she lowered her voice as she continued, "bitch."

"In a good way, right?"

The woman giggled at Alicia's nervous disposition. "Yeah, I guess. She works hard and is very ambitious. She knows exactly what her image is and what she wants to put out into the universe. She's so inspiring, honestly."

Alicia nodded. They reached what the receptionist explained was Stephanie's office, or in other words, the constantly closed door.

"Just give it a knock," she urged. "I better get back to my desk. It was nice meeting you, Alicia."

"Thanks..." Alicia paused, realizing that she hadn't learned the woman's name.

"It's Rosa." She beamed and held out her hand for Alicia to shake. "Good luck; you know where to find me if you need me."

"Thanks, Rosa." Alicia took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the door.

"Alicia," Jack Swagger whined, leaning back in his chair in exasperation. His girlfriend had just stepped out to take a phone call and returned with a sheepish look on her face that let him know she was about to leave. "I thought we had a big night ahead of us."

"I know," Alicia said soothingly, stroking his blonde hair. "But Kelly's in a crisis. I've got to go see her."

"Kelly's a big girl; she can take care of herself."

"Kelly's my friend and she needs me."

Jack pouted but knew there was no winning here. He and Alicia had been dating for months now, and he had quickly found out that Alicia was always on call. A crisis here, some fresh gossip there... It was simply the rules of the game. But, he was dating Alicia Fox. So how could he complain?

"Why can't Dolph deal with this one?" He pressed on; pushing his luck as far as it would go. "Mr Boyfriend of the Year loves playing Prince Charming."

Alicia sighed. With she, Eve and Kelly dating a group of friends in Jack, Dolph and Mike, it was inevitably impossible for anything to go down in their relationships without it getting around. So when it came to the ongoing issue of Dolph putting pressure on Kelly to 'put out', she had a feeling Jack already knew full well what the current crisis was. It was the same crisis Jack and Alicia had been going through for months. But as the two had promised each other, they were staying out of everyone else's relationship drama. All Alicia could do was be a friendly face and a welcoming shoulder.

"Dolph can't deal with this one because Dolph is the problem," she said through gritted teeth. Jack shrugged and turned his attention to the football by his feet.

"Come in."

Alicia took a deep breath and pushed open the door to Stephanie's office. Her new boss was already standing, ready to receive. She stood behind her desk with a grin and was beckoning Alicia forward. Alicia hurried to the desk and immediately extended her hand in the older woman's direction.

"It's so great to meet you Ms McMahon," Alicia grinned. "This opportunity is just unbelievable."

Stephanie shook her head and nodded; a smile still on her face. "It's great to meet you too Alicia. Take a seat. Oh, and please," she took her own seat and looked Alicia square in the face. "Call me Stephanie."

"Okay," Alicia nodded, practically breathless. She took a quick glance around the office, taking in the amazing view of the city behind Stephanie and the photographs and awards that were displayed across the room.

"So," Stephanie exhaled and folded her arms across the desk. "Alicia Fox. Florida State graduate, with a major in Communications and a minor in Business and a whole host of internships for different magazines and fashion brands across the country." She listed Alicia's accomplishments with a grin. "And a fellow Connecticut native, just like yours truly."

Alicia beamed and let out a sigh of relief. So, she had found some common ground with her new boss.

"I had no idea! What part?"

"Greenwich," Stephanie replied, gesturing towards a large photograph of the skyline of the city. "Born and raised, and then moved to NYC to conquer the world."

Alicia laughed. "Greenwich is gorgeous. My fiancée is from England and I took him to spend a weekend there recently. He-" Alicia stopped herself, realizing how boring her story must be to the woman with more than twenty years of experience in her field, national recognition as one of the most important magazine editors of her time, and now of course the founder of one of the fastest growing fashion publications in the country.

"What does your fiancée do?"

Alicia frowned, surprised at the interest being taken by her boss.

"Um, he's just getting his start as an investment banker."

Stephanie let out a low whistle. "Impressive. Is there a wedding date set yet?"

She shook her head. "We haven't been engaged for long. We're just going to focus on our careers for a while."

"I understand that." She held up her left hand, displaying the wedding band on her finger. "When my husband and I got married we were pretty much straight out of college and scratching and clawing our way to the top. It was worth it in the end though," she smirked.

Alicia giggled, evidently in awe of the woman before her. She began to think about what her journey to 'the top' would be like. Today, your average journalist. Tomorrow, the biggest name in fashion since Anna Wintour.

"So, since you are going to be my PA, I better get you introduced to my team."

Alicia's eyes widened as Stephanie called her a 'PA'.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, of course not." Alicia quickly composed herself.

"Great. We've got a staff meeting in ten, so I'll get Rosa to get you all settled at your desk."

Stephanie stood and smoothed down her pantsuit. Alicia stood too, preparing to follow her boss's instructions.

"Oh, and Alicia?"

She looked up instantly.

"If you could bring a coffee to the meeting for me, that would be great. I take it black. Thanks."

The editor-in-chief shot her personal assistant one last dazzling grin and led her out of her office.

Alicia sighed as she stared across the table at her boyfriend. He was chomping away at his fries, feeding the huge appetite that accompanied his football player lifestyle. Their sophomore year of high school was about to end and the two were just about to celebrate their nine month anniversary. Although known to the general population of Springfort High as the quintessential jock – rude, loud, dumb even – Alicia had known him as one of the sweetest boys she'd dated. Nine months, they would still go out on weekly dates. He would cancel his plans with the boys if she said she needed him. And he would accompany her on her frequent shopping sprees without a word of complaint. Even better, he was never afraid of showing her off to his friends and being affectionate in public. Even though their social circles were very different – especially considering the fact that Maria and especially Kaitlyn tended to avoid the jocks like the plague – Alicia would often accompany him to his parties and football games. His varsity jacket had quickly become an essential staple in her wardrobe. With her gorgeous features, tall and slim figure, positive attitude and warm sense of humour; she was the girl of his dreams. And he was the boyfriend made in RomCom heaven.

But, as she continued to say to herself as she sat across from Jack Swagger and sipped her Diet Coke, sophomore year was almost over. Junior year was about to begin which meant the hard work was about to begin. Alicia had big aspirations and high hopes; she dreamed of moving to Florida for college to pursue her dream of working in the fashion industry. Unlike her friend Maria who would spend all day sketching out designs and wanted nothing more than to dress the beautiful catwalk models they would pore over, Alicia would flick through the same magazines and dream of being the one who put such publications together. She could see it now: she would walk into her office in New York, be handed a coffee by her assistant and strut into a conference room for her meetings with all the top models and designers. They would all want to be featured in her illustrious magazine, but of course, their demands would have to wait as this evening she was to jet off to Milan before stopping for a day in Paris to have lunch with a potential business partner, and then go to London to do some shopping, and end up lying on a beach in Madrid...

Okay, so maybe all of that were some years away. But she knew she would never get there if she didn't stay focussed and keep her eyes on the prize.

Especially now with the summer vacation approaching, Alicia knew that it was time to get everything in order and tie up any and all loose ends. She and the girls were to head out to the Niagara Falls for a brief vacation together and Jack was already making plans for what he and Alicia would do when she got back. They could go to the Hamptons, he had suggested. Or to the South of France to stay in his dad's vacation home. As they sat in the diner now, he brought the idea up again.

"Hey, I've got some family out in Miami," Jack piped up. "We could stay at their place; they've been trying to get me to come and visit for years!"

"Yeah," Alicia replied absentmindedly, her chin resting on her hands. Then after looking up at the hopeful expression on his face, she sighed. "Actually, Jack..."

"What's wrong?" He said quickly, panic spreading across his features.

Oh, Jack. She looked at her boyfriend and couldn't help but to feel sadness at what she was about to do. He was a great guy and an even better boyfriend. He doted on her and always made her feel loved. He was funny and he was handsome but he was... He was Jack. He was at best goofy and at worst lacking in ambition. He would talk about vacations and football all day long, but she had never once seen him open a book, or talk about what he was going to do about college or what his goals were. Alicia had had her concerns for a while, but now all she could think about was how her 'Mr Right Now' was simply not a feasible 'Mr Right'. There was no future for them, as much as she hated to admit it. They were moving in different directions; at different paces. She had had the same problem with Heath, who she was with before Jack, and Titus before him. All great boyfriends, popular guys at school and so on, but they were your typical high school boy. They would promise Alicia the world, but Alicia Fox was always just one step ahead. Breaking up with Heath and Titus was definitely hard to do, and she was sure that breaking up with Jack Swagger was going to be even harder.

But she had to follow her heart; and once again her heart was telling her that she was still yet to find her Mr Right and so she would just have to keep looking.

"Hey girl."

Alicia looked up from her desk and smiled warmly as Rosa approached.

"I'm starving – you wanna go get lunch?"

"Uh," Alicia was somewhat confused. So far the journalists and members of the creative team she'd met had been cordial at best and downright rude at worst. So being invited out to lunch by Rosa – even if she was just a receptionist – quickly began to feel like the highlight of her day. "I would love to. Give me two seconds; I just need to get finished here."

Rosa nodded and went off to get her stuff while Alicia finished the third task Stephanie had set her for the day. Putting the calls on divert, she sighed and slipped into her coat, grabbed her handbag and went off in pursuit of her first office ally.

"Hey, newbie." She was interrupted by the dark haired man from the elevator, who was leaning against the reception desk doing what Alicia quickly guessed was flirting with the second receptionist.

"Hey," Alicia smiled back.

"So how much fun are you having being Stephanie McMahon's personal assistant?"

"How do you know what my job is?" She frowned, doing up the buttons on her coat.

He shrugged. "Who doesn't? This is the fashion world. People talk."

Alicia laughed and shook her head. "So, what do you do?" She asked.

"I'm obviously one of the models," he grinned, adjusting his collar.

"Actually," Rosa finally wandered back to her desk. "He's one of the dorks who works in the legal department, and he's a pain in my ass."

"Ouch, Rosa," he empathetically placed a hand over his heart. She shook her head at him and looked back at Alicia.

"I see you've met Cody Rhodes," she said. "This isn't even his office but I assure you you'll see more than enough of him."

"I'm planning on it," he winked at Alicia, who simply laughed and held up her left hand.

"Good luck with that," she wiggled her treasured diamond in his face with a wink of her own. Rosa laughed and grabbed Alicia's hand to get a better look at the ring.

"Yeah, Cody wishes he could put a rock like that on someone's finger," she giggled.

"Alright, Rosa, just keep selling me to the new girl," he joked, eyeing the twinkling gem on Alicia's finger.

"Whatever," Rosa poked her tongue out. "Now if you wouldn't mind getting back to your own office, me and Alicia are going to go and get some lunch."

"Alicia," he nodded. "Cute name."

"Cody!" Rosa smacked him in the arm but Alicia simply laughed it off.

"In all fairness," she began, smiling at the man in question. "Cody was the first person to smile at me today; I remember that kind of thing."

"See?" Cody smirked at Rosa who simply rolled her eyes. "But if you guys are getting lunch, Ted and I would be more than happy to join you."

Rosa sighed. "Fine. Where is he is anyway?"

"He's just finishing up a meeting with one of those journalists."

"Okay," Rosa nodded. "So actually doing his job? Good to see one of you are!"

Cody gave a casual shrug and grinned as Ted entered the reception area. After a proper introduction between him and Alicia, the four finally headed out to the elevator.

"Lunch is on Cody today, ladies," Ted grinned as he pressed the button on the elevator. Cody groaned and shook his head while Rosa and Alicia gave each other confused looks.

"Not that I'm complaining, but we're missing something here, right?"

"Oh yeah," Ted smirked, his tone expressing nothing but satisfaction. "We had a little bet about whether or not he could convince Alicia to go on a date with him."

"What?" Alicia's eyebrows rose, Cody turned his face away and Rosa gave him another slap on the arm, shouting "you perv!" at the same time as Alicia spoke. Ted by this point had burst into laughter, leading the group into the elevator.

"Don't worry," he said to Alicia. "You've definitely dodged a bullet there. I don't know who it is you're about to marry, but I can assure you he's a much better option than this asshole."

Rosa laughed and registered her agreement. Cody shook his head in disbelief.

"You know what?" He blocked the other two out and looked directly at Alicia. "I'll tell you now, these two have no idea what they're talking about. Contrary to popular belief, I am not at all an asshole." Rosa and Ted sniggered. "And, I doubt your fiancée is a better option than me."

All four burst into laughter. Ted hooked an arm around Cody's neck and dragged him out of the elevator – still shaking in laughter – as Rosa linked her arm through Alicia's as the two followed them out of the building and back onto the streets of Manhattan.

"So, I hear you're dating Randy Orton now."

Alicia looked up as Jack hovered above her. Their class had just finished and she was still packing her bag as he quickly approached her desk.

"Yes, I am, Jack," she said with a sigh.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" The class was now emptying out, leaving the two alone in the classroom.

"We're not together anymore."

"It's been three damn months, Alicia! That's nothing! As if I don't still think about you every day?!"

"Jack..."

"You dump me right before summer vacation and by the time we get back you've got a new man on your arm already?"

"I care a lot about Randy. He's good for me."

"And I wasn't?"

"I didn't say that."

"But his family's rich, right? Probably richer than mine. I bet he's treating you good."

"Jack."

"Are you sleeping with him?"

"Jack!"

"I mean, I know you never once put out for me, but that Orton's practically a male model, right? I'm sure he's charming enough to change your mind."

"That's disgusting." Alicia got to her feet and swung her bag over her shoulder, but Jack quickly got in her way.

"I thought we were happy." His tone had quietened down, and had even taken on an element of sadness. "I tried so hard to be the perfect boyfriend you wanted. What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing, Jack," she said softly. "We just want different things, you know we do."

"So? We're high schoolers, Leesh! Why can't we just enjoy this for what it is?!"

"And that's what we've been doing, Jack! But we've got to start thinking about the future. This is junior year; I've got a ton of AP classes, we've got college admissions to start thinking about..."

Jack groaned.

"You know what?" By now he was glaring at the girl stood in front of him. "Let's just call a spade a spade, Leesh. This isn't about AP classes or college or any of that stuff; you just think you're too good for me." Alicia's jaw dropped at such an accusation but Jack continued his tirade. "You always have! You're more than happy to prance around school in my jacket or sit front row at my games, but you just can't bear the thought of us getting so serious in our relationship that I interfere in all your plans. You don't think I know what your friends think of me? That I'm just some dumb jock who's nothing but Alicia's latest accessory? But Randy Orton is something serious, not like me."

"That's enough, Jack." Alicia tried to skirt past him but he once again got in her way, still staring her down. She could hardly say a thing. Usually her break ups ended in a similar sort of way; with her boyfriend breaking down and asking what he had done wrong and begging her to reconsider. Never in her life had a boy lashed out at her like this, and this was certainly not something she expected from someone like Jack.

"So I'm guessing you and the girls held one of your little conferences about it, right?" Jack said bitterly. "I'm sure Kaitlyn was thrilled to hear you were finally dumping me. God knows that sour faced bitch just hates seeing anyone happy. She's been trying to keep Kelly away from Dolph since day one. And I'm sure it won't be long before she tries breaking Eve and Mike up too."

"Don't talk about my friends like that," Alicia said, her voice wavering regardless of her stern words.

"Oh yeah," he spat sarcastically. "I wouldn't wanna say anything about the unbreakable sisterhood, right? They were always more important than me anyway. I'm sure they'll be the ones to put your demanding ass up in some mansion, and buy you all the clothes and shoes and jewellery your heart desires, and take you on all those expensive vacations. Because let's be honest Foxy, all you really want out of a man is someone to give you all the things your parents never could..."

"Shut up!" She choked out.

"I know your daddy's affair must have been pretty hard for you take-"

"Shut up..."

"And your mom just can't bear the thought of letting go of her husband's fancy lifestyle so God knows she'll never strike up enough courage to leave him-"

"Jack!"

"But I guess as long as her closet keeps filling up with Louboutins it doesn't really matter if Mr Fox keeps filling up those secretaries of his."

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" She screeched. She was finally able to storm past him, and made sure to slam the classroom's door shut behind her. She hurried down the hall and was relieved to find Randy by his locker. He had his headphones in his ears and his handsome, chiselled features seemed stern in concentration. She rushed over to him and linked her arms around his waist.

"Oh, hey babe," he put an arm around her. "You alright?"

She nodded but kept her face shielded from his sight while she allowed her tears to stop.

"What are you listening to?" She asked as he pulled the headphones out of her ear.

He grinned. "You'll know it, for once. It's one of those songs you put on my iPod to 'remind me of you'." He placed a headphone in her ear and she began to smile. "You're always talking about these songs that reference New York. If you don't make it there one day I hope you get a refund off of all these singers."

She giggled and began quietly singing along. "'Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there's nothing you can't do...'"

Randy laughed. "I hate how much it's growing on me."

"Oh yeah? I guess that means you're going to come and move to New York with me one day then."

Her words took the tone of a joke, but based on conversations the two had had before – particularly about their future – they both knew it was more than that.

Randy gave her a small smile and a casual shrug. "Who knows what the future holds."

There was no more to be said after this. Instead, Alicia changed the subject.

"I think I'm gonna skip my movie night with the girls tonight," she said quietly, finally looking up at him. "Do you want to come to my place instead?"

Randy smirked and looked down at her hopeful smile. "Of course."

She nodded and linked her hand through his so that the two could head to lunch. Looking over her shoulder, she met eyes with Jack. He stared at her blankly and she did the exact same.

As she climbed into a taxi at the end of her first day, Alicia let out a sigh. 'Empire State of Mind' had begun to play through her headphones and she couldn't help but to watch Manhattan zoom by and think about that one, seemingly insignificant, encounter with her then-boyfriend Randy that afternoon of junior year. The last she heard, he had chosen to stay in St Louis, Missouri after graduating from college and was pursuing a career in football. When they had broken up just before high school graduation, he had joked that he was relieved that he no longer had to think about moving to New York.

Alicia continued to hum along to the song:

'These streets will make you feel brand new,

Big lights will inspire you,

Now you're in New York...'