Cosmo's Deli Read Online Free Page B

of satisfaction. “What’s with you?” she asks.
    â€œYou’re mother said I was a nice boy, didn’t she?”
    â€œActually she said you’re an asshole and I should never talk to you again.”
    â€œVery funny.” Jeff straightens the collar on Renny’s jacket. “I don’t know why you talk to him.”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œMendelbaum. He’s obviously a nut.”
    â€œBut he’s my nut.” She checks herself in the hallway mirror.
    â€œYou should change your number.”
    â€œI can’t do that. What if some old boyfriend has a change of heart and tries to call? He won’t be able to, and I’ll end up alone forever.”
    â€œFor all you know Mendelbaum’s a stalker,” Jeff warns.
    â€œFor all I know you’re a stalker.”
    â€œThanks.”
    â€œHe’s harmless. I can tell.” At least she hopes. Renny has tried to track him down but always hits a dead end. Two trips to the Social Security office on 48th Street, a zillion Internet searches and countless sessions plowing through the phone books at the Public Library haven’t turned up anything. There are just too many Mendelbaums in the New York area and Renny doesn’t even know his first name. The only thing she uncovered is that her phone number once belonged to a restaurant called Cosmo’s Deli off Delancey Street, three months before she moved into her apartment five years ago. She wrote to the city’s health department to find out more about the place, but that was a month ago and she hasn’t heard back.
    She heads out the door and Jeff follows after her. “So am I driving you?”
    With a quick wave, Renny dashes down the hall and into the waiting elevator.
    â€œI guess that means no,” he calls, watching the doors close.
    ***
    Renny runs into Volume and scans the packed bar. She spots Gaby, drink in hand, and hustles over, trying to make up a few seconds out of the fifteen minutes she’s late. “I’m so sorry. Jeff stopped by and then I couldn’t get a cab. God, it took forever, and Third was like a parking lot.”
    â€œIt’s okay,” Gaby says, sipping her purple-tinted martini.
    Ceasing the avalanche of apologies, Renny waits expectantly.
    â€œOh, Happy Birthday!” Gaby says, giving Renny a limp one-armed hug.
    She’s even more distracted than last week, Renny discerns, noticing the heaviness surrounding Gaby’s vacant eyes.
    â€œDo you want a drink?” Gaby waves toward the bar, only her hand motion and words are out of sync, like the dialog in an old black and white Godzilla film.
    A year ago, Renny would have walked into the restaurant and found her friend holding court with a collection of new acquaintances—men, women, it didn’t matter, people gravitated to her. Gaby Bowers, originally from North Carolina, is a Southern belle with an adopted New York attitude. From the start, she took to the city like a new skyscraper—everyone who met her looked up to her. With her sandy hair attractively rumpled and her wide mouth often curled in a playful smile as if someone had whispered the most delicious secret to her, Gaby’s beauty is unconventional, but unmistakable. However, the past months have been unkind to her. It began with the demise of her business, which was followed immediately by the sudden death of her mother and a painful break-up. This left Gaby’s emotions lying there like shards of glass.
    â€œAre you okay?” Renny asks.
    â€œYeah, sure,” Gaby says, turning her head away. “We should get a table.”
    â€œShouldn’t we wait for Sara?”
    â€œHere I am.” Sara comes up from behind. “I was in the bathroom. I think this baby is sitting right on my bladder. I pee every three seconds.” They exchange air kisses and Sara adds, “It’s your birthday, so we’ll forgive you for keeping us