This time, luckily, the place was open, and crowded with couples on this summery Saturday night. The decor reflects the neighborhood’s vintage aesthetic, with century-old mosaic tile floor, pressed tin ceiling, dark wood wainscoting, and a white marble-topped bar running the length of the room. It reminds Gaby of the granite countertops in the apartment she’d shared with Ben. The bigger, better apartment. Nothing is indestructible . . . Voices from the past seem to contradict the lyrics of the bar’s piped-in background music, straight out of Pottery Barn and/or the Great American Songbook: Nat King Cole crooning “When I Fall in Love.” “It will be forever . . .” Gaby tries to focus on what Ben is telling her about the new design he’s working on, the one he mentioned the other night. The building is destined to be the tallest in its immediate neighborhood, altering the city’s skyline. Naturally, the prospect thrills him. That’s Ben. Always striving to make an impact, reaching for that pinnacle of success.
