"Give me that." Charley swiped the phone back and checked the screen.

I need you here ASAP, Charlotte. Nonnegotiable. Find a cab�my driver is unavailable.

It wasn�t her man. It was Rudy.

"It�s the boss," Charley said, unable to keep the disappointment from her voice.

"Good ol� Uncle Rudy." Sasha rolled her eyes. "We already know he�s a psycho."

Everything okay? Charley texted back.

Be here in 30 minutes. Time to talk about your future.

Charley�s stomach bubbled, threatening to revolt against the milkshake. She was already on Rudy�s shit list, and she�d completely forgotten to report in on her museum findings. There was no telling what he wanted now.

"You need to ditch that gig," Sasha said. "I know he�s your uncle, but still. You�re super smart, talented, driven. Why stay in a crappy job when you can find something awesome?"

"It pays really well, Sasha. I can�t just walk away."

The movie credits were rolling, but the sisters were still drawing nasty looks from everyone around them.

"So that�s the most important thing?" Sasha asked. "Money?"

"It is when you don�t have any. And that�s not something I want either of us to worry about�not ever. Okay?"

It wasn�t the first time they�d had this argument, and Charley knew it wouldn�t be the last. But for now Sasha dropped it, gathering up their trash and helping Charley fold the blanket.

"Guess I need to grab a cab," Charley said. Rudy lived in a massive steel-and-glass tower in the no-man�s land between Chinatown and the Financial District, arguably the most inconvenient location in Manhattan. Getting there in thirty minutes was about as likely as finding that awesome new job Sasha thought she deserved, but she had to try. "You heading home?"

"Nah, I�ll see if Darcy wants to meet up." Sasha linked her arm with Charley�s. "Come on, I�ll wait with you. Forty-Second Street?"

"Let�s try Fifth," Charley said. On Fifth, she could at least wait in front of the library, one of her favorite buildings in the city.

They packed up the rest of their things and threaded their way through the post-movie crowd. Traffic on Fifth Avenue was a nightmare; every cab that passed was already occupied.

"Figures." Charley sat on the library steps, gazing up at the stately marble lions that�d guarded the entrance for more than a hundred years. In their familiar company, she relaxed.

So many people thought living in New York was exactly like a movie, where everyone was fabulous and rich, spending their evenings at A-list restaurants with dollhouse-sized meal portions and rude waiters, or hopping from club to exclusive club, or�at the other end of the spectrum�getting drunk on cheap beer and stumbling through Times Square.

But for Charley�more than the restaurants, the clubs, the music scene, the tourist traps�the best places in New York were the ones that had survived the centuries. Libraries, museums, universities�the places that showcased and archived humanity�s great achievements, the things that would continue to inspire awe, even when people themselves no longer could.

Charley blew out a breath. Even as her own life descended into chaos, at least she could count on her beloved lions, always here to remind her that no matter what mistakes she made, some things endured.

Maybe she would, too.

"What are you thinking about?" Sasha asked.

"Patience and Fortitude," Charley said. JrNovels.com