Four Girls and a Guy: Prequel to Girls in the City

By Suzanne Jenkins

What happens to their secrets when five friends who attend the University of Chicago move in together? You'll find out in this prequel to the Girls in the City Series.
Alison Saint decided she couldn’t tolerate dorm life any longer and rented a two-bedroom apartment in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. She’s invited three friends to share the space in this introduction to the Girls in the City series. Edwin shows up later when Laura moves out.

Edwin is just a random guy from school, but he soon falls in love with Alison who’s keeping a secret from her family, and once hers is out, he’ll be free to share his feelings. But he also has a secret he’s been carrying around since he was a teen.

Laura, a criminal justice major, makes ends meet by taking cash from the guys she dates. Then, she finally learns who her birth father is and moves to Manhattan after college graduation to search for him. How much will her life change when she discovers he is one of the wealthiest men in the country?

Joan has one goal after law school, and that’s to join the largest criminal defense firm in the Mid Atlantic as soon as she passes the bar. One misstep however, a deputy from the DA’s office in Philadelphia is in love with her and she’s worried being on opposite sides of the aisle might not be beneficial when it comes time to apply for that job. Will that be enough to stop her from falling for him?

Samantha Karas, medical student, works at the local Greek bakery part time and when the owner’s brother comes from the old country, the chemistry between her and the older man is sizzling. The problem; a one nightstand which occurred months before has the potential be a tinderbox.

Meet Alison Saint from the Saints of San Diego, Laura Long from Pam of Babylon, Samantha Karas from the Greektown Stories, and Joan Greenway from Bittersweets.
Come along as five friends graduating from college embark on the next crazy stage of love and life.

Coming soon! Girls in the City

Girls in the City - Joan
Girls in the City - Laura
Girls in the City - Samantha
Girls in the City - Zoe

• Language: English
• Publisher: Suzanne Jenkins
• Release date: May 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005206499

Suzanne Jenkins

A retired operating room nurse, Jenkins lives in Southern California.

Book preview

149

Four Girls and a Guy

The Prequel to the

Girls in the City Series

by

USA Today Bestselling Author

Suzanne Jenkins

Copyright © 2020 by

Suzanne Jenkins. All rights reserved.

Created in digital format in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations in blog posts and articles and in reviews.

Four Girls and a Guy, the Prequel to Girls in the City is a complete and total work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Where familiar places are mentioned, it is in a completely fictitious manner.

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Girls in the City

What happens to their secrets when five friends who attend the University of Chicago move in together?

Alison Saint decided she couldn’t tolerate dorm life any longer and rented a two-bedroom apartment in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. She’s invited three friends to share the space in this introduction to the Girls in the City series. Edwin shows up later when Laura moves out.

Edwin is just a random guy from school, but he soon falls in love with Alison who’s keeping a secret from her family, and once hers is out, he’ll be free to share his feelings. But he also has a secret he’s been carrying around since he was a teen.

Laura, a criminal justice major, makes ends meet by taking cash from the guys she dates. Then, she finally learns who her birth father is and moves to Manhattan after college graduation to search for him. How much will her life change when she discovers he is one of the wealthiest men in the country?

Joan has one goal after law school, and that’s to join the largest criminal defense firm in the Mid Atlantic as soon as she passes the bar. One misstep however, a deputy from the DA’s office in Philadelphia is in love with her and she’s worried being on opposite sides of the aisle might not be beneficial when it comes time to apply for that job. Will that be enough to stop her from falling for him?

Samantha Karas, medical student, works at the local Greek bakery part time and when the owner’s brother comes from the old country, the chemistry between her and the older man is sizzling. The problem; a one nightstand which occurred months before has the potential be a tinderbox.

Meet Alison Saint from the Saints of San Diego, Laura Long from Pam of Babylon, Samantha Karas from the Greektown Stories, and Joan Greenway from Bittersweets.

Come along as five friends graduating from college embark on the next crazy stage of love and life.

Coming soon! Girls in the City

Girls in the City - Joan

Girls in the City - Laura

Girls in the City - Samantha

Hot Hunks - Everyday Hero - Eddie

Prologue

Up-at-the-lake weather. The meaning was conveyed immediately. Usually used to describe a cool late summer or early fall day where a sweater might be needed, up-at-the-lake weather ushered in a period of melancholy that would persist until the first snowfall. It could also include a visit from disapproving parents one more time before classes started again, the dreaded reminder that the carefree days of the final summer after college graduation were about to end.

The end of summer also meant that unless something really fabulous had occurred, like the beginning of a relationship, the onset of winter meant months of dreary loneliness and barhopping weekends with equally miserable singles.

Samantha Karas’s friends had evolved beyond the one-night stand; the few who had persisted past age twenty-one were more discreet about it now. But when the loneliness became intolerable, the one-night stand could alleviate some of it for even the most die-hard celibate.

Sunday morning, a dull gray light struggled to get under the drapes hanging ineffectively over Samantha’s shared-bedroom windows. Lying on her back, the first moments of recollection passed over her face like a ghostly hand. Wake up.

Oh, God, get lost, she moaned, throwing her arm over her eyes.

Me?

She looked over and saw Tom Kolsky, study partner and friend, lying in her bed, naked. How in the heck did he end up there?

No. But shut up. How fast can you get out of here?

Pounding blood cruised through her head. Roommate Alison in the next bed snored, the vibrato hurting Samantha’s eardrums.

I’m still drunk, he moaned, rolling over.

The smell of alcohol coming from her pores gagged her, and it was enough to make her get out of bed, as awful as she felt, and get under the shower as fast as possible. As she passed a mirror on her way to the bathroom, one glimpse was all it took. It was time to get a life.

Shivering in the cold apartment, Samantha made her way out to the hallway as one of the roommates, Laura Long, headed to her early morning job.

I’m going to kill Alison when I get home tonight, she growled, making Samantha laugh, and then both women grabbed their heads.

See you later, Samantha said. You can deal with her after the rest of us have our turn.

They’d all blame Alison Saint for their hangovers; she’d insisted on doing tequila shots just when things were winding down. But Samantha didn’t really blame Alison. It wasn’t her fault the four housemates were so bored they bordered on becoming alcoholics. The disappointments of an unproductive summer after graduation had built up to the point of desperation. In a few short weeks, Samantha and Alison would be starting medical school, and what had been a lifelong goal of Samantha’s was now fraught with doubt and dread.

I’m joining an online dating site, Joan Greenway had announced determinedly, sitting at Pink Piggy’s the night before with the others. The familiar bar with its stale-beer stench, dark lighting, and vintage neon had been their personal hangout for the last four years. I’ve done everything else—joined hiking and running clubs, a cooking class. I even take dance lessons. If I wanted to date men my grandfather’s age, it wouldn’t be a waste of time.

I like older men, Laura had replied. They’ve already made it. You don’t have to go on the corporate-ladder climb with them.

No, instead you have to deal with their prostate trouble, Joan said. Forget it. A doctor in residency, now that’s a catch. Plus they’ll make money someday. I don’t want to work until I die.

You’re crazy, Alison sneered. You might as well be single, dating someone who works the hours a resident works. Trust me. I’m going into medicine, and the last person I’ll date is another doc.

What about Eddie? Samantha asked. The last time I looked, Ed was in medicine.

What about him? Eddie’s a friend, Alison replied unconvincingly.

Nix the online site. I don’t want to date badly enough to have to wade through a bunch of strangers, Laura said. The unspoken: Laura was known to go out with guys she didn’t know, one of the ways her rent got paid. I’m going to keep asking people to introduce me to their exes. That way, I’ll have an idea what their shortcomings are before the date.

Laughing, the four women shared the absolute worst relationships they’d ever had, and in the end, none of them were that horrible. Maybe they simply needed to lower their standards.

Sam had Bentley and let him get away, Joan said.

She shoved Bentley away, you mean.

I just didn’t love Bentley, Samantha said when it was her turn. Bentley is actually a great guy. She looked at Laura critically. I don’t think he’s your type though. In the first place, I’d be jealous. You’re too cute and exactly what he’d like.

Yeah, why is Laura alone? they chorused. If Laura can’t get a decent date, none of us can.

Laura was the true beauty of the four. The others were attractive with striking features, but Laura was gorgeous. And she was probably a genius, and although she had always scored highly in all the standardized tests she took, no one had ever taken the time to investigate that further. Since school bored her to tears, she just barely got by. She was possessed of an amazing egocentricity that drove her alternately from success to success.

You’re all nuts, Laura said that night in Pink Piggy’s, smirking. I’m such a catch, which is why I haven’t had a decent date in weeks.

What about that guy from your psych lab? Alison asked.

You mean the one who farted in the Uber and then got out a bottle of Binaca breath spray? Yeah, he was a dream date.

They screamed laughing for a full minute.

You’re gorgeous and smart, you never have to watch what you eat, Joan said. And you just finished a criminal justice practicum. It was teeming with cop and lawyer wannabes. You could have a date with a different guy every night if you wanted it.

Laura didn’t admit that she often did have a date with a different guy every night—the way she was able to pay her rent on a barista’s salary. It was one of her secrets.

I never felt like I fit in that class, she said, tossing her hair. They didn’t take me seriously. Only the jerks asked me out.

It’s sexism, Alison said. That or they want to be your father.

Well, that would be okay with me since I didn’t have a father, Laura said sadly. I’d like to know what that’s like.

You have one, you just don’t know who he is, Joan replied sympathetically.

Laura has a touch of fatherless daughter syndrome, Alison said. It’s a good thing you didn’t go into medicine.

Oh, yeah. Paternalism. That’s rampant in medicine. I’m dreading it, to tell you the truth, Samantha said. Premed was bad enough.

I’ve heard that in some schools more than half the new class is females, Alison said. We should have held out for one of those schools.

Forget it. I’m not leaving Chicago. I love it here, Samantha said. I hope I get a residency here, too.

I’m not sure I’ll survive another winter in Chicago, Alison said, shivering. I want to go back to San Diego.

What do you mean? they chorused. You start school in less than a month.

After medical school, knuckleheads. I’m not giving that up after all I went through to get in! As a matter of fact, let’s do a toast to me. Not with that girly drink, Joan. I mean with tequila.

My liver can’t take more than one shot, Alison, Laura said. After last time, I’m not sure—

Come on, chicken, do a shot and see where it takes you.

Where it took them was getting an Uber to go two blocks because Joan was so drunk she couldn’t walk.

If lady pukes in my car, I call police, the driver threatened.

She won’t, Laura snapped. More action, less talk.

In spite of her misery, Joan managed to wait until they got home to get sick.

She’s sleeping on the kitchen floor, Laura said. She reeks and I have to get up at six to go to work.

That’s mean, Alison said, slurring her words.

No, it’s not, because she’s sleeping on your yoga mat. She’ll be fine.

They got Joan undressed and into warm sweatpants and a T-shirt and on Alison’s yoga mat, with a wastepaper basket next to her just in case. The next morning, Laura tiptoed around her to fix her lunch and get an energy drink out of the fridge. Joan was still breathing, and that was all that mattered. But Alison would pay. She’d think of a way.

Chapter 1

Alison

At ten, Alison