First paragraphs of Snarky and Sassy

Lurlette's tank watch

So I'm finishing up the final edit of Snarky and Sassy, the sequel to Snarky and Sweet. The first paragraphs are the most important and probably will get edited a few more times. I'd love your input. Let me know what you think!

Snarky and Sassy: A Romantic Comedy about Twins, an Earl, and a Great Big Castle

Lurlette gazed out the window at the huge city spread before her like a pop-up book. The giant green rectangle of Central Park, the gleaming silver skyscrapers and the bright blue sky made a perfect picture. She loved New York. She also loved Paris, London and other big cities like chic Milan and gutsy Fort Worth. Large cities gave her scope. But the traveling days when she could hop on a jet for a gelato in Rome or a spa day in Prague were probably over. She sighed.

She looked down at her small Cartier Tank gold watch. It was an iconic style and she knew it had cost Chang a lot of money, more than a quarter of her twin’s schoolteacher salary. But it irked her just a little that this watch wasn’t the one of a kind diamond pave watch that Chopard had designed especially for her. That one was gone. She’d sold it in December when Sotheby’s had auctioned off so many of her nice things.

Maybe this watch should have gone on the block too, but there was nothing that special about it. And besides, you had to have a watch. Using a cellphone to tell the time was a habit that Lurlette never intended to adopt.

It also irked her that she had look at her watch at all. She was looking at it because Weasel was late. He had said he would meet her here for lunch at Restaurant Georges Breton at 12:30. But it was now 12:40 and he still hadn’t showed up.

In the background she heard the tinkling of glasses and the polyglot conversations of the others seated around her. This was one of her favorite restaurants in New York City. She liked the stylish modern furniture, the subdued lighting, and, of course, the view. And the food was very French and very nice. And it was still undiscovered by the Trip Advisor crowd. 

She took a sip of her Perrier with lime and thought about what she should do next.

She could leave. She usually didn’t wait for anyone. Making people wait for her was another thing altogether. Or she could wait a little longer. There wasn’t any rush. The auction wasn’t until four o’clock.

It really was out of the goodness of her heart that Weasel had been invited to the auction at all. But Lee, her twin, was too busy with her school teaching duties and William, her fiancé, was appraising some estate jewelry in Germany. So Weasel had been a last resort. It was unthinkable to show up at the auction without an escort of some kind.

Weasel had been very helpful with the sale of her other jewels in December. She guessed she owed it to him to be with her for the big auction of her diamond engagement ring. The Maharani Red, a rare five carat red diamond of the highest quality, had been her engagement present from Horatio Alger Chang, her third husband. Now that the divorce was final, she was on her own again. She needed something to live on and the auction of her other jewelry and furs had brought in a nice amount. But not enough to support her lifestyle. The Maharani was a very important part of her future financial security.

She knew people in the restaurant were starting to stare at her. Of course, men always stared at her. She was used to that. But even the waiters were beginning to look her way. Honestly, if Weasel didn’t show soon, she would have to go...