They say, there's still a land where kings bow to monks.
New York was not that.
Joey arrived to a flurry of sounds. Loud metal banging on metal. Jackhammers. Sirens. Motors. Horns.
He made his way to Jackie's. Took a few wrong turns. But finally arrived just in time before pissing his pants. Only enough time to give his sister a hug. before saying he had to piss bad. Made his way to the bathroom based on her directions.
Behind the closed door it felt peaceful. It was quiet. The air smelled of wood. His entire apartment back at home was made of composite wood. Various kinds of trees, ground into a pulp. Then formed into shapes usable by construction crews. Jackie's walls were made of wood planks.
When the water came out the faucet, he felt as though it was special.
New York
water... he told himself. Over eight million people here. Washing their hands with this. Pissing and shitting into this.
One of them was Mari. He thought of her. He'd forgotten about her since the plane. Had been thinking about her a lot actually before t he plane departed. A few times he reminded himself that he had a girlfriend. But then he remembered he was planning to break up with her.
In fact, he was going to simply ghost her and hope that she would break up with him. Maybe she might get with one of his friends while he was out here.
But the thoughts of Mari faded as soon as he landed in the big apple. He had to find his way. Sweat was beginning to form. In his armpits. On his forearms. Too many things in hand for him to justify taking his button up shirt off.
Anytime his suitcase hit a crack in the sidewalk he sweated more. Worried that the suitcase would flip over. But this was New York. Not
Westcity
People here were unconcerned with what you were doing. In Westcity everybody was up in each other's noses. Not here.
After leaving the bathroom he noticed that Jackie wasn't in the entryway. He heard her in the kitchen. He walked through the framed entrance.
"Do you want tea, Joey?"
"I'm trying to cut caffeine."
"I have caffeine free."
"Oh. Sure."
"Chamomile. You may not like it. But I'm pretty sure you won't hate it."
She drank a black tea. He imagined that she drank a lot of caffeine. She worked hard. Needed the energy. Big consulting firm. Unlike him, the college town
barista
.
They had no plans. For all Joey cared, they could sit in the kitchen drinking tea until bed time, and he'd not care. He was not here to see anything. This wasn't a destination. Rather an escape from. But Jackie would most likely suggest that they do something. Something deliberate. Something planned. He waited for her to bring it up. Instead sips of
tea
continued without words.
Finally he broke the silence by saying "mm." after a sip. Jackie smiled. "Are you hungry?"