“What job you starting?” He casually asks me, whilst taking the first bite of his pizza. I watch as the melted cheese starts dripping off one side and he has to quickly dive in to save it. I silently laugh to myself watching him.
“Teaching. I teach secondary school English.” I notice that his eyes light up at this tit bit of information.
“Have you thought about teaching over here in the states. You could do that, right?” Hmm where is he going with this?
“Yes, theoretically speaking I can teach anywhere in the world. Why do ask?” That is the million-dollar question. Why would he want to know this?
“Just gaining information darlin’, ain’t nothing wrong with that now, is there?” That’s as much as he’s going to give me on the subject. I lightly shake my head and discreetly try to suss Mr Cryptic out.
“So, you said something about going somewhere early tomorrow morning?” He raises his eyes and forces me to engage in eye contact with him. Should I tell him. It can’t do any harm, can it?
“Yes, that’s right. I’m taking a coach tour to Niagara Falls for a two-day trip. Again, why do you want to know this?” Maybe I should cut back on what I’m telling him. If he asks me which hotel I’m staying at I’m going to walk away or more likely run as fast as my summer sandals will carry me.
“As I said before darlin’ I’m gaining information. Knowledge is power, right? Which company you going with tomorrow?” I have no desire to answer his rhetorical question, so I go on to tell him which tour operator I am going with, there are only a couple anyway, so he could easily find out for himself if he wanted to. I may as well play fair.
After a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence, he finishes his drink and tells me he needs to be somewhere, I’m not stupid, I know that this is his brush off. I’m also adult enough to admit that I am very saddened by him leaving me, think Luci, what can you say to make him stay a little longer? I look deeply into his eyes and note the resolution in them, nothing I can say will change his mind.
I stand at the same time he does, not wanting to look desperate, like I want him to know his leaving does absolutely nothing to me and I’m not bothered in the slightest. I tell him it was nice to meet him and thank him again for buying my lunch. He shakes his head and openly laughs at me before telling me we’ll meet again someday.
I offer him my hand to shake but he grabs both of my hands in his, pulls me close into his body and places a lingering kiss on my cheek and then he walks away from me. I watch him walk through the food court like he owns the place and I watch the awed faces of the other diners. I feel bereft somehow and I don’t quite understand why.
I wander around Grand Central a little longer and get lost in my thoughts. I keep looking around for him, like he’s going to appear again somehow, which even I know is highly unlikely. After checking my watch, I note the time is 4pm and I am all of a sudden very tired.
I head back towards the subway and make my way to my hotel and decide on an early night as I do have an early start tomorrow. I spotted a little deli on the corner of my block and head there to get dinner that I can take back to my room, as going out doesn’t really appeal to me tonight.
Once I get back to my room, I turn the TV on and I’m greeted with the New York Yankee’s playing baseball. I have a couple of photos that I took from earlier on that I want to upload to Facebook, which doesn’t take long.
I find myself getting lost in my thoughts again and my mind drifts to my encounter earlier with the hot cowboy, he was very tasty. I wonder what he meant by saying we’ll meet again? I don’t know what he meant, but I sure hope he was right.
A thought suddenly enters my brain, in the whole time we chatted earlier we never exchanged names, the topic didn’t even come up, great! He shall forever be known as hot cowboy man. Regret hits me and I feel a little nauseous at not knowing what he’s called and I wish I asked him more about himself, but truth be told his cheeky smile and hot body had my attention otherwise engaged.
I notice out of the corner of my eye my phone starting to flash, then it starts to ring. I have a skype call coming in from my sister. Luckily the hotel has decent Wi-Fi. I answer on the second ring and see Ruby’s ridiculously pretty face smiling back at me. I am surprisingly happy to see my sisters familiar face.
“Hey brat. What’s the matter, missing me already?” I laugh at her pouting face and it hits me again how much I love my little sister, already I really miss her.
“Hey play nice bitch or I’ll tell dad! Of course, I miss you, you’re my best friend. Anyway, how was your first day, meet any gorgeous random men?” She is smiling at me now. Suddenly my thoughts wander to hot cowboy man and my face involuntarily flushes red, I completely forget the fact I am talking to my sister on the phone.
“You bloody have, haven’t you? Christ you’re a quick worker aren’t you. Go on spill, I need to know every detail and I mean every detail.” She is chomping at the bit I can tell. I am weighing up in my head what, if anything to tell her. I have always been told honesty is the best policy and I have never withheld anything from Ruby before, so I decide to start from the very beginning.
“I bumped into someone today, like literally he bumped straight into my back in Grand Central. A 6ft something, in your face Texas Cowboy Ruby…...” I get lost in my memories again and I’m babbling, it’s Ruby’s voice that brings me back to earth.
“I knew it, slow down and tell me everything slowly. I need to process this information. Do not leave anything out, not one thing Luci!” And so I tell her everything, every scrap of information I can remember and then I end on not even asking each other’s names.
“But he said to you that you’ll meet again right? That’s very cryptic. What are you thinking?” My sister’s mouth is running ten to the dozen and I need to reign her in again before she has me married off to the random man.
“I’m thinking that it was a chance encounter that was great, but, I don’t know anything about him, including his name. I don’t see how, in a city with millions of people we could ever see each other again. What would the odds be on that Ruby, be realistic. I just need to forget about him, which I’m totally cool with.” I wonder if she’s buying this crap spilling from my mouth? Because I’m not, I think it’s going to take me a while to get this man out of my system.
“Ok sis whatever you say. Tell me your plans for the next couple of days.” I am thankful she has dropped that line of conversation and I go on to tell her the itinerary for the Niagara Falls trip that I’m going on tomorrow. She wishes me well and I hang up, promising to call as soon as I get back in a couple of days.
I drift off to sleep and my dreams are invaded with a certain good looking Cowboy. Waking up at 6am. I quickly shower and get ready to leave, packing a small overnight bag. I head down to the front desk and ask if they can call me a taxi, I tip the man and wait outside. It pulls up five minutes later. My coach is leaving from Times Square and I arrive with some time to spare.
Spotting a Starbucks, I quickly run over and I’m relieved to see I’m the only one in line. Walking up to the counter I spot a young man around my age. I place my order for an Americano, pay for it and then wait for it to be made. A couple of minutes later they call my name and thanking him I take it from his hand before walking out.