Remembering Summer [COMPLETED]

The City that Never Sleeps

The City That Never Sleeps

19th August, 2016

For the first week and a half in New York I stayed in a hostel I found on the internet, and made a friend there. Her name is Maria Sanchez, and she told me she worked in a cute little café run by a retired old couple, and told me they were currently hiring, as she was the only employee they had. I immediately went with her, and talked to the couple, Joe and Wilma Banks, and they accepted me right on the spot. If that isn't a sign that I stopped at the right place, then I don't know what is.

Maria and I went apartment hunting, and managed to find a cheap shoebox apartment in a not-too-seedy part of town. All it had was a tiny kitchen, barely able to fit the tiny stove and mini fridge that was there, a room that could only hold a small bed and a small living room. My bed was a fold-out sofa in the living room because I told Maria I won't be staying in New York long.

About a week ago I visited Times Square and went to the same small stall were we bought our mugs and bought a new one. The salary they paid me at the café wasn't much, but it was enough for me. The Banks allowed us to take home whatever pastries were left over, so food-wise Maria and I were pretty secure. Everyday in the morning, I'd walk around the always-busy city, taking in the high-rise buildings and people and tourists. The café was in a corner a fifteen-minute walk from Times Square, so it was a pretty good business, especially now that tourists are here. Wilma baked everything in the morning with the help of Joe, and then all Maria and I had to do was make and serve the drinks and make the sandwiches and wraps the customers occasionally ordered. It was tiring but a lot of fun. I had the morning shift while Maria went to classes at Julliard and then worked at night. Can you believe it?! Apparently I've been rooming with a musical genius!

I still miss you, and every time I make a White Chocolate Mocha I remember you. You never, and I mean never ordered anything else. I remember once almost breaking down when a tall blonde came in and ordered it. She didn't even look like you, with blue eyes and hair straighter than the slight waves your hair had, but she still reminded me of you. A lot of things remind me of you; when Maria and I were apartment hunting, when I asked for the job and when I'm serving customers. We worked two years straight at Mike's Café back home, and a lot of people used to get confused, not sure if it was Summer or June serving them. We had loads of fun pretending to be the other, and only our close friends could differentiate between us. We had a real riot with that one.

Anyway, I call Mom every week at least three times, and she says that Midnight and Michelle miss me, and that everyone can't wait till I'm back home. I miss home, but I've never felt as good in the past year as I have with my spontaneous move to NYC. Nothing about this was decided and that just made this all the more exciting and exhilarating. I didn't even have to spend a lot of the money I had saved up.

Everything just worked out, and who knows, I might come back after I go home for Christmas. I still don't know yet, and nothing's decided, but I've never felt more alive than in the city that never sleeps.

-June, who is just as alive as the city that never sleeps

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One more chapter to go :)