The Best of Both Worlds

Chapter 2

By the time they forged through the morning traffic, in Boston and Connecticut, and arrived in New York, they were both ready to get out of the car and stretch their legs. They were booked at the Arlo NoMad, a hotel that they'd never been to before but Vickie had heard great things about it from coworkers who traveled a lot.

Shae knew they were staying in Manhattan but she didn't realize they'd be in the Times Square area. Nice job Vick.

Shae trusted Vickie to pick a decent place because she knew that Vickie knew she would have no problems booking a room for herself at the Hilton, which was one of her preferred brands. Shae picked up her little bag with little effort while she stretched and looked around her. When she looked back over and Vickie, she watched her struggle to get her over-stuffed suitcase out of her trunk. After a few minutes of huffing and puffing she saw Shae staring blankly at her.

"Really Vickie?"

Vickie busted out laughing.

"Okay, okay, so I didn't know what to pack, so the freak what." Luckily for her, the concierge attendant came rushing out to grab their bags. His eyebrows rose as he looked at the differences in their suitcases. Shae walked in stifling a giggle while Vickie rolled her eyes and had the decency to look embarrassed. She had enough stuff to stay for a month.

As they entered the lobby and over to the check-in desk, Shae examined the décor. The lobby featured dark wood paneled walls, cream leather seats, exposed brick walls, and 50s styled furniture. While it wasn't what she expected, she was certainly feeling the atmosphere. Her petty ass didn't want Vickie to know that she was digging the vibes just yet. She reminded herself to cancel the room at the Hilton before Noon.

Once they were checked in they headed up to their room. Now imagine her surprise to find one king-sized bed in a room that only consisted of a bed, a nightstand, an over-stuffed chair, a TV, bathroom, and wrap around floor-to-ceiling windows.

Shae noticed that her friend had embellished the room's features by including the windows and a bathroom as amenities? It was crazy small! But it was also very nice and the oversized floor-to-ceiling windows made the room seem much larger. They offered breathtaking views of Times Square, the Hudson River, and various glimpses of the Manhattan landscape wherever you looked.

Yup, Shae liked the room and the views were spectacular. The bed wasn't a big issue as it was big enough for four and she wasn't planning to be in the room unless she was ready to pass out in the wee hours of the morning.

They agreed to keep the car in the hotel garage and take the train or Uber everywhere until they were ready to go home. The price of parking in Manhattan was more than the hotel reservation. After freshening up and going over the plans for the next day, they left to take a walk and maybe visit the OVO store depending on how the felt.

***

The hotel was only five blocks away from a park, Madison Square Park to be specific, just down 5th Ave.

"So where's the Garden?" Vickie asked.

"In the other direction, between 7th & 8th and 31st to 33rd.

"Get the fuck outta here. How is that even possible? And why the hell isn't it near this ratchet little park that has its name?"

"Who knows girl."

They were starting to feel the mid-morning heat. The weather was gorgeous. Although quite warm, it was not too muggy or too hot for early August, and their walk to and through the park was quick. Vickie was right, the park was pretty ratchet.

They came out of the park on Madison Ave around one o'clock and circled back toward the hotel to grab some food at Panera Bread. Vickie looked around the restaurant and leaned over to whisper to Shae.

"Girl, outside of us, there's only one other brown spot."

Shae rolled her eyes. "Shhh so what? Why are you counting 'us'?"

"Because, when it gets too dark it might be time to get up out of here."

Vickie's crazy ass was people watching and counting how many black people were in the store. Something she knew got on Shae's nerved who stared at her with her mouth open.

"Are you serious?"

"Hell yeah," she said giggling. "You can't take some of us nowhere."

"Yeah, I can see that," Shae agreed but meaning it in a whole other way.

When they finished eating and talking it was almost one. They were too excited to be cooped up in their hotel room so they bought CityPass tickets to see a few attractions to one, get them out of the heat and two, get them out of the traffic. It was a win-win.

After spending that afternoon touring the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Top of the Rock Observation Deck and the Empire State Building, it was almost eight in the evening and they still had not seen the Guggenheim Museum; gone to the Ferry Access to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, or to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Planning to visit the next few places over the rest of their visit, they went back to their room with a pepperoni pizza.

After showering and changing into night clothes, Shae grabbed her iPad mini to catch up on some shows on Netflix while Vickie chatted on the phone with her kids.

Since Shae was wearing wireless headphones while binge-watching shows, she didn't even notice that Vickie had knocked out. She checked her Fitbit and realized it was after Midnight so she turned off her stuff and took her tired self to sleep and dreamed about meeting the OVO squad backstage.