Of course I was going to have one of songs from the original busker love story as one of the songs Avi has sang. It was too perfect to miss.
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"I bet you have a better view in Brooklyn." She smirked as she handed him a generous amount of wine in a plastic cup which he gratefully accepted. He needed something, anything really, to ease his nerves.
He was out of his element, a Brooklyn fish out of water hanging on a rooftop of a fancy Upper East Side apartment block. If someone would have offered him a book on how to make it through that situation without making a fool out of himself, he would have happily taken it, even if he had to give something ridiculous like $100 in exchange. Avi desperately wanted the night to go well. This was his one chance with the girl of his dreams, one chance to woo her, to get to know her. There was too much riding on this situation for him to blow it, he needed to get this right.
The wine was bitter, Avi figured from the distaste in his mouth that he was more of a white wine person but he drank it anyway needing something to quell his nerves.
"I don't know, I do quite like looking at the walls of other buildings." He joked, Avi was unsure whether the wine was working already after one sip or if being in the mere presence of the alcohol had given him a confidence boost - either way he didn't care, it meant that he was no longer mumbling.
It was true, he did have a better view from his apartment in Brooklyn. This view wasn't anything spectacular, just a nice viewing point of the buildings around it, perfect for being nosey. The trouble with living on the island was you couldn't behold the magic of the Manhattan skyline since you were in it and unless you were in the Chrysler or the Empire State or just happened to live next to the Hudson, your view would be at best some nice architecture on the building next to yours. It was one of the perks of living in another borough and one of the reasons him and Esther had opted not to live in the hub of the city.
"Where abouts in Brooklyn do you live? I used to be a Queens girl myself so if it's not Williamsburg, I'll just pretend to know where you are on about." She took a sip of her own wine before walking past Avi to the edge of the building and looked down on the people below. He didn't know how something so simple as curiously observing people could look so beautiful but somehow she made it so.
"Um, Carroll Gardens? It's south of the bridge." He began to play with his beard in order to give his free hand something to do as he walked over to join her.
She crinkled her nose trying to work out where he was talking about with Avi found adorable. "Er, I think I know - a friend of mine lives there. Is it as hipster as the rest of Brooklyn?"
This made Avi chuckle, he found borough stereotypes hilarious, everyone used them whether they believed them or not but unlike most stereotypes, they were usually true. "Not exactly, it's more of a family friendly area. There's still some killer coffee shops and art galleries though."
She let out a noise of recognition before shivering. It was way more windy up there than either of them were expecting.
"You cold?" Avi instinctively moved closer to her to share his warmth with her.
She had her arms wrapped around her chest and was as curled up as someone standing up could be. "Obviously."
Avi knew his cue, he had watched enough romance films to know how this went down. "Would you like my jacket?" He gestured to the leather coat he was wearing over the top of a hoodie. If he had known he would have been seeing her that night, he would have worn his fancy coat.
"Erm please? Just for a second. I'll go run down to my apartment to get a blanket or something. Do you want me to take your guitar down?" She gestured to his guitar which he had reseted next to the door to the stairwell.
Careful not to spill any wine, he removed his jacket and handed it to her in exchange for her cup. "No that's fine, I don't really trust your friends not to play it." He aimed for it to sound light hearted and not serious since he didn't want to offend her but it was true, no way in hell was he going to let his guitar anywhere near those two sassy drunk guys, they appeared out of control.
The jacket looked good, it was oversized on her which highlighted just how tiny she was but that just made her even more attractive to him. There was something so sensual about a person you like wearing your clothing, even something as simple as wearing a coat becomes intimate.
"Black's your colour." He smirked. The wine had definitely comforted his anxiousness.
"Er- thanks. I'll be back soon, don't leave." She stepped away from him and he fought back his body instinctively wanting to pull her back into his vicinity. He watched as she walked away from him hoping that he had not scared her off and she was going to come back.
He took a moment to take everything that had happened that night in. Just hours ago he was cursing his sorry excuse for a life and now he was standing on top of a building in the UES with two plastic cups filled with wine he didn't like waiting for an extremely attractive girl. How the tides had changed. He couldn't believe his luck when he saw her there across from him on the train, for a while he had started to think what was between them was all in his head but seeing her and her asking him back to her apartment had confirmed that it wasn't. He couldn't wait to tell Esther all about it. At least this would make her think maybe he wasn't going crazy.
The sound of the door opening again alerted him to her presence, she came out with two blankets in her hand one looking more durable and the other fluffy and soft. The grin on her face and the slight rosiness in her cheeks made her look breathtaking, he hadn't been with a girl who made him had that reaction since high school and it felt foreign. He admired her as she laid out a checkered blanket on the roof's floor and invited him to go sit on it. Kirstie took his jacket off before sitting down which he found more sexual than it should be.
"How are your friends?"
She happily took back her wine from him as he threw on his jacket and took a big swig before replying. "Very drunk. Mitch asked after you...I think you've caught his eye."
"Is he the small one?"
"Yep." She wrapped the blanket that looked like the texan flag around her making herself cosy. Even with his jacket on, he was beginning to feel the chill of a New York September night and yearned to be under the blanket's warmth with her.
"Should I be worried?" He settled for moving closer to her and mirrored her position by crossing his legs.
"Nah, I'm pretty sure he's head over heels in love with Scott - he's the blonde - so you don't have to be scared. I hope he didn't make it uncomfortable, I know most guys don't like being hit on by other guys - wait, you are straight right?"
He huffed, "Completely."
"No girlfriend?" She raised her eyebrow at him and bit her lip which totally enamoured him.
"I'm living the single life." It was true, he had been dating people casually but his last real relationship was in college. "Are you?"
"Single - but don't tell my fans, they think I'm dating Scott." She giggled, glancing at him, cautious at how he would react.
"So you are on Broadway after all, I was right." Avi mentally scolded himself after he let that slip, he knew as soon as he said it that it would come across as stalker-ish and creepy.
She seemed shocked. "How did you guess?"
"Erm - You just have that star quality about you?" Well that wasn't cheesy at all, well done Avi.
She looked at him like she was staring into his soul and he knew in that instant that she had seen threw his lie. "That's impressive, I've never managed to figure out what you did for a day job."
Apparently, they were on the same level when it came to creepiness. To Avi, this girl was getting more and more perfect by each minute he spent with her. "I'm a chef at an outback restaurant in Chelsea, I basically spend every day making soup and Bbq sauce. It's not the best paying job but its something."
Surrounded by the grandeur of that part of town, he felt very uncomfortable telling her about his crappy job knowing that her pay check was probably ten times more than his.
"I was a server at Applebee's until a year ago so don't beat yourself up about it. I'm sure you'll get your big break at some point. You are pursuing music right?" She shifted her body trying to get comfortable and ended up much closer to him which Avi was certain she had done on purpose.
"I don't know to be honest." He really didn't, his life was a mess.
"But you are so good. You won me over and I only listen to show tunes!" She knocked his shoulder with hers sending a shiver throughout his body.
"Actually, folk songs aren't actually my forte, I majored in Opera. I thought I was going to get a big career but instead all I got was student debt." He sighed at the thought of the younger and more naive version of himself back in college. He yearned to be as optimistic as he was back then, living felt easier and he actually looked forward to the future.
"I knew you were classically trained." She muttered slightly.
"Whose the stalker now?" He teased her, relieved that she had chosen to lighten the mood.
She glared at him, feigning being angry at him but the slight curving of her lips and the light in her eyes gave her away.
"I'm so glad you came to see me today." He had probably already finished a glass of wine due to him sipping it like beer thanks to his lack of experience so his confidence was already sky high.
"You're lucky Mitch had given me one of his infamous cocktails before I'd left, if I hadn't had been high on sugar and slightly buzzed, we'd probably still be on the train staring at each other." She leaned into him slightly, resting her body lightly against his but even with the gentlest of actions, it still made his body tense.
"Oh really? I was wondering why you were so forward." He moved his hand to rest on the floor behind her to give her more room to get closer to him, which she did.
"It's crazy. This is crazy. Just think about how many things had to happen for us to get here, so many things had to fall in line for us to meet and now to be here. It's mental." Avi took it that wine made Kirstie poetic and sentimental which made him even more ardent about her.
He didn't reply so she filled in the silence. "You never finished your song, could you finish it now? It's only fitting that you sing to me considering that's all we have been doing together for the pass few months. You sing, I listen that is."
She was like a small child looking up at him with big hopeful eyes. "You're very demanding" He joked, already getting up to go pick up his guitar. "Are you sure, it will definitely piss off your neighbours?"
Kirstie was practically bouncing in her seat, "Screw them, they are are mostly rich and pompous and never give me the time of day."
"Okay... What do you want me to play? Any requests - I know you know them all." He took his place opposite her on the ground and brought the guitar onto his lap.
She looked at him guilty when she knew she had been caught out. "You got me, I make a playlist." She held up her hands in a surrendering gesture. "I'm not bothered, play whatever you are feeling."
"Erm..." He wracked his brain trying to think of the perfect song, he needed it to be great and fitting, his regular, slightly pessimistic Iron & Wine was not going to cut it this time.
"Since you are a Broadway star and I'm a busker, I thought this was an adequate choice." He smiled as he began to play the opening melody knowing that she probably knew the song off by heart. He had learnt it so he could play backup for his friend at an open mic night and he couldn't help but thank his past self for agreeing to it because now he was playing it to her and it was perfect. "I've never seen the show, just the movie so don't kill me if its not up to the Broadway standards."
I don't know you but I want you all the more for that.
He admired her as her eyes lit up and she began to play with her blonde locks, she had leaned forward and rested her head on her hand watching him, staring at him. He felt so nervous singing in front of her in that moment - he had sang to her a million times before but never as intimate as this was.
Words fall through me and always fool me and I can't react.
The way she looked at him made him feel incredibly warm inside. It felt like she understood him and knew him, like they had been together forever but it also made him feel her excitement and the anticipation of what was to come from this. Everything was new, everything felt magical.
And games that never amount to more than they're meant.
She began to sing along quietly, harmonising perfectly, giving Avi hints of the vast amount of talent she had. He swore that in that moment, sitting there on the roof of her apartment building, slightly tipsy from awful wine and singing a modern classic, he was utterly and undisputedly in love with her.
Will play themselves out.
He didn't make it to the chorus before her lips was on his finally making happen what they had both yearned for for months.
It was slightly clumsy from the alcohol and the guitar keeping the two apart but it was wonderful. It was as if everything had culminated in that moment. Everything in his life had been leading up to that moment and for once in his life, he didn't care about what the future may bring. He wanted to live in that moment forever, savouring the way her lips tasted like wine against his, the feeling of her hands against his cheeks, how she increased the pressure of the kiss once she felt him kissing back. He pulled the guitar out from between them, careful not to knock over the forgotten wine, and pulled the girl clad in a blanket into his lap to deepen the kiss which she enthusiastically responded to.
He was so glad he stayed on that train.
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