They finally arrived in New York. Upon their arrival and once they have settled in their hotel room, the first place Richard took Maine was the bookstore he frequent when he was still living there. It was a great decision, as both he and Maine took their time browsing through the different selection of books. Maine was really happy to see books stacked with titles from different genre and Richard was just nostalgic. They spent the whole afternoon there, with Richard just enjoying himself as he watched Maine browsed through the different titles.
It was early evening when they finally left the bookstore, each one with a bag of books they've purchased from the store. Richard took her to a local diner where he frequent when he wasn't able to cook dinner for him and his dad. The owner of the diner recognized him and regaled Maine with stories of Richard when he was younger, much to his embarrassment. But Maine enjoyed it, and was really happy to have gotten a glimpse of who he was as a kid and teenager.
After dinner, they dropped off their books and headed for the Empire State Building. At around ten in the evening, there weren't that many people on the viewing deck. They were also surrounded by couples like them, and had actually spotted Jerald and Valeen tucked in a secluded corner, making out. They discreetly left them alone and went to one of those paid telescopes, very far away from them. Maine was ecstatic. The view at the Empire State was magnificent at night. Everywhere in whatever angle, the amazing skylines were illuminated in bright colors.
They were by the railings looking out at the city below, still fully alive by the bright lights and busy streets. Richard was holding Maine in front of him, his chest on her back, his arms wrapped around her waist, her head leaning back by his shoulder. They just enjoyed the view in silent companionship, just happy to be in each others arms.
Suddenly, Richard began to sing.
🎶You take the weight
You take it all
You can take everything
I'm feeling so tired
And for so long
I need you now
I need you next to me
It doesn't matter where you go
You're still a part of me
I don't know much
But I know you are always somewhere
I'm telling you from the heart
You know I love you most
If I break or fall apart
You're always somewhere close
And I can't wake up from falling down
Yeah, I can be hard on me
But in the end I'm back again
Never too far from knowing
Where we are, yeah
It doesn't matter where you go
You're still a part of me
I don't know much
But I know you are always somewhere
I'm telling you from the heart
You know I love you most
If I break or fall apart
You're always somewhere close
Whenever I feel lost and all alone
You're always somewhere close
I'm telling you from the heart
You know I love you most
If I break or fall apart
You're always somewhere close
You're always somewhere close
You're always somewhere close
You're always somewhere close🎶
"Is that a new song?"
"Yes," he replied as he nuzzled her hair, inhaling her scent. "It just came to me. I still need to fix a few kinks though."
"I think it was just right," she said as cuddled closer in his embrace. She felt his warmth seeping to her, loving his presence, his nearness.
She heard him chuckle and he replied, his breath tickling her ear. "You would say that, my Heart. You're my girlfriend. I have yet to hear you say that one of my songs suck."
"It's the truth, Home," she said as she moved her head at an angle to look up to him. "Your songs are amazing. If you sold an album, I'm so sure I'll buy it."
Richard smiled and leaned down to capture her lips in a sweet but lingering kiss. One of his hands reached for her neck, his thumb caressing her cheek, keeping her in place. She moaned in his mouth as he deepened the kiss, both her hands holding the arm that was wrapped around her waist. A few more nips on her lower lip and he ended the kiss with a sigh of contentment. Both their eyes were closed, savouring their moment they've just shared.
"Let's head back," Richard whispered. "It's getting chilly. Let's get you warmed up."
"You've been doing so well in warming me up, my Home." She felt him pull her towards the exit. He held her hand in his, their fingers intertwined.
"I really don't want you to get sick, Heart," he said seriously as they waited for the elevator doors to open for them.
"I won't," she said in reassurance. When they stepped inside the elevator, she immediately wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling closer, her cheeks pressed on his chest. Maine felt him sigh and enveloped her in his arms. "You've been taking really good care of me, Home. I feel like I'm so spoiled already."
"You deserve getting spoiled, Heart," Richard replied, holding her tighter. "You've been working pretty hard yourself and Martin mentioned you're getting better all the time. You do deserve this, Maine. All the good things happening to you is because you earned it. So, enjoy it. You deserve the world, my Heart. Don't ever forget that."
"I have the best boyfriend ever," she said happily.
-oo-
"Mrs. Morton? I don't know if you remember me but this is Jase Faulkerson. My dad and I used to live at 221-B."
It was their second day in New York. Maine was quite excited to get toured around the places Richard frequent when he was younger. She asked if they could visit their old apartment, and he obliged. So, they found themselves standing outside the apartment building he lived in when his parents were separated. He buzzed the building manager to see if he could get a chance to tour Maine inside the building, even if it was just outside the door of his old apartment.
"Young Faulkerson!" A female voice from the other side of the comm said. "As I live and breath. I'm guessing you would want to come in?"
"Yes, please," he replied. "I was hoping to ask for permission if I could tour my girlfriend around the place."
"Aww," Mrs. Morton gushed from the other line. "Someone actually climbed that wall you made for yourself. How brave. I would need to meet her. Come on in and stop by my unit. I'll lend you the key to your old unit."
The door suddenly unlocked and the couple went in. Richard led her to the sole unit on the ground floor where Mrs. Morton and her family reside. Richard was only able to knock twice when the door suddenly burst open to reveal a robust woman in her early fifties. She was tall, almost reaching Richard's height and had a pleasant smiling face. She was American, blond hair with streaks of grey and green eyes. She let out a short scream and immediately gave Richard a hearty embrace. Pulling back, she reached out and pinched both his cheeks.
"Oh let me look at you," she said excitedly. "You've grown so well. You're no longer that scrawny teenager I see skulking along the stairs or alone on the rooftop with his guitar. Is she your girlfriend? Well, at least you have good taste. You are so lovely, dear. Are you sure about him? I have a son I could introduce you to. Don't look at me like that, Jason. I was just joking, so you can loosen your hold on your girlfriend and come in. I just made a fresh pot of coffee."
Mrs. Morton led them to the dining area and served them two steaming mugs of coffee. Maine found her very pleasant, although they never got a word in as she animatedly narrated how Richard was when he was younger. She told her story after story of those few moments when she had encountered Richard in the building. Maine absorbed everything happily as she slowly got a pretty good picture of who Richard was before they'd officially met. Each story warmed her heart and she reached out to give Richard's hand a loving squeeze.
"Has he already brought you to Central Park?" She asked after talking for the last hour.
"Not yet," Maine replied and was about to explain when Richard interjected.
"I wanted to show her the apartment first, Mrs. Morton," he explained. "We'll be heading for Central Park after this."
"No wonder you're here early," Mrs. Morton remarked. "And you're still such a polite boy. You made me ramble on and on when you should be enjoying a whole day with Maine. You're very lucky that unit 221-B was recently vacated. You can head up and take your time."
She stood up and went to a small cabinet where she placed all the keys and their spares of the whole building. She grabbed the set for the mentioned unit and handed it to Richard.
"Leave the keys in the box outside," she said. "You know the drill."
"Thanks, Mrs. Morton," Richard replied and gave the older woman a tight embrace. Maine did the same. And after the pleasantries, he led Maine upstairs to his old apartment unit.
"Welcome to my past," Richard announced as he opened the door and let them in.
It was a two bedroom apartment with a small living room, a decent kitchen and dining room. The place was already sparsely furnished with a couch and center table in the living room, a complete kitchen set of a stove and oven combo, dishwasher and refrigerator. The bedrooms were bare but the master bedroom has a walk-in closet.
"This was actually my room for the most part of our stay here," Richard said as he led her to the master's bedroom. He was walking towards the walk-in closet as he continued. "I shared this with Rich when he came to visit. I think it was dad's way of saying sorry for separating us. I made the closet into a sanctuary of sorts. I only used like a fourth of the place for my clothes. Then, I placed a mattress in one corner where I used to read. The other corner I placed my guitar and my notebook. That particular corner was the place where I wrote and played 'Central Park' for the first time before I played it for you."
Maine looked around the small space and tried to imagine a young Richard inside the room, either reading a book or playing on his guitar. She also tried to imagine Alden with him and how the boys might have been like before. She could see Richard's sad smile as she guessed that it also reminded him of Alden. So she closed the small gap between them and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him in a tight embrace. He immediately responded and returned the embrace. She felt his lips touched her temple in a sweet simple kiss.
"I had to give up the room when mom came with us after Rich died," he went on as he pulled away and took her hand. He led her to the other room. "I missed the closet but I made do with that small nook over there. That's where I'd set up my guitar. My bed was by the window so whenever I read, I'd have natural lighting before it grew dark. I didn't need the light for my webcam anyway. I had no one to talk to on YM anymore."
Maine squeezed his hand for comfort which he gladly reciprocated. She then felt him tugging her hand.
"Come on," he said. "I'll take you to the roof."
Richard led her upstairs. They kept a slow pace so that Maine would not tire herself too much from the climb. When they reached the rooftop, Richard led her to the area where he stayed most of the time. The view overlooked the park, it was actually a good spot if you wanted privacy.
"I always went here to see the sunset," he explained as he pulled Maine to him, with her back leaning on his chest, his arms wrapped around her waist. "I also come here to think about you mostly. How you were. What have you been up to. How were you dealing with math. What new books were you reading. The list goes on and on. Mom would call Tita Mary Anne from time to time but news about you was pretty scarce, it was frustrating.
"I also wrote a lot of songs up here. Mostly about Rich at that time, but there were also some that was about you."
"This place seems to be bittersweet for you, my Home," Maine observed. "I'm sorry if I'm making you relive it."
"It was," Richard admitted. "But not anymore. You just filled it up with good memories. Now, I would remember the sound of your laughter when Mrs. Morton told stories about my childhood. I'll remember your smile when you tried to imagine a younger me in the walk-in closet. I'll remember the feel of your body pressed to mine and the scent of you shampoo as we look out to the view of the park. Now, it's all you, my Heart. And these are the memories I want to keep forever."
They had stayed in companionable silence for a time, just enjoying the view in the late morning. Finally, Richard kissed the top of her head and sighed.
"Come on," he said with a bedimpled smile that finally reached his eyes. "Central Park awaits us."
-oo-
Author's Note:
Today's song is called "Always Somewhere Close" by Lifehouse from their album Almeria released in 2012.