Adrenaline

19 | empire state of mind pt. i

New York City is as far removed from Hawaii or Los Angeles as one can get, and that's why arriving in the city always feels like stepping into a movie.

        I'm grateful for the distraction. The pictures have been picking up more traction and it's getting hard to dodge the assuming and judgmental headlines.

        It's all I can think about the entire flight. Every time someone looks at me, I can't tell if they are fans or aware of the pictures. When I'm waiting at my gate for my boarding zone to be called, a group sitting nearby takes a picture of themselves with the flash on, and I nearly jump five feet in the air thinking paparazzi has managed to sneak their way into the terminal.

        With the uptick in attention, I reach out to Bruno to give him a heads up in case he isn't aware. I'm sure suddenly following each other on Instagram doesn't help the narrative, but his words of encouragement that it'll eventually blow over soon are worth the effort. I'm not sure if I believe him.

...

After checking in to Din Tai Fung under my go-to reservation name—Clementine, an ode to my favorite movie of all time—Brendon and I wait for Everleigh.

        She walks in with a backpack slung around her shoulders. I wave to her as she's speaking to the host.

        "Everleigh!"

        "Hiya, how are we?" She sits using the seat next to her for her backpack.

        "We are starving," I reply, pressing a hand to my empty stomach.

        "Hey, Leigh," Brendon adds.

        "We just ordered you a water for now if that's okay. Currently going through an existential crisis trying to figure out what we want."

        "Thanks, water's great." She looks at the empty sheet. "That happens every time I go somewhere," Everleigh says with a laugh. "Did you narrow it down?"

        "Define narrow it down."

        "She did not."

        "So, we're at square one?" Everleigh nods. "Seems fair."

        "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to pick only one type of dumpling when there are so many."

Brendon yanks the paper out of my hand. "You don't have to pick just one. That's what the other rounds are for."

        "I think I should be able to get at least... three types in round one." My voice drops as I wait for Everleigh to jump in.

        "Oh, definitely," she adds quickly.

Brendon checks off three of the dumpling orders on the sheet so quickly I can barely register his choices, though I do catch him picking the vegan dumplings.

          I rest my chin on his shoulder as I lean over to get a better view. "Wait, can you get the kimchi ones, too? Those look good." A picture on the menu catches my eye. "These vegan spicy wontons also look so good."

         "How spicy are we talking—" Brendon hesitates.

        "I forgot I'm with white people. It's probably not that bad."

        "It's really not," Everleigh confirms.

        I point at her. "Don't let the Brit out-spice you."

        He shakes his head and mutters fine while checking it off as well.

        "Should be good for the first round then, yeah?" Everleigh warns.