Bitter (wlw) (teacherxstudent)

forty-six

We spent the whole next day in Brooklyn, walking through neighborhoods I'd become well acquainted with, others that I'd discovered thanks to Sam, and others I'd never even been to.

By then, I'd come to understand that there was a much stronger sense of community in Brooklyn, the city didn't feel so huge and walking through the streets felt more welcoming than in Manhattan, where everything was fast and dynamic. And that wasn't a bad thing, but sometimes it was all a bit too much.

Sam came out for dinner with us in the evening, and I was once again really happy to see her and Vic getting along so well. And also about not having to worry about money. But mostly about them getting along. Maybe.

The weather forecast for the following day showed continuous rain, so we decided to take advantage of my student discount to get cheaper tickets to the Met Museum. We'd both already been there, but it was years before and Vic was convinced that "we'd appreciate it more" than when we were sixteen. I really couldn't complain, I loved any kind of art exhibition and that museum was spectacular.

I was actually with Vic the first time I'd been to a museum of my own accord and not with my parents. We'd just turned fifteen and we wanted to convince our parents that we were old enough to hang out alone in other cities near our town, and we decided to go to this art exhibition in a nearby town to show that we were doing something "useful".

So going to the biggest museum in the whole of the US with her five years later felt like closing some sort of open loop. Most of what we did during those days felt like that, honestly. It was as if we spent our few days together doing the stuff we always wanted to do together but never thought we could.

Unfortunately, I only had three days off from work and I couldn't get around to getting more than that amount of free days. So, on Vic's fourth day of being in the city we only could do something in the morning.

I wanted to show her Prospect park, where Sam had taken me before we even got together and she kind of opened up to me for the first time. It honestly felt crazy to think of everything that happened between then and the present.

My friend had agreed to come to work with me, which would have been a fun experience even if a bit weird, it was as if all of my world were colliding in those days. I was hoping she wouldn't get too bored, but three hours was a reasonable amount of time to spend in a coffee shop keeping your best friend company, considering that three quarters of clients were students who were probably not going to stop by because of spring break.

Luckily my shift that day and the following was with Sarah, the last thing I wanted was Vic sensing the awkwardness between me and Maya and making it worse, since she tended to have some kind of sixth sense for that kind of situation.

"This place is cute, El!" she said as we stepped in the shop. I never usually was the one to open it so it felt strange to see it so empty.

"It is, isn't it?" I smiled, going to the backroom to grab my apron.

"You look just like you did when we worked in the cafè next to our school" she observed as I walked out.

"I'm sorry but this apron is way better than that brown one we had to wear back then" I laughed. "Anyway, Sarah will be here any minute now"

"Didn't you tell me her and Mei had gone somewhere together?"

"Oh, I forgot. Uhm, I don't know, they must have come back because as far as I know she's working today" I said, realizing I hadn't thought of that. "Hang on, Sam's calling me" I added.

"Hi!" Sam said as I picked the call up.

"Hi babe" I smiled to myself. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know I'll be in my office for a while later on, and you told me you're at work, right? I can give you a ride back. Also, I just wanted to hear your voice, honestly"