Becoming

When Two Worlds Collide

Dave got himself and his gear through Customs after his flight landed in New York, stopped off at the currency exchange counter to change what little Brazilian and Argentinian cash he had left into American money, ending up with about $30 between the two. But that would be enough to get a taxi to the hotel where he'd meet up with Ade the following day, and probably enough left over to buy lunch and maybe even a pint. He did just that, getting himself checked in, then walking up the street to an eatery that styled itself as a 50s diner. He knew from experience that such places generally had good food and reasonable prices.

Settling in, he ordered a tuna melt – a sandwich he'd grown to love over his years of living in the States, but which he never ate whilst on the road so that any lingering smells wouldn't bother anyone on the bus – along with chips and a side salad as a nod to health. He even remembered to say he wanted fries with his order, rather than chips, so he'd get proper chips with his meal and not crisps. Dave dug into the meal when it arrived, hungry after his flight, and pondered Steve's words to him as he and Nicko parted company with the three who were heading to London.

"Rod and I believe we've found a way to save Maiden," Steve had said quietly. "Mind, we don't yet know if our idea's gonna work, but we should know by the end of January. Go home and relax, then, and I'll call as soon as I know one way or the other, yeah?"

Dave had simply nodded and said his farewells and Happy Christmases to Blaze and Janick as well as to Steve and Nicko before making his way to his gate. Whatever would happen, would happen, and since he had no way of affecting the outcome, he decided he might as well concentrate on more pleasant things, such as his upcoming few days with Ade, followed shortly by Christmas with his daughter.

After finishing his meal, Dave impulsively hopped on the subway and headed to Manhattan to do some last-minute Christmas shopping. He stopped at FAO Schwarz first thing, where he managed to get his hands on something called a Furby, which the shop assistant assured him was a 'must-have' toy for the holiday season. The assistant also said that he was lucky to have come in just as a new shipment was being stocked. After witnessing two women literally attacking one another to reach the incoming toys first and remembering the insanity over the Tickle-Me Elmo toys a couple of years earlier, he bought the limit he was permitted to, of four. He figured he'd give two of them to Ade for the twins, and if his partner didn't think Dylan would want the third one, he'd just put it in a Toys For Tots bin or perhaps donate it to a children's hospital or something.

After that, he made his way to Tiffany's, where he bought matching sterling silver heart pendants, each engraved with a fancy initial T, with delicate silver chain necklaces sized appropriately for Tamar and Tasha. Then he detoured past Rockefeller Center to have a gander at the giant Christmas tree and watch the skaters darting around the rink before finding his way back to the subway, and from there to his hotel where he settled in for the night.

Dave spent the next morning in his room practising on his acoustic so as not to disturb anyone who might be staying in the neighbouring rooms. Ade's flight was due in at noon, but between the time it would take for his partner to collect his luggage, get through Customs, and then make the trip from the airport to the hotel, Dave figured that Ade wouldn't arrive before 13:30 the very earliest and that assumed everything went smoothly – which hardly ever happened, of course.

Heading down to the hotel's business centre, Dave signed in on one of the public computers and checked the email account Tamar had helped him set up a year ago. He mostly only used it when he was home, to communicate with Tamar when she was at work, as she regularly checked her office email account throughout the day and he preferred not to disturb her with phone calls unless it was extremely urgent. Unfortunately, being on tour meant that he was lucky to be able to check his email more than once or twice a week, as half the hotels they stayed in didn't even have business centres, and of the ones that did, they weren't always at the hotel when the business centre was open for use.