To Your Rescue: The Original Work From The Tumblr Author

Chapter Fourteen

Emilia

Jhaleel Harris was officially a New York Knick. If this was surreal for me, I could only imagine how he felt. Hearing all of the stories about his harsh upbringing made me proud to see him have this moment. I don't know of many people that can endure what he has and come out on the positive end of the spectrum. Losing both of his parents at a young age, practically raising himself in the streets, teaching himself the game of basketball; I was so proud of him. His uncle couldn't stop crying. He kept saying over and over how proud he was and how happy his parents would be if they were still here.

I snapped a picture of him posing with his new jersey.

Instagram:

Congratulations @jayharris5 ! When dreams come true it's a beautiful thing

We celebrated over dinner. Jay's agent treated us to a wonderful five course dinner at this upscale restaurant. The aspiring chef in me was dissecting every dish that was placed before me. When we arrived back at the hotel, I hung back in the lobby while everyone else went upstairs. Aubrey and I talked on FaceTime for almost twenty minutes. I couldn't stay long given where I was at the moment. He understood and expressed the fact that he was just happy to see me.

The next day we were ripping and running all over the city. While Jhaleel was meeting with the Knicks organization at Madison Square Garden and signing his contract, Max had drug me down the street to the NBA store in Midtown West to rack up on some Knicks apparel. I got myself a cute t-shirt and a hat for support; I was still a Golden State Warriors fan at heart.

Shortly after, we loaded up in the car to meet with a real estate agent recommend to Jay by Carter. We saw some amazing properties in Brooklyn, Manhattan and New York City. I was still overwhelmed by the whole idea of moving away with him but the excitement started to take over the more we looked around. Maybe a new start wouldn't be bad? I could come out here and get on track with my culinary aspirations; going to school, getting a book deal, starting my food blog. This was the home of Food Network Studios and The Culinary Institute of America. There was one in California too but still it seemed like all the opportunity was here. I could fulfill my goals and support Jhaleel while he did the same.

I had completely fallen in love with this cute apartment that was right in the city. It was 15,000 square feet located in The Caledonia on West 57th street. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a very large entrance gallery that opens up and flows into the living and dining room areas, an eat in kitchen with tons of counter space, a study and a 400 sq-ft terrace that overlooked the city. I was running around like a kid at Christmas. I was in awe. I had never seen anything this luxurious before.

"You like it baby,?" Jay wrapped his arms around me as we stood on the terrace, "this view is crazy. I asked him to find places that had big kitchen just for you. There's a big master bedroom for us, a room for Max when he visits and your parents. We can eventually turn one of those into a nursery."

"Slow down Jay. I haven't agreed to make this move out here just yet."

"What do you mean? Em, come on we've talked about this."

"I know we have. I've never really given you and yes or no answer though."

"Come here," he took my hand and guided me to sit on his lap on the outdoor seating area, "what's wrong baby? What's got you so apprehensive about taking this step with me?"

"I don't know. It's just a big step. We haven't been on the best of terms lately. Max has another year of school before he goes off to college. I want to be there for him and...I'm just scared Jay. Say I sell my house, quit my job move out here with you and it doesn't work? I'll have to start all over. You're about to get thrown into this new life. You don't know how things will be."