Page 22 of Finding My Forever

“We’ll be in Chelsea and the Village.”

Greg seemed to understand what she meant while I just nodded along.

Once we all had each other’s numbers, he dismissed us and turned to the last three guys.

“Are you all going out together?”

“Yeah, we’re going to do a pizza tour.”

I leaned over to Sophia and whispered. “A pizza tour?”

She laughed softly. “They have tour guides that take people to the best pizza places and you get a sample or slice at each one. They have tours for almost any food here.”

Huh. What a strange thing, but they were teenage boys so it probably sounded like a dream to them.

“We’re all set. Everyone stay safe today, and if you need help call me or Helen.”

Everyone stood and began separating. Sophia got to the bottom of the steps and waited for me.

“What do you want to do for breakfast?”

Oh boy. Decision-making was not my strong suit. I hated being responsible for choosing where to eat when I was with friends back home, and that was where I knew the restaurants and what everyone liked. Now I was in a new city with a basic stranger. I didn’t want to screw this up. I wished she gave a me hint of what she liked.

“Bagels, smoothies, or a full sit-down place?”

She must be a mind reader.

“A smoothie sounds good, so we can have a big lunch later.”

“Cool.”

We joined the morning commuters on the sidewalk, and she led the way again through the crowd.

Once we got a few blocks away the crowd thinned, and we were able to walk next to each other.

“There’s a few bagel places around that have gluten-free options.”

“Really?” That sounded too good to be true. The bagels at grocery stores were fine, but having a real, well gluten-free, New York bagel sounded like a dream.

“Yeah, I found them last night.”

She said it like it was no big deal, but it meant so much to me. She was willing to take the time to understand and accommodate my diet. Girls that I’d been on the squad with for four years hadn’t done the same.

“Thanks.” I needed to do more research on what was available here. Maybe I could figure out her favorites and find a place we both like.

Another block later she directed us to a smoothie place that only had a window to order. There was no store to walk into. How strange. It did make the most of the tiny space they had when I thought about it for a minute there was no reason to go inside. It’s not like people drank their smoothies in the stores.

“Where to now?”

Sophia swallowed before answering. “I was thinking we could head over to the High Line and walk down to Chelsea Market.”

“Is that the park on the old railroad?”

She nodded while taking another sip.

“I’ve heard about that.” I started feeling even more excited. I was finally really here. I wasn’t just reading about it or looking at pictures online. Now I was here, living it.

What I expected was a few planters with flowers along an ugly track, but I was so very wrong. The views were incredible, the plants were everywhere, but the very best part was the unique access to the street art.