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After leaving the restaurant, we stop by a cart selling hot chocolate. It's a cool evening, and just holding the cup in my hands feels nice. We stroll through a park filled with beautiful gardens and wonderful pieces of Asian art. The entire place radiates a sense of peace and calm. It's flooded with a Zen-like energy that you can't help but feel. We sit down on a bench before a gorgeous bronze statue of a Samurai warrior, and I see him contemplating it – although I get the feeling it's a statue he knows well.
The place is tucked away, off the beaten path, and not easily found – which tells me that Aaron has been here before. It's a fact I find very interesting and somewhat revealing about his character.
“So why did you come to New York, Emily?”
I take a sip of my cocoa and shrug. “Honestly, I wanted a change. I grew up in California, surrounded by the same people, same things, and the same crap dramas my whole life,” I explain. “I wanted new experiences.”
He nods. “I get that.”
“Do you?” I muse. “Then why have you never left New York?”
He chuckles softly. “I've traveled. Quite a lot, actually. I've seen a lot of the world,” he says. “As far as living somewhere, though – I guess it's because this is just my home. I've never felt an overwhelming urge to leave.”
“I'm sure I'll go home eventually,” I remark. “But I want to experience other places and cultures first.”
“There's certainly a lot of different cultures here.”
“There are. But you know, now that I’m out here on campus, I'm seeing that a lot of the stupid, petty dramas and superficial people – the things I wanted to get away from – are still here too,” I observe.
“Did you really think they wouldn't be?”
I shrug. “I'd hoped.”
“One thing I've learned is that people are the same all over. There are exclusionary cliques and rude, disrespectful people in every culture, here or abroad,” he remarks. “But there are also some pretty fantastic people all over as well. It's just a matter of finding those people you line up with and sticking with them.”
I don't know why I'm surprised, but I am. It's an insightful comment and yet, I can't help but feel like it's somewhat hypocritical.
“You know, some people might say you and your friends are one of those exclusionary cliques,” I say without turning to face him. “The five of you –”
“We're not exclusionary by any means,” he replies a bit defensively. “We grew up together. They're like my brothers. We get each other in ways nobody else does.”
“That sounds kind of – exclusionary,” I mention as a wry grin touches my lips.
He shrugs. “It's just a matter of being comfortable with the guys. I never have to think about being judged by them –”
“That's kind of how exclusionary cliques work –”
Aaron turns to me and his face is tight with anger. “Drop it,” he snaps. “I'm telling you it's not like that. We don't actively target people to harass. We don't abuse or humiliate people. And it's not like we all don't have other friends –”
“Okay, okay. Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything,” I roll my eyes, a little perturbed by his defensiveness.
That he can't see – or is willingly ignorant to – his hypocrisy about all of this takes a bit of the shine off what had been a perfect night to that point.
* * * * *
“You with me? Emily?”
Olivia's snapping her fingers in front of my face as the memory slips away and I'm drawn back into the here and now. An awkward smile touches my face as I give myself a little shake.
“Sorry, yeah. Just got caught up there for a minute.”
“Tell me about it,” she laughs. “I thought you'd fallen into some catatonic stupor or something.”
“Just old memories floating back up to the surface again.”
Olivia nods and pops a fry into her mouth. She and I are having a quick lunch before she has to go in for a shift at the hospital. I'd called her on Friday to beg her for a little time. I know between her baby, her job, and all of her other grown-up responsibilities, time is hard to come by, but she was able to carve out some time for me.
“I'm just floored,” she says. “I mean, what are the odds of you two not only ending up in LA, but you applying to work at his company?”
