An Afternoon in the Square

On Monday this week, I was at work, minding my business and selling cards. A guy came up to the register and bought two cards. As I was ringing him up, he looked at me, and I looked back. He smiled as we exchanged the normal conversation, and I remember thinking, "Wow, he's got a really nice smile. And he's cute, too." He walked out of the store, but kept glancing toward me to see if I was looking at him. I was. He went to the other side of a kiosk in the mall and stopped, looking at me and moving just out of sight. Looking and ducking.

I wrote down my phone number and motioned him over to get it, and he came back! I told him to come back at 10:00 and he said he would see what he could do. Around 9, he called me and we talked for a couple minutes. I told him I had two questions. 1. Are you single? He hemmed and hawed a second before explaining that he was sort of seeing someone back home in Canada, but that he hadn't been there in a while, so technically no, but basically, yes. And 2. How old are you? He's 19. He also had two questions. 1. Was I single? Yes. And 2. Am I HIV negative? Yes. I thought later about that and found that if those two questions were any indication of each of our priorities, it makes for an interesting discussion.

He came back at 10 that night and said that he had about an hour before he had to be home. We walked along the river front and talked until it was time for him to go upstairs to his 34th floor Penthouse. The next day, we met again for just another hour. He talked about what he is trying to do, and all I can say right now, is that very possibly soon his name will be widely recognized. Because of his work right now, his manager has advised him not to get involved with anyone, because tours can be rough on a relationship. He apologized again for not having much time to spend with me, and said that Thursday, when I had the day off work, he should be free to hang out longer.

Thursday came, and I went in to work to do some things I hadn't been able to finish on Wednesday. I also figured it would be easier to meet up with him if I was at the mall, only a couple blocks from his building. He called me and said he had two things to do, but that he would be ready in about an hour. I was able to go home and change my clothes and get cleaned up a little bit. I wanted to prove that I do have clothes other than a white polo and black pair of pants. I walked back over to his area and waited for the phone call. I sat on a bench overlooking the Hudson, and realized that I don't get to do this very often. Just sit and watch people. It's a lot of fun to sit and see who passes by, but who has time for that any more?

The phone rang and he said he had to do a couple of errands for his roommate, but that he should be ready in about a half hour. I told him to take his time and began to explore the "Square." It's not really a square shape, and it is about half the size of a football field, but there were some things I hadn't seen before. A competition winning design for a path. I stood at one end of the path and looked to the other end. On each side were four granite pillars and when I stood at the right spot, each pillar was closer together and taller than the one before. It almost appeared to be a wall on either side of the path. The path ended with a straight shot of where the World Trade Center towers used to be. I imagine eventually the Freedom Tower will rise in the middle of this view.

I sent him a text message and said that the call had been dropped, but that if, in his errands, he passed thru the square, that would not be a bad thing. Shortly after that, he did. He was carrying dry cleaning, and we walked back toward his building. He told me he had to upload some pictures, and get them printed at the pharmacy, and then take have them shipped. He said it should be about 20 minutes. I told him to take his time, and that I would go back to the square and wait.

I've never had bubble tea. It's not bad, but I'm not a huge fan. The tea with pineapple flavor was good, and I love tapioca, but it was a little strange to have huge tapioca in a drink. And big black ones at that. I went over and sat down and watched a mother feeding her baby some kind of cookies. Every time he would drop some, a pigeon came over and ate it off the ground. Right at his feet. He looked at the pigeon, dropped some crumbs, and babbled when the pigeon came over. The pigeon pecked at the crumbs and cooed back at him. You figure out what they were saying to each other. It was sort of a "Look Who's Talking" meets "Enchanted" scene. Meanwhile, I noticed a lady taking pictures as if she were trying to remember this day for a long time to come. Hundreds of pictures must have been taken. It was a group of at least twelve Indian women and three or four kids. The photographer stood right in front of me at one point, so I asked if this was a baby shower. She said no, that she lives here, and all the other women were here on vacation from India. They were just lunching in the square and capturing memories.

I looked up and my new friend was coming across the square. He came over and apologized for taking so long, and said we could go. The only problem was that instead of the original "all day" we now only had about an hour to hang out. We sat down in the grass and talked some more. It wasnt the time I was hoping for, but any time is better than none. And with his hectic schedule, I am grateful to spend part of an hour with him.

Maybe my lesson this week is this: Be happy for the things you do have. Sure, I'd love to be able to spend more time with him. Get to know him "faster" you might say. In the past, I have met people and spent time getting to know them. Sometimes, when I want to take it to the next level in some kind of committed relationship, they say that's not what they are looking for. Of course, its difficult to "dial it back a bit," and the strange thing is, I find myself getting upset because all I end up with is a great friendship. This time I'm taking it as it comes and if all I get out of it is a new and wonderful friend, then I guess I'm just going to have to live with that. Could be worse. Could be rainin'.