ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS

40. ONE WAY TICKET TO NEW YORK

★ Leonard ★

I feel Beth's presence. She is telling me to find her in New York City. I think for a moment about what to do while staring into the vast Columbia river. I decide to sell my truck and buy one-way tickets for Bianco and me. So I check the nearest airport on my phone and decide to drive my truck to Portland, Oregon.

I drive to the nearest car dealer from the airport and ask one of the salesmen for an estimate on my car. He offers me five thousand dollars in cash. So I accept his offer and take a shuttle bus to the airport.

Once we are in the departure lobby, I check the cheapest tickets to New York City. After purchasing red-eye tickets, I advance to the security control and leave Bianco in a large metal crate. I call my cousin Johnny for his help because I know one of his best friends owns a bar in Manhattan. At this moment, that will be the best possible option for me to find employment because I hear it is quite expensive to survive in New York City.

It takes six long hours to cross the country, and the airplane lands at LaGuardia Airport. I pick up Bianco at the exit and walk out of the arrival terminal with two suitcases in my hands. There is no way I could take the subway with Bianco, so I decide to take a cab to the bar in Lower Eastside.

Once the cab cruises onto the highway on the way to Manhattan, the skyscrapers' panoramic view becomes visible in the distance. Beth could be somewhere in this megalopolis. Her words echo in my ears.

"My love, please come find me in New York. I am waiting for you."

The taxi takes the tunnel and arrives in Manhattan. The view of the city is exactly what I had seen on TV. The cab driver drops us off in front of the bar. The sign, Lone Star, is written on the glass window. This is our final destination, where I hope to find Beth.

I turn the knob at the door, but it is firmly locked, so I knock on the door to see if anyone can hear me. After a few seconds, a guy walks out of the bar and asks me who I am in a thick Texan accent. At that moment, I feel as if I am finally home.

The owner of the bar, Randy, comes out and salutes me as if I am his younger brother. He tells me there is a shift for me as a bartender, and he wants me to work this evening. He is happy to have me because he has been looking for a bartender for almost a month. He also tells me that I can sleep in the bar's backroom until finding a place to stay in the city. Overnight, I become a New Yorker.

It still takes me a week to get used to a new bar. All the logistics are different at each drinking establishment. In the beginning, I always mixed it up with the bar in Las Vegas. Thanks to Risa, I was able to survive in New York without any difficulty.

Once I get accustomed to my usual routine, something strange happens to me. One evening while I am still cleaning the bar to prepare for my shift, a girl walks in. I don't see her face because she walked toward the restroom when I looked up from the counter. I was only able to see her back with her long black hair.

The strange thing is that Bianco wags his tail and follows in her footsteps. He patiently waits for her while she is in the restroom. This is something he never does to a stranger. I am too busy to pay much attention to what is happening, so I duck down to clean the icebox before the busy hour starts. I hear a noise in front of the counter, so I look up to see who is in need of my service.

A girl with dark hair is looking down at the menu on the counter. I almost fall over because I think Sara-Marie came to New York to find me. I am trying to figure out how she found out where I am. My heart beats faster.

She slowly looks up at me, and her eyes keep staring at me. She isn't Sara-Marie, even though her complexion is as chocolate as Sara-Marie's. I am already interested in getting to know her because she is as beautiful and exotic as Sara-Marie. I ask her with a smile.

"What would you like to order?"