One night in Manhattan

Work the Middle

****

"OHHHH how amazing it feels to be in a room that's not floating." Fatima said as she plopped down on her King-sized bed at the W. This time around however, She and Zac had separate rooms. They were connecting rooms but the distance, however small, was appreciated after spending three days in that tiny room on the boat. Fatima got comfortable in her new accommodations and decided to check her voicemails. Zac knocked on the adjoining door and waited for her to open before going inside. "Hey, I know we're on vacation, but I have two students that I have to tutor tonight at 6:45pm online. Do you wanna do dinner afterward or is that too late for you?"

"Can't lie. If I don't leave this room today, I wouldn't be mad. You wanna order room service and watch movies?"

"Room service? You bougie as hell! You better order on Grubhub!" Zac walked over to the dresser where the room service menu was and scanned it for prices. "Oh absolutely not! $22 for fries! Here!" He tossed his phone to her on the bed. "I don't care what you get, but ain't no way 22 American dollars on French fries sit right with you."

"Boy, you da one booked this bougie ass hotel!" Fatima rolled her eyes and tossed his phone to the side. "Always the drama king. Oh, guess what? I got an email from my lawyers. The insurance company finally cut the check for the car." Zac was pleased to hear the news. Her insurance company was trying to pay her less than the car was worth after allegedly losing the record of the initial inspection and sending a different adjuster and receiving a significantly lower appraisal amount. She had been fighting tooth and nail to get what was rightfully hers on top of dealing with learning that the person responsible for the accident was only given a one-year sentence and his accomplice was given 100 hours of community service as a juvenile offender.

"Does that mean you're gonna be driving again soon?" Zac knew that Fatima was still struggling with the idea of getting behind the wheel. In the past few months Fatima has racked up a decent Uber bill. Even though she lived in NYC she was not getting on public transportation. So between Zachary, Lauren and Uber Fatima was making it work.

"I want to. Idk yet tho. It's so crazy cuz I didn't even have a chance to react, nothing. One second, I was driving straight, the next I was flipping through the air and clutching on to a stranger." She said reflecting on what she could remember from the accident.

"A very handsome stranger. Don't forget that part."

"Definitely don't remember that part." She laughed. "But I am a little scared to drive. I cant lie."

"I understand and you'll get there with time." Zac looked at his watch and saw that it was 6pm. He had 45 minutes to prep left. "Ok, I gotta get ready for this session. Imma text you when it's over."

"Cool. I'm bout to see what this plunge tub hittin' for. I'll wait for you to finish tutoring and we can figure out the food. Oass me that bag please. The one with the gummies."

"Enjoy." Zac tossed the bag onto the bed and left through the adjoining door, forgetting his phone on the bed where she tossed it. Fatima sorted through a few more emails and responded to one from Seven at camp. She wanted to know how her mom's first cruise went and was requesting pictures. Seven loved camp, it was her second summer going and now that even more of her friends went than last year, she was even more excited. So much so, that she was going to both sessions this summer. Fatima emailed her back and attached a few photos. She hated that she couldn't just call her, but the camp banned cellphones for the campers to help facilitate actual bonding. They were allowed 30 minutes of emailing every other day unless there was an emergency.