𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

Gatsby Welles - Lost In New York Pt 1

It's a rainy evening in New York, and you are wandering through the streets of Soho.
Your clothes were drenched from the rain, you were lost and panicked.

You weren't familiar with your surroundings.
You were sent to New York from Paris, you're a photographer and you were requested to meet up with somebody you work with online to photograph sceneries in New York.

But it was a disaster when you arrived.

It was raining heavily, you were drenched, freezing cold and uncomfortable.
You felt as if you were getting a cold, your nose was sniffily and you were coughing heaps.

Your phone was flat, you didn't think to bring a charger with you.
You were in a rush when you were leaving since you were nearly late for your flight.

You didn't have any idea what time it was.
But you were sure you were already late for the meetup you had planned. You had no idea where to go.

Just as you were desperately trying to look for a phone booth, you bump into a guy.
He had curly brown hair and a large beige coat.

"Sorry miss. Are you okay?" He asks, his voice low and soft.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I couldn't see where I was going, there's just so many people everywhere and.."
You pause for a moment before speaking again
"I have no idea where I'm going."

The guy looks at you with concern
"You're soaking wet." He points out. "Do you not have an umbrella?" He asks.

Before you can answer, the guy steps towards you, holding his umbrella over the both of you, blocking the rain from pouring on you.
"You seem lost. Do you need help? Can I help you?" He asks.

You feel slightly relieved, now that the rain isn't heavily pouring all over you, and that you aren't alone anymore.
"I don't know my ways around here."
You pause for a moment before speaking again
"I just arrived here from Paris. I'm supposed to be meeting up with somebody I work with, to take photos of the city. I work as a photographer. But.. my phone is flat, I don't know what time it is, I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing, and I-"

"Here, let me help you get to wherever you're going. I know how stressful this can be, I've been there before." He cuts you off, giving you a reassuring smile.

He starts to walk alongside you, shielding you with his umbrella as he leads you to someplace more dry.

"Thank you." You smile lightly back at him, feeling more relieved that you have someone to help you now.

The two of you walk alongside each other, under the umbrella, you are both silent for a few moments.
The serenity of the street starts to relax you as you feel less stressed than before.

The sound of the rain hitting the umbrella above you, the sound of cars driving past, the sounds of many footsteps of the pedestrians walking past.

"The city can be quite overwhelming at times."
He breaks the silence.
"Where exactly are you headed?" He asks you.

"I have to be at this apartment by 7:30 pm and I think I'm too late." You say as you grab a scrunched up note out of your pocket and show it to him, the note reveals the address of the apartment.
"I would have got a taxi, but my phone is flat."

He grabs the note from your hand and examines it for a short moment.
"7:30?" He laughs softly
"You're stressing for no reason, it's only 5 pm. It should only take about 15 minutes to get there from here." He gives you another smile.