The Rejected Omega and his Alpha

Chapter Twenty-Four - Dinner With a Side of Screwing

After hearing the good news, Danny and Dylan insisted on meeting up in the city to celebrate, cause when in Rome in all that. Honestly, I wouldn't have put it past Derek to have planned this from the beginning. But he apologized, fed me, and promised to take me shopping later so it's not like I could hold a grudge any longer.

The first order of business was to get some actual clothes. Don't get me wrong, New York is a wonderful, vibrant city. It was also disgusting. The air reeks of a mixture of sewage, unwashed bodies, and other types of air pollutants. The last thing I wanted was to walk around in my favorite pajamas. If the fabric ends up absorbing the funk, there will be hell to pay.

Once that problem was squared away, we tried to brainstorm a fun way to kill time. No one would be available until after five, some even later than that due to work schedules, and it was currently... ten in the morning.

"I hate to suggest this, but can we see them another time maybe? Seven hours is a lot of time to kill."

"What?! Oh come on, live a little!" You may have lived in New York but how much of the city have you actually seen?"

"I saw plenty!" OPS once took all the kids to see the Empire State Building, but then we had to leave early cause we were only allowed out for a limited time. For our safety, they said. "Okay, I saw a little bit.."

"Aha! Why don't we make it a day trip then? New York has plenty to see. Trust me, before you know it the seven hours will pass by that," he said, snapping his fingers for emphasis. I agreed begrudgingly, but only because I couldn't come up with a better idea.

True to his word, the seven hours did seem to pass by in the blink of an eye. Despite living in New York City for many years, I felt like a tourist as I saw many of the city's famous landmarks for the first time.

The first stop on our impromptu tour was Central Park. Despite the air that still had a winter's edge about it, the park was bustling with activity. People were running, walking with their dogs or kids, and some even relaxed in the grass with a book in hand. Oh, how I envied them.

There was a coffee stand along one of the trails, the scent of the bitter brown liquid drawing people to the line as if hypnotized, myself and Derek among them. Derek opted for his usual, a regular black coffee, while I decided to treat my sweet tooth and went for their hot chocolate.

After a lazy stroll, where our destination was undetermined and our pace unhurried, we decided to be one of those couples that goes to art museums and spout poetic nonsense, so the Metropolitan Museum of Art instantly came to mind.

The museum wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. The admission was "pay what you wish", which was a nice concept, and they had some interesting galleries. What captivated my attention though was the building itself. Words could not do the work justice, but it was simply beautiful. Greek columns were placed periodically in front of the grand building, magically transporting us to a time where legends became myth and Greek heroes were deified. Greek history—or more accurately, mythology—always caught my interest when I was a kid. It seemed that even thousands of years ago, storytelling was a prevalent and sometimes big influence on people and society. Even philosophers dreamed of gods and monsters.

We took our time traveling through all of the galleries that were currently on display. Despite not being an avid fan of looking at art, I had to admit that I really enjoyed myself. It's nice to just go out and not have an agenda every once in a while.

The rest of the day was spent traversing what felt like most of New York, each district possessing a unique sense of feel and flavor all on its own. By the time we made it to the Lower West Side of Manhattan, where Danny and Adam owned a charming brownstone, it was well past seven. There was just too much to see, and we didn't even get to see some of the more famous spots like Times Square or the Rockefeller Center. I made Derek promise to come back to visit again, to which he answered by kissing my head and murmuring 'always' against my skin. Part of me wanted us to move here too, but I think it was because I was swept up by the hustle and bustle of the city.