Issues

Date

"Hello" said a familiar voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hey Alison, it's Emily" I said eagely.

"Oh! Hey Emily. What's up?" furthered Alison.

"So I was wondering when you'd be free to hang out?" I asked hoping she'd still want to see where things go between us.

"Ummm... hmmm. Lemme think real quick. I'm at work right now and I'll be exhausted after work. So how about tomorrow? Will you be free too? I don't know how crazy your schedule is" said Alison.

"I'm completely free for a couple weeks so that works out perfectly. How about a day at museums? Maybe check out some food trucks too?" I replied hoping she'd be down to go.

"That sounds great. It'll be fun" she said sounding excited.

"Can I meet you outside your apartment and we'll head out together?" I said hoping that wasn't too forward for her.

She paused for a bit before she said, "How about I just meet you in Central Park and we'll head from there?"

Damn. Too much Em. It was worth a shot though. "Okay. Sounds good. I'll meet you at 10" I said excitedly, secretly trying to hide my disappointment.

Today's the day. I'm standing outside Central Park. I check my phone and see it's 10:15. Alison's still not here. I know I'm in the right spot. Did she hit traffic? Is she standing me up? Oh God please tell me she's not standing me up. I'm nervously rubbing my hands together and looking around for her. Then I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and there she is with that famous smile. A huge sigh of relief escapes my lungs and I give her a big hug.

"Someone's excited to see me" giggled Alison.

Breaking the hug, I kiss her on the cheek and respond, "You have no idea". I grab her hand, smile,  and say, "Come on. Let's go. I want to take you to this underground place I heard about that's not far from here."

Alison blushed and happily followed me. We walk hand in hand on our way to the underground museum. We turn down an alleyway and walk all the way to the door at the end.

"Emily are you sure this is safe?" asks Alison squeezing my hand a little tighter.

"Yes. I'm sure. It's gonna be great. Trust me", I reply with a little wink.

This seemed to calm her cause she loosened her grip and followed me inside. Once inside, we descend a few flights of stairs toward the lowest level of the basement. Still holding her hand, I lead her inside.

"Oh my goodness this place is incredible!" she gasps as she looks around at all the sculptures and artwork hanging on the walls. I'm too busy watching Alison be in awe to notice all the artwork from famous underground street artists. There's only a few people here so the place practically feels like it's all just for us. Alison takes my hand again and slowly walks side by side with me throughout the gallery.

Stopping, Alison pauses, looks at me, and asks, "Emily, do you have any artistic talents?"

"Ummm... I've been known to dabble at times. But I'm not nearly as good as these guys," I say pointing at the next painting and moving the conversation along. I'm just not sure I'm ready to show her that side of me yet. Much less take her to the secret studio section of my apartment. I hope to one day do so though. I'd love to paint her as she models in front of me. The thought of this brings a smile to my face and causes her to ask, "Whatcha thinking about? You look deep in thought".

Stirring me from my thoughts, I reply, "Oh nothing. Just thinking about how happy I am right now".

Blushing, Alison responds, "Good. Me too. Let's go to the next place."

For the rest of the day, we toured museums and various art galleries. Midway through the day, we stopped at a food truck rally and got something to eat.

We were only stopped by a couple of fans that asked to take a picture with me. I don't mind taking pictures with fans or stopping to chat with them for a bit. It's paparazzi that I can't stand. Luckily I haven't spotted any all day. Things are just starting out with Alison and I don't want to drag her into the crazy world of paparazzi and crazy news agencies poking and prodding at your every move. Thinking about this makes me hope that Alison hasn't done any Internet searches on me. If she has, she'll see all kinds of awful things about me, some true, some false. But I'm different now. She's making me better. My friends are making me better. I feel like I should tell her later about what I'm thinking and feeling right now. If I want this to work, I need to be open and honest with her.

It's getting to be about 6 pm and we have gone to a lot of places today. That being said, I still don't want this day to end. I decide to be bold again and say, "Hey, do you want to come back to my place? Maybe we can order in and talk some more?"

Smiling wide, Alison replies, "I'd love to".

I get so excited that she said yes that I actually do a little dance. I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. I know, I'm such a weirdo.

Laughing, Alison gently shoves my arm and says, "You're such a dork. It's cute though".

Once we're at my apartment, I tell her to make herself comfortable while I call and order Chinese from a little place not far from my apartment. I come back into the living room to see Alison casually walking around, looking at everything in my apartment. This chick really notices everything. That's one of the things I like about her. She's attentive and she lives in the moment.