The Story of Udonia

Chapter Fourteen: New Friend

April 1, 2015.
You know how people always talk about the moment that they realize that they had fallen in love. Well this was the day I had my moment.
After a five hour flight on my private jet, we landed at JFK airport. Ashton had been alone in the city for a night. The dorm kicked him out in the last day of March. My flight landed around noon. He was waiting in an Uber for me. Our plan was for me to get my luggage and come out to meet him in the parking lot, but he surprised me.
Ashton was standing in the airport with flowers for me. He had my favorite flowers too, daffodils. I was in plane attire, which was gray sweat pants, one of Ashton's blue t-shirts, black and white Nike tennis shoes, and black sunglasses to cover up the fact that I didn't have any make-up on.
Before leaving, Lacey also insisted on my bringing a security guard. She would have come herself, but she had already booked a flight back home to Australia to see her family. She was visiting her dad's older sister, her husband, and their son. Anyway, so the guard was trailing behind me. The sun glasses also helped protect my identity. We had decided not to let the public know I was coming to America to try to have a peaceful week, but we know it wouldn't last long. These things tend to have a way of worming out. I wasn't carrying my carry-on bag for the plane, which was just a massive purse, and I rolled my suitcase behind me.
When I saw Ashton my heart jumped. I put my sun glasses on top of my head and smiled. My eyes met his from across the room. I swiftly maneuvered through the crowd and approached him. He smiled at me.
That was it. That was the moment.
__________________________

We went back to his hotel room. He had managed to get a room at the gorgeous Plaza hotel!

After I put my luggage down, I put the daffodils in water and placed them in the room at the small dining table. The guard had talked with security in the hotel and had positioned himself in the hallway. He stood near the elevator and watched for suspicious figures.
"This is so amazing!" I smiled as I looked out the window at the view of Central Park.
Ashton came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I missed his warm touch.
He moaned as he kissed my neck that was exposed with all my hair up in a messy bun.
"I missed you." He said in between sucking.
I turned around and fused his lips into mine. Heat spread through my body that was ignited by his tongue.
Ashton turned my around and pushed me down to the large comfortable bed. His teeth bit at my bottom lip as he pulled away.
He examined my body for a moment. "As hot as you look in my t-shirt, I think I would prefer you without it on." He smirked as he tugged it upwards.
I giggled as I lifted my arms up. The shirt was discarded to the floor. Ashton kissed my lips quickly and moved his hands to my bra strap.
"Are we really about to have sex at one in the afternoon?" I asked as he slid off my black bra and it joined the shirt on the floor.
Ashton leaned forward and kissed my lips again. He hands roamed over my exposed upper body. He pulled away and yanked off his black t-shirt.
"Why not?" He replied.
I shrugged and pulled him in closer.
__________________________

"You know we can't stay in this hotel room all week. That's what Easter day is for. Nothing is open on Easter except for me." I got up from the bed and moved into the bathroom.
Ashton sighed and followed me in. "Alright. I guess we shouldn't waste the dinner reservations I got." He pulled up hid underwear and began to brush his teeth at the sink.
I turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature. I took notice of the large whirlpool tub.
Easter. I made a mental note and smiled.
"Where did you get reservations at?" I asked.
He spit out tooth paste. "The rainbow room." He responded. "Apparently, all you have to do here is name drop and you get a table. I asked this morning and I said that I was Ashton Covington and that I wanted to get a table for tonight with my girlfriend Claire Hazenberg. They said they could fit us in at eight." He continued to brush his teeth.
I got in the shower. After I finished, I blew out my hair and got dressed. Ashton emerged from the shower while I was doing my make-up at the vanity.
He approached me and leaned over to kiss my cheek.
I stopped him by putting my hand up. "No, wait. No kissing the cheek yet, I'm still blending." I brought up my brush and continued to blend my foundation.
Ashton grumbled as he lowered himself more to kiss my neck.
"Mmm." I moaned with pleasure. "Ash, I really need to focus here."
He retracted his head and rolled his eyes. "Fine." He moved over to the couch and sat down.
He pulled out his phone and started to do whatever.
After I finished my make-up, it was still early. I looked at myself in the tall mirror hanging on the wall. I was wearing a long purple dress with a high-low hem, three quarter sleeves, and a low neck line to show off my gold chain necklace from Ashton. (If you haven't caught in yet, I love I good low neck line. I have great boobs and you know what they say. If you got it flaunt  it.)
Ashton came up behind me in a black suit with a gray button up and no tie of any kind.
He looked at me in the mirror and smiled.
"You're beautiful." He said, then looked down at his watch. "Do you want to go for a walk around Central Park? We have some time before we have to head to mid-town."
I turned around and grabbed his wrist. His watch read 3:57 p.m.
I raised my eyebrows. "Some time?! We have a lot of time."
"You are forgetting about the traffic here. It takes an hour to travel ten blocks. We don't get to cheat the system because we're rich and famous...unless you're Donald Trump. What with him and his Trump Tower." He rolled his eyes and I giggled.
I grabbed his hand. "Okay. I would love to see the park."
The notified my guard and he followed us out of the Plaza. He trailed behind us. He stayed a good distance away, but not too far so he could rush up if any danger threatened us.
We walked deep into the park. By the time we realized we were starting to get lost, we turned around to go back to the hotel. The guard had arranged for a car to pick us up out front. We managed to kill two hours in the park.
On our way out, we rounded a corner on the trail and almost bumped into a woman. She stopped dead in her tracked and almost fell backwards. Unlike the typical New Yorker, instead of continuing to walk past us, she stopped. I took this moment to observe the girl. She was probably my age if not younger with green-blue eyes and orange-red hair. She had small freckles around her nose and cheeks. The thing that stood out most to me was the right smile that came over her face when she looked at me.
"Oh my god!" She exclaimed. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe I almost ran you over. You are Claire Hazenberg. You are going to be Queen of Udonia." She was excited, but keep her cool enough to bit vlast my name to the whole park.
"Yes." I smiled and nodded.
My guard came up behind us and crossed his arms in reserve as he glared at the girl.
She swallowed the nerves the temporarily clouded her smile. "Hi, I'm Abigail Jane Rowswell. You can call me Abi." She smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Abi." I reached out my hand.
She seemed surprised by the move and gingerly shook my hand.
"This is my boyfriend." I gestured to Ash.
"Ashton Covington." She smirked. "I probably sound like a creepy stalker fan. I'm not, I promise."
Ashton smiled and stuck out his hand. For as long as I've known Ashton, the one thing that he hated was being recognized. He didn't like having someone screaming his name in his face, it made him uncomfortable. But with Abi he seemed fine. He must have had the same feeling that I had...that this girl was sweet.
After they shook hands, I wanted to know more about Abi.
"May I ask how old you are?"
Abi continued to smile. "Oh, I'm 18. My birthday was actually a couple days ago. I'm finishing high school soon and then I'm actually moving to Udonia. That's why I know about you. I was curious. I was accepted to Udonia University."
"Congrats. Tell me more. You're not from here are you?" I asked.
We started to continued down the path.
"You're right. I'm from California. LA. I lived with my older sister and I couldn't stand it. I moved out here a year ago with some friends. I'm finishing high school in Brooklyn and then moving to Udonia in the summer."
"Okay. What did you not like about living with your sister?" I asked.
"Ava...where do I begin? She is just different from me. She was a lawyer. Very smart and serious. I am more carefree. I was a surfer girl and I worked as a waitress. I was more like our mother who died in a car accident web my sister turned 18. Anyway, Ava didn't approve of me and I couldn't stand her constant nagging. So I left and never looked back." She explained.
"Wow. That's...a lot." I said.
"Well, I mean. You two haven't had the best year. That's life." She shrugged.
We exited the park and observed the monument of William Tecumseh Sherman. Ashton continued walking towards the street corner while I talked to Abi and then stopped. He backtracked and pushed me behind the statue. My guard materialized at my side when he saw the distress in Ashton's face.
"There are a few paps outside the Plaza." Ashton explained.
The guard pulled out his phone. "I'll talk to security in the Plaza." He stepped to the side and started to talk on his phone.
"This isn't good. I hate being late." I complained.
"I can see our car over there." Ashton pointed to a black town car in front of the hotel.
"You can just go around the block." Abi suggested. "Yeah, you're driver can travel down fifth and meet you in front of the Starbucks by Trump Tower."
I watched Ashton roll his eyes and I giggled a little. "Yeah, okay. That's a good idea."
"Ok, I'll lead the way." She moved to the street corner.
We sent the guard to tell the driver. We followed Abi to the corner.
"Just keep your eyes down and blend in." She advised.
The traffic of people moved across the street. We continued to Madison Avenue and turned right around the corner. We walked down a blocked, cross the street, turned right in front of Trump Tower, walked to the corner, and finally turned left towards the Starbucks. We spotted our car and the guard hopped out. He must have seen us at the same time.
"Abi, thank you, so much."
"It was no problem." She winked and her smile still beamed.
"Let me get your number. I want to call you when you move to Udonia. I can help you settle in, show you around." I suggested.
"Yeah, that would be amazing." She smiled and pulled out her phone with excitement.
We exchanged numbers. I liked Abi. I can't really explain why, but as soon as I saw her smile I knew that she was a good person. I saw myself in her...at least the innocent part of me. Me before high school.
We said goodbye and we're headed to the Rainbow Room. It was a straight shot down 5th avenue. After a fabulous dinner, we went back to the hotel. I was so tired. I got into pajamas, wiped off my make-up, and climbed into bed. First day in NYC was a success.