Writing's Second Taste

Chapter Nineteen: The City That Never Sleeps

I stepped out of the apartment building, breathing onto my hands to warm them up in this freezing weather. Even when I asked Sam to come with me, he flat out refused and said that there was nothing that could make him get out of the house where it was nice and warm.

Well, fuck him for leaving me to Christmas shop all alone.

The first thing in my agenda was to buy myself a venti hot steaming coffee because for one, jetlag was still killing me and two, I desperately needed something to warm me up.

As I was waiting for the barista to call my name, somebody tapped me on the shoulder. I whipped around to see a grinning Justin, his gloved hands wrapped tightly around his drink.

"Hey!" I smiled, reaching up to give him a one arm hug, "Fancy meeting you here."

The amount of times I've seen him before in this exact store was actually amusing now that I think about it. Just a small peak of his features got me hiding behind the nearest person, praying that he wouldn't see me and now look where we are now.

You know what this was? Growth.

"When I heard from the girls that you were back, I didn't believe it because last time I remember, you were going tell me when you were going to come home," he chuckled just as I heard my name being called by the barista. After I got my drink, we walked out of the large Starbucks, mentally cursing the temperature again.

"Sorry about that, I was just busy trying to settle everything down," I laughed, walking down the line of stores, "You're Christmas shopping too?"

He nodded in response, bathing us in silence. I gladly sipped on my drink, the hot temperature instantly warming up my freezing lips. I sighed happily, a new spring in my step thanks to the beverage. It took me some time before I realized he was no longer right next to me.

I stopped on my tracks and looked over my shoulder to see him staring right at me, a soft gentle smile on his face, "It's so good to see you again, Sienna."

That adorably handsome face, I have longed to see it in person once again. To have those brown eyes hidden behind those glasses to once again meet my own gaze, "It's good to see you too," I laughed, nudging my head to signal that we should continue on, "Come on."

As we walked side by side, it felt like we never left each other in the first place. He still went on and on about a particular thing that piqued his interest and I would simply listen attentively. Because if there was one thing that Justin had, it was passion. Whether it was with his favorite type of cheese or the new series he was binge watching, he could go on and on about without having the enthusiasm leave his features for a single moment.

He was one of the catalysts for me to adore descriptions so much. I've liked it because it gave life to a simple phrase, it allows you to fully understand just how important it is to a character.

And that was Justin – he breathed life to so many things he loved. Maybe, just maybe, I was one of them.

I really did miss him.

"By the way, are you busy tonight?"

"Not really," I answered, pausing for a second to admire one of the outfits being shown on a display window, "Why?"

"The guys and I are planning to do something like good ol' time's sake," he said happily, the same spark of mischief never leaving his eyes, "How about you tell the girls to meet us by the subway at nine tonight?"

Just by the mention of the subway and the particular hour, I knew what he was thinking of. During those years before our parents were lenient enough to let us go on a road trip on our own, we used to sneak out during that time of the night and just enjoy the city that never sleeps up until sunrise, when we will tiptoe ourselves back home and pretend that nothing happened.