Mat Barzal - What Real Support Looks Like

Part 6

"When you told me how bad the subways were, I thought you were exaggerating," Annie commented as she and Gemma walked up the steps of the Chambers Street station. "But you weren't!"

"Nope," Gemma said as they reached the top of the stairs. "Turn right here," she pointed towards the Hudson River a few blocks down.

"It's all so confusing!" Annie lamented as they walked down the street. "I mean, I can see locals being able to navigate all the closures and train rerouting, but what happens to tourists? And you can barely even hear them make an announcement over the loudspeaker!"

"They figure it out eventually," Gemma answered, "Hopefully before the train takes them to a different borough or something."

"It's madness!" Annie said.

"I know, but it's a fact of life here," Gemma explained. "The subways are shitty and get worse every day, but the fares keep rising with no end in sight. Some people can't even afford to ride public transportation anymore."

Annie shook her head in dismay as a gust of cold air blew from the river, which caused Gemma to tie her scarf tighter around her neck. The weather had been perfect yesterday for the pool party, but the temperature dropped thirty degrees overnight, and she now needed a scarf and winter coat. Taking Annie on a tour of the city was a good distraction from her problems, but her four (now three) day deadline still loomed large over her mind. Gemma wasn't in the mood to fill Annie in about Mat after the pool party last night, so they still hadn't talked about it.

Annie turned to Gemma and said, "I'm sorry about everything."

"What are you talking about?" Gemma lied, hoping that Annie would drop the subject she was surely going to pursue.

"Don't play dumb with me, Gemma Sullivan," Annie accused. "I'm sorry I showed up at Mat's place without any announcement."

"It's fine, how were you supposed to know what had happened the night before?"

"Before I boarded the plane, I had a bad feeling," Annie said. "I should've called you."

"Seriously, Annie, it's not your fault!" Gemma proclaimed before asking, "He wasn't rude to you or anything, right?" Although she was fairly confident that Mat had been on his best behavior, Gemma wanted to be sure.

"No, he was really nice," Annie confirmed. After a moment's silence, she continued: "I hate to bring this up, but Gem, what exactly happened the other night? I'm pretty sure Mat didn't tell me the whole truth."

Gemma sighed. "I'm sure he didn't, but what did he tell you?" She couldn't lie: she was curious.

"He told me that he forgot about your birthday and dinner reservations, and that he told you he wished you weren't going for your master's degree," Annie said, "And I very nearly kicked him where it hurts." The latter comment made Gemma snort.

"I would've loved to see that."

"That wasn't even the best part. His reaction was gold: he jumped away from me," Annie said, and the two girls were again reduced into fits of laughter before settling into a comfortable silence as they walked.

"Turn right again," Gemma said as they approached Vesey Street.

"Wait, aren't we going to the Freedom Tower?" Annie asked.

"Yeah, the view of it is better from down there, though," Gemma lied as she pointed down the block.

"Okay." They took the right and started walking down the block. "So was that the whole truth?" Annie asked.