My mother left at some point during the evening, and to be honest I was a little upset with her leaving so quickly. It's weird because usually hispanic mothers want to have as much time living with their children, but my mom was almost just excited as I was to be living on our own. I mean she had a long 22 years with me living with her, and 25 years with my sister, so I can understand.
Ross had texted me back around 6pm to meet up with him at Central Park. It was a quick train ride from Harlem and I was currently looking for a decent bakery to fulfill my chocolate craving right now.
I entered a sweet little establishment just across the street from the park, where the employees were fighting over the counter.
"Mom! I finished my shift, you cant make me stay!" The dark haired teenager yelled.
"You will stay here. I need your help!" The older woman yelled back.
My presence lingered on with the chiming of the bells above the door and they both quickly turned their attention on me.
"Hello!" They both cheered at the same time, making me a little nervous. Their attitudes completely changed.
I looked around and took in the beautiful green scenery around me. "Uh- hi... I'm just looking to buy a chocolate chip cookie. Do you have any?"
The plants definitely fitted the tiny space and made everything around me so much more- breathable. If you're from New York City you'll know.
I made my way over to their display of hundreds of beautifully decorated cookies, and laid my eyes on a huge chocolate chip cookie with my name on it.
The teenager stood next to me and glared at me with beautiful brown eyes. She pointed at the chocolate chip cookie I was looking at and said, "We have these. I made them fresh today. You'll love it."
Her mother smiled at me and picked two out from the display. "Here's an extra one, on the house."
"Really?" I exclaimed, very confusingly. "I can just pay for it."
As I walked over to the cashier and placed my hand over the wrapped bag of cookies, she tapped on my hand with her glove, making me look up at her. "You'll be our first customer today, and we always give our first customer of the day something special."
I looked around and furrowed my eyebrows, "But it's almost 7pm?"
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I retrieved it as the teenager continued to talk to me. "Business has been slow lately. We're a new shop and we just think people don't know about us yet.
Ross: I'm just across the street, I'll see you soon!
My eyes lifted back over to the woman and her daughter in front of me, and I smiled. "So, do you think you guys could use a little help to drag in more attention?"
"What do you have in mind?" The woman came out from the other side of the counter and leaned against the glass display of cookies.
"Well- I may or may not have a band that might be able to bring in more customers. Just a small social media post and you should have a decent amount of people rolling in."
The woman's eyes lit up and she cheered, "That would be wonderful!"
"You- you don't have to do that, lady," her daughter explained, definitely shocked.
I shrugged, "It's nothing. Thanks for the free cookie, though!"
The woman ran back over to the other side and filled up a whole bag of chocolate chip cookies for me. "Here! Take as many as you want!"
