The Meeting
Cheng, a 25 year old hmong man is on his way to New York city with a friend of his who invited him along as a bet that his friend lost. Of course, Cheng was working also and his friend asked him to at least take a week off work if he can so they can go on a small vacation during the week of on Christmas. "We are arriving at in New York in 5 minutes, please take all your personal belongings, we thank you for flying with us and we hope you enjoyed your flight, have a great holiday." Spoke a female voice over the intercom of the plane. Cheng looked out from his right window and saw so many lights of tall buildings all over the ground as the plane got closer to landing. "First time?" asked his friend who just woke up. "Yeah, it's pretty damn beautiful." Replied Cheng who couldn't help but grin. "We'll go to the baggage claim and pick up our things, my friend should already be waiting for us at the loading docks outside the building." Said his friend, yawning. Minutes later, the plane touched down as people started to get up and take their belongings. Cheng followed his friend to their baggage claims and exited the building to where Chengs friend was waiting for them as he was told. They entered the car as the driver introduced himself and drove off as soon as they were seated and seat belted "So, thanks to my "Hookups." You'll be staying the infamous Plaza Hotel, sound familiar? I'm sure it should." Said His friend as Cheng scratched his chin.
"You gotta be joking." Said the driver who laughed. "Home Alone 2 dude." Said Chengs friend who just laughed at him. Cheng simply rolled his eyes as his friends continued talking as Cheng looked outside the window, watching every huge tall building go by. Everything just seemed like he was in a movie or just watching a movie, or more to say, Christmas movie. White Snow covering the streets, people walking down the streets of New York wearing heavy jackets and sweatshirts as the it continued to snow non-stop. "It's supposed to snow till next week, so I guess it's gonna be a White Christmas." Said driver. "Where are you guys staying?" asked Cheng. "We'll be staying a few miles away, you'll be fine." Said Chengs friend. "Just use the card I gave you, should be more than enough…just don't do what Kevin did in the movies but doubling it." Said Chengs friend. It took about two hours for them to arrive in the city and almost another hour for them to reach the Plaza that Cheng was staying at due to holiday traffic. "Whao…" was all that came from his mouth. "Yeah, its pretty busy…as usual." Said the driver. Cheng didn't pay attention to the traffic, but at the building it was so huge and looked like a tall rectangle square. "This is just too surreal…" he said softly
"Well hey, you didn't pack a lot, did you?" The driver asked Cheng. "No, just a bag and luggage." Said Cheng. "Okay, I think its better if you just walk from here, traffics pretty bad here." Said the Driver. "Yeah, sounds good." Said Cheng as he got ready to leave. "Just call me if you need anything." Said Chengs friend as they shook hands. Cheng opened the door, and as soon as he did, the cold weather hit his face hard as it felt like he was in a freezer that was constantly blasting ice cold winds. "Man, I thought id get used to the cold, but the cold back home has nothing on this." Thought Cheng as he quickly shut the door and got his things from the trunk and shut it, tapping the car and giving a thumbs up. Chengs friend gave a thumbs up but stepped out of the car. "Cheng, just go inside and asked for Joh at the front desk and everything should be good." Cheng thanked his friend as they parted, Cheng made his way to the building as other people were entering and exiting the building. More than 20 people were in front of the building as they were taking photos. Entering the Plaza Hotel was just like the movies in Home Alone 2, just without the cast and more people that you'd imagine. The plaza was just huge multiple huge red rugs rolled outside the building and into the buildings with people coats and uniforms walking back in forth, helping guests. The marbled floors glistened as you can even see the celling lights and your own reflection. The glass windows were spotless and the only thing that kept you from walking into them was the employees that were working there to open the door and close it whenever guests arrived.
Tons of people were waiting and relaxing in the lobby as Christmas Carols were played softly in around the lobby. Cheng was going to check everything out later as he went straight to the main desk as more than 10 employees were there, ready to help greet and help. Cheng got his keycard after 20 minutes of waiting and went straight towards his room as it was only on the 3rd floor would be on his right after walking down 50 feet. Cheng held his breath as he slid his card key into the card reader as it beeped him in, unlocking his room. When he opened the door, there laid a queen-sized bed accompanied by two table lamps side by side. And to his right was the window that had a view of central park which was lighted up with Christmas tree lights and the white snow, accompanied by a nice comfy one-seater couch near the window. He turned to his right again, towards the wall were a 30 inch 4k flat screen TV was placed against the wall. Cheng still couldn't believe he was in the same building that home alone was taken place of. "Now, the bathroom." Said Cheng as he went towards the bathroom. The bathroom had two shower stalls and a huge clean mirror with decorations all over the wall. "This is gonna be good." Said Cheng as he went back to the main room and laid flat on his queen-sized bed.
It smelt so new and it was so soft. The first hour Cheng spent his time unpacking and putting on a holiday movie for him have on as he took a shower afterwards and called his parents about his arrival. OF course, his sisters were jealous of him and wanted him to tour the place with his phone. "'So what are you gonna do there?" asked his younger sister. "I dunno, there's too much to do." Said Cheng. "You're there for a week, right? So, make it worth it." Said his older sister. "And remember to get something for us too and get me a book!" laughed his younger sister. "Just send us pictures or post them on facebook." Said his older sister. The time was almost midnight as Cheng told his siblings that he was going to sleep as his family told him good night and to stay safe. The next morning was cold as Cheng had to actually think about buying some warmer clothes to so he wouldn't catch a cold or get sick during his stay there. Cheng got a text from his friend to see how he was doing. Cheng asked if there was a book store nearby. "Yeah, it's not too far, just GPS the address I'm giving you, my friend says the store isn't big, but it has a big variety of books." Texted Chengs friend. Cheng followed the GPS with his phone and was there in 30 minutes. It originally showed that he was supposed to be there in 10 minutes, but Cheng couldn't help but take photos of the major sites and just whatever peeked his interest. Chengs friend wasn't kidding when he said the store was small, but it was quite busy and seemed to have good business as people waited in line to purchase things with people reading books by various authors.
Getting inside was easy, but the line to purchase things seemed to look like it may take a while. "So what does she even read nowadays anyways…" thought Cheng as he thought of his younger sister. He continued browsing, looking mostly at fiction since his sister liked fiction books and never really liked non-fiction since it bore her. He went down a couple of isles, avoiding people as they went in opposite directions. Then a small corner of the store peeked his interest. Piles of books were stacked on a table that was about knee high and some of the stacks of books reaching to Chengs wrists. Most of the covers seemed to show fiction as a couple of kids were sitting around with parents. He made his way towards the books and looked around as he picked up a few books and read the titles. Some of the books titles had nostalgia titles and pictures as he felt himself chuckle a few times. After a few minutes, he put some of the books he picked up and continued to search when he heard a sudden thud on the table which made some of the books move and of course, the tall tower of books falling over towards Chengs side as some of the edges of the books hit his thigh and his hand. "Oh shoot! I am so sorry!" said a female voice. "It's fine, don't worry." Replied Cheng as he instantly said.
"So sorry, it was just cramped in the corner since this store is so small." She continued saying. Cheng could tell now that she wasn't from the states since she had a strong British accent. Cheng laughed lightly to assure that it wasn't a problem as he picked a few books up and stacked them up one by one. He caught a glimpse of the female, but only the back as she continued picking up the books. She had a dark red hair and wore a brown heavy jacket and black boots. "Really, I'm sorry uh.." she spoke as Cheng turned around with a the last few books in his hand and turned around to see her face. "Cheng." He said with a little smile. "Cheeng, again, let me apologize." She said, then catching that she said his name wrong.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, what was it again?" she asked again with a bright red face. "Cheng, C-H-E-N-G." he said, spelling his name while smirking lightly. "Right, again sorry, my names Amelia, sorry and thanks for helping me picking up the books." She said as she put the books back into place on the table as Cheng helped her finish it. Cheng couldn't help but stare at her for some reason as she looked around once more for other books that they had missed. With a quick glimpse, Cheng realized She had hazel eyes as her hair color seemed by be dyed with her hair in a pony tail. Her body frame seemed feminine and looked like she kept her body healthy. However, she still seemed to have some of her baby cheeks and chin. "Nice to meet you-Cheng." She said as she offered her hand. Cheng took her hand and shook it. "So uh…I'll be heading this way and…" she trailed off, staring directly at Cheng, then quickly resuming what she was going to say. "Sorry!-and thanks a lot, Cheng." She said again, making sure she got the name right with a smile. "Happy Holidays!' said she, leaving him and almost hitting the next table. "What…was that?" he felt himself say. At the moment, Cheng could feel his heart beat from his chest with a smile across his cheek as he resumed looking for a book for his younger sister