Rose, the shooting star
Rose stood in the doorway of Zoes flat in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She was here, she was finally here. Her lifelong dream of coming to New York had come true. She was so excited. Zoe had promised to show her all the sights and the go-to places she loved. There was so many things she had to squeeze in during the weekend they were staying.
She had a jam packed schedule organised with museums, art exhibitions, concerts and fashion shows. They would have to take it a bit easy though, with Zoe being six months pregnant, but that would not stop them from having fun.
On the coffee table there was a large white envelope addressed to Zoe Kinsella and Rose Hattenbarger with the courtesy of Hart & Hart Inc. Zoe had called her mother to arrange tickets for what ever they needed, ferry rides, metro cards and table reservations. They did not want to stand in line and wait or maybe even miss out on anything they wanted to see. As a thank you, Zoe promised they would have dinner with her parents before she and Rose returned to Bluebell.
They headed out to their first destination, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on the opposite side of Central Park. They were showing Manus & Machina and being fashion forward girls they could not miss out on that. After hours of gushing at the exquisite designs they needed lunch. Giovanni Venticinque, Zoes favorite Italian Restaurant was just a block away. Lunch was delicious, no burger and fries at the Rammer Jammer though. Zoe had missed Vinnie and his wife Sofia and they were happy to see her as well. She told them about her years as a GP in Bluebell Alabama and promised not to take this long to come visit again. Later the girls took the subway from 86th street to 51st street for their next stop, the Museum of Modern Art, showing an exhibition on the New York Subway, past, present and future. It was close to dinnertime when they finally left the museum and the day had taken its toll on Zoe. They decided to order dinner in and watch a movie instead of going out. Rose was a bit displeased but seeing Zoes swollen ankles she caved. Tomorrow was a new day.
Saturday morning Rose was up early. She wanted to visit Columbia University, were she had applied the year before. She had not told anybody, but she had been admitted, with a full scholarship in Earth and Environmental Engineering.
After breakfast Zoe advised her that even though the locations may look close on the map, they are in fact quite far apart. So they opted for a cab. Rose wanted to show Zoe where she would be studying come next September. Zoe could not be any happier when she understood why they came. They walked trough the buildings and court yards. Zoe was sure Rose would love it here. She told Rose that it would take less than fifteen minutes by bus from the flat to university and the bus stop was a short walk away. Rose was not quite sure what Zoe meant by that.
"What do you mean by that? What bus and what flat?"
"Well, duh, you´ll stay in my flat, of course. I would not have it any other way. Rose, you are like a sister to me and I would not let anything bad happen to you while you are here. I would never forgive myself, Wade would never forgive me, or you, and most of all, your parents would never let you out of their sight again. And besides, Wade and I would have a live in nanny when we come and visit."
With that they left the university and headed to Zoes favorite spa, the Paul Labrecque Spa and Salon. They enjoyed facials, mani-pedis and hot stone massages. And girl talk. Lots of girl talk about the baby, fashion and Roses future. They had a reservation at the Aureole to meet Candice and Ethan for dinner. And later Zoe and her mom had a surprise for Rose. They went back to the flat to change for their night out. Dinner was pleasant and the food to die for. The discussion flew from snakebites to rocket science, comics to football and Roses move to New York.
After dinner Rose was ready to bid the Harts good night but they told her they had a surprise for her. A limousine pulled up and they stepped inside. They drove by the East River on the FDR Drive all the way to Macomb´s Dam Bridge and shortly pulled up by the front entrance of Yankee Stadium. In front there was a grandious banner with Gloriana. There were hundreds of people, all going in the same direction. There was something familiar and homey about the clothes they wore. Jeans and plaid.
Candice made a phone call and soon two men in black suites and Ray Bans came for Zoe and Rose.
"Enjoy your evening girls, we are going to head home. Early flight to Italy tomorrow."
Rose and Zoe were ushered though the backdoor to their assigned seats. The guards staying close by.
"It pays of to have in mother in PR, huh?"
"Sometimes it really does."
Moments later the lights in the audience went out and spotlights light up on stage.
"Hello New York, we´re Gloriana!" The crowd went wild. Rose and Zoe danced their feet of all night.
"Tonight we have a treat for you New Yorkers. It turns out that somewhere in the audience there is a very special girl. We met her last year in a charming small town down south. Would ya´ll give a warm dixie welcome to miss Rose Hattenbarger form Bluebell Alabama. Come on girl, get up here!"
Rose could not have been more surprised. The two guards escorted her on stage where she stood a bit confused before she was swooped up in the arms of Tom and Mike. The band started their next song.
"Rose, this is for you and Bluebell, hit it boys. Where my heart belongs."
Zoe took out her phone and recorded Rose performing on video, they had to see this at home. Rose was having a blast singing and dancing with the band. She had come a long way from being the awkward teenager, she was now a young lady embarking a new chapter in her life.
I have never been to New York so I blame GoogleMaps for any errors in geography.