Jonathan pushed his way around the revolving door of the flatiron building into the cold early evening air of New Year's Eve. He was,

seemingly, the only person working on his floor, as sports is pretty much on hold through the holidays. A glance at his pocket watch

told him that he could still enjoy a ramble around Central Park if he hurried. Fortunately the crowds were heading in the opposite

direction.

"Marvelous," he thought to himself. "They are all rushing to that obnoxious ball they are attempting to drop in the night. Perhaps

that will afford me some solitude in my favorite spot in the city!"

He entered Central Park from a little known and little used side street, and, to his delight, found a lone carriage and rider with

horse, sitting, alone. Jonathan bolted for them, paid the driver, and settled into the plush seats, thankful for one of his favorite

diversions. While the horse was munching his oats, and the driver was prepping for the ride, a trolley car pulled up,

stuffed with passengers. Squeals and voices of merriment tumbled out of the car, as at least twenty or more people suddenly

ran up to the carriage and the driver.

"We would LOVE a ride!"

"We will pay you twice as much if you take us!"

"Is this really the last ride of the day?"

"Oh, can't you come back and let us ride for New Year's Eve?"

Jonathan watched and listened with some amusement at the jostling and the shouting of the crowd. He knew this rider,

Freddie, and felt he would be fair and not force him out. As Freddie spoke to the potential customers, Jonathan's eyes swept

the faces of the people. In the midst of the merriment and good-natured arguing and bargaining, he saw a lone woman. Around

his own age, he estimated, being ignored by those around her. She had a wistful expression in her brown eyes and she caught his

for a brief moment; seemingly lost in the midst, not part of this horde.

Her eyes- were they asking him an unspoken question? Jonathan's heart, for whatever reason, responded. He stood up, and

as the crowd looked on, wondering if he were relenting to their wishes, he leaned over and held out his hand.

The woman paused, blushed and then swiftly reached out her gloved one. He gripped it tight, and helped her aboard in one swift

motion. Freddie chose that moment to lift himself quickly into the driver's seat and began a quick getaway with a wave of his cap,

ignoring their boo's and catcalls.

Jonathan and his new friend watched the crowd over their shoulders, and then turned to face an awkward silence between them.

Eventually she offered a slight smile from her side of the carriage and said, "Thank you, sir."

"My pleasure, miss," he nodded. The night air was cold and there was a warm blanket between them, but Jonathan was

reluctant to be so forward as to suggest they share it. So it sat between them, unused, as the horse clopped along through the

snow-covered park.

He got up the courage to ask her if she lived in the city, and she answered," No. This is my first trip to New York. I am from

Colorado."

"Well!" Jonathan was unsure whether he should inquire further. But fortunately the way she was looking all around her, he began

to realize that maybe he could enjoy this ride by sharing the plethora of historic information that he knew...to make the awkward

time pass faster.

Freddie was uncharacteristically quiet, although he kept looking back over his shoulder, from time to time, and grinning,

After several blocks of listening to continuous information and offering polite questions and comments, his companion

held out her gloved hand towards him and said, "I have been totally remiss in not introducing myself when you have been

so kind. My name is Katherine. Katherine Brown."

He held that gloved hand and looked into her eyes. She looked away, as if not used to being addressed so directly. "My pleasure,

Katherine Brown. I'm Jonathan Walker of New York City. And I hope I'm not boring you with all this historic chatter!"

'Oh no!" she shook her head adamantly. "I'm so indebted to you, actually. This is my last night here, and I'm enjoying the ride...

and the tour, sir."

When they'd taken the full 45 minutes and Freddie pulled the carriage to the side, Jonathan hopped down and again offered his

hand to his fur-gloved and hooded companion. Assisting her down, he turned to pay Freddie, when Katherine tried to intervene.

"Oh no, Miss Brown. Allow me. We'll consider it our first date!" Jonathan immediately blushed and frowned and wondered why

he had blurted out such a thing?

Katherine also blushed, although it was hidden by her fur collar. In her other gloved hand were several dollars. Quickly she stammered,"

Would you please allow me to thank our driver?" She didn't give him time to respond but handed the money to Freddie who tipped his

cap with a smile and began to lead the horse away.

The night was gathering around them, although the street lamps were aglow. People were hurrying away from the park in large numbers.

"Where to next, Miss Brown?" asked Jonathan. "Care for some hot chocolate or coffee?"

"That does sound good, Mr. Walker. It will fuel me as I walk down to 42nd Street in a few minutes," she said as they made their

way towards an open bistro filled with sound and light and laughter and music.

Jonathan chuckled as they walked quickly down the curb and across to the entrance. "Why would you want to head down there?"

"Why, don't you know about the big glittering ball they are dropping tonight to officiate the New Year?" Her eyes were wide beneath

her fur lined hood. "I just can't wait to see such a mechanical marvel!"

Jonathan smirked." Oh it'll be so packed with people and just to see a big light make its way down a building...?"

Katherine abruptly stopped her brisk walk and paused at the front door of the bistro. She turned to look at Jonathan.

Kindly but firmly she replied," I don't want to assume in any way that that would interest you, Mr. Walker, a gentleman of

Manhattan. I've never had a date with a stranger before, and I wouldn't presume either that it would continue to be an

area that held no interest for you. But I do want to thank you for your kindness to me this past hour and I wish you

the happiest of New Years! Goodnight!"

And that quickly, Katherine turned and walked briskly away into the crowd and down the avenue before Jonathan had

a chance to respond. She disappeared as quickly and was...gone.

"Um...nice to meet you..." But his words were lost in the night air to empty space. He turned and entered the bistro, the bell

on the door alerting the manager to his entrance.

"A table for one, sir?" the rotund gentleman with the apron asked, looking behind Jonathan to see if there was anyone with him.

Jonathan sighed, looked at his watch, and down the street again, where Katherine had headed. Why in the world, he wondered,

did he care suddenly about this woman he barely met? He preferred the tree-lined upper West Side of town and would normally

be content to walk home from here and...yet...

"Thank you, but..." he looked around, down and up... The manager looked at him quizzically, shrugged his shoulders and walked off.

Jonathan took off down the boulevard.

"Your turn," Oliver handed the manuscript pages to Shane, who sat at the opposite end of the sofa, with her feet

pressed up against Oliver's leg. "Speaking of coffee, do you care for a refill?"

Shane eagerly took the pages and ran her finger along the words, seeking where Oliver had left off. "No, no thank you,

OVILEER..." She looked up and smiled with her eyes as he gave her that Please-don't-call-me-that- face!

"Are you ready?" she smiled brightly at him. Oliver nodded,"Yes, I can tell you're excited." He gave her toes a quick

tickle and then he folded his arms and gazed at her fondly.

"All right! Here we go," Shane beamed.

Katherine hurried down the street. Her mind was a whirl. "He was SO handsome! And kind! What possessed me to get in the carriage

and let him call it a date and rush away like that? What is wrong with me?"

She hustled down the street, shifting between people's shoulders, and locked arms and packages. Still she argued with herself.

"Why didn't I stay and have hot chocolate with him? Wouldn't that be more interesting than the ball? He must think that I am a

juvenile for running off..."

Katherine stopped when she saw a police officer and inquired if she was heading in the right direction. Renewed in her decision,

she continued down the streets, not taking time to look in the windows as she so wanted to do. But hot chocolate was sounding

better and better and if she got to 42nd Street in time, maybe she could find a street vendor selling some. Her lips were freezing,

and oh, how she wished she had opted to stay with the charming and knowledgable Mr. Walker! She knew she was getting

closer as she counted down the many cross streets.

To see 1907 turn to 1908 had been the pull to come to New York City after her initial visit to her aunt's home in

northern New Jersey. While Aunt Millie was not enthused about seeing her Colorado niece go into the city alone,

she did give her excellent directions and precautions. "Although Aunt Millie said Rule No. 1 was not to talk to strange men.

But Mr. Walker wasn't strange," Katherine argued to herself.

The crowds got thicker and thicker and eventually Katherine could not get any closer. She could barely see the ball, but there

was the tip of it at the top of the roof of 1 Times Square.

"Now what?" she thought. "Here I am-alone. Waiting."

She spied a street vendor busily selling cups of hot chocolate and she managed to make her way over to him to order one.

He filled the steaming liquid into a paper cup and as she reached for it, a hand reached over hers and took the cup! Another

hand thrust a dollar bill into the vendor's hand.

"What?" Katherine spun around. "That was my..."

There was Jonathan's smiling face. He bowed slightly and handed her the still steaming cup. "For you, m'lady!" Katherine

could not move. She just looked into his blue eyes and was stunned into silence.

Jonathan smile turned to concern. " No longer interested, Miss Brown?"

"Very much still interested," she thought, but she stuttered out, " How ever did you find me?"She looked around at the mass of

humanity.

"Providence itself lead me miraculously to your side," he smiled and again thrust the less-steaming cup in her direction.

Her surprise turned to laughter and she accepted the cup with thanks.

There was an hour to wait for one -minute -to- midnight and suddenly, getting to know one another became all consuming.

Jonathan had already promised that after the ball drop, he would guide her down the famous 5th Avenue and eventually back to

her hotel to prepare for her morning departure. Questions and information flew back and forth and before they knew it,

someone started a countdown, and Jonathan and Katherine joined in. The ball sparkled as it slipped down and down til it

disappeared below their sightline. But the crowd roared its approval, and a band nearby began to play Auld Lange Syne.

Katherine's cheeks were flushed from the excitement, the hot chocolate, and the interesting gentleman at her side. She looked

at him sideways, and caught a glimpse of herself reflected in his eyes. Hugging and kissing and shouts of joy were going around

them and yet, somehow, it seemed, for a moment, they were alone.

Jonathan asked, "May I offer you a New Year's kiss, Katherine? Between friends?"

"No!" was about to be on her lips but what possessed her to say "Yes!" as she nodded and he obliged. It was soft, swift and

she knew she would remember it forever. It was, after all, her first kiss.

"Oh, this is sooooo romantic!" Shane sighed. "Oliver, come sit next to me," she patted the sofa and he came

close beside her. "What do you remember about our first kiss?" She smiled into his eyes.

Oliver wrapped an arm around her shoulders and looked up at the ceiling. "It was cold, too, but raining up a storm!

Pardon the pun. We had finally had our first date...at least part of it...and I believe that you decided, Ms. McInerney,

that it was TIME!"

"Although you'd had been thinking about it," she teased and touched his lips with her finger. He kissed that

finger and said,"Oh yes. While you gave me a discourse at the Ephlat about jazz and the blues, I was admiring

that beautiful smile of yours...What do you remember?"

"That I couldn't wait til we got back to the porch swing," and Shane recreated the moment with a tug on his hand

and Oliver's obliging response.