New Character #7: Victor
The air was different.
That was the first thing Victor had noticed when exiting Newark airport. Compared to the air he was used to breathing back home in Bergen the air in New York was dense and almost chewable, yet still so alive.
He had saved money for this trip for so long now. A month in New York, far away from a father who demanded he figured out what to do with his life, a mother who demanded he find a girlfriend and settle down (her argument always being that when she was 24 she had been dating his father for three years) and an ex-girlfriend who seemed to think she was the woman his mother wanted him to spend the rest of his life with. Here, in New York, he felt freer than he had felt in a long, long time.
He took the metro from his hotel to Times Square, mingling with the native New Yorkers and tourists alike. Every now and then he felt someone stare at him and he fought back an embarrassed blush, along with the thought that maybe he should have put on a cap. His pale-blonde hair, which bordered on white, was something that made people look at him also back home, especially since both of his parents were darker in their complexion. At least here people only stared because of his strange hair-colour, not because of vicious rumours about possible love-affairs.
"Buy your souvenirs here!" people along the street called. "Gifts for your whole family!"
Victor ignored them. Souvenirs could wait; he was more interested in finding a quiet place to read the newspapers he had brought with him. Newspapers that contained a ton of work ads.
That was his plan with this trip; find a job here in New York. That way his father would think he had made up his mind about his future, his ex would find it harder to pester him and his mother might think he had met some American girl. Of course, she would be the hardest one to convince of that.
Eventually he headed back down to the metro and considered which line he should take. He had arrived by Line 2 and he could, of course, continue further south by that one, but something drew him towards the two yellow lines, N and R. They could also bring him south, but by a different route than Line 2.
Soon he stepped onto a train running along Line R, southbound. He was surprised to find a place to sit and took the opportunity to pull out the first of his many newspapers from his backpack. As he flipped the pages to get to the adds his eyes caught sight of a small square ad decorated with pale green leaves.
Time for a coffee break?
Head over to the Enchanted Forest
for the most magical cup of coffee
you've ever had
89 Wooster Street, New York
He frowned at the ad and tried to figure out why he found it so interesting, before he settled for the fact that it was a café where he might be able to find some peace and quiet, along with that magical cup of coffee that was mentioned in the ad. Hopefully something a bit stronger than what his hotel had served.
He put the paper back in his bag and instead took out a map of the subway lines of New York. Surprisingly his current train had a stop close to the mentioned address in the ad. Three stops ahead by now.
As he stepped off the metro on Prince Street and headed up from the underground he found himself smiling widely. Maybe this was when his luck turned around.