New Character #9: Vera

"Oh come on, Vera! Just try it."

Vera sighed and looked up from tying her shoe. Her roommate and best friend, Alice, was sitting cross-legged on her bed with a bowl of chocolate pudding in front of her. She had scooped up some of it on a spoon and was holding it out towards Vera.

"It's delicious! Divine! The best thing you've ever tasted!"

The blonde was used to giving convincing speeches, but they did not work on Vera. She was far too used to them.

"I'm fine, Alice", she said and straightened up. "I might try some later, but now I need to head out."

"Fine", Alice sighed and flopped back on the bed, causing Vera to suspiciously eye the bowl of pudding in case it decided to tip over. This time it did not.

"I'll be back in an hour or so", Vera said and tied her dark-brown hair back in a braid. "You can plan what we shall do today while I'm out."

"I'll get you to eat some of this", Alice said, waving the now empty spoon. "That's my plan."

Vera rolled her eyes before she stepped out of the room. She headed out of the hotel and shuffled through her playlist to find a good set of tunes to listen to while she ran. When she and Alice had booked this trip to New York she had been adamant that their hotel should be close to a park so that she would have somewhere to exercise outdoors, even though it was just March and still quite chilly out. That never stopped her, though; she knew that she needed the exercise to keep herself in good shape. She was not like Alice, who could eat a bowl of chocolate pudding for breakfast and stay in bed all day yet not gain a pound.

She crossed Forsyth Street and entered the Sara D. Roosevelt Park, where she started jogging. It was her favourite type of exercise since all she needed to bring with her was a pair of good shoes and comfortable clothes. Gyms were not something she liked to visit; the machines in there seemed far too complex and strange for her taste. And she could not quite understand why they were all facing these giant mirrors; she, for one, definitely did not want to watch herself as she ran.

Small raindrops started to hit her in the face when her third track had started playing. This type of rain was nothing compared to the weather she sometimes experienced back home, outside of Glasgow. This might not even be considered rain by some of her relatives. Alice would find it uncomfortable, though; she was not Scottish by birth but had moved to Glasgow ten years ago, with her family. She and Vera had attended the same school, in different grades, but they still had some common classes and soon bonded. Alice had supported her through her weight struggle, despite not quite understanding it, and Vera had supported her in her fight for animal rights in Britain. They had complimented each other, in a way.

She turned the corner of the park's far north corner and ran back south on the other side of the park. The wind was now hitting her in the back, which meant she did not have to squint her eyes in order to see where she was running. However, she had made it her goal to run this track at least twice before deciding to head back to the hotel, which meant she would have to run squinting soon again. A couple of years ago she would have decided to quit right away, but she had grown tougher than that by now.

"What the..."

She pulled to a sudden halt as a flyer flew right into her face the moment she turned back north. Grumbling about how people should learn to throw these things away or keep them safe from the wind she stomped over to the nearest trashcan and was about to throw it away when something about the flyer caught her eye. She unfolded it again and looked at it; a pale yellow piece of paper decorated with leaves, flowers and animals that surrounded a simple ad text.

The most magical lunch

you've ever had!

Head over to the Enchanted Forest,

the newest café on Manhattan

for a large selection of lunch dishes!

89 Wooster Street, New York

Vera studied the flyer intently before neatly folding it and putting it in the small chest pocket on her jacket. It sounded interesting, but she did not have time for lunch just yet. She still had another lap to run before she could even start thinking about breakfast, let alone some sort of lunch.

Just then her phone buzzed. It was a text from Alice.

How about brunch somewhere?

Vera hesitated before she typed an answer.

Sure. I know a good place. One lap to go. See you soon.

As you might have noticed I'm trying to finish these introductions at the moment ;) Might finish one more before I go to bed tonight.