It Takes Two

"Follow me, right this way," my friend Alan beckoned, as we passed through the booming crowd. Fifth Ave was teeming with people, the stage was set, and a singer, 'Porky' was about to get on it and do her stuff. She kind of looked like a little piglet, hence the name. Her hair was topped with a tall pink tiara with sequins and ribbons, and a hot pink body suit to match showed off her curves. Her heels were black, with ballet-style ribbons up the leg.

All were cheering for her, urging her on. She reached the mic stand and stood there, blushing and smiling.

"All for You!" "Point of no Return!" People shouted out songs of hers, expecting her to burst into song. "Haha," she laughed. "There'll be time for all that," but now. She wanted to introduce her manager and the band.

They bowed, and the audience clapped. The New Year's ball was set, ready to drop at the countdown. "Wait, where's.." Porky looked worried. She looked around and then shrugged, and started the band up with a wave of her hand, then started crooning to her ballad, of "Point of no Return."

Everyone was going wild, dancing, singing along, swaying back and forth and eager for the ball to drop. The year was 2011. Alan found a bench where we could comfortably watch and sing along, and I took out a sandwich from my pack and started munching.

I was having a good time, but I wished I could run into my sister Rita; she was supposed to be at the event. Alan was on his cell phone, just a friend, he was to me.

"Yea, it should be soon. Oh, I didn't know there was an after party! Do you need reservations?" He looked at me, excited. "Yea, ok." He hung up.

Ok. We watched people walk by, all kinds. The announcer was actually testing the loudspeaker, and I looked at my watch. It was 11:55. There was a certain hush, of anticipation. This year had been hectic, but I was looking forward to better days. The singer sang one last, "Party like it's 1999" cover, and then screamed out her final note, jumped, giggled, squealed and nearly tripped and fell, but came off of the stage. The crowd cheered and clapped. She teetered off.

"Uh, Alan, " I tapped him on his shoulder. He was enveloped in something on his phone.

Suddenly, the big announcer guy was coming through the loudspeaker. "Hey, New York! And where ever you're from, from Everywhere, USA! Let's get ready to rumble! Happy New Year everybody! ..And the countdown begins! 10,.. 9,...8," we were excited. It was our first event together, and it was fun. "Happy New Year!" The whole crowd said in unison and the ball dropped and confetti went everywhere.

"Wow, what a night." I looked around for Alan, but he had disappeared! My eyes darted this way and that; he was my ride, and I didn't know NY that well, just here for the weekend. Uh oh.

I got up and tentatively walked around, the space was clearing now, but why would he take off like that? Oh, he said something about an after party, I now remembered. But why would he leave me?

I dashed around, not knowing where to turn, trying to call but just getting a busy signal. Oh, well. I guess I was just alone in New York City. This could be fun, if only..

"Wha?" I spun around at a tap on my shoulder. "Oh, there you are, where'd you go?" Alan grabbed me by the wrist and yanked me along behind him as he darted through the streets, looking for his car.

"Uh, I think you parked over there," I mentioned. We got in and he drove me out, past all the buildings, the crowd, the noise, into a little driveway on top of a hill. The house was huge, though, like a haunted mansion against the night sky. We walked up the path to the front door.

"Ah!" It opened, and we went in, greeted by his friends and even my sister was there too. Porky, the singer, was there too. She gave me a hug as I walked in, but I didn't know why.

Wow, I got a drink of red wine that I knew would make me sick. I walked through, to the bathroom, and peeked upstairs. Then I went outside and sat on a lawn chair next to the pool. I exhaled.

Just at that moment, came a surprise. "Angela!" I got up and squeezed her tight. I hadn't seen that girl in what seemed like a century. Her motto, was hugs. I smiled and we talked. The moonlight shone down on our little party. My sister came to refill our glasses. Life was good.

The next day, (we all found a place to sleep there overnite), we drove off, me and Angela, to the neighboring town of Ashford. I bid my sister goodbye, (Alan had left on his own), and we were off.

"So, Angela, what's been up?" I ventured, once we were situated on a patio in the back yard of a coffee shop that we had neither ever been to.

"I'm good, and you?"

"Yea, this writing career of mine seems to be taking off slowly but surely."

"What are you doing with your free time," I asked her. She just rambled on about how her boyfriend left her and I let her. She actually talked for a couple of hours, til the shopkeeper came around and mentioned, "Closing soon!", then we made our way back to the parking lot.

"Boy, you must've really loved him," I surmised.

"Heh," she smiled and concurred, and we hopped in the car and she took me on a road trip to New Jersey.

"Wow, I've always wanted to check this out, this state." I stammered, not really feeling up to it.

"Yeah. Well, here we are!"

Yee-ha! There were shopping malls everywhere, bars, corner stores. Restaurants galore. I told her I'd like to move on, so we drove south, to Pennsylvania. There we saw plazas, stone walkways white as snow, clean as a whistle, and museums and statues. We walked through the memorial to the Declaration of Independence, and called it a day.

Angela was saying how she couldn't wait to show me N. Carolina with all its lakes, but I told her I'd rather not. "I have a better idea!", I proclaimed, "Why don't we go to the plane station and book a trip to somewhere I've always wanted to go, Guam!"

"Ok honey!" We were on the plane the next morning and enjoyed our stay at Guam. A small cabin by the ocean. Who could ask for more? The End