New York Surprise
Laeticia was feeling pleased with herself, she had booked a nice hotel on East 65
th
and Third after a search as she wanted to be near the NYC shops and a subway. All the rooms had small kitchenettes and apart from filling he fridge with emergency 'sodas' and chocolate she would eat out but if she just fancied a salad she had the option to buy one. The room was spacious, a nice bathroom and shower and there were numerous coffee shops and restaurants all close.
She had been here three days and had reconnected to the city. She loved its vibrancy, the New York drawl, the coffee and the shops. She had spent some lazy days, done a bit of sightseeing and window shopping and today had decided to be a bit more active. The hotel had a number of bikes and they were free to guests for two hours use. They came with a lock and a helmet and whilst they were fairly basic she thought it would be fun.
The weather was unseasonably hot for October and she was glad she had brought some shorts which she was wearing with a v neck t shirt which showed a little bit too much cleavage if she bent down but it wasn't like she was going to see anyone she knew and she had chosen her most sensible bra!
The concierge got her to sign the paperwork, reminded her to get back within the two hours and quickly showed her how the bike worked. They were fixed wheel which meant to brake you just pedalled backwards and the wheels locked. She did a little few circles and quickly got the hang of it. Just as she was setting off she saw another guest pick up his bike. He was similarly dressed, around sixty and looked in good shape, he saw her looking and smiled as she pedalled away. She quickly realised she was going the wrong way as she was an up road but she was at the junction with 3
rd
Avenue and she went one block down and then cycled all the way to Central Park in less than ten minutes.
The park had dedicated cycle lanes and she was loving the outdoors. The bike was a bit naff compared to some of the very obviously expensive cycles she saw but she didn't care as she went around the Pond and then across to Sheep Meadow where opposite a kids baseball game was just finishing. Suddenly a young boy run right in front of her as he was keen to get to the ice cream concession and hadn't looked. Laeticia went to brake but was trying to squeeze a handle that wasn't there as she forget to pedal backwards. She swerved and hit the verge and toppled over, banging her knee on the grass verge with the bike on top of her.
"Let me help you with that."
She looked up and it was the guy from the hotel.
"Thank you, he just ran out and I panicked slightly."
"No harm done, you seem to have missed him. I'm Chris by the way."
"Laeticia, thank you for your help."
As Laeticia stood up she was aware of a pain in her ankle and she had just gone over on it. She pressed her foot gingerly on the ground and winced.
"I'm not sure I can cycle back, what will I do?"
"Let's get a drink and see how you feel."
Chris took both the bikes and slowly they made their way over to the Ballfields Café. Laeticia sat down and Chris went to get two coffees and surprised her with an ice cream as well. They chatted and found they were both doing similar things. Both had been to New York before and they had seen and been to a lot of the same places. Conversation was easy and with the coffees finished Laeticia went to get up. Her ankle felt better and she bent down to rub it and then realised she had probably given Chris quite a view, delete probably she thought as she saw his face and he quickly averted his eyes but she'd seen him. Busted she thought and smiled. She didn't mind too much, he was an attractive guy and he'd been a real help.