Pondering back, she thought of all the costumes she had acquired and designed with meaning oozing through every detail of every thread of every embroidery or lace, the money spent on concert displays, and the donations to charities that were traditional but rarely seemed to accomplish anything but mitigate the results of problems rather than fight the problems at their core. So many concerns and thoughts were weighing on Joanne, and she was determined to do something to change lives from the way it was to the way she felt it ought to be.
If she were to make changes through her music, Joanne knew she needed to approach each lyric with care, love, and passion seeding the listening mind and cultivating it toward progress with the advancement of civilization. She wasn’t predator or prey singing to prey, she was a human being who understood both the good and evil in humanity, and she sought to draw the good out from anyone, no matter how they chose to identify themselves. With that knowledge, she had no doubt where she needed to begin. Yet, there were many other questions that still remained. While using her influence as a popular music icon she could teach, advance what she knew, and entertain the masses providing the sense of peace and calm that music from the heart, the soul, and the mind provided. She also knew there was much more she could learn.
In an effort to take a break from her routine, Joanne had taken the daily train from New York City to Boston. Even though she was doing online courses at Harvard, in Cambridge, she would still visit there any way from time to time. Whenever she could, she would find a seat next to a window, so she could enjoy the scenery along the way. She noticed how Connecticut, buried in snow, was just as beautiful this and pretty much any time of the year.
Once she arrived in the bustling city of Boston, she hopped onto the metro bus to Cambridge where there were a series of stops along the way before crossing the bridge and seeing the close-up magnitude of the incredible sixteen-square-block area that provided sanctuary to the restaurant, the T.O. Since 2010, the T.O. had grown from a small organic café and eatery just north of Harvard, to a two-by-eight-block area of Cambridge.
People from all over the world had visited the restaurant. The mass transit systems had developed a regular route with eight stops around the campus. While visiting there was so much to enjoy, but the main attraction people enjoyed was the food. Nonetheless, there were other organic and small business markets as well as a high-class ambiance.
The truth was Eliza had purchased the T.O. not long after meeting Amber Blythe there in 2010. Eight months later, the T.O. had grown to include the T.O. Chef University, which after being built and opened was the largest chef, culinary, bakery, and confectionary educational center in the world. Along with the university, the same edifice chain contained several blocks and stories of nutrient-dense germination and growth gardens, food laboratories, and kitchens, all ensuring that every ingredient was grown and acquired there. There were also guided tours, and plenty of other public spaces that were a marvel to behold, and there were non-public spaces that were accessible only to those who had been read-in to Pathway—more spaces were underground.
No matter how busy Eliza was, she and Yesha had found time to meet together to visit the Ballets, the Symposiums, the Acts, and all the Musical, Dancing and Artistic luster of Broadway. As a matter of a fact, the T.O. had a large variety of concert halls, stadiums and such per Eliza’s design within Cambridge, MA, itself—a long time heritage of the arts, holidays, and sciences. Part of what drew Joanne to the T.O. in the first place was the fact that she had performed in concert there a few times and even stayed the night at the lush hotels. She enjoyed reading by faux fires the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, all three of whom were of Cambridge, MA, or who had passed away there, following years of literary genius, and whose histories were rich within the hallways of the T.O. Joanne had soaked in every bit of the T.O. every time she went there, in a unique way.
Early in 2011, eight months after Eliza had purchased the small restaurant, it remained there and functioning in its original form, but some things nearby had changed. From the day she purchased the T.O., and when everything in and on the two-by-eight or sixteen-square-block area behind it was covered and finally revealed, those who witnessed the transformation only saw a humongous grey tarp covering the entire area up to about twenty-nine stories high behind it.
When the tarp was finally removed, a magnificent structure twenty-eight stories above the ground on the east end, sloping downward to twenty-two stories above ground on the west end abutted to the T.O., was revealed in its full splendor. It towered high and magnificently in every way. Anyone who had misgivings in any way was now filled with joy. If one were to peer from a helicopter down toward the infrastructure, they would see what looked like four giant ellipses or rings that were connected in a row, with the ring on the east end slightly of greater diameter than the ring on the west end, which was connected now to the T.O., and the two rings in between tapered to blend, in structural diameter. The roads for each block passed unblocked underneath, and Eliza had designed it such that people could see a more historical perspective of the settings they were in as they drove down each street, as if it were as clear as day and alive.
In the center of each ring, within a two-by-two block area, and almost at roof level, were two mini forests and two mini jungles. Below these mini forests and jungles for a couple of floors were the root structures, and then below them were a number of concert halls and coliseums. Below those and the vast laboratories of vegetation were many centers of various sorts. At the top of the structure, looking from the side or an angle one could see an elaborate in-door ski slope system that could be manipulated for various styles of ski competitions, with restaurants, bars, cafés, and seating on the outer part of each ring.
Looking down one could see, on the inner side of each ring, a hyperloop system that could prep the skis and skiers for another run, if desired, and warm the skier up as it returned them back to the twenty-eight-story ring to either go again, leave via a changing room, or to return to their private hotel room if they were going to stay the night. The material of the building from the outside appeared as if it were a radiant white edifice with artistically formed, glowing, and crystalline windows that for some untold reason didn’t drown out the nighttime sky for viewing the stars above but lit up the roads and pathways down below.
Within the large areas inside each ring and on the first floor and then scattered throughout each level were other “Mom and Pop” stores, educational centers, hotel rooms, and much more. Near the entrance where the west ring met the original T.O. was the ‘Broke Coffee House, managed, run, and operated by Bobby Gahan, who was reverenced by the story of the peaceful Pembroke tribe. The Pembroke tribe was a tribe of people who lived in the Americas prior to the expansion of the modern western nations, or as is understood by many, an American Indian Tribe. They had lived in the Americas, where Pembroke, North Carolina now resides, long before settlers from Europe had arrived. This was homage out of respect to them. The main colors used as accents throughout the coffee shop and on each of the coffee cups were a bright yellow background with black writing. Other colors were woven within and throughout the interior decorating and landscaping to complement the network of aspects that helped create the peaceful ambiance that it was. In his coffee house, he had a peculiar mixture of a soothing variety of music with a focus on his favorite band, Depeche Mode, and a smooth mixture of the musical genres of Vocal and Progressive Trance, New Age, some Classics, some New Wave, and some Pop all playing lightly yet adjusted for clarity.
Bobby had already been fully read-in to Pathway. Therefore, unless an individual who had been read-in knew and saw him, they would assume he was like any other twenty-two-year-old, chilling and keeping it simple. In truth, in 2019, he was fifty-four, loved serving a great cup of Jo, and in part, he felt as though this was one of his true callings in life. The fact that Depeche Mode was his favorite band had very little to do with the fac
t that their lead singer shared the same last name, but that certainly didn’t hurt any. Mostly, it was the multi-layered artistry melding the lyrics and music together, and the depth he interpreted from it all that moved him.
He had chosen the ‘Broke Coffee House logo after growing up with a friend from the Pembroke Tribe and received approval from the tribe to use it. The logo consisted of a bright yellow coffee cup, with a white and brown feather adorned to it near the handle, in such a way as to almost pass as a straw, and on the pictured coffee cup was inscribed, ‘Broke Coffee House. On the wall behind the ordering counter, Bobby had also written and designed an inscription below the logo, “I brew coffee to put a spring in the step of any willing passer-by, to serve the best, to give you something that brings clarity to the mind and health to the veins.”
In full, Bobby was also a coffee-neuro-bio-nutrition expert from Pathway, so he could serve the best coffee to the public as well as to those who had been fully optimized. He interestingly had an ultra-enhanced sense of smell and expertly derived what coffee would grace an individual’s palate based on each individual who approached the ordering counter, science-wise, he could derive. He was a healthy-minded and clean-cut individual who maintained a pleasant charm steeped in professionalism and inspiration. It was often reported in newspapers and journals, “If you get a cup of Jo from the ‘Broke Coffee House, you’ll find yourself peppy and clear of mind right up until you lay your head down to rest on that pillow again, and then you will rest well.” His talents were unique, and anyone could attest to the fact that those who ordered coffee at his establishment lived a low-stress yet very innovative and successful life. He’d even set up an education program in the Virtual Universe to train prospective employees to do just the same.
Joanne had discovered this establishment no later than two days after it had opened early on in 2011, and now it was eight years and many visits later that she arrived at the bus stop just outside ring one. Stepping down from the bus, she enjoyed the open-air of the quarter-block distance between the stop and the entrance and savored the landscaping, the artistry, and the sculptures that seemed to capture frozen moments of life in all of its beauty. She then listlessly walked to the entrance right between the T.O. and the ‘Broke Coffee House, smelling the scent of warm beverages in the air, as the aroma piped out of the well-placed vents, and made her way through the internal atrium doors to get some coffee first. Everything she’d heard about ‘Broke was true or better. Bobby happened to be at the counter, and he was always a charm to talk to as he was brewing the coffee.
After drinking her cup of Jo, she had never felt so alive in her life. She exchanged pleasant dialog with Bobby, thanked him, bid him farewell, and took a tour of the T.O. through the labs, the forests, the jungles, shops, sites, universities, and more. “What a place this is,” she thought to herself. “It seems that I see something new every time, and yet it has been here all along.” At one point she had taken an elevator to the twenty-eighth floor to look at the crystal glass dome above. She then looked through it and was impressed yet again at the view from some of the restaurants near the ski slopes and the clarity of the sky above, as if one could see through the crystalline windows and on through to the stars in the firmament with intriguing clarity, despite the luminescence of the Sun during broad daylight.
After her tour and repast, she made her way back to the original T.O., or the main restaurant entrance to place her order, pay for her meal, take a seat, and wait for each step of eating at its finest to make its way to her table. While she stood in line she happened to recognize Senator Eliza Williams, and as much respect for her as she had, she didn’t want to inconvenience her with small talk, so she said nothing and let her thoughts float in the air.
“…Nice to meet you. You must be Joanne?” asked Eliza.
“Yes,” Joanne said, a little startled yet impressed. “She actually knows who I am. I am a fan of her legislation and her political party, and while I’d rather not get involved since I have fans on every side of the political aisle, and I don’t want to alienate them, what she says, does and what she has done is impressive. I still have her book, Pathway to the Stars, somewhere. I wonder where I left it.” All kinds of thoughts seemed to race through Joanne’s mind during the moment it took her to answer. “You’re Senator Williams? …Fancy, seeing you here. What brings you home from Capitol Hill?”
“…wonderful question,” replied Eliza. “I suppose a break from the bureaucrats and something in the environment there that seems to be in plenty supply was overdue. Oh, and feel free to call me Eliza? What brings you from New York all the way to Cambridge?”
“Oh… the T.O.; it’s the only restaurant of its kind that is as big, classy, and renown as it is, and it still has an impressive and spectacular array of things to do, sites to see, and a guiltlessly tasty delight of food to capture it all. It can certainly be a full day filled with beautiful thoughts and the creation of lovely memories, and all of that with a tasty reward at the end. This is my favorite place to visit every chance I get, and one of the most sophisticated, organic, artistic, clean, and beautiful places I’ve ever seen, and I’ve toured worldwide! What I enjoy most is that ever since I started coming here in 2011, I haven’t been charged a dime!
“I pay with my debit card, yet when I justify my bank statement it shows zero dollars removed from my account from The T.O. Did I mention that eating savory food here is a delight in so many ways? The clean meats are of the finest cuts and quality, with no poor animals or slaughterhouse in the mix! Veggies, fruits, shakes, entrées, desserts, drinks, appetizers, tours through every step of growth and preparation, and, oh, it’s all so guiltlessly delicious and lovely, not to mention the beautiful music and the ambiance throughout. When I leave, I am satisfied, inspired, and revitalized.”
“I love this place too, and for the same reasons.” Eliza smiled, appeared to glow, at least to Joanne, and the blue sparkles in Eliza’s eyes twinkled and glistened and were hard not to notice, as she continued, “Are you here with anyone? Or, would you like to sit and chat?”
“I enjoyed the railroad ride here to clear my mind, but she might have some of the answers I’m looking for, plus I could sew extra wisdom into my musical career and portfolio,” She thought. “Sure. You know what? I’d be honored,” Joanne said.
After ordering their meals and “paying,” they picked a table for two. Every table in the restaurant came with an individually climate-controlled and plush arrangement of seating, replete with odor filtration. Within all of the seats were back, neck, arm, and leg massage options, along with a personal ambiance and music filter display that provided other service options down to the largest selection of some of the most exquisite of lavish drinks in existence, all delivered directly to each individual, as patrons sat in their chairs and at their tables. There was even a button for Lyft and Uber drivers to pick people up if they weren’t staying the night in the T.O. Hotel.
Joanne and Eliza sat down chatting for hours without considering the time. Luckily, the T.O. had plenty of seating and was open around the clock, and since both of them were well-known patrons, only the best and most savory of every dish was brought out. Only the best dishes were ever brought out since there was no favoritism. Time was unlimited. It was said that the T.O. had the best chefs in the world, serving desired and imaginable dishes and everyone who went there went away feeling as though they, alone, were their favorite customer. Along with high-quality service and training programs, the T.O. had several floors of seating throughout the mega-complex filled with a variety of entertainment options and the works.
“I must say, you are every bit as elegant and charming as you seem on television and as I have read about. I’m sure you hear that all of the time,” inquired Joanne, as she sat with Eliza and waited for their appetizer.
“I don’t think anyone could be informed too much or too often through genuine and gentle words the vantage points of one wonderful human being toward another,” Eliza
responded, and then continued. “Every time I hear them, it adds a little extra lightness to my steps.
“I appreciate those who are positive, kind, and charming too. We rarely find ourselves desiring to overcome sinister challenges without having been through some difficulties in life ourselves. Seeing the suffering rampant throughout the world can be quite heavy, so a positive word or two is always welcomed. Thank you, Joanne. Life is challenging enough, with so much to do these days to resolve the issues while trying to foster the harmony that negligence will never bring about, there is plenty of reason to hold on to the things that are beautiful and amazing.”
Eliza breathed in and out, and then continued, “You have quite a voice, Joanne; I can feel the depth and sense the meaning in what you share, and you too are a beautiful woman.”
“Thank you,” said Joanne, it never hurt to hear those words, and much less from someone as amazing and wonderful as Eliza.
Joanne felt a kindred spirit about her new friend as they chatted back and forth, and she wished she had met her years ago. As they chatted, their appetizer, then their entrée, and then the rest of their meal arrived, and they continued on while enjoying each part of the meal.
Eliza and Joanne seemed to hit things off and enjoyed sharing a multitude of experiences with each other. Before it was time to leave, Eliza asked Joanne if she would like to meet with herself and Yesha at Pathway today or sometime soon, and maybe take a tour there. Joanne didn’t need too much prodding to be on-board. The day had been beautifully exquisite, and the extra time spent with Eliza was time spent with a wonderful friend she could trust.
Chapter 34: Joanne Gallant, Section 2
Further than Before- Pathway to the Stars Page 62