by P.J. Lowry
Lizzy booked the flight without telling Anna and surprised her the day they were leaving with two first class tickets. They could have driven to the city in question, but Lizzy didn't feel like it since she could afford thousands of tickets and not worry about that for a while. However, she didn't tell Anna that their trip was the next task and wanted to surprise her with it. She also called another of their friends named Gale, to meet up with her and to the city together. Anna didn't even know where they were going until she mentioned that they were going to visit Gale. "Oh my gaud!" she screamed with excitement, "We're going to New York?"
"Yes, we are. I thought we could do some shopping and touring." Lizzy said with a smile, "My treat for putting up with me and my list."
The girls were giggly all the way to their destination right up to the airport where Anna was in for another surprise. Lizzy had booked a car to pick them up and take them anywhere they wanted. Nothing fancy or stretched because she didn't want to attract attention, but one good enough to get them where they wanted to go and store their stuff from all the shopping she intended to do. It wasn't until they got to their hotel when Anna realized how out of her way Lizzy was going to spoil her. Lavished hotel rooms, room service and all the shops they wanted to hit were less than a few blocks away. It was good to take a break, but at the same time Lizzy had a plan of her own.
They met up with Gale downtown for breakfast and then spent the entire morning spending a lot of money on purses, clothing and some other stuff Lizzy wanted to take back to the apartment. Anna was having a ball as was Gale. To them it was like old times, just a little more expensive. Going out and doing things together like they always had. They had parted ways when Gale went off to New York to become a fashion designer and while she hadn't succeeded just yet with her dream, she refused to give up and kept working on it. Lizzy had intended to donate some funds to help her along knowing that Hayden would be proud of what she was doing but coming to the city and the part was his idea to begin with. She remembered every conversation about this place since the first time he suggested it, and how he never gave up on it regardless of her continuous mockery of the suggestion.
"Come on babe, to me this is what men like me consider romantic."
"Sure, sitting on the ground and eating food off a blanket. Forgive me if I don't see the appeal of the idea."
"But it's not just any park, it's the most famous park in the world. All parks are measured by this one place and I think it would be very cool to have a picnic there and eat something nice and just enjoy the atmosphere and the people all doing their thing."
"Like mugging people and stealing their valuables?"
"Ha ha... but no." Hayden said as he sat up on the couch and seemed rather serious. "I mean cheese, crackers and other fancy stuff all washed down with a bottle of some serious booze. If you don't think that would be romantic on a sunny day at this place of all places, then you're not the romantic I think you are."
Lizzy paused for a moment, looking interesting. "But where would we stay?"
"The biggest hotel in the city, one with round the clock room service!”
"Oh really, and who is going to pay for all this?"
"I will, right after I win the lottery."
"In other words, never." Lizzy said with a laugh. "I have a better chance of being struck by lightning than you winning a lottery."
"Well someone has to win it." Hayden said with a smile. "And I have to buy at least one ticket for a chance. One day that will be me on the newspaper holding that big cardboard check. People at the office will look at it, green with envy and that anger will lead them to buy ten tickets that night.”
True, but will you forgive me if I don't hold my breath?" Lizzy asked as she sat down beside her husband and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"Ye of little faith." Hayden said sarcastically, "Maybe if I win I might not share it with you for not believing in my ticket's ability to bring home the bacon."
"Oh, poor ticket." Lizzy said, "It's just a shame your winnings don't have any rights when it comes to divorce court. What's yours is half mine, remember?"
“Who said anything about divorce court?” Hayden said with a shocked face.
"Well, I was just stating that under law.” Lizzy paused for a moment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so negative.”
“That’s all right.” Hayden said with a chuckle. “I keep forgetting you don’t believe in anything, let alone lady luck. Don’t worry about that. I’ll hold out enough hope for the both of us, all right.”
“Deal.” Lizzy said as she genuinely felt sorry for her insensitive comments.
Hayden laughed again. “Don’t worry about it, Liz.” he said as he came over and gave her a big hug. I prefer you remember this conversation when you’re sitting at the park and be prepared to give me the mother of all apologies.”
“For what?” Lizzy asked.
“For not believing in happy endings.” Hayden replied, “I’m not sure when that day is coming, but when it does… I expect the most heartfelt apology you’ve ever made. Deal?”
Lizzy took a deep breath. “Deal. Now clean those grubby hands and get ready for lunch!”
“Yes Ma’am.” He said as he avoided her playful slap and ran off for the bathroom.
Lizzy had the car stop at a shop that she had called earlier that day. She had the cafe/market shop make up a huge meal of sandwiches, salads as well as various cheeses and crackers to go along with one of their most expensive bottles of wine. As an added touch, the food was packed in a very nice wicker made basket and Lizzy had gone out of her way to pick up the blanket at one of the shops they hit that morning. The car whisked them all away from the stores and restaurants and towards the place that Hayden had always wanted to take her for a picnic on a sunny day, Central Park. Cleary it’s the most famous park in the entire nation, and the one place where he wanted to spend time with her and share a memorable moment.
As the driver brought them closer to their eventual destination, Gale was the first to pick up on what was going on since she lived there. "So why are we heading for Central Park?" she calmly asked.
"Well, we have to." Lizzy said, "Anna and I are on a mission."
"You have got to be kidding me!" Anna said with a hint of frustration. "Are we on our way to have a picnic at Central Park?"
"Am I the only one being kept in the dark on something." Gale inquired.
"You have no idea, this picnic is on the list!" Anna squealed. It was also the first time they had told someone outside the two of them about the list.
"What the hell is she talking about?" Gale asked.
"My husband made a list." Lizzy said quietly, "Thirty things he wanted to do before he died. Only four of them were completed."
"My gosh, you’re going to do all the things he wanted to do?" Gale patted her heart and understood what was going on. "Kudos to you kid. I'm not sure I would have the courage to do something like that but I'm in. Let's go have a picnic at Central Park." "I can't believe you're really here just for the list." Anna said, clearly frustrated.
"Not just the list." Lizzy replied, "And it says one picnic, not a dozen. This will clearly be the easiest thing we ever do on this list."
Anna sighed but gave up because she knew her friend was right. It was just one picnic and she was rather hungry as well so she went with it. "Gale, do we need a permit to have a picnic at the park."
"No." the driver answered. "Events with more than twenty people require a permit from the Parks Department. But you can also request a permit to reserve space in a park even if you have less than 20 people, which is what we've done today."
"Oh, thank you." Anna said as she decided to remain silent until they had arrived to the park.
Once they had arrived the driver helped them carry their food and blanket to a carriage that was waiting for them. From there the horse drawn carriage took the rest of the way to their reserved spot in the middle of the South Meadow. They had
a bench and Lizzy took the basket and blanket across the meadow to the spot they had reserved. She checked her map to confirm it. "We're here, this is it."
"Wonderful spot, dear." Gale approved with a strong nod. "This is a wonderful spot, nice and open and with an amazing view of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir."
"This truly is an amazing place and it's located in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world. I can see why Hayden wanted to bring you here for a romantic panic." Anna said as she looked around.
"I told you at the wedding that the man had a soft heart." Gale said as she helped Lizzy put the blanket on the grass. "This proves the man had a plan and every intention of doing well by you."
"Ain't that the truth!" Anna agreed.
After Lizzy took all the food out, both ladies sat down on the blanket and took some food and salad. They also watched as Lizzy took her time to open the bottle of wine and pour three glasses. They all toasted to being there together and enjoyed eating and drinking for the next while and catching up on the time they has lost living on different cities.
"It's a shame Hayden couldn't be here." Gale suddenly said.
"He is." Lizzy replied and then did something that shocked them both. She opened up the big purse she had bought earlier that day and pulled out an urn and placed it standing up in the middle of the blanket.
"Oh, you didn't!" Anna said as she was suddenly no longer able to eat.
"Girl, that's a little creepy." Gale said as she backed away from it a little."
"I know it looks creepy, but by both of us being here this kind of completes the task because he always wanted to be here with me at the park." Lizzy knew she had freaked them out. Doing a task was one thing but bringing the ashes along for the ride was too much for them.
"Seriously Liz," Anna started, "We have names for people who carry around the ashes of their spouse to special places to share it with them."
"Such as?" Lizzy asked.
"Loonie." Gale started.
"Freak." Anna tossed in.
"In need of professional help." Gale said.
"Wait, it's not that bad." Lizzy said as she waved her arms around. She looked forward at the urn that sat in the middle of the blanket. It was one thing to bring the urn to a park but to another city and bring it on vacation just to have him there for something he wanted to do with her. Yeah, it looks a little loony from that perspective. "Is it really that bad?"
Gale looked her right in the eyes. "Yes it is, Liz." she said as she picked up the urn and returned it to the purse whence it came. They all sat there for a few moments, in awkward silence, waiting for someone to change the subject and finally Gale was the one to break it and bring the subject that everyone was thinking about but not talking about. "What is this list that Anna keeps talking about?"
Lizzy took a deep breath and then pulled a photo copy of the list out of her pocket and handed the folded piece of paper over to her friend. She left the original back home, afraid that it might be damaged or lost if she had taken it to the city with her. She couldn't bare to lose it and thought bringing copies instead was much safer. She watched as Gale read over the list at a very slow pace, going over each item. Her silence was driving them both insane and this time it was Anna how spoke up. "Don't just sit there, tell us what you think?"
"It's very interesting." Gale admitted.
"Interesting?" Anna said in shock. "That's all you have to say?"
"I'm very dedicated do doing all these things on the list, to finish it for him and for myself." Lizzy boldly said, eager to be brave in front of her.
"Well." Gale said with a sigh, "This is deeply romantic of you. Completing the list for the man you love for him. But what do you get out of this?"
"Well," Lizzy started as she put her food down and grabbed her glass of wine and took a quick swig. "I get plenty from this. I am learning more and more about the man who was my husband. We found out because of task number five that Hayden was a recovering alcoholic. There's no telling what we'll find if we keep going. I want to learn as much as I can about my Hayden before I really have to say goodbye."
"That's all I needed to hear." Gale said as she gave Lizzy a soft hug. "So if you have a pen we'll scratch this picnic off the list and then we'll go see the little lady."
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Lizzy said as she almost choked on the salad she was nibbling on.
"The little lady. Do you think it's a coincidence that it comes right after the park on the list?" Gale said as she giggled a bit. "It's obvious Hayden was referring to another landmark he wanted to see while he was here in New York. Just think: what lady do people visit here just as much as any other historical site in the city."
Anna and Lizzy looked at each other and they both had figured out what Gale was referring to. They packed up what was left of their picnic and went back to the car that was waiting for them. As they all slipped into the car, the driver was shocked to see them back so soon. They hadn't been gone for more than an hour. As they got into the car the driver put away the magazine he was reading and put his hat back on. "Where to, ladies?" he quickly asked.
"Next stop is the Statue of Liberty." Lizzy replied just as quickly.
"Yes Ma'am." the driver said as he started up the car and peeled off for their next destination.