~*~
Despite the excruciating long bus ride, Jillian could not sleep. She read, she wrote, but mostly, she leaned back and thought about the next adventure in her life.
New York City… Broadway… Times Square… Central Park.
“You awake?” Jake whispered in her ear.
She nodded, but in the dimness of the bus, she doubted he could see. “Yeah. No way I could sleep.”
“Me neither. In about an hour, we’ll be turning south. I’ll let you know when to look. We’ll still be In Jersey, but going parallel to Manhattan. You can’t see a lot, just the uppermost skyline, but The Empire State Building towers above everything else. That’s when it will hit you--that across the river is New York City. A few minutes later, the twin towers of the World Trade Center will appear. I never tire of seeing them. It still gives me goose bumps and butterflies.”
“What are we going to do first? I want to see as much as possible.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been on these trips before. As long as you show up for the scheduled events, the rest of the time is yours. If you choose not attend, as long as you let the director know, she won’t worry and send the marines out after you. Want some advice?”
“Sure.”
“Try to rest. Sleep if you can. We’ll be doing a shit-load of walking. I’ll wake you in time to see the skyline.”
Jillian leaned back. “I’ll try.” She closed her eyes, but visions of the City danced in her head. I don’t see me napping anytime soon. She shifted her head into a more comfortable position, but that didn’t help much.
“Jillian.” Jake nudged her. “Jillian.”
“Huh? What? We there?”
“Almost. Look.” He pointed. “I didn’t want to wake you, but…”
She looked out the window. “Is that The Empire State Building?”
He nodded.
“OhmyGod! OhmyGod.” She looked around the bus. “How can they all sleep? That’s New York City over there!” She wanted to shake everyone awake.
He smiled. “I was mapping out a plan of attack.” He handed her his notebook. “Our hotel is centrally located. It’s ideal to hit almost everything. What do you think? Did I miss anything?”
She read it over. “Looks like you have half of the City written on here.”
He nudged her again. “Look,” he pointed. “The World Trade Center. It won’t be much longer before we turn and head into the tunnel.”
My Life Would Suck Without You Page 24