Choose to Take the Journey

It’s cold tonight. Brady and I instinctively run into the nearest bar. Unremarkable music softly sputters in the background. My eyes lock onto a couple of red-headed Irish girls sitting at the center table.

“Let’s go,” Brady says assuredly.

“Wait. What do I say?” I object.

“Don’t worry about it. Say anything.” His green eyes show no signs of thinking as he walks up to their table. I follow his lead.

“What har ya guys doin’ tanight?” Brady inquires. Why does Brady have an Irish accent all of a sudden? The girls are American, but they appreciate the homage to their roots. We sit down and chat for a while. The slender one, who is more my type, gravitates towards Brady over the course of our conversation. I mentally kick myself for being an introvert.

“I’ve never been to the West Village,” Slender Red says. “Me neither,” Buxom Red adds.

“Ok, let’s go,” Brady says.

We leave the bar with them in search of something more stimulating. We walk for about 5 blocks while the Red Sisters complain incessantly about their feet. “What should we do?” I ask Brady. “It doesn’t matter. Just go with the flow,” he says. We walk another few blocks before we hear music blaring through an open doorway. It is an Irish pub with green potted plants hanging from its eaves. The girls light up and we walk them in.

We yell. We sing. We dance. I am finally starting to come out of my shell. The 4 of us sit down at a table, Brady and I in the middle and the sisters, one to each side. Slender Red likes Brady. Buxom Red likes me. I turn to Brady, “I’m running out of stuff to say.” “Be like water,” he responds. I’m not sure how a clichéd Bruce Lee phrase is going to help me hold a conversation, but I’m thinking I don’t really feel like talking anymore. I grab Buxom Red’s hand and lead her away from the obnoxiously drunk crowd forming spontaneously by our table. Once we are alone together, she begins to quietly stare at me. Her green eyes are unwavering. We start kissing. This is a lot better than talking.

After our little moment, I look across the room at Brady. He is kissing Slender Red. We spend some more time with our respective girls before I pull Brady off to the side. “Listen, I don’t feel good about this,” I say. “What’s wrong?” he asks. “I like my girl. It’s just… I like yours better for some reason.”

“Really? Why don’t we switch? Yours has more of the body type I like.”

“What? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

“I don’t know. I was just going with the flow,” he answers nonchalantly.

“Have you ever done this before? Because I haven’t.”

“Nope, but why not?”

“It’s too late. We’ve already spent all this time and kissed them and everything,” I say.

“Oh yeah, I saw that. Nice one.” He gives me a fist bump.

“Ok ok, do you really want to try this?”

“Sure.”

…

Brady and I leave the bar alone.

*****

We sit on the orange subway seats gazing out at the dazzling city lights of Manhattan. He talks excitedly about the night while I look back forlornly. It is getting late and we fall asleep on the train.

*****

Ditmas Ave Stop, Brooklyn

“Bui, we’re here. Wake up.”

I wearily lift my eyelids open. “Where are we?” I mutter.

“We took the train 1 stop too far. We’re at Ditmars. We’ll have to walk from here.”

We step out onto the subway platform. I look around, but the view looks eerily unfamiliar.

I snap awake. “Wait a minute!” The subway doors slam shut and the train lurches away.

“What is it?” Brady asks.

“This is the Ditmas stop in Brooklyn, not the Ditmars stop in Queens.  We took the train running in the opposite direction!”

“Oh my god,” he chuckles. “Well, I’ve gotta pee, like, right now.” He walks behind a trash bin and proceeds to unzip the front of his jeans.

I call after him, “Wait, what are you doing?”

“Ahhh, I’m just… ahh, going… with the flow. Ahhhhhh.”

“Shut up already with that.” I’m tired and cranky. “Ok, we’ll have to switch to the other platform. It’ll be at least 2 hours before we get home.”

“Ok.”

*****

Brady and I fall asleep on the train heading back through Manhattan toward Queens. I’m roused from my sleep by the sunlight, flashing its rays in Morse code as we pass by the openings between buildings. I look over at Brady. He’s still fast asleep. I look back through the windows just as the sun splashes a sea of red, orange, and yellow across the dark blue sky. It’s… beautiful.

“Go with the flow,” I whisper to myself. “Just go with the flow.”

– – – – –

Posts in this series:
Part 1 – Lightning Strikes Thrice
Part 2 – Green Waters Flow Westward
Part 3 – The Immovable Earth
Part 4 – El Fuego Rojo
Part 5 – Darkness is But the Absence of Light
Part 6 – The Traveler