"You Can't Stay a Saint in This City"

“How was your game?” I ask Mike as I scoop out seeds from a pomegranate.

“Good, we won” Mike says as I chew the tart, ruby colored seeds.

“That’s great. Did you put money on the board?”

“How do you know about money on the board?”

“I just do” I say. When a player leaves a team they put money on the board as incentive to beat their former team when they play against them with their new team.

“Wait so you can’t recognize the difference when the ref calls an offside versus a penalty but you know about what happens in the locker room.”

“Anyway that must’ve felt great.” I say checking my pink stained teeth in my mirror. It kind of looks like I’ve been drinking wine.

“Yeah it felt great Amber.”

“Well I’m glad you didn’t embarrass yourselves.” I say as I feed Dolce some pomegranate seeds from my palm. “I have to go now.” I say checking the time. My flight to JFK leaves pretty early tomorrow.

“I can’t say the same for you. The images of you in a Ducks jersey are all over the web.”

“I can’t help it I’ve been going through withdraw ever since the Kings went on their road trip.” The Ducks were offering me my drug of choice for free so I took it. “I ‘m going to sleep now. I have an early flight to New York City tomorrow.”

“Bye Ambrosia. Have fun in New York, Hollywood”

“Thanks” I say throwing my empty pomegranate into the compost.
________

“Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today/I want to be a part of it - New York, New York/These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray/Right through the very heart of it - New York, New York” Greg sings as Ivy and I get into the white chaffer driven Maybach.

“What the hell is it with you and playlists?” asks Ivy saying exactly what is on my mind.

“I love music. Besides I was in show choir when I was in high school I’ll have you know.” Greg says taking a gulp of champagne from a crystal flute “And this was pre-Glee. So it wasn’t even the cool thing to do at the time.”

“Whatever Greg,” I say with a yawn as I snuggle into the Burberry trench I bought just for this trip. It’s a little too warm for LA right now, but in the heavily air conditioned car it is perfect. I imagine it’d be perfect for New York as well.

“I call being in charge of the music on the plane.” I say as we drive onto the tarmac once again.

“Fine,” Greg says shaking his head as the driver gets the door for us. It’s no secret that Greg thinks my music is too depressing.

“Wow, this is fancy” Ivy says as we see the interior of the plane.

“Yeah it’s pretty great” I say taking in the gold jacquard seats and dark woodwork. “I call the couch!” I say falling onto it while Tyler finds himself a seat in the corner.

“Here we go,” Greg says as he hands us cans of Orange Crush “To New York” he toasts

“To New York!” Ivy and I shout as the airport employees finish loading the luggage and the interns’ car arrives.

“Okay I’ve found the song to kick off this trip.” I say as I press play.

I've been staying awake in the front seat for days
Let the wheel turn and take me away
Oh, the truth I must tell
Is I'm lonely as hell
Still looking for myself

It rains all day when you're not around
And I'm trying my best to come clean with the clouds
They follow me around
I'll dance 'till the rain comes down

Stuck in the sand with the waves at my feet
And I wish you'd come crash into me
'Cause where you are is where I wanna be now
Where are you now?

And I know I'm not perfect but what the hell
Do you think of me now?
Do you think of me now?

They say that love is for the patient
Gotta plan for being restless for now

Hope I'm more than a cheap trick you played on yourself
But I do it so well
Yeah, I'm doing so well

They follow me around
I'll dance 'till the rain comes down

Stuck in the sand with the waves at my feet
And I wish you'd come crash into me
'Cause where you are is where I wanna be now
Where are you now?

But when I leave
She walks and she talks and she stirs my feet
Like she's sleeping next to me

It doesn't matter where we are
It doesn't matter where we are
It doesn't matter if we're states apart
She loves me

[Where Are You Now – The Summer Set]
______

“Hey,” I murmur rubbing my eyes. “Where am I?”

“You’re in a Lincoln town car leaving JFK and heading to the NHL Store in midtown.” Greg says as he checks his Blackberry.

“Really?!” I ask like a kid on Christmas morning. I pull the neck pillow from my neck and stuff it into my royal blue suede Birkin bag.

“Yup,” Greg says probably tweeting about his whereabouts right now. “Ivy’s staying with her parents and the interns are chaperoning our luggage to The Mark”

“I like New York…” I say wistfully as I stare at the big beautiful buildings and swarms of people.

Our driver opens up out door and I get my first glimpse of the often mentioned NHL store, I’ve always wanted to come here when I was in New York but I usually had too much work to do. The wide sidewalks outside the store’s revolving doors are littered with street vendors selling everything from Yankee hats to fresh fruit.

“I had no idea your boyfriend was such a big deal.” Greg says as we walk in, literally half the store is dedicated to Bruins gear and the rest is dedicated to the upcoming Winter Classic.

“Well yeah everyone loves him.” I say, although I could list several people who don’t.

“Um hi, Could I take a picture with you?” says this sweaty guy in a Rangers jersey.

“Sure,” I reply as I take off my Prada sunglasses and flash a smile into his disposable camera. I kind of miss the days when I could walk into a store without having my picture taken but I guess those are long gone.

“Oh my god. Look at that.” Greg says pointing at the inflatable Bruins furniture. “You should do an exclusive collection for them.”

“Why not?” If Alyssa Minalo can design clothes—that no one wanted to buy—for them I should be able to fix their furniture faux pas.
______

“I wish we were staying longer.” I say to Greg as we lie in our shared hotel room at The Mark.

“New York’s pretty awesome isn’t it Amber?” Greg says flipping through a paperback.

“Yeah it is,” I say looking at Central Park through our window. “Goodnight New York” I whisper as I rest my head on the feather pillow.