"I can't believe you're leaving here."

"I know it's wild, isn't it, Julie?" I tell my work bestie.

"New York seems so far away."

"It truly isn't. It's plane ride away. You'd be there in a few hours."

"Aurelia, are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'll do more in New York than I would ever working here. You know me, I want to do more good in this crazy world we live in."

"I know. We will miss you. I'll visit some day, I promise." Julie says as she hugs me goodbye.

"Goodbye Julie." I say hugging her.

"Goodbye, Aurelia."

I can't believe I'm leaving home. I never thought I'd leave Colorado, but here I am doing it. I make my way onto the plane and find my seat. After listening to the usual before flight speech, I put my headphones in and drift off.

"Huh." I say, taking my headphones out of my ears.

"We are almost there. Just thought I should let you know."

"Thank you, miss." I put my headphones away and watch as the plane starts to descend. I can't believe we are here already.

It feels like forever while I wait to get off the plane.

"Welcome to New York. Hope you enjoyed your flight."

"Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day." I say to the flight attendant as I exit the plane.

I head to the baggage carousel and wait for my luggage. I look around the airport while I wait. I look back just in time, here my bags come. I grab them and head out of the airport and find a cab.

"Where to miss?"

"Avalon Bowery Place."

"Sounds good. Those are some nice apartments."

"Thank you. Yes, they are and expensive too, but everywhere is in the city. "

"No problem, and yes, it's hard to escape that."

I watch out the window as we go along, taking it all in. Scared, yet excited for this change. The car ride doesn't take long, about twenty minutes.

I pay the driver, get my bags, and head in. After being greeted by the concierge and getting my apartment key, I head to my room. Small studio apartment, but it's home. I check the time on my phone, and it's a little after one. I head to my room and start to put my stuff away. I'm glad I came out a week ago to buy a bed and some furniture, or else I'd be doing more work today than I needed to. I'm glad that they kept my key here, too, so I didn't lose it. By the time I'm done, it's going on three. Maybe I should take a quick nap. After setting an alarm for four-thirty, I pass out.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP* *BEEP BEEP BEEP*

"Ugh, I'm awake. I'm awake." I find my phone and turn the alarm off. "Time to shower." I pick out my outfit for the night. I chose my 'love to dance' a short satin dress from Windsor, a navy colored beautiful dress. I pair some nice heels with the dress. Now, it's time to hop in the shower.

I blow dry my hair and curl it some. Apply my makeup and then put on my dress and heels. It's time to head out. I look up some bars on my phone before leaving. I decided to go with The Irish American Pub about an eleven minute walk away.

What a quaint pub. I head in, look around. It's not too busy in here. A few groups of people sitting down at the tables and three people at the bar. A couple and then one man by himself. I walk down the aisle passing them, and sit in the second to last chair.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asks.

"Vodka cran?"

"We have a spiced cranberry mule? Would you want to try that?"

"Yes, that sounds good. Thank you."

"No problem."

I can't help but notice the man by himself as he is only four seats away from me. He's wearing a suit, but his tie is loose. His hair is a little messy, but that's probably because he ran his hands through it. He is incredibly attractive.

"Here you are, miss." The bartender says, handing me my drink.

"Thank you."

"Would you like another sir?"

"Umm, yeah. Thank you."

"No problem." The bartender says as they walk away to go make his drink.

I start to people watch, and more start to come in. But choose to sit at the tables and not the bar. So far, only one guy chose the bar.

"You waiting for someone?"

"Oh. No, actually, I'm not." I say to the attractive man as he draws me out of my trance with his sultry voice.

"I was going to say whoever you were waiting for would be an idiot to stand you up."

"Oh. Well, thank you." I say as I can feel myself start to blush.

"Do you mind if I move closer to you?"

"No, go ahead." I tell him as I start to take a sip of my drink. He moves to the corner seat next to mine.

"Rafael." He says, extending his hand.

"Aurelia." I follow, shaking his hand.

"Beautiful name."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. So what brings you to this fine establishment?"

"Well, I just moved to New York and wanted to go out for the night. I looked up good bars, and this one popped up."

"It is a very nice bar, and congratulations on moving here. Work or pleasure?"

"I suppose both. But mainly work. How about you, what keeps you here?"

"Work."

"What do you do for work?"

"Eh, I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

"No, you're alright it's just stressful. I'd rather talk about other things.

"Sounds good to me. If I ordered an appetizer, would you share it with me?"

"Oh, yeah, sure."

"It's just I haven't eaten, and I don't want to be rude and not share."

"Understandable. I haven't eaten either so .."

"Let's get a couple then." I say, smiling at him afterward.

"That's fine by me." He says half smirk/smiling, back at me.

We order some mozzarella sticks, chips and dip, and some barbecue chicken wings. Plus, some more of our drinks as well. As we wait for our food we have some light small talk about the city and where I moved from.

"Here's your appetizers and some plates."

"Thank you." We say in unison.

We split up the wings and mozzarella sticks.

"So what do you do for fun?" Rafael asks.

"Fun, what is that?"

He lightly laughs at my joke. "I know what you mean."

"I suppose when I have time, I read. I like to sing as well. What about you?"

"I suppose I like to cook and sing a little too. I bet you have a lovely singing voice."

"It's not that great. But thank you." I say smiling afterward.

"You're welcome. I know for a fact that you do have a lovely smile."

I playfully tap his hand and tell him to stop. As if he were embarrassing me, but honestly, he is making me feel things I haven't felt in some time. I can feel myself blushing every compliment he gives me.

We sit and eat as we continue talking about some likes and dislikes, places we'd love to travel to one day, and some random questions. Before I know it, it's going on midnight. I've been here for seven hours. Seven hours! I guess I got lost in this man.

"I think I'm going to finish this drink up and head home." I tell him.

"I'll walk you home."

"No, you don't have to. I'll be fine."

"No, not at midnight in New York City. You won't be." Rafael says to me, giving me a 'are you kidding me face.'

"I already told you it isn't far, about an eleven minute walk."

"Doesn't matter. A lot can happen in eleven minutes."

"Alright then, let me pay." I say as I finish my drink.

"Nope, you are not doing that either." He says, laughing a little afterward.

I let out a sigh as he pays. We leave the bar and start walking to my apartment. I shiver a little.

"It's a little chilly out tonight, here." Rafael says, offering me his suit jacket.

"Thank you." I say, slipping it on.

"I hope that this city will treat you well."

"I hope it does too, Rafael."

We continue to walk, our arms grazing up against one another.

"Well, this is my stop. Do you want to come in? I mean, I just don't want you to have to travel far, back home, if it even is far, when it seems that you work close by." I ramble out.

"Are you sure? After all, I am a stranger."

"Not anymore. We spent seven hours at a bar talking to each other. You're an acquaintance now. You've been a gentleman all night. I trust you." I say, smiling at him afterward.

"Okay then. I will stay. Thank you." He says, smiling at me too.

"You're welcome. Let's head on in."