NY

                                    

                                          
Bloody hell, was New York ever busy. 
                          
Eddy, who was an introvert at heart, was overwhelmed with the sheer volume of sounds, smells and lights. 
Just like in Asia there were people everywhere, but it all felt a lot more pressurised. Everyone seemed to be in a big hurry, off to something amazingly important. Sirens blared, suddenly very close and there was traffic everywhere, every other car a Yellow Cab.
The whole thing made him quite restless. 
                          
They found a little bagel shop soon enough though, and walked in. Eddy was glad to get off the streets, and plopped down unceremoniously onto a green wooden chair by a table for two. 
Brett sat down opposite him, smiling. 
Eddy knew this would be a lot more Brett's place than his. Brett was an extrovert and didn't mind the chaos. 
When the waitress turned up they each ordered a bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese, and a large coffee. 
                          
¨Right!¨ he asked Brett. ¨What do you want to see today?¨
Brett's eyes glimmered. ¨Well, I'd love to climb to the top of the Empire State Building, you know, carrying on our tradition of scaling world famous landmarks and shitting ourselves with fear at the top.¨
Eddy snorted. ¨Yeah, we can do that. And how about lady liberty? We'd have to take a ferry, I think?¨
¨Yeah, you kind of have to see that if you're here! We can shoot some footage there too, maybe? We can really only use today to sightsee, we'll have to shoot videos for at least 40 hours tomorrow.¨
That set them off, and soon they were deep into a discussion about what videos to do and where to shoot. Luckily their hotel room had a white wall, so they could set up there. Eddy quickly picked up his phone to type in all the ideas. 
                          
Bagels eaten and coffee drunk, they set off for the Empire State Building. 
It wasn't a long walk, mercifully, and Eddy decided to just focus on Brett walking alongside him, instead of on everything going on around them. 
When they got to the building, Eddy stood still for a moment and stared at the top. He couldn't help but be imposed by just how high it was. 
¨Come on,¨ Brett's enthusiastic voice came, ¨I think the ticket booth is in there.¨

They walked into a gigantic lobby with dark marble absolutely everywhere. 
¨Do you reckon they got a big discount on marble here or something?¨ he quipped. 
Brett grinned, as he pointed to the elevators. 
¨Up we go!¨
The ride up didn't take as long as he'd thought it would for such a big height. Eddy was a little nervous now, and looked at Brett with a small smile, seeing his face was tense as well. 
He winked at Brett. 
¨Been to the toilet, bro?¨
Brett snorted. ¨Yeah, I'm good, you?¨

Eddy was still grinning when the elevator pinged, and they could step out onto the viewing deck. 
Whoa. It was so much more narrow than he'd thought! It was basically a big concrete balcony, but there was metal all around it. He guessed that was to stop people doing stupid stuff up there. 
He stepped out of the elevator carefully, edging slowly closer to the edge, when it grabbed him. 
Oh my God, the view!! He stood frozen to the spot for a minute, taking it all in, before he took out his phone and looked up Google Maps to be able to tell all the landmarks apart. 
¨Look!¨ he exclaimed to Brett, stepping closer to the concrete edge, pointing to a shiny metallic building: ¨That's the top of the Chrysler building, a few blocks further along there!¨
Brett just beamed, looking everywhere at once. 
The city was huge, red brick everywhere. 
They tried to see if they could tell all four districts apart, and found central park. They could even see the statue of liberty in the distance! 

¨You can really see Manhattan was an island, there's water on all sides.¨, Brett said. ¨It's like looking at a map from above!¨
Eddy nodded, maybe not looking straight down but still loving it. 
All in all, they were in awe, as they made their way back down. 
                          
They were walking north a few blocks to go see Times Square, hand in hand, when they encountered some fans. Eddy realised early on that they were being recognised, and let go of Brett's hand.  
They talked to the fans quite happily and took a selfie with them, but Eddy felt very awkward. They might have been found out here, and they hadn't talked about how they would handle this shit yet. He knew he'd have to talk to Brett, and soon. 
                          
By the time they got to Times Square, Eddy had to admit to himself that he was exhausted. He looked up at the lights and the billboards, he looked at Brett, who was clearly loving it, and he just wanted to curl up on his bed and disappear for a while. 
Still, he smiled bravely at Brett and tried to take in and enjoy where he was. 
                          
Of course, Brett wasn't fooled. 
¨Hey, we've already seen Lady Liberty now, wanna just go back to the hotel and hang for a bit?¨ he asked, after a bit.
Eddy would have liked to have been brave, he really would, but his gut took over and he found himself saying:
¨That would be great, but are you sure?¨
¨Hotel with you sounds great, my love¨ Brett replied, earnestly. 
                          
Without waiting for an answer from Eddy anymore, Brett turned around and actually managed to flag down one of the thousands of yellow cabs. He ushered Eddy in and closed the door behind them. 
Letting himself sink into the leather seat, Eddy breathed deeply and he could feel himself relax. Whoa. New York was not for the faint of heart! He was quite happy they'd be spending tomorrow indoors, shooting, doing what they did best. 
                          
After a short ride they were back at the hotel, and Eddy happily curled up in one of the comfy chairs with a score.