The chilly breeze of New York morning air awoke me. Still feeling a little sleepy, I force myself up to put on some decent clothes so I could go buy the stuff we were to use and eat for the picnic today. It must have snowed a little last night because the ground was wet and the pavement was glowing.

"I'm pretty sure something's open at this hour." I whisper to myself, scanning the already busy streets of Times Square. I walk pass people who brisk walk with a coffee on either hand, probably off to work. I text Kim Jong In some good morning message and told him that I was excited for today.

"Maybe I'll cook some spaghetti and then buy some fried chicken." I tell myself as I form a mental checklist on what to buy. After a few blocks, I finally find a grocery store. I grabbed some pasta, spaghetti sauce, and a couple of meatball pieces. I also bought a medium sized blanket to sit on and a picnic basket for it to look like it was really a picnic. I decided to take a cab to the Korea Town here in New York just to buy fried chicken. It was kind of far, maybe 10 blocks if you turn to 5th Avenue and walk going South. I found a decent fried chicken restaurant and bought also for Ella and Travis. It was 9:26 when I arrived back at the hotel. Our hotel room had a kitchen so I immediately started boiling water for the pasta. The clanking of the pans probably woke Ella and Travis up because they simultaneously entered the kitchen.

"Good morning." Ella says as she rubs her eyes open. She sneezes four times. She usually sneezes once every morning and I chuckle as she exceeds her morning sneeze routine.

"Good morning." Travis says next.

"Good morning, guys! I brought some fried chicken for you guys and I'm cooking spaghetti with meatballs, if you guys could just sit down and wait for this to finish." I tell them as I start cooking the sauce. It wasn't much of a cooking since the sauce tasted good already so I just added some extra ingredient and let it boil. Travis and Ella plopped down on the sofa and slept again. After I prepared everything on the table for them and put on the necessary things inside the picnic basket, I woke them up.

"Brunch is ready." I whisper to both of them as they stretch their arms.

"Thanks, Aria." Travis smiles even with his half-closed eyes.

"Yeah, thanks." Ella seconds.

"I'll be leaving. You guys are going to Central Park too, right?" I ask.

"Yeah, after we get ready. We'll meet you there." Ella answers.

"I'll be waiting for you two, okay?", they both nod as they start munching on the food and I leave quietly.

I took a cab going to Central Park because it was too distant from Times Square. I could have walked but then Jong In and I agreed to meet at 11 and it was already 10:40 on my clock so I had to take a cab. By the time I arrive at the park, it was almost 11. I walk towards the zoo and the trees and how they constructed the park was too beautiful. There are benches on the side that had little silver rectangular-shaped metals with dedications and quotes and some were dated 10 years ago, some were just a few months ago. There was even a bench with a message saying, "Whoever sits on this bench... Enjoy the scene as much as we did during our 45 years together. -D. Davies & J. Weeden" and it was too heart-warming that I sat on the bench and appreciated the view for a little while. My mind was enchanted by the beauty of the park even when the trees didn't have leaves because it was winter. How will Jong In and I be able to have a picnic here anyway? The bench was actually cold and the ground may be too wet and cold to sit on. Maybe we'll just settle on some bench since we could cover its coldness with a blanket. Where is he anyway? There weren't much people inside the zoo, maybe because most of the animals hibernate during the winter season. I sit on a bench that has the perfect angle to see the walkways on both sides of the park. It was already 11:10 in my clock but still no sign of him. He wouldn't ditch me again, right? I'm thinking maybe he's lost his way or he didn't know how to get to the zoo. After all, Central Park is such a huge park. As I wait, I text Travis and ask him what time they'll be going here and told them where I was. I check the picnic basket and tried to hold the prepared dishes to see if it was still hot. I have also prepared mushroom soup and hot black tea to suit the weather. Two hours passed and still no sign of Jong in... Again. He wouldn't have scheduled today if he wouldn't be able to come right? I never knew dating him would involve this kind of waiting. Heck, no dating should involve this kind of waiting. If you can't come, then just text me so I wouldn't wait for hours for you to show up. Annoyed, I tried calling him but his phone was off.

"This is just so great! I'm in New York City and people have been finding this city as something so amazing but it's only bringing me bad memories." I speak to myself.

"Aria..." I look up to see who called me.

"Hey, Travis." I was kind of disappointed that it was not Kim Jong In but kind of relieved that Travis is here. I swallow, trying to keep myself from crying. I don't want to show him how much I can't take waiting even when he knows I'm impatient.

"Where's your boyfriend?" He sounded annoyed as well. My tongue got caught and I couldn't answer.

"Have you been waiting here for hours?" His questions froze me up... or was it the weather? Nevertheless, I couldn't speak and all I could do was to look down.

"Let's go." He says, grabbing my arm but I protested.

"I have to wait for him. We agreed to meet here." I defended.

"Aria, you both agreed to meet here but where is he now? You've waited for two hours!" He said with his voice sounding so strong.

"Then I'll wait for two more!" I scream. "Please, if you're really my friend then you would support me and keep me company while waiting for him." I tell him, pulling him beside me.

He sighs but he sits down anyway. "You know I'll support you but when you're hurting you know I have to do something about it."

"I'm not hurting. I promise I'll tell you when I am." I tell him. Does being disappointed count as being hurt? Maybe to some extent but I'm giving Jong In all the chances I could give. I know it's hard for him as well.

"You better." He pinches my cheeks and I back away.

"You're annoying, stop that." Travis laughs on my comeback.

"Where's Ella though?" I ask.

"I think she caught a cold. I told her I'll stay with her but she asked me to check up on you and tell you that we won't be hanging out with you today but we're here now."

"What? Maybe that's why she sneezed a lot more than usual this morning." Travis nods in agreement. We wait for an hour more, talking about random things and just completely catching up with each other.

"He's never going to show up." He declares and I opened the picnic basket in surrender.

"Then let's eat this." I tell him.

"Yes! I forgot to tell you how much I liked your cooking and wanted more of it." Travis compliments.

"Oh, shut up." I lightly pat his shoulder as I smirk. He snorts at my reaction and we both laugh loudly.

"Seriously though, you've wasted enough hours waiting. It's your first time in NYC and I just wish you explore a little bit." Travis says and I nod. We strolled around the central park. We came across an Ice skating rink and he wanted to skate but I told him that I needed my own skates because I'm not used to rentals anymore so we disregarded the idea. We walked passed tunnels and bridges and a lake that's completely frozen at the moment. Distant sound of people playing music and singing illuminated the whole park and it's the first time I really felt like I was in New York. After an hour or so, my feet finally gave up so we decided to take the subway back to the hotel. Travis was holding the picnic basket for me and I was holding an umbrella because it started snowing. We were almost at the hotel when something happened.

"We need to talk." Jong In suddenly shows up in front of us, his eyes looking apologetic. I couldn't figure out whether I was annoyed that he shows up hours after our said meet-up or relieved that nothing bad had happened.

"She doesn't need to do anything with you." Travis answers back before I could. He held my left arm, causing the umbrella to fall.

"Stay out of this." Jong In's eyes turned to look at Travis with rage.

"She waited for three hours for you." The voice of Travis seemed firm.

"Which is exactly why Aria and I need to talk." Jong In's voice was firm and serious as well. He looks back at me, "Please I need to go right after this."

"You barely have time for her." Travis continues.

"Aria, please." Jong In was only minding me, looking at me. He walked towards me and held my right arm.

I look at both of them. I wanted to know what happened to Jong In that caused him to ditch me but Travis also had a point. Do I still need to know his reason? I sigh. Whatever I'll be saying would probably make one feel like I sided with someone. This is kind of a difficult situation.