Page 65 of If We Meet Again

“Can I just say, and I speak for me and Emily collectively, we are so glad you did.”

“You’ve never told me that before.” Ashley rolled her eyes. “Oh no, wait, you have. At least everyother day.”

“I just want to make sure you don’t go back.”

“I already told you, I am so over that. It took ten months for me to realise, but here I am, newly single and readyto mingle.”

Madison covered her mouth with her hand so the words came out muffled. “You didn’t just say that.”

“Too much?”

“Absolutely.”

Ashley removed her laptop from her bag. “Do you mind if I write whilewe travel?”

“No problem. What are youworking on?”

She turned the laptop towards Madison. The heading read, ‘LGBT+ love in NYC’.

“Cool, do you want to write about my experiences?”

“That would make a very boring article.”

“That’s nasty. True though.” They laughed. “What is it about? Other than the obvious.”

“I start by making reference to the Stonewall riots. Then I go on to talk about the culture in NYC. New York has such a thriving LGBT+ community, I wanted to shine some light on that. I’ve spoken to quite a few members of the community with strong stories about overcoming adversity; it’s all underpinned with diversity in mind, the idea that love finds us all despite what hardships we may have to face. Love always wins.”

“I love the concept. I think it’s great that they want you to write about LGBT+ love, it’s so underrepresented.”

“They told me to pitch something I am passionate about, so I hope they like it.”

“They will. Your writing is so poetic, you always do an amazing job.” Madison pointed to a bit at the bottom of the page. “You should have that as your title. Love always wins. It’s catchy.”

“Good idea.”

The cab fell silent as Ashley’s fingers moved skilfully over the keys. With each new piece she wrote, came a new mound of pressure. After the success of Nancy and Christopher’s story, she had been asked to go and find something similar, so she did. Shortly after that, she was asked to do a piece on dating apps and the controversy. She’d found some entertaining experiences and some scary ones. All in all, it made for a good article. The editor atThe New York Timesasked to see an article of choice, whether it would be published remained unseen, but given the opportunity, Ashley chose to write about the LGBT+ community.

One month prior, she’d cut her hours at the bar by one day to focus on writing. It was a dicey move, but the series of events that followed proved it was the right move to make. The next day, she had the phone call to write her current article. The next week, a position became available for a bar manager and Madison was promoted. She took that as a sign that the universe was letting her know she was on theright path.

***

The plane touched down at San Jose International Airport, California. The time: 2:00 p.m. and the sun was beating down. The decision to wear shorts benefited her greatly now. Alternatively, the beads of sweat could be seen rolling down Madison’s cheeks, her normally pristine hairstyle now curled at the ends slightly.

“I told you to wear shorts.” Ashley eyed the choice of skinny jeans and a hoodie. “At least take yourhoodie off.”

“I can handle thirty-degree New York heat, so I can handle this.”

“Oh, really? You should tell your face that and FYI, you can’t handle New York heat. Just last week you were lying on the apartment floor in nothing but your underwear rubbing yourself withice cubes.”

“That was a very hot day.”

“So is today, you can’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Madison began to peel the hoodie over her head. There was still no sign of Ashley’s dad.

“What time did he say he wouldpick us up?”

“About ten minutes ago. Typical really, he’s always late toeverything.”