Chapter 54
Jimmy and Jake were excited as they’d never seen the Big Apple before.
“We’ll have to take a carriage ride in Central Park,” Jimmy said.
“You romantic thing, you,” Jake teased.
“So? And I want to go up the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty and—”
“We’ve only got two nights here,” Barry told them. He needed a shower and some sleep, but no doubt his cowboys needed feeding first. Unlike London, Barry knew the best places to eat in New York City. It was too late that evening to get a table at his favorite Manhattan bistro. He made a mental note to call them in the morning. If his men thought he could cook, the food at Chez Matthew would blow their minds.
As if on cue, Jimmy said, “I’m hungry.”
“Jake?” Barry asked.
“I could eat,” Jake admitted. He’d recovered his color soon after throwing up, but had still taken things easy.
“There’re lots of fast food places in Penn Station. We could eat there before getting on the subway if you want.”
“Cool,” Jimmy said.
Jake asked, “You seem to know a lot about New York.”
Barry shrugged. “I’d come into the city on weekends sometimes when I was in college.” New York was an exciting place to visit, but he knew he wouldn’t want to live there. No, give him the open spaces of the Double J every time. That reminded him. He needed to change the SIM on his cell and then call the ranch to check in. What time was it in Colorado?
* * * *
Suitably fed on good ole American pizza and slices of New York cheesecake, they took the E train to West 23rd street station, and it was a short walk to their hotel. Thankfully, the male receptionist didn’t bat an eye when they checked into their room with its sole king-sized bed.
Barry had to give Jake his due—when they reached their room he set his suitcase down and sat on the bed, although Barry noted his gaze did stray to the sliding door of the bathroom.
“Need the john,” Jimmy said, stepping into the bathroom.
Barry sat next to Jake and asked how he was doing.
Jake treated him to a tired smile. “Good, thanks.”
Barry unzipped Jake’s jacket and to the accompaniment of the sounds of Jimmy’s piss hitting the water in the toilet bowl, he enjoyed exploring the solid planes of Jake’s shirted chest. “You’re putting on a few extra pounds,” he observed.
“It’s all that eating and not much exercise,” Jake told him.
The toilet flushed and Jimmy re-entered the room. “What’re we gonna do next?”
“Wash our hands?” Barry suggested.
Jimmy frowned but did as directed.
“What do you wanna do?” Jake asked, getting up and heading for the now-empty bathroom.
Jimmy shrugged. “I guess we’re too late for a Broadway show.”
Barry was surprised Jimmy would want to go see a play. “Could go to a movie though.”
“We can do that at home,” Jake said above the noise of the toilet flushing.
That was true, although they had to travel some distance to the cinema, uh, movie theater. Barry would have to start retraining his brain. “We could window shop?”
“Boring,” Jimmy said, flopping onto the bed.
Jimmy made a face at Barry when the latter turned around to check that Jimmy had taken off his cowboy boots.
“Good boy,” Barry told Jimmy, leaning over to kiss him.
Jake came back into the bedroom. “Is the Empire State Building open in the evenings?”
Barry thought so, but checked the website on his phone. “Open until 2am.”
They headed back downstairs and walked to the subway.
* * * *
It was breezy to say the least on the 87th floor observation deck, but the view was incredible.
“They look like toy cars,” Jake said, pointing through the wire fence down to the street and the rows of car headlights.
“What’s that building?” Jimmy asked.
“The Chrysler Building,” Barry told him. “It was the tallest building in the world for about a year until this was opened.”
They spent about fifteen minutes walking around the platform enjoying the 360 degree panoramic view. Barry was determined to get his money’s worth. They’d paid extra to skip the lines. No way was he standing for hours, not since he hadn’t slept properly in he didn’t know how long.
Barry suggested they go up to the observation deck on the 102nd floor. “I understand that one’s glassed in.” And hopefully it’d be less crowded, too.
His men agreed, although started to object when Barry got out his wallet to pay the extra fees.