December 31, 2024, 9:00 a.m.
The day started like any other. Jude woke up, got dressed and went down to Mr. Lee’s convenience store for breakfast. There were plenty of other options in the city, but part of him hoped he would bump into Iris while there. That was never the case.
“How are you this morning, Jude?” Mr. Lee asked.
“Oh, the same,” he answered. “I’m finally done unpacking, and I feel ready for the job interview in a couple of days.”
“You know that’s not what I meant, son. Any more headaches?”
“No. I haven’t felt any pain these last few days.”
And that was true. Jude hadn’t had any headaches or nightmares the last few days, no other sleep paralysis episodes or hallucinations either. It had all gone away as quickly as it had started.
“If you feel anything odd, anything at all, don’t hesitate to come to me. My daughter keeps pestering me to tell you to go to the hospital. Who knew you two would meet that same night?!”
“I was just as surprised when she said she was your daughter, Mr. Lee, and Nathan and Angela have been a great introduction to the city.”
“Those two are good people. You stick with them, son.”
“Will do.”
After paying for his coffee and meat-filled breakfast dumpling, Jude left Mr. Lee’s store, and that’s when he noticed how packed the streets were.
New Year’s Eve New York City is not just any day in any city. People from everywhere come to New York to see the ball drop. After a certain time, cars can’t even get around Time Square, and police blockades are put up the closer you get to where the ball drops. You can only pass those blockades if you are staying at a hotel past them or have a reservation to a restaurant past them. It’s mayhem, but the type of mayhem filled with expectation and glee.
People seem more open to chance during this time, more open to taking risks, and New Year’s Eve always brings surprises.
The snow had all melted by now, and the city had done a great job in clearing the streets of the leftovers, so though it was cold, the streets were packed, and cars were running normally.
Jude didn’t have anything to do at that time. He could go back home and wait for the time to leave for the party, but he didn’t want to do that. Instead, he headed for Broadway in search of a specific, and relatively famous bookstore, Strand Book Store.
He didn’t go in there searching for anything specific. Jude just wanted to browse. He liked the sight of books lining up wall to wall, floor to floor. He could’ve gone to a bigger, chain bookstore, but there was something about old, rare books that made him think he would find treasure.
He spent hours there. One of his favorite movies growing up had been The Neverending Story, and for the longest time, he had wanted to find a mysterious book that would have sucked him into the story as well. The idea of fighting evil and saving the world was enticing in its own right, but the movie also showed how painful that fight could be, how losses would be certain. Still, he had searched many bookstores over the years looking for that magic.
This was reality, however, and such magic didn’t exist.
He left the bookstore after those hours not dispirited, but refreshed. It had been something familiar, a return to youth, and in that concrete jungle filled with people and noise, an oasis of peace.
As soon as he walked out of the store, he checked his phone for the first time since that morning. He had a message from Nathan with a picture of bottles and bottles of champagne, a terrace somewhere in Brooklyn, and the address. He had another message, this time from Iris. It said: You better be there.
In the last few days, they had exchanged a fair bit of conversation through text and gotten to know each other better. She would tell him constantly to go to the hospital, but he refused every time. In a way, he just didn’t want to deal with the possibility that his days were numbered. He knew that everybody’s days were numbered, but he didn’t want it to be any more specific than that for him. Still, a lot of things in his future would come down to knowing about his situation, and he would have to know eventually.
Jude responded to Nathan’s text with a GIF of a random man doing a thumbs up, and to Iris, he sent: I’ll be there.
By then, it was past noon, and he was hungry again, so he stopped at a brunch restaurant nearby to eat. He sat alone, and while he waited for his food, he pulled out his phone and read the news.
People everywhere were preparing to celebrate the coming year, and most of the articles were about that, but there were always a few natural disasters: small earthquakes, geothermal temperatures rising, massive cracks in polar ice caps, and weird ocean spirals off in the Yellow Sea.
There were many such articles, but there were no emergency calls from any government, and New Year’s plans everywhere were continuing as planned.
After eating, Jude went home and waited for the time to get ready. He took a nap, knowing full well that he would be up all night that night.
- - -
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
His alarm went off at 6 p.m., and as soon as he woke up, he went to take a shower.
For that night, Jude had picked something more formal: black boots, black slacks, a white button down, a gray vest, a purple bowtie and a black trench coat. It was still freezing outside, so the clothes actually helped keep him warm.
It took him a while to get dressed because he always forgot how to tie a bowtie. He had to pull up a video on how to do it on his phone, and after about ten minutes of attempts, he finally did it.
Jude was nervous. He hadn’t seen Iris since Christmas, and the more they texted, the more he wanted to see her again. He hoped she felt the same.
At about 7:30 p.m., he finally left his apartment and headed for the subway. There were groups of people on the street carrying small paper bags with bottles inside, passing them from one person to the next. New York had an open container law, meaning you couldn’t have open alcohol containers visible, but people got around that by keeping their bottles inside brown paper bags. That way, nobody could tell if they were drinking something alcoholic or not, and nobody asked because everyone knew they were.
On the subway, a group of people that were already fairly inebriated started singing Auld Lang Syne, and while some people seemed annoyed by the noise, there were still those tired people coming back from work or going to work, most of the subway car joined the drinkers in song. It didn’t take long for it to devolve into a constant repeat of the chorus since most people don’t really know the words of the song. Still, the feeling of the New Year was in the air.
The singers and drinkers almost all left the car still in Manhattan, while Jude continued on the way to Brooklyn. When he finally got there and left the subway, he pulled out his phone with the directions to the place from the subway station. It took him about ten minutes walking to get there.
Jude got somewhat taken aback by the building. It was a large, square, two-story building with very nice, large, glass windows at the front that allowed you to see as far into the building as possible. There were people in front of it, all very well dressed in a manner that reminded him of the 1920s, so he wondered if this was a themed party, and if Nathan had forgotten to tell him.
When he walked in, he saw he was in an art gallery. There was art all over the walls, but to contrast the propriety of it all, there was no bartender, and people were pouring their own drinks. It was both formal and informal. Looking around, Jude realized that a lot of the people there were people he had met at the Christmas party, and that’s when a large hand clasped his shoulder.
“You made it!” Nathan exclaimed.
“I did! What is this place?!”
“Well, sometimes, some of us get to have some pretty interesting connections. You see Rain over there? She’s a painter… and her family owns this gallery!”
“Nice! This is definitely not what I was expecting!”
“Well, she’s from old money. Still, we made sure the gallery would be empty. All the art here today is from the people in attendance, so it also serves as a showcase for the lesser known of us. I think she asked her parents to keep them up for a week, before they get their expensive art back up. She does a lot to help the community.”
“I can see. Call me impressed!”
“Anyway, let’s go! Angela is waiting on the roof.”
Jude followed Nathan up the steps, marveling at the building the entire time. The second floor acted as an art studio. There were half finished sculptures and covered canvases all over. The door had a tape across it, clearly marking it as off limits, so up another flight of stairs they went.
When Nathan opened the door to the roof, Jude saw a garden of sorts. There were benches and lights hanging from wooden poles. Again, in screaming contrast to how artsy everything was, there was a cooler with ice and bottles of champagne jotting out of it, and a stack of plastic flutes stood on top of the lid of the cooler, which was on the floor to the side. Looking around further, Jude saw the Manhattan skyline in the distance. There were no stars in the sky because even far away the light pollution of the city made it difficult to see them, but the moon was there, bright and beautiful.
“This is amazing,” Jude let out.
“It is, isn’t it? I love this city,” Nathan said.
“Jude!!” Angela screamed, and they looked in her direction with a start. “Iris is not here yet,” she said. “So, this is me warning you. You seem OK, but we barely know you. Don’t hurt her!”
“Angela!” Nathan tried to stop her from continuing, but there was no stopping her.
“What?! He’s all she talks about lately! You know the last time that happened it didn’t end well!”
“I know. I know… But don’t scare him like that.”
“I just… I don’t want to see her hurt again,” she said, turning to Jude again and adding, “Don’t hurt her.”
It took Jude a moment to register what was happening, and to process all the information he had been given in just that small exchange. Iris had talked about him, so he wasn’t the only one excited for that day. She had been hurt before by someone, and he thought some of that was information he wasn’t supposed to know, at least not yet.
However, to appease Angela, he said, “I don’t intend to.”
He was of the mind that you never knew when you would hurt people, so he couldn’t promise he wouldn’t hurt Iris, but he could promise that he didn’t intend to.
Angela took a breath then, while Nathan was patting her back, and said, “OK. Well, welcome to our party!”
Nathan gave him a smirk at that, and went off to get him some champagne. Angela stayed behind, and they talked.
The party had been going for about an hour and a half before the door to the roof opened again. It was Iris.
She had on a large black faux fur coat that was covering the entirety of her body, but underneath it, she had on a white dress that Jude thought had been pulled straight from The Great Gatsby. It had thin, spaghetti straps and it was all lace. She had a fabric of some sort underneath it to keep it from being see-through. The dress went to a little below her knees, and on her head, there sat a white, bejeweled tiara.
“You look beautiful!” Jude let out, unable to control himself.
“Thank you,” she replied. “Hello. I’m glad you came.”
“Oh! H-Uhmm.. Hello! I’m glad I’m here.”
When Nathan and Angela joined them, Jude left to get Iris some champagne. He came back, and they all talked and danced together. Nathan was clearly more impressive than everyone, but Jude and Iris couldn’t keep their eyes off of each other.
Hours and hours went by, until Auld Lang Syne could again be heard being sung from all directions. People on the first floor were singing it. People in other buildings were singing it. It felt like the whole of New York City was singing it in unison.
It was time for the ball to drop, so the countdown began. Everyone turned toward Manhattan, taking in the skyline, but Jude and Iris turned to each other. While everybody was counting out loud, they whispered the numbers in each other’s direction.
“Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six…” Their eyes focused on each other’s lips. “Five… Four… Three… Two… “ Their lips touched. “One…”
The sky turned red, and Time Square exploded.