Page 15 of Small Town CEO Grump

I opened the door for them and ushered them inside.

Tyler was nestled in between the two of us. He leaned his head back against the seat and sighed. “And now I’m in a taxi,” he said. “I don’t think I can handle any more.”

Jenna and I both laughed.

As we rode along the highway Tyler kept leaning forward to see everything out the windows. At one point I glanced at Jenna and could see that she had the exact same expression as her son. I was so thankful that I got to be the one to help them see New York City like this.

We stopped by the bridge, and when we climbed out, I heard Tyler exclaim over and over again how amazing the view was.

Jenna turned to me, her eyes shining. “You’re right,” she said. “This is absolutely breathtaking.”

“I know,” I said. The skyline was absolutely magnificent, and it was all so peaceful.

“Are you ready to walk across?” I asked.

“Yes,” they both answered.

We walked across the bridge, stopping frequently for Jenna to take pictures. Tyler was in awe of everything he saw, and part of me felt as if I was experiencing this for the very first time

We reached the end of the bridge and Tyler turned towards me. “Thank you for letting us do that, Sir,” he said. “I really liked it this morning, but it was 10 times better tonight.”

“I’m glad you think so,” I said.

We passed by a hotdog cart, and I realized that I was hungry. “Are you guys hungry?” I asked,

“Yes!” Tyler said.

“I could eat a hotdog,” Jenna answered.

“Perfect.” I went and bought hotdogs and sodas for us, and we walked to the subway, eating as we went.

“Normally it’s easier to sit and eat,” I said. “But we want to get to Times Square within the next half hour or so. Right now it is fine for people of all ages to be there, but in an hour or so it’s not necessarily a place where you would want to have your son.”

“That makes sense,” Jenna said. “But you’re sure it’s fine now?”

“I mean, it’s Times Square. There will always be certain things there, no matter what time of day. But right now it will be nothing different than what he would see in the middle of the day. You were planning on taking him there tomorrow, right?”

Jenna nodded. “Yes,” she said. “I’ve done my research, and I know some of what he’ll be exposed to, but we’ve talked about it. So, as long as it’s nothing worse than that, we will be fine.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “Plus, I am tall enough to see way ahead of you guys, so if I notice there’s something that we should avoid, I will get us out of there.”

“Thank you,” Jenna said, once again, giving me that beautiful smile of hers.

“Of course,” I responded.

I led them out of the subway, and then again watched as they took everything in. They both were in awe, with huge smiles spreading across their faces.

“You were right,” Tyler said, turning to me. “You said it would be bright as day even at night, and you’re right!”

“I know,” I said, nodding. “It’s the magic of Times Square!”

Jenna shook her head. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “This is one of those things that you just can’t believe until you have seen it in person. I have seen so many photos of Times Square and people have told me about it, but being here and seeing it - it’s unbelievable!”

I couldn’t help but smile. She was so excited, and Tyler was looking all around, not sure of where to focus his attention.

We walked up and down 7th Avenue, 42nd Street, and Broadway. Once we had seen everything, I knew it was time to get them out of there. The crowd was starting to change, and in just about twenty minutes it would not be at all appropriate to have Tyler in that environment, and I would have felt strange even having Jenna there.

I led them down near the Police Station, took out my phone, and requested an Uber.

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