Page 18 of Meet Me In Central Park

‘I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. The guy who came in to do the inspection said there’s just no money in the budget for projects like this. But Rob, Dannie and Harry are all up in the studio already, seeing if they can come up with a plan. Although I don’t hold out much hope.’ Karly rubbed her eyes. She was going to be the most affected of anyone by the closure. This wasn’t just the place she came to work every day, it was her home too.

I followed Paula and DeShawn up to the studio, and Harry walked over as we came into the room. ‘Was Karly okay when you got here?’ I loved that about him – that he seemed to consider everyone’s feelings. What I didn’t love was the feeling his question stirred up in me. Karly was at risk of losing her home, her job, and the Community Center she loved, and yet a tiny bit of me was jealous of her. Harry obviously cared about Karly, and I knew from Rob that she wasn’t dating anyone. Not only that, she’d be in New York after I was long gone. But I hated myself so much for even thinking it. The schoolgirl type behaviour clearly hadn’t completely gone away, but I needed to give myself a shake. Everyone had troubles and it was about time I realised that sometimes other people’s problems had to take priority over mine.

‘She’s obviously really upset. I think she’s just hoping we can find a solution somehow. I can’t imagine how hard this is for her, worrying that the place she calls home might suddenly not be there any more.’ I slipped my hand into his, all thoughts of holding him at arm’s length temporarily forgotten. The truth was, I had a tiny inkling of how she might be feeling, because the apartment above Candy Cane Lane was starting to feel like that for me. Whenever it was time to leave, I wouldn’t say I was going back to the apartment, I’d say I was going home, and it had been that way since the first week I’d arrived. But, unlike Karly, at least I was allowed to make my own choice. Her home was being ripped away from her. A back-up plan in case we couldn’t save the Community Center had already popped into my head; maybe I could persuade Aunt Dottie to let Karly take over the shop. She’d have the skills and it would give her a place to live, even if the apartment above Candy Cane Lane wasn’t exactly the best place for four pugs to set up home. It was only a few blocks from Central Park, and I’d feel a lot less guilty about turning down Aunt Dottie’s offer if I knew she had someone she could rely on to take over. I was still hoping we could save the Community Center, but if I laid some groundwork with my great aunt, in case the worst happened, at least Karly wouldn’t find herself homeless and jobless in the New Year.

‘This sucks.’ Rob looked up from his phone. ‘I’ve been searching every website I can think of to see if we might qualify for funding, but I just keep hitting brick walls.’

‘Ironic given that a brick wall’s the reason we’re in this mess in the first place.’ Dannie drummed his fingers on the table. It looked like Karly was right; it wasn’t going to be easy to come up with a solution.

‘Maybe we could do some fundraising? We could offer to put plaques up on the wall, for people who know and love the Community Center. Or do a reverse brick sponsoring, and get people who’ve used the services, and who can afford it, to donate.’ I didn’t know if we had a hope in hell of raising enough money, but we had to try.

‘Okay, you’re going to have to explain the reverse brick sponsoring to me.’ Harry smiled and I wondered for a moment what he’d say if I told him about my aunt’s offer to take over the shop. Would he want me to stay?

‘My old firm was involved in a project where staff were asked to sponsor a brick, to build a school in Africa. We all paid a hundred pounds for a brick, and it went towards the cost of the building. They put a plaque up with the names of all the sponsors at the end, and we all got a certificate and a picture of our brick.’ I laughed at the look that crossed Harry’s face, and I didn’t blame him. It did sound a bit ridiculous when I said it out loud. But anything was worth a try. ‘We could get people to sponsor the safe removal of each brick, which they could keep as a souvenir, and put the money towards the demolition of the old wall and making the electrics safe.’

‘I’ve heard worse ideas.’ Harry nodded, and Rob started writing up a list of all the things we could do to raise money.

The rest of the group arrived in dribs and drabs for the art class, and once word spread about the threat of closure, everyone was talking about it.

‘I know we should be concentrating on brainstorming ideas, too, but I’ve been thinking about seeing you again ever since we last met up.’ Harry spoke quietly as we stood in the corner of the studio together, watching Dannie and Rob hold court. They seemed to have taken charge of the ‘Save the Community Center’ campaign and if anyone had a chance of making in happen, it was them.

‘Me too.’ I took a deep breath. With things getting busier and busier in the shop, there might not be that many more opportunities before I left, especially now we needed to help put our efforts into saving the Community Center. Suddenly my attempts to protect myself by not spending too much time on my own with Harry seemed like a stupid waste. Just because it was going to end, it didn’t mean we couldn’t make the most of it. It would have been like Paula cancelling the art classes as soon as she’d heard about the plans for the demolition. Even if the campaign to save it failed, I knew for sure she’d run those classes right up until the moment before the wrecking ball was swung if she could, and I needed to follow her example. ‘In fact, I was wondering if I could cash in that promise for you to show me a New York Christmas.’

‘Just the two of us?’

‘If you think you can put up with spending a whole day on your own with me?’ I couldn’t look at Harry as I said it, so I stared at DeShawn’s kaleidoscope painting instead.

‘Like I said before, it’s what I’ve been wanting ever since you told me about your obsession with The Smurfs.’ Harry laughed. I was never going to escape that one; I’d always be the girl who’d admitted to watching the Smurf movie. But it was okay. I wanted Harry to remember something about me when I was gone, even if it was only that.

9

The food kiosks at Bryant Park Winter Village were an assault on the senses, and my stomach rumbled in response.

‘What do you fancy?’ Harry turned to me as he spoke.

‘It all smells so good, I might need a recommendation.’

‘The pretzels stuffed with Swiss cheese are pretty unbeatable.’ Harry kept hold of my hand as people surged past us on both sides, heading toward the ice rink.

‘Sounds good to me.’ He was such easy company to be in, and I was so glad I’d decided to take up his offer. My time in New York was a bit like looking inside one of the snow globes, but I was actually inside the bubble – for the next few weeks at least. After that, it would just be a memory that I got out every now and then, but could never go back to. I refused to feel sad about the idea, because my time in the city had taught me that there was nothing more precious than making memories. Not even scum-of-the-earth drunk drivers could take them away. The more memories I had of my stay in New York, and most of all with Harry, the better.

I waited while he ordered the pretzels, and looked up at the huge Christmas tree at one end of the ice rink. He was right, New Yorkers really knew how to do Christmas. We’d already been to the zoo at Central Park to see the penguins, and there’d been another flurry of snow whilst we were there, making it feel even more like a scene from a Christmas card. Harry had clearly meant what he said about showing me as much of a New York Christmas as he could fit in on one day, too. After we finished at the winter village, we were going on to the market at Grand Central Station, then for a walk to look at the window displays in all the big department stores, before ending up at the Rockefeller Center, to see what Harry promised me would be the best Christmas tree I’d ever laid eyes on. If he was trying to convince me that New York was special, he didn’t have to try so hard.

‘What do you think?’ Harry smiled as I took a bite of the pretzel.

‘It’s amazing. Honestly, I never knew a pretzel could taste like this. The ones at home are like cardboard in comparison.’

‘I don’t suppose pretzels – even ones this good – could convince you to stay in New York?’

‘Let me get back to you on that!’ I didn’t want to get into a conversation about going home. This was my perfect snow globe day, and reality definitely wasn’t allowed in.

‘So, what do you eat in England at Christmas?’

‘Mince pies, Christmas cake, Christmas pudding.’ I laughed. ‘There’s a lot of dried fruit involved, now I come to think of it.’

‘Maybe I should give that a try. I’ve always wanted to go to England, and Canterbury is definitely on my wish list to visit.’

‘Really?’ I was surprised he’d even heard of the small city where I’d been born and raised. Not that we didn’t have lots of tourists, but, if I’d had to choose between Christmas with a view of the Empire State Building, or carols at Canterbury Cathedral – as beautiful as that was in its own way – there’d be no contest for me. New York had got me, hook, line and sinker.

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