Not knowing her way around the city that well, Amy had no idea where Carl was taking her. All she knew was that they had walked a long, long way, but once she saw the green grass and the blooming trees, it was all worth it. They crossed one more busy street and they had arrived. Central Park.

“Whoa.” Slipped out of her mouth. She had wondered if there were any patches of grass in this concrete jungle. Just looking at the park reminded her of home. Suddenly, she felt a small tinge of homesickness. She would do just about anything to be sitting in her back yard curled up with a book. She looked up at Carl and smiled. He too, was now another reminder of home.

“You haven’t been here yet, have you?” he asked.

“No.” she replied. “Pretty cool, huh?”

She nodded her head yes. “Well, shall we?” he asked, motioning his hand towards the park.

“This is beautiful!” she said, beginning to walk again. She took in all of her surroundings. What a unique place. Skyscrapers and apartment buildings surrounded the park; it didn’t fit in with the busy commotion of the city at all. The trees and plants were just starting to bud with the warmer spring weather. It was remarkable. Simply breathtaking.

“So, how do you feel about going to the zoo?” he asked.

“There’s a zoo here?!” she asked, surprised.

He laughed. “Yes. I can’t believe you haven’t been here yet for as long as you’ve been living here.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of the city I haven’t been able to see yet.” She shrugged.

“I guess we have to change that then.” Carl replied.

“Yeah.” She smiled.

They walked through some of the park, heading towards the zoo. Amy was enjoying herself, happy that she was having this experience. She was taking it all in, making sure to enjoy every little aspect of their adventure. Carl admired her, happy to see her so happy. Her smile was beautiful and her laugh was contagious. He was falling for her, hard. And he barely even knew her.

Once they arrived at the zoo, Carl had her wait for him while he purchased their tickets.

“I could have paid for my own.” Amy said as he walked back towards her.

“I know. But then that would have ruined the surprise.” He winked.

“Surprise? Another one? This whole thing has already been a surprise.” She said.

He just shrugged his shoulders and smiled. He handed her a ticket and they walked into the park. They walked around the entire zoo, stopping to see every animal. She hadn’t had this much fun in a long time. In fact, she couldn’t even recall the last time she went to a zoo. She loved Carl’s playfulness. He was like a big kid. He was amazed at everything they saw and made sure to learn something new with each exhibit they walked into. It was endearing.

They leaned up against a railing, looking over the sea lion pool. She laughed as two sea lions swam by, playing with one another. Carl looked over at her, trying so hard to resist the temptation to kiss her soft pink lips. He watched as her hair blew in the wind and took in her sight. Feeling his eyes on her, she looked up to meet his gaze. Shyly, she smiled.

“Thanks for coming here with me today.” He said softly.

“Of course. This has been so much fun.” She replied. She nervously bit her lip as she felt her cheeks begin to blush.

“You hungry? Want to grab some lunch real quick?” Carl asked looking down at his watch. “We have about 20 minutes before our appointment.”

“Appointment?” “Yeah. I told you, there’s another surprise.” “Oh. Okay, yeah. I’m starved.” She replied.

“How does a hot dog and a pop sound?” he asked nodding over to a small food pavilion.

“Sounds good to me.” She replied.

They made their way over to the little booth and ordered their lunch. Carl followed Amy to a spot on the lawn where she sat down in the sunlight. He took a seat beside her and handed her order over. “Thanks” she said.

“So, I must say, I find it kind of odd that you haven’t been to Central Park before.” Carl said, taking a bite of his hot dog.

Amy shrugged. “I know. I haven’t seen Times Square yet either. Or 30 Rock. Or the Statue of Liberty. Or everything else you’re supposed to see in New York.”

His jaw dropped. “Really? Why not?”

She let out a sigh. “It’s… it’s hard to explain. I guess I’ve just been too busy since I moved here.” She lied.

“Well I guess we have to hang out some more then.” He said. “There is so much here that you absolutely need to see.”

She smiled. “I guess I wouldn’t mind that.”

“Good, because I don’t think I want to stop hanging out with you.” he said playfully bumping into her.

He continued talking. Something about the birds they saw earlier. She started to tune him out though. She started to feel a bit of guilt, knowing that if Nate found out where she was right now, he would be upset. The thought scared her. She was afraid to go back home. She wished she could just stay with Carl. This kind, gentle soul. He would never hurt her. That much she knew.

“Amy?” he asked, noticing she was off in her own thoughts.

“Sorry.” She said, shaking her head.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“Uh yeah. Where to now?” He jumped up and smiled. He held his hand out for her and helped her up off the ground. “Well. Now that we’ve had lunch, it’s time for some of these little animals to have lunch too. We’re going to go feed the penguins.”

“What?!” she exclaimed. “No. Way.”

He laughed, happy to see that she was just as excited as he was about this. “Yep! I told you I had another surprise.”

“You are something else, my friend.” He just shrugged.

“I try.”

They walked together to the penguin exhibit and met one of the zookeepers who got them inside. They were each given a pair of rubber boots and rubber gloves to put on. Afterwards, a few instructions on what they were doing. Then they walked inside exhibit.

“Carl, this is so cool!” she said as they walked in. Suddenly a swarm of penguins surrounded them. The zookeeper handed Carl a bucket of fish and carefully watched over.

“Here.” He said, holding the bucket up for her. She grabbed a handful and then bent over to start feeding the birds. “Here you go, little buddy.” She said feeding one of the penguins.

The birds would quickly nip at her hand each time she held out another snack. She couldn’t help but to laugh. This was too much fun. Carl too began to feed the birds; slowly walking around to make sure each penguin got their own bit of food.

“Can I pet them?” Amy asked the zookeeper.

“Sure.” She replied. “They’ll want to be your best friend now that you fed them.”

Amy crouched down and started to pet her new friends. They all stood around her, looking for attention. This was by far one of the coolest things she had ever done. She looked over at Carl and watched him, as he was gentle with the birds. He was having the time of his life. Maybe moving to New York wasn’t such a bad idea after all she thought to herself.

Carl walked back over to the zookeeper and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Would you mind taking a picture or two of us?” he asked.

“Of course not!” the zookeeper replied.

Carl walked over to Amy and she stood up. “Smile.” He said.

Amy moved in closer to him and he wrapped an arm around her. As if it was an old habit, she rested her head on his chest and smiled.

“Okay. 1, 2, 3.” The flash went off. “Perfect.” The zookeeper said. “Let’s take one more.”

Amy smiled again. The heat radiating off his body felt good against her in the cold room.

“Here you go.” The zookeeper said handing the phone back to Carl. “You two look great together.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Carl said, blushing.

“Okay little penguins, looks like feeding time is over!” the zookeeper said.

Amy bent down one last time to pet a few more of them before walking out of the exhibit. “See you later, little guys.” She said.

Reluctantly, she followed the zookeeper and Carl back outside. They retrieved their shoes and made their way out of the zoo. After an afternoon of fun, they headed back towards their part of town.

So many thoughts were running through both of their heads. Amy couldn’t explain exactly what she was feeling. She was happy and scared and excited all at the same time. She knew sooner or later that she would have to tell Carl about Nate… or “her roommate” as she kept referring to him. She didn’t want to though, for the fear of never being to see Carl again. She hoped she wasn’t leading him on, she was trying her hardest not too. It was tough though, there was definitely an attraction between them, there was something there.

Carl on the other hand was certain that he was falling for her. There was so much that he wanted to learn about her. There were so many things that he wanted to do. He wouldn’t overstep his bounds though. He wouldn’t rush into anything either. Not unless she gave him the signs. He had a sense that she was holding something back. She still wasn’t ready to completely open up to her, he could tell. Then again, it’s not like he was telling her the complete truth about himself either. That was going to change though. He had a plan.

“So, heading home or still going to get that grocery shopping done?” he asked, breaking the silence that lasted between them for the past few blocks.

“Oh yeah. I completely forgot about that.” She said. “I guess I should go to the store so that my –“ she started. “So that my roommate doesn’t get mad at me for not getting the laundry detergent.”

“That is pretty important, I guess.” He smiled.

“Yeah.”

“So. Do you have any plans for tomorrow night?” he asked casually.

Amy felt a rush of nerves through her body. Tomorrow night? There was no way she would be able to get out of the house tomorrow night. Not with Nate. Not with the way he was. She wouldn’t be able to get out of the house without some sort of ridicule from him.

“What uh, did you have in mind?” she asked.

Carl could sense her nerves. “Do you like hockey by any chance?”

“Hockey?” she asked. “Yeah. My brother plays.”

“I have an extra ticket for the Rangers game tomorrow, would you like to go? We can cross Madison Square Garden off of the must see NYC bucket list.”

“Um.” She said. “Can I get back to you on that?”

“Um, yeah sure.” He said, feeling defeated. Was he coming off too strong? “You don’t have too-‘

“No, no. I want too. It’s just that I have to see what my roommate is up too, we were supposed to go out tomorrow night.” She said, stopping outside of the grocery store.

“That’s fine. Really, no pressure.” He said.

“This is me.” She said pointing back towards the store.

Carl nodded his head. It was obvious that he was disappointed. He looked down at the ground.

“I had a really great time today, Carl.” She said. “I can’t thank you enough.” She reached over and pushed a strand of his blonde hair out of his face.

He looked up and she pulled her hand back, crossing her arms over her chest. She shot him a sincere smile, which he reciprocated.

“Good, I did too. Thanks for coming out with me.”

“I’ll text you later.” She said. “About tomorrow night, k?”

“I look forward to it.” He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

"Have a good evening, Amy.”

“Thanks Carl, you too.” She replied.

She watched as he walked away and let out a sigh. This was nothing but trouble and she knew it. Yet, there was nothing she was going to do to try and stop it.

____________

Carl grabbed a beer out of Michael’s fridge and cracked it open. He took a long sip, savoring the flavor. He knew he was about to catch a lot of flack from his teammate he called Del-Z, but he just hoped that he could actually have a conversation about it instead. Del-z walked into the kitchen and grabbed himself a beer after setting the pizza box down on the counter.

“So who was that chick earlier, man? What’s her deal?”

Carl shrugged. “I don’t know. But I like her.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Carl replied opening up the box and grabbing himself a slice. “She’s different. She’s a smart girl, she’s pretty – “

“Yeah she is.”

“But there’s something about her that I haven’t quite been able to figure out yet.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Something’s off.”

“That’s a red flag, buddy. Proceed with caution.”

“I invited her to the game tomorrow night.”

“Oh cool, is she coming? Does she have any hot friends?”

“She keeps talking about her roommate. Maybe I’ll let her know she can bring her too. She has absolutely no idea that I play hockey for a living.”

“Yeah, I kind of got that from this morning when I was introduced as your co-worker instead of your teammate.” Del-Z replied.

“But that’s the weird part. Well, one of them. She has no idea that I play hockey. Yet she and I went to the same college and she said she’s a hockey fan. I mean, the hockey guys on campus weren’t as popular as some of the football or basketball players, but we held our own.”

“So your mad that she doesn’t know who you are?”

“No, I’m actually quite happy about it.”

“Well, I’m all for you having a relationship and all, Hags, but don’t get too caught up in it. Don’t let it get to your head.” Del-Z warned.

_______________

Amy danced in the kitchen as she was making dinner. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. Today had been one of the best days she had in awhile. She couldn’t get Carl off her mind. He was truly something else. He was something great. She was trying hard to come up with some excuse to be out of the apartment tomorrow night. Chances were that it wouldn’t even matter; chances were that Nate wouldn’t even be getting home until 1 or 2 in the morning anyways.

Nate.

He was right on cue. The second his name crossed her mind, he came walking inside. She was mentally preparing herself for what might happen next. She said a quick prayer hoping that he would be in a good mood.

“Hey.” He said walking up behind her to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Smells good.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and watched her stir the spaghetti sauce.

“Yeah? Thanks.” She replied. Her heart was beating fast. She wasn’t expecting this.

“How was your day?” he asked, walking over to the counter to go through the mail.

“It was fine, just went up to the store and finished up some laundry. How about yours?”

“It was good. I found out that I’d be getting a promotion next month!”

“Oh yeah? That’s great news. Congrats!” she forced out.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. We can probably afford to get a bigger place too. How does that sound?”

“Really? Wow.”

“I figured you could go check some spaces out tomorrow, if you wanted.”

“Yeah sure.” She replied.

“You seem kind of quiet tonight, everything okay?” he asked.

He walked back towards her and loosened his tie.

“Yeah. Everything’s… fine.” She said. She felt like she wanted to puke. She couldn’t put up with these mood swings. “Dinner’s done.” She walked away from the stove and went over to the other side of the kitchen to open up the cupboard. She pulled out two plates, one for each of them and then walked back to the stove. She loaded them both up with spaghetti and then set them down on the kitchen table.

“You sure you’re alright?” Nate asked.

She nodded her head. “Amy, I know you’re upset about something. I’ve been with you long enough to know when something’s wrong.”

Here went nothing.

“Nate. I’m just concerned about you. You’ve been having these mood swings lately and I never know what to expect from you. It’s scary. It scares me.” She blurted.

She immediately regretted it.

“What?” He asked.

She didn’t reply.

His face started to turn red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said, getting upset.

“This. You’re getting defensive for no reason.” She said.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Just drop it. Let’s eat dinner.”

She let out a sigh. There was no getting through to him. They ate their dinner in complete silence. It was apparent that they had grown apart. It was apparent that she no longer had feelings for this man sitting across the table from her. He was a different guy. He was a bad guy.

When Nate had finished eating, he got up and threw his plate into the sink, breaking it. He walked over to her and stood inches away. “You’re insane.” He said sternly. He walked out of the kitchen and into to bedroom, once again slamming the door shut.

Another night on the couch. Another night where she would cry herself to sleep.

She set her fork down and buried her face into her hands. She couldn’t live like this anymore. She was going to do the things she wanted to do. She was going to live life the way it was supposed to be. She let out a sigh, still holding in her tears and got up from the table. She walked to the sink and started to run the water. She washed a few dishes before stopping to go find her cell phone. With a quick text, she let Carl know that she would join him tomorrow night for the hockey game.