Opened in 1913, this was the gateway to the confident for so many people, so many ideas, and so much culture. Grand Central Station just captures so many people’s imagination in ways almost no other building in New York ever has. It created North Avenue and also created midtown in New York. This is now the biggest terminal in the world. It’s also a building that contains many secrets. Everybody knows about the famous clock facing Park Avenue, but you can also actually climb up to a tiny little room up ladders to access it. About eighty-two million people come through Grand Central every year. But none of this is to very much importance because there’s one particular special spot I’d like to show him.
“Shhh, can you keep a secret?” I ask Elliot as we walk under the vaulted ceilings at the terminal.
We’re each facing a wall opposite of the center in the whispering gallery of Grand Central terminal. It’s an acoustical marble that allows a person to whisper into the wall that bounces across a vaulted tiled ceiling and you can hear the person at the other end about thirty or forty feet away. It’s one of those great secrets of Grand Central Station. We look silly and completely ridiculous, but there’s a trick to these walls. You can spill a secret thinking no one can hear you, when instead; the vaulted ceilings carry the secret across the center to the other wall.
“Only if you can keep a secret,” he mumbles quietly.
I explain to him how to stand and which direction to face for the perfect sound when I quietly say, “I kinda like you,” but really not expecting him to hear me just yet.
I’m oblivious when I hear the words return, “I kinda like you too,” and as I stare at him in shock, he just grins.
It’s way too early to tell him I’m starting to fall for him, and honestly, I’d like him to be first. I’m traditional in that sense. Not always when it comes to love or any of that lovey dovey stuff, but there are some things I’d prefer the man to do or say first.
“So, why are we here?” he’s curious as to why I’ve showed him the station when suddenly he sees the big piano centered in the room. No one is around, the Piano seems to be ignored, but when I bat my eyes at Elliot he knows exactly what my pleading look is for. The acoustics in the building are perfect even with a quiet tune it’ll be heard.
“I can’t,” he tries to argue, but he doesn’t see, he can.
Nodding my head, I sit on the bench waiting for him to join me.
“No,” he shakes his head.
“Yes,” I run my finger across the keys.
“You’re crazy,” he smiles as he finally decides to join me on the seat.
Placing his fingers on the right keys, he starts to ignore the world around him and plays. There’s just something about the way his fingers tap across the keys and such a beautiful sound fills the station.
“Wait, I know this,” I whisper as I listen to him continue to play one note after the other.
He smiles at me not even staring at the keys below. He’s played this song a few times.
“Just for you,” he whispers as he continues to play.
In my mind I start to hum the sound along with his playing when the words suddenly fill my mind – darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own, and in your eyes you’re holding mine.
It’s unmistakably, Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect.”
“Be my girl, I’ll be your man. I see my future in your eyes,” Elliot looks right at me as he plays the tune and sings the words along, he continues the rest of the song in lyrics never taking his eyes off mine. He’s perfected this song.
Holding hands, I observe how in awe he is of the city. He’s never taken the time to really explore. We’re New Yorkers, he says, we don’t need to explore the City. But he forgets, there’s more to the city than the places that all the tourists storm. And one day, he might understand.
“How about a Broadway production?” I ask after I showed him his future home of the Symphony.
“Okay, now you’re just talking crazy,” he laughs.
“Why? You should be interested in that being a musical genius and all,” I smile as we sit in the subway.
“I am, but I can’t afford that kind of date with you,” he looks a bit ashamed.
“Stick with me kid and I’ll show you my ways of getting in,” I grin knowing my best friend has tickets to any production for me.
Tidbit, Isabelle works for Broadway and has ways to get me any ticket I could ever imagine. Hamilton being one I can never tire of watching. But I wonder if Rent would be one of Elliot’s choices. The music just sticks with you, I can sing along to every word.