“Bye guys!”

I scurried down the worn steps of the converted studio building and pushed open the door, stepping out onto Fifth Avenue. I had been up since the crack of dawn to make it to my technique class, so the empty, quiet street I had left hours before had been transformed. New York was a big city of a different variety, so I was just now getting used to the way the streets filled with honking yellow cars, the shouts of hobos on the street with hands reaching out for a coin, the snippets of conversation pressing into my ears and bodies everywhere.

I made it to the next street corner and started scanning, my eyes peeled for food sources. My gaze brushed over a figure I recognized and I doubled back. My heart leaped just as the signal lights were changing. I needed to cross the street, I had to make sure. A nervous sweat sprouted on my forehead, my fingers shaking. The man turned.

I caught a glimpse of those eyes and I knew.

That was him.

James.

I ran the rest of the way, breathless, “James!”

His arms opened just in time for me to collide into them.

The words from our last conversation had left my mind because I was helpless under that gaze, the sensation of those lips. God I missed him. My body had longed for his. All the mourning I had done could have been reversed in that one moment. “H-how did you find me?”

James was smiling down at me, his eyes red too. “Neil gave me the details.”

I shook my head, questions bouncing around, but the words getting caught. “How-... what….”

We both laughed and then he said, “I turned down the company.”

My eyes widened. “What?” My heart was racing. “What does this mean?”

James threw his hands up. “Anything, really. I don’t have to own that company. I don’t have to stay there to fulfill my parents’ vision. That was their way. It doesn’t have to be mine.”

“So, what are you gonna do?”

I couldn’t let go of him.

“Well, currently, I’m drawing up a business plan to start a small firm that will focus on young business-people, teaching them how to use their money.”

“So giving them a voice, but financially supporting them.”

James was beaming. “Yes.”

At that, I heard a whistle behind me. I turned to find a horse-drawn carriage coming up. “What- ….”

“Perfect timing.”

My gaze shifted from the brown horses to James’s smile. “Wait, are you serious? You planned this?”

He nodded, holding out his hand to help me get in the carriage. As we set for a path directly into Central Park, I thought of something. “I have class in an hour.”

But he just smiled at me. “I won’t let you miss it for the world.”

I couldn’t stop smiling as those horses pulled us towards the park, the sound of their hooves mixing in with the kids playing into the distance, the leaves brushing against each other in the wind. And something else--- silence, sweet silence. I had been told about the wonders of Central Park, but had never been able to go because of my dance schedule.

Finally, James spoke. “I didn’t just take you out here for a joy ride.”

I chuckled. “Oh really, I thought carriage rides were just your thing.”

James laughed. “I needed to set the scene.”

“Okay?” I looked at him, watching as his eyes went distant. He started fidgeting.

“You see, I have this thing in my pocket.” He started rummaging.

I had an idea, but I would never dare let myself think of it.

“And it’s just been weighing on me because it’s so heavy. I was just wondering…”

And there it was, a black box.

“…if you could take it off my hands.”

He opened it.

I only glanced at the ring; the oval cut, the rose gold band. But I gazed into his eyes, seeing the genuine love behind them.

“Will you- …”

I couldn’t let him finish, the word bursting out of me as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Yes!”