- Chapter 8
Liz could hardly hold back her excitement over seeing Harrison. As Bella and Ricardo joined her walking off the plane, Liz sent a text to Harrison to tell him they had just landed. Only a few more minutes and she would have her arms wrapped around him again.
“Hey, I need to use the restroom, wait for me,” Bella said as she walked off and left Ricardo and Liz standing there.
Bella was in the restroom for at least ten minutes and Liz was about to go after her when she finally reemerged. Liz was exhausted and just wanted to get back to her apartment and get some sleep.
“Did you fall in?” Liz joked as they all started walking toward the baggage claim area.
Liz looked back to see Bella whispering in Ricardo’s ear. Liz stopped and waited as the two of them continued on with a full whisper conversation.
“Oh, sorry Liz,” Bella said as she noticed Liz standing there waiting for them.
“It’s like you two are purposely want me not to see Harrison. Let’s go.” Liz kept moving down the escalator and toward the baggage claim area.
Liz looked back on the escalator and saw Bella and Ricardo making out as they moved down toward the baggage area. She stood there and waited for them to get done and continue walking.
“Sorry, Liz,” Bella said again.
Liz continued walking down the long walkway toward the big open area by the baggage claim. This part of the terminal was huge and Liz looked around to try and find Harrison. He had said he would be by the baggage claim. But really there was like a dozen different baggage carousel areas.
“Do you know where Harrison is going to meet us at?” Liz said to Bella as they walked toward the open area in the middle.
“Bella, where is he meeting us?” Liz said again as she turned to look at Bella and Ricardo, who were probably making out again.
When Liz turned around Bella and Ricardo were not there. They had totally disappeared. Probably off to make out in a corner somewhere or something like that. Liz decided she would just have to meet up with them later. She was determined to find Harrison.
Liz sent him a text: “Where are you? I’m here.”
Harrison responded: “Be there in a second.”
Just as Liz read Harrison’s text, a homeless man walked right in front of her. She wouldn’t have thought it was odd except he was carrying a big boom box and people just didn’t carry those anymore. Especially men who were homeless.
His dirty trench coat was dark and hung down almost to the ground. His hair was messy, but his face was surprisingly clean. Liz watched as he walked right up to her and set the boom box down.
She stopped.
What was he doing? Liz looked around again for Bella and Ricardo, but there were nowhere to be found. She took a step back and was about to walk around the man when he pressed play and looked up directly at Liz.
She couldn’t just leave now. Liz decided to stay for a minute and she would give him a tip if he were going to do some sort of trick. That was pretty common in New York and Liz liked helping out when she could.
The music started playing and Liz instantly knew the song. It was one of her favorite by Bruno Mars ‘Marry you’.
The homeless man started to sing the song. He was really good. Liz couldn’t believe how good he was. He stood there looking right into her eyes as he sang through the first chorus of the song.
Then something amazing happened.
Liz saw three young women come in behind the man for the next part of the song and they started to dance and since with the song. The homeless man ripped off his coat and started to dance with the girls also.
As the song continued to play, Liz looked around again for Bella and Ricardo. She couldn’t believe they were missing this awesome street show. These people were really good. Liz looked through her purse for her wallet so she could find some money to give them. It was amazing how synchronized they were with each other. They really must have practiced a lot, she thought.
As the song continued to play, Liz saw a crowd starting to form around the group of performers. Liz looked at them and then back at the performers.
The song moved into the next verse and another group of people from the crowd joined in with the first three girls. Liz looked at the new group of about eight men and women and then back down at the boom box.
The song was at her favorite part, the chorus rang out, “It’s a beautiful night, we’re looking for something dumb to do…hey, baby, I think I wanna marry you.”
Wait a minute, what was going on here?
Liz looked around again for Bella and Ricardo. They were still nowhere to be found. Two of the dancers came up to Liz and grabbed her by the arms and led her toward the middle of the terminal. She looked around as everyone continued to dance.
This was a flash mob!
Liz stopped and tried to take everything in. This was a flash mob for her? Why? What was going on?