Unsettling.
Disorienting.
And loud.
So fucking LOUD.
1
ALEX
Hoonk!
“Let’s move!”
I glance up from my phone just in time to see my driver shove his fist out the window and flip off the car behind us.
“Fuck off!”
The guy behind us lays on his horn for a solid five seconds, no sign of mercy.
You gotta love these New Yorkers. Five o’clock rush hour, bumper-to-bumper traffic, cursing and chaos—what’s not to love?
I pocket my phone and unbuckle my seatbelt. “I’ll get out here,” I tell him, seeing that my destination is only a block away. I’d much rather walk than sit in this gridlock.
“Eleven dollars,” he states, honking in quick bursts, gesturing for a motorcyclist to slip in and join the parade of mayhem.
I slap a twenty in his hand and step out—narrowly missing a cyclist who zips past just shy of clipping off my knee.
Fuck, that was close.
I push my hand through my hair. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets taken out. Everyone in this city is always in such a goddamn rush.
Including myself.
I pick up my pace, for no other reason than to fall in step with the chaos—because that’s just how it’s done here. This is New York, after all—the city that never sleeps.
And apparently, neither do I.
Eventually, I reach the crosswalk, only to shoulder my way through at least eleven professional texters and three street performers before I finally land at my destination.
Frustrated, I rake my hand through my hair again.
Okay, Alex. Not a big deal.
Except that it is because now I’m talking to myself.
Unfuckingreal.
I exhale hard through my nose, shake it off, and keep walking.
Then something catches my eye.
I glance to my right—and freeze.
The chaos of the street fades behind me as I take in the grand entryway of Bourbon Bar. Towering at least twelve feet tall, the door alone makes a statement. The building itself? Equally impressive. Slender windows and sleek sconces adorn the front of the shiny black-painted brick, like it was pulled from the pages of some moody design magazine.
Bourbon Bar is written in elegant cursive, painted vertically along the brick beside the door. It’s downright stunning.
