I want to write about New York. And I
will. Eventually. I've come to realize that we never write about a
place, it is without exception that we write about ourselves while
being present, physically or not, at that place..
My three and a half weeks there were
defined by a very unlikely group of three women.
One of them, I knew before going there.
Nikolina. It was her that I was visiting, a friend left over from my
university years. Nikolina always had wavy hair that I adored. I
don't remember how we met, but it must have been an exciting moment
for me, realizing that another hot girl is in the program, surely a
refreshing change from the huge influx of geeks, nerds, and other
strangely named categories. In the years that came and passed by, we
forged an unlikely friendship, at times closer than others. I was
madly in love with her best friend at university, a girl that I used
to go to primary school with, got with at some point, and dumped at
another. It is funny how sometimes the people we think will define
us, pass us by without even leaving a scratch. Even funnier is how
Nikolina had never heard of this, all despite qualifying my failed
conquest as a best friend. Her bridges to keep. Along with the wavy
hair Nikolina had a sunny disposition, a cute albeit slightly crooked
smile, and a phisique a bit too oblique for my taste. The archetypal
„she'd be good in bed“ girl.
She shared a flat in downtown New York
with two other coworkers. A flat in a residential rise among all
those offices with lights that never get turned off. It was almost as
if we were a freak accident, an office building that had just been
laid off, and is now lounging in its pyjamas, too lazy to get up and
start looking for work. Appartment 2501 was a homely place, a place
of serenity and calmness, zehr gemutlichheit. I am still unable to
decide whether it was the people that made it or it was some
unbeckoned feng-shui mastery that was responsible for the prozac
effect it had on me. If I were pressed, I'd go with the people. It's
almost always the people. Let us get back to them.
Bile. Bile was the duo completer. Out
of the three of them, it seemed that Bile and Nikolina were the
Batman and Robin, The Ben and Jerry, the Ketchup and Mayonnaise, they
just seemed to click. The first thing I noticed about her was the
mental strength she was emmanating. There was something in that down
to earth façon of asking and answering questions, as if she had
figured out all of the ones that she might ever have, and is now a
puppeteer playing with all worldly pleasure. Her boyfriend, Toni, was
a permanent fixture in the living room, present via webcam/chat all
the way from Macedonia. I found it slightly disturbing, as noone
apart from her knew when exactly he was scooping in on our
conversations. She had a lean figure and an perfectly formed ass,
seemingly obtained by years of ice skating, that I found difficult to
stare away from.
Her complete opposite was to be found
in Vanja. Vanja was always stressed, it would seem more concerned
with proving herself to the outside world. As any person lacking self
confidence, she was pushing herself to the night-life limits, trying
to drown her fears in an excessively busy life that would give her
some comfort while she figured it all out. Out of the three, she was
the one most similar to me. I think that's why I liked her so much.
Trying to appear calm and confident to the outside world, while
questioning herself all the time. She was small in stature, and had a
kind of masculine short-legged figure, which, along with her gorgeus
younger sister, I'm sure played a huge role in defining her outlook
towards life.
There it is, the duo-trio that I spent
my big apple time with, that became my extended family for three
weeks, travelling with me through all the people I'd met, all the new
experiences, good ones and bad ones. Put together, this conglomerate
made my departure a sombre affaire, causing me to secretly wish I'd
stayed there. At goodbye time, I was told that I'd miss them once
gone, but this was completely superfluous. I already knew it long
before.
