New York Minute

Chapter 8

It had been another busy day in Tina and Angie’s introduction to New
York. After two days of amusing themselves because Bette was at work she had taken the rest of the week off and had celebrated by taking them to the Bronx Zoo. As it was the beginning of November there were few crowds allowing Bette, Tina and
Angelica to wander round without any hassle and take as long as they
wanted enjoying the monkeys and the other animals.
The trip back was Angie’s first trip on the subway and she loved that as
well. Getting out at 77th street station Angie clapped when they emerged
up the stairs to see Central Park in front of them
"Let’s walk back through the Park "Bette suggested
Once in the park Tina told Angie she could run ahead as long as she
didn’t go out of sight. This was an offer she did not need to be given
more than once. She hurried ahead of them to explore allowing Bette and
Tina to be alone. Tina took Bette’s hand as they walked along
"It’s hard to think that we have only been here a week "
"It is – it feels longer – it’s been wonderful Tina"
"It has – and she loves it – she has really taken to it here "
"Odd child seems to enjoy the cold "Bette agreed laughing
"I might have said that she was remarkable and smart and loving but I
never said that she was tidy or predictable. She has an independent
streak that I have no idea where she gets it from. "
"She’s wonderful – I love seeing what she makes of things and she never
stops asking questions "
"She might have leant that from her Aunt Alice "
"I don’t think it’s good that she learns anything from Alice "
"Alice is good with her – I don’t always approve of what they get up to
but I know that Alice adores her"
"I don’t want to know "Bette said "What about you – how do you feel
about New York?"
"I love it – I have been here before – on business and with you and
stuff. But you are right that seeing it from Angie’s point of view does
make it different. "
"Which do you think she enjoyed the most – the zoo or the Natural
History Museum?"
"Both "Tina replied "I have no idea whether this love of animals both
dead and alive come from. She doesn’t even have a pet – in fact she’s
never even asked for one "
"What pet would she like?"
"It’s more a question of what we could look after"
"You and I always talked about getting a dog "
"We did "Tina remembered "Maybe she would like a hamster or something "
Bette wondered if it said in her buildings agreement whether she could
have a pet or not. If this dream was to become real -and granted it was
only a few days that they had been together – well – maybe it was
something that was worth knowing for future reference.
"Tina "
"Yeah"
" The marathon is on Sunday so the week after I will need time off to recover"
"Bette – don’t neglect your job "
"Tina – my business is running like a dream. It’s only because I am work
obsessed that I have it the way it is. "