With her previously scheduled days off confirmed, Allyson texted JC her preferred schedule, and within 15 minutes she got a text from JC telling her when to arrive and to claim her tickets at the window at Union Station.
Between promotion stops, JC played tour guide, showing Allyson some of his favorite sites. Her first day in the city, JC met her at Grand Central Station after his morning promo stop and they started off strong with a visit to the Museum of Natural History and a stop at one of Allyson’s bucket list restaurants, Serendipity.
Following dinner, they were in JC’s room talking and decided to end the night with a movie. Settled onto the couch in JC’s hotel room, he purchased “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” off the TV. They had both seen it when it was in theaters last year, so they could watch and continue talking without fear of missing anything.
About two-thirds of the way through, JC looked over to see Allyson slumped over to the side, sound asleep. He glanced at the clock, it was 11:30. He shook his head and laughed softly.
Quietly, he turned off the TV, looking over again to see if Allyson woke up to the change in noise. Ensuring she was still asleep, he picked her feet up, placed them up on the couch where he had been sitting and moved a pillow under her head. He went to grab the blanket from the bed and covered Allyson gently.
The next morning, Allyson woke up on the couch, startled. JC was fixing his hair in the mirror when he heard her sit up quickly.
“Morning sleepy head,” he said with a smile. “You fell asleep during the movie, so I just got you a pillow and a blanket and let you sleep.”
“Oh,” Allyson said, relaxing. “Sorry about that, but thank you for letting me crash here. I guess you didn’t have to get that extra room.”
They shared a laugh after a split-second awkward silence. “It’s OK,” JC said. “You were out cold.”
Stretching her arms up over her head, Allyson asked about JC’s promo schedule.
“My stop today is at noon, so I’ll leave in about an hour to head over. It’s over in Brooklyn. And then, do you want to see the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building?”
“Oh! I’ve always wanted to go to the top of the Empire State Building.”
“OK, then, that’s what we’ll do and we’ll have to do Tavern on the Green. It’s one of my favorite places here.”
“Works for me.”
For the next few hours, Allyson explored Times Square, while JC visited with fans in Brooklyn. With a bag of trinkets and an order of Carnegie Deli blintzes, she headed back to the hotel to get ready for the day’s adventure.
Half hour? JC texted Allyson on his way back to Manhattan from the signing.
Sure. Im back at the hotel, she sent back. It was about 3 now.
JC went to his room for a quick breather before going down the hall to Allyson’s room.
“Ready?” he asked as she answered the door.
“Yeah, let me put on my shoes. Come on in.”
After making a few stops along the way for some photos, the pair arrived at the Empire State Building, Allyson gawking at the impressive sight.
“Wow. This view is incredible!” she said as they reached the top observation deck of the building.
“It’s like you forget you’re in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world when you’re up here,” JC said.
“Yeah, it’s calm.”
They spent quite a while on the observation deck as JC pointed out different landmarks and spots around the city. It was a clear day, so the view stretched across state lines even. Then, they made their way to Central Park and Tavern on the Green for an early dinner.
“So you haven’t been to New York since you were a kid, even though you were this close?” JC asked.
“No,” Allyson said with a shrug. “New York always seemed so daunting. Any trips we took were to Philadelphia, Delaware or, on longer trips, south to North Carolina or Florida.”
He nodded.
“Not all of us can be pop superstars and travel the country,” she said with a smirk.
“Touché,” he smiled, dropping his head and nodding a little. “That is one thing I am very grateful to have gotten to experience with all this.”
“So thank you for being my tour guide and imparting that knowledge.”
“Absolutely. And I can tell you everything is good here,” JC said, gesturing to the menu. “Lance and I always come here when I’m in town. I would have invited him to meet us, but he’s off doing some appearance or whatnot.”
Continuing to meander through conversation topics, Allyson gave JC an update on the coffee shop and Shannon, while JC elaborated on everything going on with the promo tour, including Erin.
“So she really just showed up and expected nothing to happen?”
“I guess so. She didn’t approach the table, and I think my reaction surprised her.”
“I don’t know why. I would’ve made a scene there at the promo event,” Allyson said.
JC gave her a look. “No you wouldn’t have, but I appreciate the claim.”
“Yeah, OK, I wouldn’t have, but based on what you told me, I think you handled yourself very well.”
“Well, thank you.”
JC looked at his watch to see it was now nearly 6. “By the way, you said you wanted to experience New York, right? How about a Broadway show tonight before you leave tomorrow afternoon?”
“Yeah! Oh that’d be great! I’ve never seen a true show on Broadway.”
“Oh, well, then we definitely have to.”
Grabbing a brochure with the recently opened Broadway shows listed, JC said, “Ah, this is a good one. You’ll get to understand a true New York story – and it won the Grammy for best musical show album. In the Heights. It’s new, just opened last month.”
“Sounds good. I trust you.”
“OK,” he smiled, happy hearing her say she trusted him. “Then, let me call the box office and see what they have for tonight, and then we’ll go back to the hotel, change and get over to the theater. And tomorrow we’ll check off a few more items on your to-see list.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll follow you,” she said as JC handed the signed check to the waiter.
The show did not disappoint, and the music was as good as JC had been told. A few months later, in June, he would not be surprised to see it win best musical at the Tony Awards. It was the perfect introduction to Broadway for Allyson.
JC delivered Allyson to her room saying goodnight at the door as he walked down to his own room. He set his alarm for 9 a.m. the next morning, so he and Allyson could get breakfast and see a few things before she left that afternoon to go back to D.C.
“Thank you for coming up here,” JC said, holding up his cup of coffee to cheers with Allyson. “It was a nice distraction from, you know, what could have been a really awful time.”
“Well, I had the time off, and, y’know, this nice guy offered to pay my way.”
She smirked at him, as he chuckled. “Sounds like a really nice guy,” he said.
“He is a good guy – even better friend.”
JC smiled with his mouth closed nodding his head. Even better friend, he thought.
They didn’t talk about the kiss once while Allyson was in New York, and both had made the same promise to themselves that they would not bring it up. So far it hadn’t changed their relationship, and they wanted to keep it that way.
“While we’re on the topic of friends. Why do you call me JC instead of Josh?”
Allyson was surprised by the question. “Umm… Well, because that’s your name.” She was playing dumb a little; she knew full well only a select few were close enough to call him Josh or C, and she never wanted to assume they were close enough for her to be part of that group.
He let out a soft laugh. “That’s what the public calls me. My inner circle calls me Josh.”
“Wait, so does that mean I’m part of your inner circle?”
“Of course! I asked you to join me in New York didn’t I?”
Allyson laughed a little. “Yeah, you did.”
“So you can call me Josh if you want to.”
Allyson’s smile took over her face. She knew what a privilege she’d just received. “Well, then I guess you can call me Allie. If you want, that is. I mean my family and Shannon are basically the only people who call me that, but I guess that is my inner circle.”
“Well, OK, Allie,” he said with a cute smile, “then let’s finish up here, so we can get you to a few more places and then to your train.”
“OK, Josh,” she said with the smile still plastered to her face.
