I woke up to my alarm and a cool gray sky. I put on my favorite dress and traveled up to the Guggenheim. It was my first time there. I made my way up and back down the spiral, stopping for an overpriced coffee along the way. It was over-roasted and mostly bitter, no matter how many sugars I added. I chalked it up to all the time going into the museum's exhibitions and not into the coffee, fine by me. I left and strolled down Madison Avenue. I took the subway downtown to the West Village. I stepped into Tea and Sympathy on Greenwich Avenue. I was alone, had been alone all weekend. I was looking forward to a table for one. I sat outside in the brisk January air. I called my Dad, glanced at my phone a moment and settled in to wait for my table of one. 15 minutes later a mass of people exited and seating began for the cold souls waiting outside. The woman next to me commented that we'd all need warm tea for having to wait outside in the cold. I mentioned it was well worth the wait. She was seated a moment later, another table for one. Then I heard her call back out the door, "Are you one? I'm just one if you'd like to sit at my table."
The waitress offered me another table right away but I took the table with the woman I had exchanged words with moments before outside. We liked the same tea (Chai) and settled in to chat about New York, my career, her family, theater and art.
It was lovely to have tea with a woman I didn't know. It was nice that someone else who was looking forward to tea for one happened to share tea for two. It never came up if we had been waiting for someone else, we both just seemed happy to have a table by the window and a shared teapot of chai and scones.
When I first moved to New York I would often get questioned about the people. My tea guest had lived in New York City most of her life and while she traveled and relocated a few times, she always came back. We both related to not having to drive and how you can step into a different museum or cafe any given day and experience something new. I thanked her for asking me to join her, she thanked me for being open to the suggestion. This is my New York City.
Tea had and to be had:
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