The New York Saga...Part Six

"Brooklyn's Finest"

Personally, this is my favorite story (aside from "Cats on a Plane" and "Bed Bugs")...

Our last appointment of the day on Tuesday was in Brooklyn, NY, specifically in "Polish Town".

The "simple" act of getting from Manhattan Island to Brooklyn is a nightmare if you are not a "true" New Yorker (take the "L" to the "G" and the "G" to Greenpoint Avenue....huh?)

A 40-minute travel and we were in Brooklyn. We hopped off the subway and it was as if we were in another world, very different from bustling Manhattan Island. We began to walk just a few blocks when we stumbled upon the street where our next appointment was located. The directions I had written down mentioned the "old Grammar school"...Greg and I spotted a church and next to the church (in the same parking lot) there was an older "school" looking building. We assumed this is where we needed to be. My directions also indicated that we should walk to the back parking lot and ring the bell on the back door...

...so we walked around the back of the building to the parking lot and found the door...but no bell. At this point of the day I was exhausted, I had walked a bazillion miles in my super cute silver 3-inch stilettos (what the heck is wrong with me?), I couldn't feel my feet and my portfolio felt as if it weighed a 1,000 pounds. I looked at Greg, "do you think this is it?" ...of course Greg thought that was the world's dumbest question, "how should I know? I've never been here!" (ummmm, yeah, but you're the grown up here and you're supposed to know...)  ;)

I turned around and scoped out the surroundings. It was dark, cold,  and we were completely boxed in by a tall privacy fence. There were three cars parked in odd places and absolutely no sounds other than the clicking of my heals on the rough cement...and  my heart pounding because at that point all I could think about was that I was in Brooklyn, NY in a place I have never been, in a dark, cold alley and if somebody tried to kidnap me, nobody would EVER KNOW!

As I turned back around, I spotted a door with a bell at the back of the church that shared the parking lot with the school building...

Ahhhhhhhhhh......church.....I was saved! As I begin to walk towards the door, Greg started to walk in the opposite direction, out of the parking lot...

I rang the bell on the door and a loud buzzing sound rang in my ears and with a click and a snap, the door was opened. "Greg!" I yelled, "look...." Greg turned towards me from the far end of the lot and yelled back, "go ahead, go in...."

.....so I did....thinking that Greg was right behind me....

....There I was, walking down a long, long, long, dark hallway. There was a door at the end of the hallway with light coming out from beneath....my stilettos tapped the linoleum floor and echoed around me. You know that scene from "Poltergeist"???....yeah, it was like that.

....I turned to look behind me, "where is Greg???"...my palms were beginning to sweat and my heart was racing...."where am I?"

I reached the door at the end of the "tunnel" and I turned around once more, hoping to see Greg behind me...no such luck. I grabbed the doorknob and the door flew open and I stumbled my way inside....

...there in front of me sat a priest, (black suit, white collar) and sitting in two chairs in front of his desk were a man and a woman, obviously receiving some sort of counseling (um, can I sit in too?)...

....all eyes were on me....the priest spoke to me, "Yes? May I help you?" Nervously I answered, "Um....is this Church To The Aid In Need?" (don't judge, that's really the name of the prospect I was searching for)...

The priest replied matter-of-fact, "they are across the street in the old Grammar building, just ring the bell at the back door."  ...."Yes, um, you see, there isn't a 'bell' and the door is locked...." I felt like a complete idiot...and where in the world was Greg????? The priest looked over to his right and there, behind a glass window sat the church secretary, "Mary" (aw, what a coincidence) "call up to Michael and let him know someone is at the back door"...(admittedly when he said Michael, I pictured John Travolta with angels wings).

"Thank you", I smiled and bowed out, allowing the couple to reconvene.

As I walked back down the long, dark, cold hallway I couldn't help but be frustrated with Greg...where was he??

I exited the back door and was fully prepared to read Greg the riot act but as I looked around...Greg was no where to be found... OH MY GOSH....Greg's been kidnapped!! He will NEVER be found! I don't know where I am!!! I need him to be on this call with me, I'm too tired to think straight!! What do I do???? Dang, my shoes are KILLING me, but they sure are super cute!

I yelled Greg's name, "GREG????????"

Just then Greg appears from the front of the building and comes strolling up the parking lot....

"Um, hello, McFly???????!!!!  Where have you been? I just about met my death when I walked in on 'Michael Corleone" and some troubled couple and you were NO WHERE TO BE FOUND!!!!!!"

It's in moments like these that Greg just looks at me with a "who-are-you-and-where-did-you-come-from?" expression.

Finally, Michael showed up and he opened the door...

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, relief for my aching feet and defeated body! And then Michael (whom I was meeting for the very first time and was so excited about talking with him) squashed my sense of solace....

"Hello, I'm Michael. I'm sorry, there's no elevator in this building and my office is on the fourth floor, we will have to walk the steps...."

My jaw dropped and my shoulders sank....

Turns out Michael did NOT have angel wings....(but his hair was incredibly awesome)!

*As a side note, Greg claims that he was "looking for the front entrance" when he was no where to be found... But I know that he was just as scared as I was and he was using me as the "scare bait" and hiding in the bushes...