Chapter Text
March 15
I am not sad to see the ocean go. Though you may have wanted me to become a stewardess there is little chance I will now. I will write soon once I am settled down. Send father my regards.
Asuka folded the piece of paper and put it in an envelope. She wrote on the back of it the address of her family’s home and the one of her new apartment that was scribbled on a sheet of paper she held in her left hand then stuffed the letter into her leather briefcase her father gave her and the paper in her skirt pocket. She took in the city that would become her new home that sat along the Hudson River, which flowed into the Atlantic Ocean. Its brick and smoke was similar to where her parents lived and felt oddly nostalgic. It was better than what she imagined the place to be like—she had heard from people around town that Americans were polite and well mannered. They certainly were not all riding horses or living a nomadic lifestyle like her grandmother had said. Just what did she get up to? The ship slowed as it entered the harbour. One of the shiphands threw an anchor over the side and steam howled from the stock. A sudden explosion of sound erupted all around the ship as the crew began working to securely dock the ship. Asuka giggled as she put on her gloves. People began filing off the ship down the ramp latched to the side and she joined them. The captain saw them off and did some form of taking his hat off and nodding his head, shaking a few peoples hands, or helping them cross if they were afraid of falling into the harbour. She held onto her hat as the wind picked up. Around the harbour people were running about, docking ships, and selling fish they had caught previously that day. One man from a stall offered her to buy some but she declined. She wandered around, aware that she had no idea where to go. She pulled out her piece of paper again and sighed as she looked at it. Something began pulling at her side. She turned her head to see what it was—maybe she got caught on something—only to find that a pick-pocket was pulling her wallet out of her pocket. She tried to smack his hand away but he became startled and ran off before she could. Asuka groaned and hitched up her skirt, giving chase.
The pick-pocket was hardly as competent as she would have thought. Everything she heard about them was that they were the lowest of the low but he seemed more like a schoolboy. He was around her age and wore clothes with patches sewn into them. His shoes were scuffed—but the most well kept part of him—and his hair was matted. He climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and looked back at her. He crouched down.
“You must really want this, missy,” he said. “I ain’t never seen a girl run in heels this far for a wallet.”
“Then are you going to give it back?” She gritted her teeth.
“Nah, just know you won’t be able to climb up here.”
“My, how cocky.”
“My, how naïve,” he mocked. “See ya!” He jumped to the next rooftop and continued on his way. Asuka stood there at the bottom, dumbfounded. Was everyone this weird? She rolled up her sleeves and lifted herself up onto one of the crates stacked next to the building. She grabbed the edge of the roof from on her tippy-toes and pulled herself up again before rubbing her sore arms as she continued chasing after him, cursing under her breath.
Hearing the sound of clattering roof tiles, the pick-pocket turned his head and jumped. He lost his footing and tried to regain his balance, flailing his arms out. Asuka grabbed hold of one of his arms and pulled him onto the roof. She bent over, panting.
“You idiot. Just give me my wallet already,” she said through breaths.
“Geez, okay. Since you won’t give up,” he pulled her wallet out from his coat pocket and handed it to her. She started flipping through it. “Don’t worry, I didn’t steal anything,” he crossed his arms.
“Yeah right, I know how yo-“ she stopped. Sure enough everything was where it should have been. Out of the corner of her eye she could see him smirking. She cleared her throat. “If you had I would have blown a fuse. Not what I need when I have just arrived,” she put the wallet back into her pocket.
“Yeah, what’s a prissy Frenchy doin’ in good ole New York? Didn’t like the castle?”
“I do not have to answer that. Cannot say I enjoyed whatever this was. If you will excuse me.”
He gestured with a slight bow. “After you princess.”
She rolled her eyes.
Stepping back onto the main street, she took a deep breath in. It smelt…musky, lovely.
“Wait! You don’t wanna go there,” the pick-pocket yelled.
Asuka turned around with a huff. “You should have told me beforehand then.”
He shrugged. “You were focused on other things,” he walked over to her. “You should take this alley down to the other side, then a left when you get back to the street.”
“Oh,” she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and thought for a moment. “Do you think you could show me where 1917 7th Ave is?” She showed him the piece of paper.
“From where you’ll get out, turn left and it should be on your right,” he answered. She turned to leave before doubling back towards him. “Um, you gonna get going?” He asked.
“Once I leave what will you do?” She asked.
“Probably get some food from a fancy restaurant. What do you think?”
“Then would you like a job? You don’t have to take it but here’s my card,” she took out a business card from her skirt pocket.
“You keep everything in there?”
“If only.”
“What’s in it for you?”
“Nothing honestly. I will have to teach you how to use a typewriter, how to write and read. Quite a few things that will cost me time and thus money. The only thing I will gain is an easy employee and a happy feeling inside.”
“You mean one you can easily threaten.”
“If you want to see it that way.”
He rolled his eyes. “If I take it will you leave?”
She nodded.
“Fine,” he snatched the card from her.
“Well, au revoir,” she walked down the way he had suggested.
Asuka breathed in once she was outside her new residence. Walking around the ground floor she imagined where a reception desk, potted plants, and chairs would go. She was having such a good time planning that before she knew it the sun was setting. She gathered her briefcase she left by the door and went upstairs. Having a single, measly lightbulb was better than nothing but it was certainly going to be something she would have to get used to. Maybe later she could get another one. The kitchen was the living room and her bedroom was cramped. She took off her hat and hung it on the rack next to the door then collapsed onto her rickety bed at only seven in the evening.