The AirBnB

Erica and Alicia considered staying at a hotel, but the best they could afford was across the river in Hoboken. Wanting to stay with the action, they were able to find an AirBnB in Greenwich Village for a reasonable price.

The pair exited the terminal with their baggage, and managed to hail a cab.

"Where to, miss?" asked the cabbie to Alicia.

"Uhhh, 94 Greenwich Street," Alicia replied.

"Street, or Avenue? 'Cuz I ain't takin' you on a second trip," replied the driver.

"Street, please," Alicia replied with confidence.

After an hour in traffic, the driver dropped Alicia and Erica off at a metallic-gray four-story building at the heart of the Financial District. After tipping the cabbie and putting their stuff on the sidewalk, the duo just took in their surroundings. Across the street was an imposing 20-story terra cotta building, and the urban canyon continued on both sides. Surrounded by all these buildings with tens of stories, Erica started hyperventilating; the tallest building she had even seen was the water tower of her hometown in New Ohio.

"Erica, honey, everything's going to be okay," Alicia reassured her, "here, let me look at the AirBnB reservation and call them up". A few yards to her right was a subway station that an interminable number of people kept coming out of and bumping into the girls as they stood in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Hey, I'm walking over here!" came one man speaking like a New Yorker would when written by an author more interested in setting the scene than providing realistic dialog.

This all started to constrain Erica, who swiped her white t-shirt off and dropped it to the ground next to them. Now topless, the bottle-auburn beauty started attracting stares and attention from otherwise-jaded onlookers. Still claustrophobic from the big city, she unbuttoned her jeans and zipped them down. Before going further, however, she kicked off her white sneakers. Returning to the jeans and panties, she pulled them down and dumped them on the sidewalk. Now the crowd was going beserk, cameras were flashing, and cars were honking even more than usual. Taking her left sock, then her right, Erica's transformation was complete. In fairness, it did make her feel better, at least in the short term.

"Oh shit," Alicia butted in, "you see how it says 94 A, and not just 94?" pointing to the awning in front of them, "this says we want 94 Greenwich Avenue."

"Is that far?" Erica asked, for the moment forgetting her nudity.

"Seems like it," Alicia responded, "looks like we'll have to take the subway. Good thing there's one right here," while she and Erica descended the staircase.

"Wait, my clothes!" Erica finally came to her senses and ran back to get them. She saw that a homeless man on a bench had taken them and was using them for god knows what.

"Don't worry, Erica, you can use the stuff in your bag," Alicia consoled her as the descended to the subway.