Scott wished me a good day and then went to the room at the end of the corridor, where a meeting appeared to be going on.

Ha! Maybe that’s where the private dinners and parties take place? No one would see anybody coming in or leaving the restaurant because the stairs leading to this private room were hidden from the rest. ‘Meet us at 9 pm, go downstairs directly, there’ll be a great party.’ I wondered if Ryan Reynolds would host a private party there.

As you probably can tell, I adore Ryan Reynolds; believe I might, or I am just a little crazy. I do like his movies, though. Their variety. His willingness to try different things, to discover, and to explore. Yah, some of them are dull, but I do find most of them touching. I feel the passion he’s bringing into his characters. That’s what I like. Besides, I have the impression that he’s a humble, interesting and nice man. I mean, come on, he’s been engaged to Alanis Morissette! And then, who’d blame him for having married sexy Scarlett Johansson?

I walked up the stairs and looked if Gabriel was around, but he had disappeared. Alright. So… day… what else will you bring? I was, once more in this dimly lit vestibule, about to hop down the two, three steps that had taken me so much courage to go up. This time, I didn’t almost crash into Gabriel – or anybody else. Instead, I walked straight to the magazine shop to get my copy of Ryan.

As the day continued, I wandered along the beautiful streets of SoHo, strolling from one boutique to the next, paused at a bench, watched pedestrians walk by, and noted down impressions and ideas in my journal. An easy day. So smooth.

‘Where shall I go now? Do I want to go anywhere?’ I couldn’t make up my mind. I wanted to stay longer and take in as much as possible, but then, I was so tired. All these new people, this new part of the city… On previous visits, I’d spent most of my time in midtown. Walking through SoHo, discovering new territory, territory I’d never been to before. Yeah, I really was tired; I had enough and started heading towards the next subway station.

“Hi there! Where are you going?” someone asked.

‘Huh? Who knows me here? Who is talking to me?’ I turned around to see.

“Oh, hi!” It was Scott from the restaurant. “Nowhere, just… walking around,” I replied. He had a smile on his face and a pace in his feet. He for sure wasn’t just walking around. He was going somewhere.

“Enjoying the beautiful day, ha?” my mind was slow to pick up, and then he already added, “Have a good one,” as he waved goodbye.

“You, too,” I said slowly and waved, but he had already passed. Yah, I was tired. It was time to go.

That was one. That was the first time we’d met.