The summer I fell in love in— I mean, with NYC

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCF chapter.

“I met him in New York City.”

Isn’t that how most love stories start? A small-town girl takes a summer trip to the “City That Never Sleeps” and meets a boy in a diner and they spend every waking moment together. They fall in love and she moves there to be with him (she’s always wanted to live there anyway). And they live happily ever after.

This isn’t that kind of story. Well, not entirely. I did go on my dream trip to New York City this past summer and I did meet someone who changed my life. But the ending of this one consisted of me crying on the plane ride home and us having to face the reality of our very different lives.

But if you know me, you know I tend to process (and romanticize) things through writing and sometimes blatant oversharing. So, hopefully, my retelling of my romantic escapade in the big city will help me cope and help you realize sometimes amazing things may be just around the corner.

The Intersection

Standing on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 83rd Street, I saw his smile through the window of an old-fashioned diner. This bustling street crossing was home to a restaurant my uncle had on his travel bucket list and the start of my story with the boy from the Upper East Side.

I immediately felt butterflies in my stomach when I stepped in the doorway and his eyes met mine. We were seated at his table and it was all I could do to keep from blushing. Up closer, I could see his eyes were a soft shade of hazel green that reminded me of the trees I had looked at in awe earlier that day in Central Park. 

I tried to keep from staring, but he kept catching my glances. I was surprised by how I was acting because I had not felt this way for someone in a long time. It wasn’t very often I overtly crushed on someone or felt such an intense attraction. Since this sensation was so rare for me, I knew it meant something.

Overcome with the feeling I had to do something, I asked to borrow a pen and scribbled what was in reality a very embarrassing note that he would (surprisingly) end up finding very cute. At that moment, I didn’t know that by putting that napkin in his hands, I would be changing the course of my trip, and my life, forever. 

Of course, I had to run out of the restaurant right afterward. I paced outside, flushed with anxiety and embarrassment, while my family lingered at the cash register. Through the same window I first caught a glimpse of him, I saw him walk up to my grandma and uncle, with the biggest smile on his face. 

Turns out he felt the same way when I walked in and he was assigned to wait on us. He texted me and said he would love to take me to dinner and show me around the city. Against my typical tendency to shut down at the idea of giving a guy a real chance and being so scared to go anywhere with anyone, something inside urged me to say yes.

And so, hours later, there he was, standing outside of my hotel, near the corner of 34th Street and 8th Avenue, wearing his brother’s Yankees baseball shirt and the same smile he couldn’t keep off of his face at the restaurant. 

We immediately clicked. We skipped over any awkward stage or sense of hesitation and dove head first into what would be the most memorable few days of my summer. Over dinner, we talked about everything from our passions, our hobbies, our family, our dreams to what our favorite drink was and what music we liked. Though our lives couldn’t be more different, it felt as if we were the same in some way.

We then rented electric bikes and rode them through the city, weaving in and out of midnight traffic under the lights of Manhattan. Down by the Hudson River, we sat together on a bench and as he asked me to tell him more about myself, I looked into the eyes of someone who I had just met but felt like I’d known my whole life.

I was in shock. I never thought anything like this would ever happen to me. I couldn’t believe our paths had intersected in the way they did. The probability was so slight, yet it still happened.

The Bond

The next day I woke up smiling. I couldn’t tell whether it was from waking up to a breathtaking view of the city from the ninth floor of our hotel or the thought of him. I like to think it was a little bit of both.

Either way, I could feel my love for the city growing and I finally understood the unexplainable draw I had felt since I was younger. For the first time in my life, I felt like a truly belonged somewhere while walking those streets. My connection to the city and the people there was overwhelming and I knew it was where I was meant to be.

He took me and my family on a ferry around sunset that night. I put my head on his shoulder as we watched the evening sun paint the backdrop of the city skyline, which I had only seen in photos until right then. The depths of his eyes shined golden from the glow of the dwindling sunlight and the shared realization that nothing could be more perfect than the moment we were in. 

After going to dinner and wandering Wall Street, we took the subway to get my family back to the hotel. Sitting on those infamous benches with our legs slightly touching made me realize there are so many things in life that are easily missed. We sat in peaceful silence, soaking in each other’s presence, and I wondered how many people had felt this way while sitting in the exact spot we were right then.

After we parted ways with my family, he showed me some of his favorite places and told me stories from when he was younger. We walked hand-in-hand, with one of my favorite songs playing in the AirPods we were sharing. We danced in the street as light drops of rain started to sprinkle around us. He spun me around and pulled me close, hand around my waist, just as I had seen couples in the city walking together.

I thought for sure I was imagining it, but the touch of his lips against the back of my hand reminded me it was real. I guess I should’ve never expected anything less from the “City of Dreams.”

He told me he had never bonded with someone like this before and was shocked at how he was able to open up, as he typically found it difficult to let people close.

Little did he know, he had put into words exactly what I was feeling. I thought back to the distinct feeling I had when we first met in the diner when I immediately knew there was going to be something more between us.

Call it fate, divine timing, the butterfly effect, the invisible string, or whatever you believe makes up the fabric of our lives, but it was surely unfolding right before my eyes. I had no doubt our connection was inevitable, inescapable, and indescribable.

The Sunset

But the fairytale didn’t end there. Our last night together was just as surreal, though slightly subdued by constant reminders that our time was running out.

Despite our shared fear of heights, we went to the top of his building and looked out over the edge into the city’s most densely populated borough, Manhattan. This was something I never thought I’d get the chance to do. But there I was, wearing his hoodie, watching the sunset from a New York City rooftop.

I dreaded what was to come after the last glimpse of the sun disappeared behind those skyscrapers, since our time was fading away just as quickly. It wasn’t until later I realized the symbolism of our last sunset together. Nothing, not even longing or the pangs of missing it, can erase the memory of a sunset or the beauty it creates.

The same is true of relationships when it’s sourced in genuine connection and love (whatever type it may be). And we’re so fortunate to have an opportunity to experience such a beautiful phenomenon. And just as sure as the sun will set tomorrow, that feeling is bound to return to you at some point. It showed me that, sometimes, endings can be beautiful, too.

At that moment, however, I was swallowing back tears. I resolved to push aside the impending emotion and dread so I could make the most out of our last few hours together.

But that didn’t last very long. I was soon crying in his arms and then in the embrace of his mother, who I had just met hours earlier. She went from showing me baby pictures and speaking to him in Italian about how much she liked me to comforting me and telling me I was welcome back anytime.

While the night was filled with many tears, the amount of knowing smiles, meaningful glances, pure laughter, and the whispered words we shared outnumbered them.

He pushed back his plans several times just to spend a few more minutes with me. But the moment we were both dreading still came. I can still feel his fingertips brush my arm as he turned away to walk out of my hotel lobby, his warm eyes meeting mine one last time as the elevator doors closed.

The Remembering

The unbearable sense of emptiness made going home difficult. I could feel every inch of the 1,082-mile expanse between us as soon as my plane touched down in Florida. And the distance only grew from there. I wanted to take what we had back with me, but through sad eyes and a pained smile he had said something to me I’ll never forget:“What happens in New York, stays in New York.”

I was crushed by those words. I was struggling with our parting for quite some time. But then, out of nowhere, someone I didn’t know requested to send me a message on Instagram and said that the article I had written almost a year ago about how loving someone is never a waste changed their entire perspective on relationships.

This made me go back and read my piece, viewing our situation with a whole new outlook. I realized this mindset remained true and every moment spent with him was meaningful, even though our time was so short.

There is so much I learned from this experience about myself and relationships. In the three days we spent together, I was treated better and cared for more than I was in my three-month situationship from last summer. And I have so many beautiful memories I will never forget.

Not only had I finally made it to the city I had always wanted to see, but I had shared it with someone who made it even more special. And maybe it’s a good thing our perfect story stays in the city where it all started, untainted by the harsh nature of the reality of our lives or a long-distance relationship.

My experience with him showed me there is much more in life than I could have ever imagined. I never thought something so perfect could happen to me, or that the type of love you only see in movies exists (whatever type it may be).

Moral of the story, I’m so glad we met even though it makes this part hard. The pain will fade with time, but the memories never will. I’ll never forget when his birthday is, or that he wants to be a pilot, or that he picks at his nails when he’s nervous, or that he walks unbelievably fast, or that he wants to have either two or three kids.

Everything about him and our time together will be forever engraved on my heart. I’ll always remember those nights spent under the lights of Manhattan, holding the hand of a boy I had just met but felt I had known for a lifetime. 

And who knows? My dream to move there may finally come true one day. I’m sure whatever force drew us to each other in the first place in a city of over 8.8 million people will find a way to intertwine our paths again.