Third Chapter

Once the adrenaline subsided and Tate was able to get her wits about her, she looked at the watch on her right wrist and realized that she needed to get to Brooklyn, her day had passed by so quickly, she lost all track of time.  

On the street in front of the Marshall mansion she did what she did when she needed to get there, she hailed another taxi cab.  The pulse of New York City, always right there and ready for you whenever you need, regardless of where you need to go.

"Taxi!" she squeals stepping toward the street, in a slight panic knowing that she's cutting it close.  She knows that the bell will ring in 25 minutes and New York traffic at this time of day can be brutal.  "Taxi!" she yells again, waiving her arm.

As one approaches, she reaches into her pocket book and grabs her cell phone.  She scrolls to find a contact, Stella.  Once she finds it, she composed a text as she slides into the backseat of the cab.  Leaving Chelsea now, please keep Jaxson in the classroom until I get there.  Won't be too long.  SEND

"Poly Prep, Brooklyn please."  she states.

"At this hour?" he asks with a little discontent in his voice.

"A fare is a fare." she makes eye contact with him in his rearview mirror.  "Can you do it or do I need to tip someone else?"

He reaches up and starts the meter.  

Tate kicks back and starts to spread the word that she had just landed the biggest account of her career. She posts it on Facebook and uses the time in the cab to respond to her family and friends posts.  They all know that she is destined for greatness and reading those words of support made her feel like she could conquer the world.  In her mind, she already knows that and when she convinced Chris Marshall that she was the best person for the job that even made her more proud of herself.  She was on top of her world and she wanted those that meant the world to her to share it with her.

Another text, she composes, Hey, can you put a little get together for the gang.  They all worked so hard and they need to celebrate their success too.  I'll call you later.  She sends that off to her partner, Hilde that's been at the office, holding down the fort while she was cinching the deal in Chelsea.  Finally, a moment to gather her thoughts and absorb what had happened in the Chelsea.

"$47.50." disrupts her daydream.

"Excuse me?"  she says, admitting that she had zoned him out.  

"Your fare, $47.50." 

She's a little pissed at that, knowing that he hiked the rate for whatever reason but she reached into her bag and pulled out three 20 dollar bills.  After she hands it thru the hole, she sarcastically tells him to have a nice day.

She has her bags over her shoulder as she slowly sprints toward the enterance of Poly Prep Day School, paying no attention to anyone around her.  She checks the time again.  School was released 25 minutes ago.  Jaxson is probably giving his teacher a hard time, but Tate messed up, she dropped the ball.  She can only hope and pray that she doesn't pay get hell when she gets Jaxson home and tries to get him to tackle his home work.  

She pulls open a door just a few seconds sooner than she should have.  Her sunglasses should have come off before she entered the doorway, but she chose to left them on.  "Excuse me." she mumbles as she passes the little guy that she bumped it, that's leaving with his dad.

"Sorry, we didn't see you."  the dad says, pulling his son closer.  "we're in a hurry, so we're just as guilty."

"It's fine."  she looks back at him as she heads toward Jaxsons, "i'm sorry for walking into your son."

"Ive never seen you here before?  Do you have children enrolled here?"

"I have to get going.  Again, I'm so sorry."  Tate walks away, leaving the man and his son in the doorway.

She goes to Jaxson's homeroom to get him, apologizing for her tardiness.  Stella is cool with it, she needed to work late anyway and Jaxson is the perfect helper to helper.  

With her bags and Jaxsons, she ushers the young lad down the brick hallways, covered in various pictures that kids of all ages created.  It's quiet, with the occasional bump and clang from the cleaning crew.  When she reaches the same door that she entered, she sees the man and his son waiting outside, picking flowers from the flower beds that lined the sidewalks.  Once she's outside, she slows her pace because it's right then and there that she sees who she bumped into.

"You're Jon Bon Jovi." she blushes, feeling like an idiot - she plowed into him and his son and now can feel embarrassment in every ounce of her body.

"This is my son Romeo."  Jon tells her.

Tate smiles down at the young boy, "Hi Romeo, I'm Tate and this is Jaxson."

Romeo and Jaxson laugh, "We're friends."  Romeo confesses, "We know each other."

"You do?"  Jon asks the boys."

Jaxson nods his head, "Yeah, we have a few classes together."

"Gym class, algebra and english."  Romy adds.

Jon steps toward Tate and extends his hand, "Hi Tate, I'm Jon Bon Jovi."

Her girl crush is surfacing.  She shakes his hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Tate Anderson."

"Nice to meet you too.  Has Jaxson been a student here long?"

She nods her head, "Yeah, since day one."

Jon's puzzled by that.  "And I've never seen you here before?"

"He's usually brought home with a car service but I had an important metting and forgot to set it up.  I was down in Chelsea and had to get a cab up here."

"I was in the city too, had to grab a cab to get out here myself."

They stand there for a few awkward moments and Tate could hang out anymore.   "Well, it was great meeting both of you, but I need to get Jaxson home so he can get started on his homework.  Have a good night."

She places her arm on Jaxson, giving him a gentle push to guide him to the cab that has the meter running.  Behind her she hears, "Wanna split the cab?  I'm going down town."  Jon asks, thinking it would be great to spend a few minutes with someone that wants nothing from him and she seems to know who he is, but isn't pissing herself by his mere presence.

She nods, "Yeah, we can do that.  Thank you."

The four of them entered the cab and had a peaceful rude from Brooklyn down to Manhattan.