*** i have officially changed the main character's name to Mia. sorry if you liked violet! i just really prefer Mia and i also think it works because mia stands for missing in action and she basically is lol***

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 mia

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After we had climbed all 300 something stairs at the Statue of Liberty, Harry insisted that we ate out in the city at some underground pub that he knew about. It sounded a bit shady to me, but he kept reassuring me that we weren't going to get mugged or anything.

Since we couldn't walk to this pub without Harry being attacked by people on the street and we couldn't maneuver a giant bus through the narrow city streets, Harry had found a cab service and called one that picked us up.

The first thing that I noticed was how this cab was a sheer black color and much cleaner than your average taxi, which basically told me that this was some famous person taxi service that wasn't available to all of us average people. Nonetheless, hopping into the leather, heated backseat made me feel special.

"So how did you stumble upon this secretive pub, then?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"When I first came to America for promotional stuff at the age of seventeen. Only a year younger than you." He smirked down at me, feeling superior.

"I'm almost nineteen." I reminded him.

"Right." He chuckled. "I was seventeen and we were staying with some guys who were going to be working with us, producer guys. And they were from here, so they know all of the best places. They took us to this pub and it was the first restaurant I've ever been to in this country."

"Interesting." I mused, peering out the window and admiring all of the large buildings and masses of people. I had been to NYC millions of times before, and each time I would always be fascinated at how everything worked- such a fast pace lifestyle.

From my small purse that I had with me, I heard the ding of my cellphone. I hadn't checked it all day long, simply because I didn't want to be bothered by people I didn't care about, but now that I had some time I decided to look down at it. That was my first mistake, because I knew that all of the emails were going to be from people I only knew from my father- people who didn't care about my well-being at all, but wanted in on the gossip.

I ended up deleting the majority of the text messages, apart from the ones from Matthew. They all included a string of curse words and insults and plenty of other things that I wasn't aware he was capable of saying. I sighed and rubbed my temples in frustration as I thought of something to say back to him.

What made me sad about all of the messages I got was that none of them asked how I was doing. They were all wondering what happened, or they were being rude, or they were looking for a story. Nobody in my life truly cared about my life and saw it as something of value.

 To: meaniehead jerkface butthole

deez nuts

 btw i'm blocking u

"I need to change my sim card." I said to Harry.

"There's a Verizon store right by the restaurant." He said. "I can take you there once we're done eating, unless you want to go beforehand."

"It's okay, I can go by myself when we're done. It won't take me too long." I assured him. I could tell that he wasn't 100% on board with my suggestion, but he didn't say anything. "That way we don't have to worry about you being found out." I explain.

"True." He nodded with a sigh.

He looked down at his phone for a few minutes and I took the chance to look out the window as the city passed by me. There were flashing lights all around me wherever I looked. The city, although just a location on the map, was like a person that I wished to be- bright, beautiful, and full of adventure and possibility. I didn't want to be known as my father's daughter or just someones wife that sat in the background, I wanted a future for myself and I was finally being given that opportunity. I hadn't taken a proper step back and looked at it all- but I was so damn thankful for Harry, the boy I had only met the other day.

"Bad news." Harry sighed. "It looks like someone knows my location. It isn't all over twitter or anything, but I guess someone from the cab service leaked some information."

"Way to go, buddy." I joked at the taxi driver that sat a few feet in front of me.

"It wasn't me, Mrs. Styles! I swear that it wasn't me, ma'am." He said quickly, taking his hands off the steering wheel to raise up in his defense. I closed my mouth quickly and tried my hardest not to blush when he called me by Harry's surname.

"We- we're not married." I explained. "In fact, I'm technically supposed to have another man's last name right now."

"And if anyone back at your taxi service, her name is Susan." Harry said, smirking over at me. He was referring to the name on my fake I.D, and I must give him props for remembering it.

"Susan?" The Indian taxi driver asked.

"Yes." Harry confirmed. "Susan... uh..."

"Boyle." I said quickly. My face got hot when I realized what I had just blurted out, and I gave Harry a panicked look. The driver in front of me just nodded happily and I sighed with relief that he didn't recognize that name from anywhere.

"So, since a few people know I'm in the city, we're gonna have our meal to go, if that's okay." Harry said. "I messaged the owner and he'll have a pizza ready for us and a soda. You said you needed to change your sim card, too, so I'll stay in the cab and you can run right to the Verizon and have it changed. It shouldn't take too long."

"Thank you." I nodded. "I'll make it quick, promise. I just need to stop getting all these messages from irrelevant people."

"That's why you always have two phones, Miss Boyle." Harry chuckled. "One to give to people who ask for it and one for the people who mean something to you. By the way, we should probably swap numbers once you get your new number if one of us gets lost along the way."

"It depends." I teased. "Which phone would my number be going in to?"

Harry grinned- even though it was dark in the cab, the bright lights around us made it possible for me to still see. I couldn't see his smile, but I saw it in the way his eyes lit up as they reflected the lights around us.

"A good man will never tell."

We finally stopped in front of the pub, which was conveniently only a good five stores down from Verizon. Harry and I both split up- he went to go fetch the pizza and soda and I walked with my hands in my pockets to Verizon to finally cut off contact from my family. What might be a bittersweet moment for most was a moment of relief for me- now I didn't have to worry about getting tracked down by my family.

I walked in to the Verizon store and a dinging noise announced my arrival. Two men who were behind the counter turned to face me, and one smiled and asked me what I would like today.

"I need to switch my sim card." I said. "Is it a quick process? I'm in a bit of a rush."

"No problem." He reassured me, pushing up his thick-rimmed glasses and sitting down across from a table. I sat on the other side and pulled my phone out of my purse, examining it. He punched a few things into the computer and began to ask me some questions to find me in their computer system.

"And would you like to change your number as well today?" He asked.

"Yes, I would." I nodded.

"Alright... I'm going to go get the new one and find you a new phone number in just a second here, but first I'll just have you pay before we begin. Your total is... $12.99."

I handed the man my debit card and he swiped it before returning it to me.

"I'm not sure if you can do this, but can you not give my number to anyone else? So that when it calls it, it says this number isn't in service." I asked.

"I was gonna do that anyways, usually we don't recycle phone numbers because of customer complaints. That's fine, ma'am. I'll just go to the back and prepare your item and grab your new number, then we can insert it and you'll be all set. Do you have any questions?"

"No, thank you." I smiled.

As the Verizon man went to the back of the store, I unlocked my phone and began to sift through all of my contacts that I was about to lose. It wasn't really anything sentimental to me- most of the people in my phone were the kind of people who only asked "How are you?" as a conversation starter, not an actual question. They were the kind of people that you could see through, the kind of people that were the farthest thing from genuine that I had ever known and I knew for sure that I wouldn't miss them.

Except for one. I found her contact and debated calling her- I knew that the Verizon man could come back at any minute and being on the phone while he was trying to help me out seemed extremely rude for me as a customer. I contemplated not calling her, but after wrestling with myself in my mind, I finally just clicked the call button and held the phone up to my ear.

The phone beeped for a bit and I began to think that she wouldn't pick up. It wouldn't have been a huge let down if she didn't pick up or anything, and I felt a bit silly for calling someone who really wasn't a big part of my life before. In a panicked state of mine, I began to reach toward the "End Call" button, but then the beeping stopped and a voice sounded on the other line.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Mrs. Hawthorne?" I asked.

"This is she." Her voice sounded very professional over the phone. "May I ask whose calling?"

"This is Mia Roden." I explained. "You helped me get ready for my... wedding."

There was a pause on the end of the other line, and I didn't really blame her. I had fallen off the face of the earth since my wedding and nobody knew where I was, and all of a sudden I was calling her.

"Miss Roden!" She exclaimed. "Where are you?"

"I have a question." I interrupted her. "Can you just answer my question?"

Another pause.

"I... I suppose." She stuttered.

"When I was getting ready for the wedding, you were telling me about yours. And how you went to Cancun with your husband... but that's all you told. Did you and the man you marry stay together? Did things all work out?"

"Yes, they did." Mrs. Hawthorne said. Even though I couldn't see her, I could tell that she was smiling on the other end of the line. "We have three beautiful children and he's my best friend. I love him with all I have."

"And do you think that I'll get that someday?" I asked.

"Miss Roden... from the moment you stepped into that church, I could tell that you were unhappy." She chuckled. "You didn't have to say anything, it was plain as day that marriage wasn't going to survive, let alone happen. But I am absolutely positive that the right man is out there for you and you will find him and have a happy marriage like I did. But at this time, you don't need to rush yourself. Don't look for it, just let it come to you."

"Thank you." I said sincerely. "That's all I wanted to say."

"Anytime." Mrs. Hawthorne said. "I'm glad you called."

And with that, I hung up. The conversation was very brief, sure, but it gave me a sense of closure. Her advice meant something to me, not like all the bullshit that I had been fed my entire life, but something that I could actually use as a tool for my future.

Today was the day that I decided to be like the city- bright and full of new possibilities.

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 a/n:

i feel like this chapter isn't good but oh well

i tried to be poetic with the city think lolz

ALSO, i'll be updating once a week at least from now on. school is winding down and i have more time, plus i think it's only fair to you guys that i update more frequently. i want to get back into the habit of writing and sorry if i'm a bit rusty, i haven't written in like a month. i promise that i'll be writing a lot more, so yay!

 ps follow me on twitter @_delilahmae_