Lee hadn't been in New York City for years. Well, technically, if you considered the airport to be the city, she had been. But really, the airport was a world unto itself. So no, Lee hadn't been in New York for years, yet walking the streets looking for a coffee shop felt natural, if a little awkward.

Sure the hotel provided coffee in the room, well, they called it coffee at any rate. Lee not so much. Surprisingly, Kevin had still been asleep, so Lee had told her sister she'd be back with coffee for them. And so down she'd gone, emerging onto the street, not at all standing out in the early morning crowd wearing a basic black skirt and a black cardigan over a white tank, her 3-inch heels clicking on the sidewalk.

The only problem was, Lee didn't know where to go for coffee. The hotel they were staying in was purposely away from the areas she had frequented once upon a time, so she could only guess.

And so Lee walked for a few more minutes until she saw a small group of women walk out onto the sidewalk, take-out cups in hand. Perfect, she thought. After waiting for the women to move away from the door, Lee stepped inside.

Taking a quick glance around, Lee noticed that it was busy enough. Hopefully that means they have decent coffee, she thought as she got into line.

Gwen was adjusting well. At least, that is what she thought. Nothing tasted the same - coffee, meals, even the rice. But there was so much food. It was everywhere, it was cheap, and it was easy to get. It was remarkable how far the world had come since 1862. It wasn't terrible then but most people went to bed hungry. Gwen just couldn't wrap her mind around it. The only down side was that it seemed like people forgot how important food was - it seemed to be taken for granted, like it would always be there.

In either case, Gwen had decided to try a different outfit on the nice, autumn day. She wore blue jeans and a basic, blue t-shirt. It was so strange. She had never dressed in jeans and a shirt like this in her time - h*ll, she'd probably have been disowned by her father, hanged, and then stoned for extra measure. One of those things she had to adjust too, though. It was a nice change, though. No longer were the days of being harassed for being a woman, except for the occassionally 'catcaller' or whatever they were called. 

In either case, Gwen had found herself a coffee shop that she was interested in. She saw a woman wearing practically all black and tall heels walk into the coffee shop. Gwen slipped in right after her and remarked at how tall the heels were. She had seen a few other women, and one man, wear similar heels. She debated on getting herself a pair as well, but she figured it'd probably be safer for her to keep with little heels and these 'tennis shoes' for now. Tennis shoes were really comfortable, with this 'memory foam' all in it. She knew she was becoming spoiled by this time. 

She gave the woman a smile and a nod. 

Lee had just stepped to the back of the line when she heard a woman's voice commenting on how high her heels were. She turned around, about to tell the woman to mind her own business when Lee saw the smile on the other woman's face.

Ok, Lee thought. Maybe she actually is impressed, or likes them.

“Thanks, they're not even my favourites,” Lee replied to the woman who was dressed so differently than her. Not that that was surprising, Lee had always had her own sense of style.

She was just turning forward in line again when she had a thought and looked at the woman again. “Have you tried the coffee here before?” She asked. “Please tell me it's decent. The last two places I've tried around here have been horrible.”

Gwen gave the woman a smile, especially as she noticed her compliment about her heels. She didn't even realize she had mentioned her like of the heels until the woman started talking to her. She was also amazed that there might be even taller heels, "Oh. Wow! I really like the ones you are wearing, do you have taller ones?" 

Gwen peeked around the line to see how long it might take. Was this coffee shop really going to be any better than all the other regular coffee shops? She wasn't sure. Nothing tasted as good as it did back in her time, but maybe that was just her nostalgia. Maybe this one would be the coffee shop that changes her life forever.

She grinned a little and gave a soft shrug, "I actually have no idea. Most of the places I've been are... Not so great, either. It seemed pretty popular according to the internet." Her friend, Charlie, said it had good reviews on this site of 'google,' whatever that was. 

So the woman did like her shoes, or at least she said that she did. And then the woman asked if Lee had even taller heels. Lee thought for a moment, mentally sorting through her closet back home. "I do have a couple pairs that are taller," Lee said after a couple moments. "I don't wear them very often, but I have some."

Seeing the other woman peek around her at the line, Lee turned her head as well. It was moving slowly, but Lee knew that a slow line didn't necessarily mean bad coffee. It didn't mean that it was good, but it did not guarantee bad coffee.

>>"I actually have no idea. Most of the places I've been are... Not so great, either. It seemed pretty popular according to the internet."

Internet reviews for the coffee. Lee was definitely going to withhold her own judgment. But just then the line advanced so Lee stepped forward. Only one person in front of her now. "Fingers crossed, then," Lee said over her shoulder.

Gwen was eager to hear if the woman had higher shoes. They didn't have those kind of shoes in her time. Granted, they didn't have like 90% of the items in this time in her time. It was remarkable. She sighed a little. She was sick of everything feeling remarkable. 

She stepped forward as Lee did and she gave a weak smile, unsure of what she meant by fingers crossed. Had she ever heard of that saying before? She had a very perplexed face on for a bit.  She turned a little red, "Fingers crossed? What do you mean? Like good luck?" Ugh, she had no idea what all these sayings were nowadays. She was adapting to this new English fairly well, but it was still hard when there was so many sayings. 

>>”Fingers crossed? What do you mean? Like good luck?"

Lee turned to look back at the woman standing behind her to see a very perplexed look on her face. That caused a confused look to cross Lee's own. The woman spoke English well enough, it's not like there was a language barrier between them, so how did she not know what 'fingers crossed’ meant?

”Um, let's hope so,” Lee replied, the confused expression still on her face. ”Where are you from?” Lee went on to ask. It had to be an interesting answer, Lee thought.

But as soon as the question was out there, it was Lee's turn to move forward and order. ”Extra Large black, a medium double double,” Lee paused, another confused expression, this time on the face of the young woman on the other side of the counter. Oh right, she wasn't in Canada anymore. ”A medium two cream, two sugar,” she corrected herself. ”An orange juice, and six muffins.”

Finished her order, Lee paid, stepped to the side a bit and turned her head back towards the strange woman behind her in line, wondering if she was going to get an answer to her earlier question.

When Gwen saw the confusesd look on the woman face, she felt her stomach fall. Ugh, she hated this time sometime. She did her best to adjust but sometimes it seemed pointless. It wasn't like she had a choice, though. She was trapped here. Whether or not she liked it, she was going to be in this timeline for probably the rest of her life. She'd eventually get the hang of it. At least, hopefully.

Gwen was about to answer but then the woman ordered her drink and lots of muffins. Six muffins? That surely couldn't all be for herself. Maybe she had family or something nearby? There was a hotel or something like that nearby. Gwen wasn't entirely sure, but kind of remembered that.

It was her turn. It was her turn. She had been so caught up in her conversation, she forgot to think about what she wanted. With a slight panic, "Um, just a small black coffee. Thanks." She pulled her 'debit card' out to pay and once she did so, she stepped beside the woman, "I'm from Boston... In the Union, of course." What if there was another Boston? She hadn't thought about that... She then sighed, and muttered, "From 1862." Hopefully, the woman wouldn't hear. 

But if she did, at least she had an interesting story to tell her. 

Lee had already been handed her drinks, and had pulled her own coffee out of the tray and was taking a sip when the other woman said that she was from Boston. Lee didn't think that explained it, but at least on tv, people from Boston had strong accents and talked weird, so maybe they just didn't use that phrase. But saying in the Union? Was that like how people still flew the Confederate flag in the South? Man, Americans were strange.

Lee had just taken a sip of her coffee when she heard the last words the woman said, and almost spit the coffee right back out. Luckily, she managed not to, but ended up coughing a bit as a result.

As the coughing came to an end, Lee looked back at the woman. ”What do you mean ‘1862’?”

Gwen had hoped that the woman wouldn't notice her comment about being from 1862. After all, half the people she talked to didn't believe her until she pulled out the article. She had decided that she'd always keep a copy of that article, just for situationsn where they didn't believe her. After all, it was a pretty big commotion - plus, someone died under the train car. They never identified the body but she later found out it was actually the woman who was hepling her adjust to this world, helped her find a job, update her warddrobe and all of the junk that went into being a functional 21st century citizen.

She took her coffee and sighed, "Well, I'm originally from 1862. That's when I got teleported here due to a mutant who lost control in my time. I was in a train car, heading off towards my wedding... And well, it's kind of a long story." She motioned to a table, "Would you care to sit? I can give you the details." She was already reaching for the article out of her pocket. 

Lee didn't even try to take another sip of coffee while she waited for the other woman to answer the question.

And it was a good thing that she hadn't; Lee didn't think that she would have been successful this time in not spitting the coffee out when she heard that the woman had arrived in NYC in a train car thanks to a time travelling mutant.

Would she care to sit? ”Yeah, I think that might be a good idea,” Lee replied, moving towards the table the other woman indicated. Lee had experienced a hell of a lot of crazy stuff, had heard even more. But time travel? That was just Science fiction, right?

Sitting down, leaving her coffee on the table in front of her, Lee looked up as she remembered a news story from not that long ago. ”Wait, are you talking about the train car that appeared in the middle of the street?”

Gwen turned a little red and nodded. It was a good idea to sit down. It wasn't really a long story, but it was one that not a lot of people believed. 

Gwen followed Lee and she took a seat across from her and she handed over the article. She nodded, "Yes, that is it." The woman did know about it! At least, as much as the paper knew, anyways. 

She cleared her throat, "I was on the train to go to my wedding, however, a young mutant was aboard. Maybe 11, I'm not sure. He must have been losing control of his power because he was turning white. The next second later, I went through this searing pain over my body and blacked out. I am presuming that was part of the jump into present." She paused, waiting to see if the woman had any questions. 

So it was the train she had heard about. Not that Lee had really heard all that much about it, mostly just the other parents at Kevin's school talking about how crazy New York City was, how dangerous the mutants there were. Lee hadn't exactly taken part in these ‘discussions’, but she had heard them.

Lee frowned slightly when she heard that the woman had been on her way to her own wedding. And the frown deepened when she heard that a young boy seemed to have lost control of his powers.

”I'm sorry,” Lee said. ”What about your fiance? Was he with you?”

She shook her head, "Oh no. I mean, the child, poor thing. However, my fiance was not with me. He was in Washington D.C. with his father, the Senator of Pennsylvania. I had never actually met him - it was arranged through my father, who is... Um, was a wealthy merchant." 

She sighed. She did not want to go through with the wedding, but her father encouraged and nearly forced her to do so. He wanted the connections it would ensure to not only Penn, but to the District. Not to mention, as an avid believer in the Union, her father believed they would be able to make several contracts with the government once reconstruction began in the South. 

She gave the woman a smile, "Oh, pardon my manners, my name is Gwendolyn Theodosia White." She held her hand out to shake like they did in this time. Wait, did they say middle names now or not? She couldn't' remember. 

An arranged marriage, and to a man that she had never met. It definitely was a different time, Lee thought. She couldn't even imagine having to do something like that.

Though to be honest, for much of her life Lee hadn't even thought that marriage was a possibility for her at all, so the thought of marrying someone that she didn't even know was so completely foreign to her it was hard to comprehend going through with it.

Lee was so lost in her thoughts about this arranged marriage that she still hasn't said anything by the time that the woman introduced herself. Snapping back to the present reality, Lee lifted her eyes back up to Gwen from where they had dropped to staring at her coffee cup.

”Lee Smith,” she quickly introduced herself. ”Sorry, it's all just hard to take in. But at least you didn't love him. I mean, that would have only made all this so much harder for you if you had.” And Lee knew. Mind you, the two situations we so completely different that it was hard to even say they compared, but Lee did know about losing the love of her life.