“Oh girl, Sevyn’s bad dating stories make me grateful to identify as asexual. And if her nightmare dates crack you up, then you are in for an eternity of giggle fits just like this,” Oak remarked, working to blot out the matcha spattered all over the leather couch with her sleeve.
“Well, that sounds nice, actually,” I admitted, smiling at the girls as I surveyed the living room. With unexpected clarity, I was beyond grateful—for the laughter; the whole silly, comfortable moment; the bliss of the day with Gabe; all of it. My heart felt remarkably full for the first time in a long while, and I allowed myself to just settle into the sensation and relish in it as long as I could.
“Whew, I haven’t laughed like that in a very long time,” I admitted.
Sevyn wiped her eyes in agreement. “Me either. But it seems like a good way for me to end the night. I have an early-morning Zoom call for work that I’ll be sleeping through if I don’t get to bed.”
She grabbed her plate, put it in the sink, and blew us kisses as she made her way to her room.
“How about you, Avery?” Oak asked. “This is a far departure from your usual bedtime. Don’t you have work tomorrow?”
“Thankfully, I have the day off. Good thing too, I need to give my cords a rest. I’ve had some real brutal sets at the diner followed by even more brutal open calls this week. A day of physical, mental, and vocal rest sounds like just what the doctor ordered.”
At the comment, Lyla’s face brightened and her eyes grew wide. “Actually, if you are looking for help with your vocals, I know this amazing Reiki master downtown. She works with a lot of the servers at Mimi’s. I can shoot her a text in the morning and see if she can squeeze us in.”
As had become typical with my new roommates, I needed Urban Dictionary or Google Translate to figure out what was being said, but not wanting to blow my coolness cover, I just nodded and said vaguely, “I don’t know. Um . . . that’s not really my thing.”
“Come on, Avery, open your heart chakra and mind. Trust me, Reiki is amazing.”
Still not completely sure what I was agreeing to, I finally caved and said, “Okay, okay, you don’t have to Reiki me over the coals, I’m in.”
Chapter Twenty
The next morning, I followed Lyla out of the subway and into the heart of Alphabet City, the area of New York that extended roughly from Avenue A all the way to the East River.
“I used to live on Avenue C,” Lyla said, motioning to the street sign overhead, “but my scummy super wanted to raise the rent over twenty percent. That’s when I decided to move to Bushwick. But I suppose everything worked out the way it was supposed to, or else I never would have met my besties.”
“I still get confused. Who was friends with whom first?”
“Okay, let’s see,” Lyla said, chewing her bottom lip. “Oak and Sevyn went to The New School together, so they’ve been friends the longest. They’re the ones who originally found the apartment. I used to go out with Sevyn’s ex-best-friend’s cousin Toby, which is how we met. And as for Ass, before she decided to go the freelance route, she used to work with Oak’s ex-girlfriend.”
“Got it,” I said with a nod, even though I didn’t really get it at all. “Seeing as you’ve never mentioned Toby before and the fact that you’re going on a date later, I assume you two broke up?”
“Yeah, that ended a while ago. Now, I date mostly for fun, and between you and me”—she lowered her voice—“sometimes for the free meal or drinks. I’m not looking for anything serious. I have to put all my energy into my career. As you know, the struggle is real, the hours are insane, and the chances are slim. I used every single penny I had to move from my little corner of Decorah, Iowa, to get here, and I am not going back unless I am able to parade through the streets waving my Tony Award in my hands. Or a Grammy, I’m not picky,” she joked.
“I didn’t realize you were from Iowa? You seem like such a New Yorker.”
Lyla stopped dead in her tracks and put her hand over her heart. “Really? Thank you. I think that’s the best compliment I’ve ever gotten. You should’ve seen me when I first moved here. I was terrified of literally everything. The subway, the crowds, the sewer rats.”
I scrunched up my nose. “To be fair, everyone’s terrified of the sewer rats. They’re no joke. I saw one the other day the size of a Chihuahua. So, what’s this place we’re going to again?” I asked.
“Achy Reiki Heart. Oh my God, you’re going to love it. I swear, Miss Tilly is like one part Reiki master, one part hypnotist, one part masseuse, one part chiropractor, one part therapist, and one part total goddesssss.”
“That’s a lot of parts.”
“I know!” Lyla exclaimed. “It’s like a one-stop shop for your soul.”
“And you really think she can help me with my range?”
“Are you kidding? Everyone at Mimi’s swears by her, not to mention her Insta Stories are chock-full of the Broadway elite. Sutton Foster was there just last week, and Patti LuPone the week before that. Miss Tilly will get you hitting that high E above C again in no time.”
“Sutton Foster? Really? I mean, I guess if she’s good enough for Sutton, she’s good enough for me,” I joked.
“No, seriously, Avery, she’s the real deal. I went to see her last year when I was hit with a particularly wicked case of laryngitis before my callback for the national tour of Mean Girls. I mean, I didn’t get the part, buuuuut practically overnight, my voice was in top shape for that audition.”
“That sounds promising,” I said, hoping that the small threads of skepticism in my intonation weren’t detectable.
We walked through the shop door and climbed down a dark and narrow staircase until we were inside the studio space. Almost instantly, my nostrils were assaulted with the smell of burning incense so strong my eyes began to water. Colorful pillows were scattered around the room, and next to a large gold Chinese wind gong was a rock fountain that took up almost the entirety of the back wall.
Miss Tilly, a heavyset woman dressed in a flowery caftan who was twisted up like a pretzel doing some version of Lotus Pose, spotted us and sprang up from the floor. “Lyla, my sweetheart, perfect timing, I just finished my morning transcendental meditation session,” she said.
“You practice twice a day?” Lyla asked.
“Absolutely—morning and evening. It’s the only way to maximize its benefits—a more alert mind, increased energy, clearer thinking, not to mention a roaaarrrring libido.”
Lyla molded her hands into two claws. “Me-ow!”
Miss Tilly chuckled as she slipped on a silk robe. “Exactly. So, who’s your friend?” She motioned in my direction. “I don’t recognize this one.”
“A new roommate. Avery. She’s a singer too. She works with me at Mimi’s.”
Miss Tilly waved her hand around. “Say no more, you’ve come to the right place. So tell me, what’s been going on?”
I shifted my weight, unsure of how to start. “Well, my range isn’t what it used to be.”