Chapter Eleven
Chapter Eleven
Allie was behind the counter when Anisha and Ryan walked into the busy café on the night of Mindy’s Annual Friendsgiving. She watched as they both stuffed cash into the Native American Rights Fund box by the door. The dinner was always free for everyone, but every year, they asked for donations and, without fail, pulled in a pile of money. Those donations, and the whole community dinner in general, were things that made Allie actually take a pause and appreciate what Mindy had taken years to build. On these nights, with the café warm and packed full of smiling friends and favorite customers, she felt lucky to be a part of her makeshift Brooklyn family.
“Alllllllllllieeeeee!” Anisha spotted her first and called to her through the crowd. Her stunning vibrant-orange block-print dress had sleeves that widened dramatically at the elbows, and under it, she wore red tights and black boots with red leather lightning bolts at each heel. Her hair surrounded her head and shoulders in a cloud of perfect waves. As she made her way toward Allie, everyone she passed paused to look her up and down. Ryan trailed behind her, taking advantage of the path she’d made through the crush of people. Allie felt her heart skip when he looked at her and grinned. He was wearing a soft blue sweater that made her want to touch him. The crisp white collar of his button-down peeked out at the neck, and his hair was impeccably tidy. For a second, it felt as if they were the only two people in the room, but then someone close to him dropped a wineglass on the ground, and he quickly turned to help clean up the mess. Anisha, unperturbed by the dropping of dishes, continued toward the counter.
“You look amazing!” Allie stepped around the counter for the hug she knew was inevitable.
“Who’s your friend?” Ren appeared from nowhere at Allie’s side.
“Have you not met Anisha yet?” Allie turned to them, shocked. “She’s Ryan’s roommate.”
“I’ve come in for coffee a few times.” Anisha shook Ren’s hand. “You’ve probably been too busy to notice me.”
Ren grinned, still gripping Anisha’s hand. “I’d say that’s unlikely.”
“Allie!” Mindy’s voice, with a note of slight panic likely indetectable to anyone else, cut through the crowd from the kitchen.
“You’ll have to excuse me,” Allie said to Ren and Anisha, who seemed to only have eyes for each other. She squeezed through the crowd to the kitchen, where she found Mindy struggling to hold a giant baking tray full of individual pot pies that had just come out of the oven.
“It’s heavier than I thought!” Mindy explained, as Allie quickly snatched an oven mitt from the counter and grabbed one side of the tray. They righted it, sliding the pies back from their precarious places at the edge, and set it carefully on the counter.
“Next time, come get me!” Allie scolded.
Mindy took off her own oven mitts and dabbed her brow with a handkerchief. “You’re not the boss of me.” She was already on her way over to the other side of the kitchen, where the large pots of mashed potatoes were waiting.
“I’m the closest thing there is, though.”
Allie felt a tenderness for her aunt, watching her work the kitchen almost single-handedly. She’d been feeding dozens of people at this dinner every November for years and years. It had never occurred to her not to do it. Allie wanted to be the kind of person who knew what they wanted and went for it. The kind of person who didn’t have to answer to anyone.
“Well, you can stop telling me what to do and go tell everyone that they should find their seats soon. We should be ready for service in about ten minutes.”
“Okay, I’ll do that now. Just have to check on Ren first.”
“Is Ren okay?” Mindy and Allie had both been protective of their friend since the upset over Mindy’s revealed retirement.
“Oh yeah, they’re fine. But I suspect they are in Flirting Ren mode. To be fair, it’s directed at Anisha, who is a babe.”
“Have you warned her that Ren is a bit of a cad?”
“I think we say player now. And not yet, but I figured I’d monitor the situation and intervene if necessary.”
“Good plan. Let me know if I have to spill soup in anyone’s lap as a distraction. I love Ren, I want them to be happy, but I can’t take any more heartbroken people showing up here crying in my lap at 6 a.m.”
“If I hadn’t been here all three times when that happened, I’d assume you were overreacting.”
Allie left her aunt arranging pot pies on platters and went back out into the café space. They’d borrowed extra tables from a friend of Mindy’s who was an event planner, so there was very little available space. She and Ren had spent part of their morning amassing bouquets of black-eyed Susans and yellow dahlias, arranging them in old canning jars and placing them at regular intervals along the tables. Some petals were already starting to fall, littering the white tablecloths in patterns that looked almost intentional. Places were set with plates and cutlery, as many as they could cram onto each table, and the bulb lights on strings that laced across the ceiling were all turned on, keeping the café softly glowing as the sun set outside.
The tears in her eyes surprised her. She wiped them away quickly. Every year, for ten years, she’d stood in this place, watching a variation of this group of people gather and hug and eat and stick cash in boxes for important causes. She’d served pot pies and roasted vegetables and desserts, and watched as people shared the bottles of wine they’d brought from home. Tonight was no different, except that it might be the last time.
It was Mindy who made this happen. Mindy was the one who knew every person in the room. With Mindy gone, would these people even want to come to the café anymore? All those years, Allie had been keeping her head down, not really befriending many customers, just working to make sure the logistics were taken care of. Had she robbed herself of the opportunity for an actual community? Not the community she was used to—one of enthusiastic punk fans spread out across the country, attending shows and writing zines and sending postcards—but a different kind of community. One centered here, in the present. People willing to gather and catch up with each other over an annual dinner. Had she missed her chance?
Ryan and Anisha interrupted her melancholy by charging through the crowd toward her. She quickly wiped the tears from her face and greeted them. Her forced smile loosened into a more natural expression as they got closer. Their good vibes were contagious.
“Look what George brought me!” Ryan held out five burned CDs like a hand of cards in front of her face. She recognized them instantly.
“Aw, he didn’t need to do that! I could have sent the files to you by email.”
“Yeah, he actually wanted me to know that he knew that. Seems he is very clear on how digital files work. He seems to know as much about them as I do, to be honest.” Ryan shrugged and Allie laughed. Of course George did. “He wanted to make it very clear that he was not some outdated old man who thinks the kids still listen to 8-tracks. Anyway, he said he wasn’t sure you’d have time to send them, so he was helping me along by bringing them for me directly.”
Allie glanced across the room at George, who was standing by the front window, leaning on his wooden cane, chatting with a dancer from the New York City Ballet who shared his enthusiasm for tea. George caught her stare and raised his wineglass slightly, winking. She couldn’t help grinning back at him. “That means he didn’t trust me to actually give them to you. He’s just being polite.”
“Oh yes, I got that message loud and clear.”
Allie turned to Anisha. “Did you get to meet him?”
Anisha had been looking over Allie’s shoulder, uncharacteristically distracted. “Sorry, what? Who?”
Allie looked back at Ryan and raised her eyebrows. He smirked.
“George,” Allie clarified. “Did you get to meet George?”
“Oh yes!” Anisha recovered her focus. “I did. He was very complimentary about my outfit and recommended Julia Child’s memoir to me. I mean, everyone recommends Julia Child’s memoir to me, but from him, I might actually take that recommendation seriously.” Anisha scanned the room and switched gears abruptly, leaning in toward Allie. “What’s the deal with your friend Ren? Are they seeing anyone?”
“Uhh.” Allie fought the urge to flee the conversation immediately. “I’m not…sure?”
Anisha was not fooled. She grabbed the sleeve of Allie’s dress and pulled her in closer, her other hand yanking Ryan in as well. “Okay. Spill it.”
It was strangely cozy and pleasant, being pulled into a tiny group for gossip like this. It reminded Allie of being backstage with her band, all of them clustered together having whispered conversations before a show. “Okay.” She kept her voice as low as she could in the noisy room. “Ren has a bit of a reputation . With the ladies. They’re a wonderful person and a super reliable employee and friend. But they have a tendency to, uh, charm their way into ladies’…hearts?”
Anisha translated. “So they’re dynamite in the sack. I get it. Continue.”
Ryan laughed and rolled his eyes at Allie, who was looking at him pleadingly, as though he might be able to end this conversation before she was forced to say more. Anisha, however, was still holding Allie’s sleeve and did not seem eager to go anywhere.
“Yeah, I mean, I assume so. But they haven’t ever wanted, like, to settle down or anything. And that causes, uh, problems?”
“Allie.” Anisha spoke firmly. “You are being hella sketchy, and we have limited time before I decide if I should go flirt my ass off, so just give it to me straight—so to speak. Should I go for Ren or not?”
“Oh god, I don’t know! It depends.” Allie fidgeted.
“Allie.” Anisha’s tone was mildly terrifying.
“Oh, okay, fine. No . Please don’t. People come here crying. Ren is a total heartbreaker. I know you can handle yourself, but I’d hate to have something bad happen and then you’re mad at us all and don’t want to come to the café anymore. It could get messy.”
Anisha released her grip and smiled warmly at Allie. “Thank you. You’re a good friend.”
Allie exhaled with relief. She needed to focus on dinner, not on horny friends. “Ryan, you’re loud, can you let everyone know they should take their seats? I think we’re almost ready to serve dinner. Just announce it. They’ll quiet down.”
Ryan did one better and lifted his fingers to his mouth to emit a piercing whistle that silenced the crowd instantly. “Hey, ya’ll! Allie says sit down because she’s fixin’ to serve some dinner!”
Allie patted his chest. His sweater was, indeed, very soft. “Thanks, buddy.”
He grinned down at her. “Anytime, friend.”
—
The beer that Ryan handed her was so cold, and the room still so warm, condensation immediately dripped over her hand and into her lap. She didn’t care. She’d never needed a beer more in her life.
“Oh god, thank you so much for this.” She twisted the cap off the bottle and took an enormous swig.
“No worries.” Ryan twisted the cap off his own bottle. “As if I was going to let you serve me after everything else you folks did tonight.” He nodded in the direction of Mindy and Ren, who were halfway through their own beers at the other end of the table. George and Anisha were also at the table, not drinking but deep in conversation. Allie had never seen him out so late. It was almost midnight. As if he’d heard her thoughts, George caught her eye and smiled.
“Stop looking at me like that,” George said.
“Like what?” Allie grinned as she took another long sip of her beer.
“Like I’m about to turn into a pumpkin.”
This got him a laugh from everyone at the table. Allie shrugged. “Just making sure Mindy doesn’t bake you into a pie.”
“I’m never making another pie again as long as I live,” Mindy proclaimed.
“You say that every year,” Allie and Ren responded in unison.
The dinner, as always, had been a wild success. The food was perfect, the café was full of laughter and conversation, and even with all the extra work—and cleaning, so much cleaning—Allie felt as if her heart was full. A sleepy contentment washed over her as she sat at the table with both her new and old favorite people. She’d always considered managing the café to be work, but when she looked around the room, with its dim lights and candles flickering and warm laughter coming from around the table, she wondered whether it might be more than just a job. Maybe this was her calling, her purpose in life. All those things she’d thought music was supposed to be.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Ryan whispering into her ear. “Hey, can you come into the kitchen with me for a minute?”
Her heart beat like a kick drum in her chest for a moment. Then she reminded herself of his very emphatic insistence that they were just friends . She finished the last of her very welcome beer and set the bottle down on the table in front of her.
“Sure. Let’s go.”
Allie pretended that she didn’t see Mindy’s and Ren’s curious eyes following the two of them into the kitchen. Ryan was oblivious. As soon as they were alone, he stood beside her and pulled out his phone.
“I got an email back from that club in Jersey. The Top Drawer?”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I mean, it’s inconclusive and not very helpful, but it might be something?”
“Let me see.” Allie tapped the screen of his phone impatiently. He put in his passcode and pulled up an email. Allie read it aloud.
“ Jesse is away this week, so I’m doing bookings. But we don’t book anyone we haven’t met or talked to, so just come to the club some night if you want a gig. Alan. ”
“Alan is a man of few pleasantries, it seems.” Ryan set his phone down on the counter in front of them and turned to look at Allie.
“And that’s not how my Jessi spells her name.”
“I did notice that. But then I thought, How much faith do I have in Alan when it comes to spelling ? And the answer was, not much.”
Allie laughed. “It’s a long shot.”
Ryan nodded. “A long shot. But a short drive.”
“Are you saying you’d like us to go visit Alan?”
“That’s precisely what I’m saying. I have Wednesday off. Can you take a vacation day?”
“Well, not without Mindy and Ren thinking we’re stealing away for a secret sex romp.”
She saw Ryan’s cheeks redden. She couldn’t help but tease him; the exhaustion and the beer were making her punchy. “Oh, sorry! Did that embarrass you? Do they not talk about sex in Alabama? Or—Oh no—” She leaned closer to him and looked up at his red, but smiling, face. “Are you a virgin ?”
Ryan rolled his eyes and shoved her shoulder gently to move her away from him. “Not by a mile. Do you want to go to Jersey on Wednesday or not?”
Allie grinned, satisfied that she’d succeeded in bothering him, even though his implied assertion that he was well acquainted with sex had set off a crowd of butterflies in her stomach. “Yeah, why not? Let’s go to Jersey and meet our new friend Alan.”