Chapter Twenty Three
Ryder
My phone died about five minutes after I left the cafe. Waiting a few hours, then finding my way to The Phoenix in the East Village without it, was less than fun. At least it was nice out, and Washington Square Park was a great place to burn some time people-watching.
The Phoenix’s facade was a brick wall painted fire engine red. It looked more like a divey college bar than a place that would have a drag queen happy hour. Inside was dark, with cluttered walls, random shit behind the bar, a pool table, and scattered tables and chairs.
I didn’t know it was five minutes to four until I walked in. Two drag queens and the bartender looked at me as I entered, like I was in an old-timey salon from a Bugs Bunny sketch.
“We don’t open for five more minutes, hun,” one queen said.
“What’s five minutes? If he orders a drink right now and tops… sorry, I mean tips well, I’m sure that’s okay,” the other queen said to the first.
The bartender didn’t mind, and I ordered a beer. I took a sip once I had it. What the fuck was I doing there? Looking for a distraction? I guess, but I couldn’t get drunk with the two-hour ride home ahead of me. Fuck, man. How did I let everything get so goddamn messy?
“RYDER!!!!”
I turned around just in time to see Rickie hurtling towards me. I stood up and took the brunt of her hug full force. For such a small woman, she packed a lot of strength.
“OH MY GOD!! I’m so glad you DM’d me!” Rickie said, choking me with her shoulder.
“Thanks for meeting up,” I said once she released me.
She looked different from how I remembered.
No more two-thousands garb. Instead, she wore a small, hot pink tube top that only covered her chest and thick black sweatpants tied with an oversized drawstring.
Her hair was down, and now dark brown, with white eyeliner, brown-red lips, and crystals on the sides of her eyes.
Kris laughed and shook my hand. “Good to see you again, man.” He looked almost exactly how I remembered him. Except in a Nirvana tee that showed off his arms.
Rickie told the bartender, “Tequila soda, with a splash of grapefruit juice, and a Tajín rim, if you have it. Thanks!”
Kris leaned in and said, “She’s been obsessed with tequila and Tajín all summer.”
She looked at Kris, then back to the bartender. “And he’ll have a beer. Please and thank you.”
The bartender nodded and left to make her drink.
“Spicy days call for spicy drinks!” Rickie said, turning around to face us, elbows on the bar. “Seriously, I’m so happy you reached out. I literally screamed when I saw your message pop up.”
“She’s not kidding. It was loud.” Kris chuckled.
I expected seeing them would be more awkward.
We’d only met once, spent a few drunken hours together, and then never spoke again.
I didn’t consider people I followed on social media to be friends unless I knew them in real life.
But her infectious attitude, which was why I reached out in the first place, made me feel like, with no one else to talk to, I’d made the right call.
“We still talk about you all the time, right?” Rickie said, and Kris nodded.
“I only wish you posted more! People don’t believe we met this totally random, hot gay doctor at LIV of all places.
And it takes forever to find your page to prove it.
” She laughed. “Then they really don’t believe me when I tell them you were there for your brother’s bachelor party and were this close to hooking up with the best man.
” Rickie squinted one eye through the space between the index finger and thumb.
“Rick.” Kris scolded with wide eyes.
Rickie giggled. “What? He knows. Right?”
My neck got hotter than my face, but I chuckled through the awkward. “Uh, well… yeah. We ended up hooking up that night. Now he’s my boyfriend.”
Rickie screamed. Kris said, “Nice, man. He was definitely into you.”
“I knew it! I wanted to press your faces together like two Barbies, now kiss.” She laughed hard.
I laughed too. I had been right. No matter how awkward it still felt, these people were the right call. My mood was already lifting.
Rickie screamed again and launched her body off the bar like a torpedo.
Her target was a drag queen emerging from the back room.
The queen’s wig was at least twice as big as her face.
She wore a dangerously short, very tight, green-and-gold sequined dress with a plunging neckline, and her thigh-length gold boots housed what looked like live goldfish in their impossibly high heels.
She stopped Rickie in her tracks. “Girl, it just took me a damn hour to put this face on, and another for the wig and tits. No touching.”
Remembering the etiquette, Rickie gave her air kisses on each cheek, then slapped her ass. The queen said, “That one’s free. Otherwise you gotta tip a bitch,” and pressed her realistic-looking bosom together.
Rickie dragged her over to Kris and me. “I want you to meet my friend! This is Ryder. He’s the hot gay doctor I met in Miami. Ryder, this is Caressa Mae, the best drag queen in Lower Manhattan.”
The other queens had begun setting up for their performance. One laughed and said, “You mean the drunkest.”
“Or the sluttiest,” the other said.
“Don’t listen to the filth, love. It’s obviously all three,” Caressa Mae said, donning an almost royal accent. Then offered me her bejeweled hand. “Pleased to meet you, hot gay doctor from Miami. I’m Caressa Mae, but you can just call me Mae, and I can Caressa you.”
I took her hand, laughing, and kissed it.
“And a gentleman, too. Mama like.” Mae took the stool next to me, crossing her legs and dangling her foot. The goldfish weren’t real after all.
I blushed, smiled, and said, “I’m not from Miami. We just met there.”
“Okay. How did you meet then, hot gay doctor not from Miami?”
Rickie said, “We met him at LIV, and invited him to the VIP,” pronounced like zip, “and then he hooked up with his brother’s best man, and now they’re boyfriends. Isn’t that adorable?”
“Absolutely precious,” Mae said, scanning my face. “So what are you doing in the big city, love? You don’t look like a local?”
Coming up with a reason I was in New York hadn’t crossed my mind.
Telling them the truth would be insane. I barely knew Rickie and Kris, and didn’t know Mae at all.
I just wanted to hang out and blow off a little steam.
Then head home and gather the courage to show my face at the wedding.
If I were lucky, maybe even fix things with Finn when I saw him.
“Wait! Isn’t your brother’s wedding, like, tomorrow?” Rickie said before I could answer.
“Uh… Yeah.” I chuckled. “How’d you know?”
“I follow Finn, too. It’s all over his socials. The bride is like a micro, niche influencer, or something, right? She tags him in everything.”
I had forgotten she also followed Finn. “Something like that.”
“Oh girl, there’s some tea there. Spill.” Mae placed her hand on my knee and squeezed in a come on so overt it had to be a joke.
“No tea. She’s just… not my cup of tea, I guess.”
Rickie was on her phone, not paying attention.
“Shouldn’t you be, like, getting ready? Isn’t there a rehearsal dinner tonight?
I thought I saw…” Rickie’s face scrunched as she scrolled until she looked up with a snap.
“OH! OH MY GOD! They’re getting married in the city?
Should’ve known! Well, I’m glad you wanted to come see us! ”
The color drained from my face. I didn’t want to outright lie, but how could I tell them? Why would I tell them? It wasn’t their business, or burden. It was mine.
Mae’s voice dropped the affect. “What’s wrong, hun. You look like a twice-baked shit-potato.”
“No, nothing.” I gulped my beer.
Mae pursed her lips and glared. Her makeup made the effect more dramatic. And convincing.
“No. Wait…” Rickie said, back to scrolling. “No. It’s not in the city. Somewhere called The Parkview Pavilion?” She glanced up at me. “So, what are you doing here?”
The three of them stared at me. Mae moved her hand on my shoulder. There was a kindness in her sparkly, gold-shrouded eyes that made my throat tight.
“I had a huge fight with Finn, my boyfriend, this morning, and I drove all the way here without meaning to.”
“The day before the wedding? The morning of the rehearsal dinner?” Rickie asked, still confused, but trending towards concern.
“Uh…” I chuckled and sipped my beer. They watched. “Sorry. You guys don’t need to hear this shit.” I laughed. “But thanks anyway.”
“Oh yes, we do, honey. We love other people’s drama. Tell Mama what’s putting a frown on that gorgeous face.”
Rickie said, “If for nothing else, we’re super interested in why you’re here, now, right?” She glanced up at Kris, who nodded.
I sighed. “Just a lot.” I took another breath. Mae’s perfume was sweet with a sharp fruity note. “With my brother, Finn, and my future sister-in-law. I don’t have anyone in my life I can talk to. Not about this. Just kinda… lonely, I guess.”
Mae rubbed my shoulder again. Rickie caught my eye and frowned. “You’re not alone, for right now, at least.” She sounded more sincere than anything else she said that afternoon, or in Miami, from what I could remember.
There was so much. I didn’t want to rehash everything with a bunch of strangers. But the entire story flooded out of me anyway, like a patient expelling toxins. Laying it out like that sounded worse than it was, and I said, “It’s shitty, but it’s not the shittiest,” with a chuckle.
Rickie said, “Oh my god. I don’t blame you at all! What an awful… everyone!”
Mae said, “With a body like that, you can revenge fuck me all day, hunty. Just saying.”
We laughed. Rickie asked, “Why didn’t you just tell Finn? He’s your boyfriend. He had the right to know all of that.”