Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Piper heard the four, soft chimes sound and knew they would be landing at LaGuardia in about ten minutes.
Mentally, she needed to shift her focus from the Bay to New York.
Thankfully, Layne had been able to find a capable couple to take Piper’s spot at the Bay Breeze.
She had recommended to her friend that Layne hire two people for the job.
While Piper hadn’t minded putting in long hours of hard work the past few months, it would be easier for two people to share the load of running the B&B.
Becca and Chase Compton seemed to be the perfect team.
Becca had retired from teaching after thirty-five years, while Chase had left his electrical engineering job at the same time.
Both enjoyed water sports and were looking forward to small-town life in Driftwood Bay.
Since they had been available, Layne had asked them to start immediately, allowing Piper the opportunity to head to New York three weeks before Labor Day so she could begin the auditioning process.
It had been hard breaking the news to her friends and family that she was leaving the Bay.
She told them that she was eager to see if she could make it on Broadway, a longtime dream, and that’s why she’d turned down Zane Wagner’s offer to perform at Tidewater.
Layne and Mila had supported her decision, though, knowing she had career ambitions but that she needed a change of scenery after her whirlwind romance with Sullivan.
Mila had pointed out that she would be in the same town as Sullivan, but Piper had no intentions of contacting him.
She had only heard from him once, when he texted her a thanks for the painting which had been delivered to him.
Piper had asked Keaton to paint Driftwood Bay, with all its brilliant hues.
In turn, Piper had texted a thanks to Sullivan for the bookcase he had crafted for her, as well as the books filling it.
That had been the only communication between them.
If Sullivan were in contact with anyone from the Bay, Piper didn’t know. It seemed an almost unspoken rule in their friend group not to bring up his name. For that, she had been grateful.
It had also hurt saying goodbye to her parents.
She had only seen them sporadically when they attended one of her musicals on the road, but she had frequently stopped by for dinner or simply a chat during her months home.
She encouraged them to come to New York at some point, whether she was in a show or not.
Mom had assured Piper that her talent would land her in a production, and those words had instilled confidence within her.
She left with their blessings, insisting that she would play tour guide when they came to the Big Apple.
She wasn’t arriving in New York at the optimum time, however.
Though it was mid-August, a flurry of new productions always started in September each year.
She had missed out on the casting of those roles.
Thankfully, a new group of shows would be cast in the next couple of weeks for the next round of musicals and plays, which would open just before Thanksgiving, when tourism really picked up.
If she didn’t get hired for one of those November shows, though, she would have to wait for the next rounds of auditions in January.
Another slate of productions would begin in March.
Hopefully, she would be cast and performing by the time winter arrived.
If not, she would place her hopes on the spring shows and landing a job then.
In the meantime, she had updated her résumé and had scanned both the Playbill and Backstage websites, where postings for casting calls for union and non-union members were advertised, as well as becoming familiar with Actors Access, an online submission site, which she would definitely use to begin her audition process.
The plane landed and taxied to the gate, and Piper headed to baggage claim.
She’d only brought one of her two suitcases with her, along with her backpack.
She was fortunate to be returning to the same Brooklyn apartment she’d shared with other actors.
Chloe and Claire were sisters and the current occupants of the apartment.
Chloe couldn’t sing to save her soul, but she had great comedic timing and would be playing the second lead in an Off-Broadway comedy this fall.
Claire, on the other hand, sang like an angel, and Piper had been in two different touring productions with her, even being Pink Ladies together in Grease years ago.
Claire had returned to New York after that production and had spent most of her time in the chorus of various musicals.
To her credit, she had finally been cast in a featured role of a new Broadway musical which would open the second week of September.
Piper didn’t know if they would look for a fourth roommate or not.
The other two wouldn’t be at the apartment often, while she would see if she could find a job as a server as she made the rounds of auditions.
If she were cast in a musical set to premiere in November, rehearsals would begin in earnest soon, so she, too, would spend little time at the Brooklyn apartment.
She saw her suitcase coming down the conveyor belt and grabbed it, slinging her backpack over one shoulder as she moved to catch a train. A rideshare would be faster, but she was already economizing, wanting to save as much money as possible in case lean times were ahead.
After she left the Brooklyn subway station, she rolled her suitcase along the two blocks to her destination, seeing how familiar the neighborhood still seemed to her after several years of being gone.
A random thought of Sullivan struck her, and she wondered if he might be in town now.
If she weren’t feeling so raw, she would text him to get together for a friendly drink to catch up, but her emotions were ragged.
Seeing him would make her want to be with him again, and sex had to be off the table.
A huge hole remained in her heart, an empty space he used to fill. Piper still loved him.
And that was the biggest reason she could never contact him again.
As she turned the corner and the apartment building came into sight, she texted both Chloe and Claire to see if either might be home.
Chloe responded immediately, saying she was about to walk out the door for rehearsals.
Piper texted back she was entering the building now, and she spied Chloe step outside into the hallway.
They exchanged a brief hug, and Chloe said, “Your key is on the kitchen counter. Put yourself wherever you can find room. Edie’s looking for a server. Hope you’ve been scanning the trades. Gotta run!”
“I have,” she called out as Chloe hurried away. “Going to set up some auditions now. Thanks for the tip about Edie’s.”
Chloe waved and went through the front door.
The apartment was even smaller than Piper recalled.
It didn’t have a closet, so occupants hung their clothes on two racks which Claire had brought home a few years ago.
Empty hangers hung on the rack, and Piper unpacked, hanging what she could.
Her suitcase would function as a drawer, and she had packing cubes filled with underwear, bras, and socks.
She found her key and when she logged in, she noticed the Wi-Fi password hadn’t changed.
Superstition had kept her from booking an audition until she arrived in New York.
She hadn’t wanted the plane to have mechanical problems or some other delay, causing her to miss an audition.
Now that she was actually here, she was ready to hit the ground rolling.
Fortunately, she was able to sign up for slots with two different musicals being cast. One was a revival of a classic, an old familiar shoe to her, while the other was an off-Broadway production with music and lyrics written by a new team on the New York scene.
That meant sight-reading, going in cold.
At least she had continued to sing a lot this summer, and she felt her voice had never been in better shape.
Since Piper didn’t have any obligations until tomorrow, she decided to do two things.
Stop by Edie’s and apply for a job and do a little food shopping.
While she lived on takeout for the most part when in New York, she decided she wanted to have breakfast items available.
She had gotten used to eating a large breakfast and thought she’d keep with that habit.
Edie’s was only three blocks away, a typical Brooklyn diner opened twenty-four hours a day. Edie herself greeted Piper by name.
“I wasn’t sure you’d remember me,” she told the owner. “It’s been several years since I’ve been in.”
“I don’t forget a face. You back with Claire and Chloe? I heard that they had a vacancy.”
Piper nodded. “I’m also going to be auditioning. I figure it’s time to try my hand at Broadway. Or Off-Broadway.”
“Don’t get stars in your eyes,” Edie warned. “You may have the sweetest set of pipes on the planet, but unless you’re at the right place and the perfect time, it ain’t gonna happen for you, girl.”
She had forgotten how frank New Yorkers could be, especially a former singer and actor such as Edie, who had languished in the chorus for two decades before deciding to find permanent employment at her aunt’s diner.
The aunt had also been an Edie, and she’d left the restaurant to her niece when she passed away a decade ago.
“Chloe said you need some help at the diner. I’d like to apply.
My days of waiting tables are pretty far in the past, but I’ve been managing a B&B for a friend recently.
I cooked breakfast daily. Cleaned the rooms. Handled check-ins for the guests.
I figure I can do whatever you need me to do, Edie. ”
“You cook. Hmm.” Edie thought a moment. “I may have a place for you in the kitchen, Piper. Then again, the tips are better serving.”
“I can do either—or both,” she said.
“Come back to the kitchen. Make me breakfast. We’ll see if you have what it takes.”
Confidence brimmed through Piper as she followed the diner owner to the kitchen and asked, “What’s it going to be? Eggs and bacon? French toast and sausage?”
“All those,” Edie said.
“How do you want those eggs?”
“Sunny side up.”
“Bacon crispy or greasy?”
The older woman’s eyes lit up. “Now, that’s something I haven’t heard in a long time. Greasy bacon.”
“I had a friend teach me about it. His grandmother in Maine made it greasy. It’s grown on me.”
“Fry up some of both kinds. I’ll try each.”
Piper washed her hands and pulled an apron from hanging on its hook, tying it around her.
She took the hair tie on her wrist and secured her hair in a ponytail and then went to work, her movements efficient after months of cooking breakfast daily in the Bay.
Edie watched every move Piper made like a hawk, and she saw the older woman nod in satisfaction as she plated the items.
“You’re quick. That’s a plus.” Edie took a bite of the French toast. “I like that you put a dash of cinnamon in it. Nice touch.”
“Thanks.”
She watched Edie sample everything on the two plates. She only ate a couple of bites of everything except the greasy bacon, finishing both strips of those, a smile playing about her lips.
“You’d be wasted as a server. You’ve got this breakfast thing down. How about we go with line cook, and you can fill in at server if someone doesn’t show.”
“I can do that,” Piper said. “I will be auditioning, though, so I’ll need to work my schedule around that.”
She told Edie the times she would be unavailable tomorrow, and Edie said, “Come in at five tomorrow afternoon.”
“Edie, I only know how to cook breakfast.”
“That’s okay. People come in and eat breakfast all hours of the day and night. We’ll keep you plenty busy when you’re not cooking. There’s always dishes to wash. Floors to be scrubbed.”
“Then I’ll see you at five,” she said, taking the papers Edie gave to her fill out. “I’ll return these completed when I clock in tomorrow.”
“Ain’t no clocking in, kid. Just be here when you’re expected. And don’t be late.”
She folded the sheets and slipped them into her purse and then walked down to Sal’s Market and Deli, where she picked up some groceries. She also purchased a pastrami on rye from the deli side and took it home, eating the sandwich while she put away her purchases.
Glancing at her watch, she decided to call her mom next.
“Hey, baby. You make it in okay?”
“I did. I’m in Brooklyn now. Unpacked. Have two auditions booked for tomorrow, plus I’m a line cook at a diner a few blocks from here.”
“Wow, you’ve been busy.”
“It’s what I need, Mom.”
She had confided in her mom how she’d had feelings for Sullivan, and Mom had commiserated with her.
“Staying busy will be the best medicine possible, Piper. Just focus on your career.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, and then Mom put Dad on the phone. She told him all she’d accomplished.
“I’m so proud of you, Piper. It takes guts to do what you’re doing.”
“I figured if I don’t try now, I may never do it. We’ll see how auditioning goes.”
“You’ll get a part, hon. My gut tells me you will. And you know we’ll come to see you perform.”
“Even if I don’t find work in a musical or even a play, there’s lots to see in New York.”
“Don’t be a negative thinker,” Dad cautioned. “Go into those auditions tomorrow and know you’re going to kill it.”
“Okay. Thanks for the pep talk, Dad.”
They said goodbye, and she sent a long email to Mila, Layne, and Kylie, updating them on everything. Then she went and stood, looking out the window.
Trying not to think of Sullivan being so close.