Chapter 26
October 4, 2023
Weather tracker: heavy rain brings flash flooding to New York City
Matt Andrews (MetDesk)
US city experienced wettest September in 140 years, with severe downpours last week causing many services to close.
The floods are all anyone can talk about for days. The governor declares a state of emergency, the subway stops running, and flights are grounded. We’re told to shelter in place as massive chunks of the city are flooded and people start talking about how Manhattan is sinking, the sea levels are rising and one day New York City won’t exist at all.
Corey and I circle each other in our tiny apartment. I spend most of my time hiding in my room, but she cooks for me and drags me out into the living room for meals. She builds me a little nest on Jenny and lets me stream Younger and The Bold Type all the way through, sitting next to me on her laptop. But then early Wednesday morning as the rain stops and the water recedes, a shout comes from the living room.
‘Brynn! Oh my god, Brynn!!’
There’s something in her tone that makes me throw back the covers and emerge from my room. ‘What? What’s wrong?’
‘We did it! The parade’s back on!’
She’s standing on Jenny and looking at her laptop as though she’s just jumped up in surprise. ‘Oh my god—we did it!’
I smile—for the first time in a while. ‘How?’ I say. ‘The petition worked? The city said yes?’
‘A dog wellness brand called Get Joy stepped in and agreed to pay all the costs, and the Office of the Mayor has sorted out the permits. October twenty-one will see the dogs back on parade.’
‘And Jake?’
‘He’s asked me to send a press release and then meet him for a celebratory dinner,’ she says, going red in the face. ‘I like him so much, Brynn, but I swear that’s not the only reason I did this. The parade is so important for the community.’
I grin at her. ‘I know,’ I reply. ‘Well done! You should feel super proud of yourself.’
‘Thank you. And what about you, do you feel better?’
I look down at the pyjamas I haven’t changed out of for three days. ‘Not really, but I’ve got a shift and the state of emergency has been lifted so I guess it’s time to shower and drag myself to work.’
She jumps down off the couch and gives me a hug. ‘I’m here for you, whatever you decide,’ she says. ‘But for what it’s worth, you’ve got two weeks until your internship applications open and I think you should at least stay until you’ve had a chance to apply.’
I give her a small smile and then head off to make myself a bit more presentable for my shift.
The funk doesn’t lift when I arrive, though, and I spend a fair bit of time going between the dog room and the toilets, where I have a little cry. There are fewer fights between the dogs because they seem to sense my sadness and retreat to the corners to sleep or stare at me miserably.
All of the dogs, that is, except for Mulligan.
When Hilde lets him into the room, he dashes up to me, barking and jumping around like I’m his mum. There’s no reason for me to be angry with him, so I give him a bit of a scratch and say hi, but the sight of him makes my heart ache.
For the next few days, I don’t have to speak to Lucas when he drops off Mully. But he does spend a bit of time hovering around the window trying to catch my eye. I ignore him, pretending to be completely preoccupied with the dogs. One day when he appears at the window, I go into the big dog room and ask Robert to switch with me.
He gives me a funny look, but when he sees Lucas at the window, he gets the drift and swaps without complaint.
‘So,’ he says when we’re switching back, half an hour later. ‘You want to tell me what’s going on?’
I can feel the tears prickling at my eyes and I bite my lip and shake my head. Robert gives my arm a gentle squeeze and goes back to the big dog room. As soon as I settle into a chair, Perdita, who is hanging out with the little guys today, comes over and sits elegantly next to me.
A dog is an amazing comfort and Perdita leans her body into mine. She licks my hand when I reach out to pat her and, like I do when a person shows me a bit of kindness, I start to cry.
When I get home after my shift, Sienna is on Jenny with Corey. They’ve got what looks like a Mexican feast spread out in front of them and they are clearly a few margaritas in by the way they cheer at my arrival.
‘Welcome to Taco Tuesday!’ Corey yells, getting up from the couch and passing me a drink. ‘You’re just in time.’
‘Cor, it’s Wednesday,’ I say.
‘Apparently Taco Wednesday doesn’t have the same ring to it,’ Sienna says, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.
‘Oh right,’ I say. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be going on a date with Jake tonight, Corey?’
‘I am, that’s why I’m dressed in my date-night clothes,’ she says. ‘I’m leaving, and you and Scarlett are going to eat tacos and drink margs.’
I narrow my eyes at her and put my margarita down on the kitchen counter.
‘I don’t need a baby-sitter,’ I say, a little annoyed.
‘That’s good, because I’m not here to baby-sit you,’ Sienna says. ‘I’m here to eat tacos and watch your Netflix, since I don’t have an account and it won’t let me use Corey’s from home anymore.’
‘Fine,’ I snap, even though I’m happy to see her again. Still, I go into my room and shut the door. I feel like a massive bitch but I’m still upset about Lucas, and The Paris Review . I kick off my shoes and flop onto the bed, groaning as Michael’s socks, which are still wedged under the castors, finally dislodge and the bed starts a slow roll towards the other side of the room. I’m tempted to send him a text and tell him that his socks have held it still for months now—I know he’d get a kick out of hearing it.
Outside, the front door closes and I can hear Corey’s footsteps down the stairwell and the TV start in the living room. I let out another groan when the bed hits the wall and starts to roll back. I’m sick of this!
‘Brynn? Are you okay in there?’ Sienna calls.
‘Fine,’ I yell back, burying my face in the pillow and screaming.
There’s a knock at my door and I groan again.
‘Brynn, I’m coming in.’ A moment later I feel her sit on the end of the bed and she lays a hand on my shoulder. ‘What’s going on with you?’
‘Oh nothing, just having a little existential crisis, that’s all.’
She giggles a bit and it’s a nice sound. ‘Want to talk about it, over some tacos? They’re really good.’
I say no without lifting my head from the pillow but then my stomach lets out the loudest gurgle known to man and Sienna laughs loudly now.
‘Come on.’ She tugs on my arm and I let myself be dragged out to the living room. Sienna hands me a margarita and starts making me a taco. ‘Here, eat.’
I take a bite and she’s right, they’re really good. Corey’s covered the bowl of mince and rice with foil so it’s still steaming hot and I can tell she’s homemade the guacamole because she’s somehow, in the fall, managed to find my favourite little yellow tomatoes for the mix even though they’re totally not in season. I definitely feel like a royal bitch for how I acted as I bite into the fresh, crunchy taco.
‘Better?’ Sienna asks. Normally I hate people watching me eat because I can feel their judgement—are they wondering about how much I’m eating, what’s on my plate, how big a bite I’ve taken? I feel them tracking how many serves I have and how much sour cream I add. But with Sienna, there’s no judgement in her blue eyes, just concern.
‘Yeah. I guess I was a bit hangry.’
She laughs. ‘Just a bit. Corey said you’ve had a rough time this weekend.’
‘Understatement of the century. But most of it’s my own fault.’
Her face softens, and she tucks one of her blonde curls behind her ear. ‘You can’t help who you fall for.’
‘I don’t even know if I’d fallen for him. I’m shame but I think maybe I liked the idea of him more than I actually liked him. Though he did take me on one amazing date.’
‘Just one?’
‘Well, apparently there was another in the works, but I mucked things up by showing up at his house unannounced. I just got so caught up in the idea of him: this guy with the job I wanted ... I thought I was going to get my dreams and the guy. Because that’s how things are supposed to happen in New York.’
‘Even though you don’t believe in New York magic?’
‘Well, maybe Corey’s magic city stuff got in my head. It all seemed like too much of a coincidence not to be something special and meant to be.’ To my horror, tears well up in my eyes and spill down my cheeks before I have time to stop them.
‘Brynn, Brynn, oh god, slow down and take a breath and tell me everything, okay?’ Sienna puts her own plate on the coffee table and slides over to me. Jenny’s pillows are uneven and as Sienna gets closer, the pillow sort of bows and forces us right against each other. She puts her arm around me and I lean into her. I stay like that for a second before I start to tell her everything: about Lucas and the cheap-date deal, about Wicked, and about how he said he’d help me get a job in publishing; about Dogue’s, about Cruz getting fired and the giardia, and the way that Robert says that Doug hires people who won’t complain when he treats them like shit.
She just listens and it’s exactly what I need. She doesn’t offer advice, she doesn’t give me platitudes, she just holds me close and makes it clear she’s listening. And by giving me the chance to talk, an idea starts to form in my head. By the time we’ve turned back to the tacos and finished off the margarita mix, I’ve made a plan.
‘I think I know what I’m going to do,’ I tell Sienna.
‘Oh?’ she raises a delicate eyebrow. ‘Cook up a plan to get back at Doug and Lucas and get your job at The Paris Review ?’ She pauses or hesitates maybe. ‘Or are you heading home for Australia?’
I laugh. ‘Do you think they’re the only two options here?’
She grins. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘I’m going to do what everyone else has been telling me to do since the beginning. I’m going to work on my Paris Review application, and send it in when they open on the fifteenth. I’m going to keep applying for jobs and I’m going to make some publishing content on my TikTok now I’ve got a few followers. I’ve got money to pay my rent through to January—when the internship is supposed to start—and have a little fun if I keep working at Dogue’s. I’m going to just live my life. And I’ll go home when it’s time. Whether that’s when the internship ends in August or when my money runs out. I’m going to go home with a New York story no matter what.’
Sienna lifts her glass. ‘I’ll drink to that. Especially if I get to be part of the fun.’
I brighten at her encouragement. ‘It wouldn’t be fun without you, my friend,’ I say and I reach out and squeeze her hand.