It Seemed Like A New York Minute - Writers Forum

Rachel381 · 03-14-2008, 02:11 AM

It Seemed Like A New York Minute

Part Two

After leaving the Asian Fusion place, we ended up at another lounge Downtown. This place was definitely happening and we got started on more drinks. The lounge was packed leaving no room to sit down. The DJ was playing a variety of techno music, which I am not fond of dancing to. Nick however is a great dancer and began moving to the music right away. Jackie was letting go of her inhibitions as well and became a slave to the rhythm. They were both dancing hypnotically and I cheered them on. There were two guys sitting down and they seemed to be really friendly. They smiled and threw up their hands, signaling for me to join them. I was a happy drunk and had the greatest time with the one French guy. He was so vibrant yet relaxed. He had a welcoming vibe and a free spirit. He offered me a glass of hard alcohol, but I told him I was alright. We chatted for awhile and he made the connection between Nick, Jackie and I. "Is that your brother?" he asked. I went along with it. "Yes. And that’s his girlfriend," I fibbed. I looked back and saw the two of them making out. Finally.

It was around 3:00 am and we were ready to leave. Jackie was coming off her buzz and began to freak out about what had happened between herself and Nick. I understood where she was coming from, but in all actuality, it wasn’t a big deal. Shit happens when you're drunk. What do ya do? She was more concerned about the impression she left on me and probably Nick, since she and I had a long conversation earlier in the evening, about her ex-boyfriend. Poor thing. Nick dropped me off at my hotel where I stumbled upstairs towards my room. I heard the 1940’s jazz music again, coming from the room next door. "Does this woman ever sleep?" I thought.

I entered the room quietly, in an attempt not to wake up my family. I heard Sally at the window, only this time she had a friend with her. Slut. My mom was awake and I told her about my night. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep over the last forty-eight hours. Not even Sally could have kept me up. I passed out immediately.

The next morning, all three of us girls woke up around 12:00 pm and headed straight towards Gramercy Diner for some grub. The staff was getting to know us and it was nice to go somewhere where somebody knew your name...yes, just like Cheers. It was there, that my sister told us about her late night run-in with the woman next door. She was in the hallway, late the previous night, talking quietly on her cell phone, when she saw the woman come out of her room with a silver wig and stage makeup. Cassandra said she resembled a life-like clown. We all decided she was a Broadway actress which would explain the hair dye, late nights and clown look. After brunch, we walked around The Village area for awhile and browsed through different shops. We were on 14th Street and 8th Avenue, getting ready to pay a visit to my favorite boutique. I am still very unaware of the store's name, but it has the most unique clothing for fractions of the original cost. Our family is very Jewish is that respect. We also headed towards Aldo to look at their footwear. I found a lovely black boot and asked for it in my size. They only had a pair of seven’s left, which was just my luck. We ditched The Village and headed up towards Midtown. Around this time I called Nick who planned on taking us to a Thai restaurant for dinner. He told us to head to Astoria when we were finished shopping.

We were on 42nd and Lexington and decided to make one last stop at Strawberry. I was in desperate need of strapless bra and found just what I was looking for inside the store. They had a lot of cute items for very cheap prices. Cassandra bought some furry boots, loads of shirts and a couple pairs of pants. My mom bought a sweat outfit and changed into it immediately. But the problem was, that she was wearing suede boots from her previous outfit and didn’t notice the tackiness of this fashion faux pas. You simply cannot wear boots with a workout jumpsuit. It's just not okay. I mentioned that this was an inexcusable pair, and suggested that she'd wear my old tennis shoes, since I had just bought a new pair. She refused. Sometimes I think she does these sorts of things to spite me. My sister backed me up, but she still wouldn't budge. "Fine," I said. "Make a fool out of yourself." We walked out of the store, and down 42nd Street. Everybody was starring at her. My mom is a tall, beautiful blonde who naturally stands out in a group of common looking people. But these shoes were the main attraction of 42nd Street. I tried to walk behind her so that it wouldn't look like we were together. But that didn't work out because she had no idea where we were going. You would think by this age that my mother's actions would stop embarrassing me. They don't. As heads were turning, we noticed a bum walking straight towards us. He was looking at my mother, and I followed his eyes down to her feet. Oh my god! Even a bum noticed her shoes! My sister and I were laughing hysterically over the bum incident and at that point my mother realized that the boots just weren't working out. She smiled with her joker grin and we pulled over to do some shoe swapping. She looked much better with white tennis shoes.

It was around 5:30 pm and we headed towards the W train to Astoria. The train was packed since it was rush hour. I almost forgot how miserable the subway system was at that time. After a twenty minute train ride, we got off at Ditmars Blvd. I called Nick who told me to kill time at the local Starbucks on the corner. He and Spiro were finishing up their coffee at a different coffee shop and planned to meet us at Starbucks when they were through. I ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte and bought my sister a Frappaccino. All three of us sat at a table in the corner, and the street had a clear view of us. There were Greek people all around and I felt like I was in a foreign country. It's nice to know that culture still remains in certain areas. I know we certainly don't have anything like that in Orange County. We took pictures of ourselves until Nick showed up. Spiro was on the street waiting for us in his vehicle. He served as the tour guide for the night and we hopped into his car. We drove towards the city and Nick put on my favorite CD, Maroon 5. We were listening to the sultry sound of Adam Levine's voice, when we approached the Thai place. We got out, still singing along to "Secret". Spiro parked the car while the rest of us went inside to put our name in, at the front desk. Nick and I had been to this restaurant before, with our other co-worker Peter. It was beautiful inside. When you walked in, there was a lit waterfall and small pond ahead. It had a long swing to the right and a full bar to the left. The lights were light green, red and yellow and it had a very modern feel to it. There was quite a wait so my mom ordered her first-ever Mojito from the bar. She was getting buzzed and talking about how good the drink was. "They need to have these in California!" she said excitedly. I looked up at her, waiting for her to show she was kidding. "Are your serious?" I asked. Her eyes widened and said, "Ya!" I didn't even bother. Spiro caught on to my vibe and jokingly shook his head along with me. I felt validated in that moment.

My sister was texting away on her cell phone (like she had been during the entire vacation) and Nick took the phone away from her. It was the best thing ever because there was nothing she could do. And he kept it for the rest of the night, too. My stomach was feeling sensitive to alcohol, but I wanted to order something neutral. A Bloody Mary was sounding marvelous so I inched my way over to the bar. I sat there for 10 minutes. Was the bartender ignoring me on purpose? He finally looked up at me and impatiently said, "What do you want?" I realized I was in New York, but be a little nicer, man! "A drink," I said with attitude. "Bloody Mary, please." "We don't make those," he said. My lower lip came out and I walked away from the bar feeling defeated. My mother and Nick were engaging in conversation while my sister was dazing off in the corner. Spiro started asking me about my time in New York and why I didn't make it work. I told him I probably could have made it work, but it wouldn't have been the most efficient decision. We talked for awhile about school, jobs and life. In the middle of our conversation, some guy abruptly pushed passed Spiro, pissing him off. I saw Spiro go back and forth in his head about what to do. I knew he wanted to kick the guys ass, but he decided to hold back. In return for his earlier validation, I gave him a validating look with a grin. He cooled off a little and smirked back. We were on the same page and I didn't feel that he hated me anymore.

It was time to be seated and the host finally showed us to our table. Nick is a guy, and therefore a big eater. He ordered a variety of appetizers, including this one spicy rice that was gone in two minutes. We all had a relaxing dinner and listened to my mom talk endlessly.

After the Thai restaurant, we fulfilled my mother's wishes by finding a local karaoke bar. Walking towards the bar, I began to receive a familiar feeling. Certainly, I had been to this place before. The karaoke bar was located on the second floor and right below was a sushi restaurant. Then it all came back to me. When my friend Jenna and I had first moved to New York, we went on an adventure to The Village to partake in its nightlife. We had stopped off at a sushi restaurant where I refused to eat what was in front of me. I could never forget the view from the patio, of the busy street and buildings with character. I realized that I had been in that exact spot nearly a year and a half ago.

The karaoke bar was called Sing Sing, which was supposed to be the coolest karaoke place in town. We walked up the group of small steps (otherwise known as a "stoop") and walked into a fairly busy bar. I immediately rushed to the restroom since I have the smallest bladder in the world. On my way there, I noticed individual, small rooms in a row-like-fashion. I peeked in and saw a group of Asian people singing, inside. "What a bust. This isn't karaoke!" I said to myself. I had never seen a karaoke bar where you had to go into private rooms to sing. I walked back out to the bar area where I heard some guy singing an old, country folksong. I was relieved to know that they offered karaoke in front of people. It just makes it more entertaining that way. There weren't any available seats to sit on near the hot zone, so we all sat on the bench near the front door. I was contemplating doing a tune or two, but I hadn't had enough to drink, yet. My mother and sister on the other hand were ready to hit the stage. My mother used to be a professional singer and jumps at any chance she gets to be in front of an audience. The singing gene has also been passed down to my sister who hopes to be in a band one day. My mom put a song request in for herself and Cassandra. This one guy who looked like he lived at the bar, sang about five songs in row. We were all getting sick of his melancholy tone and just wanted his reign to end. One loud, energetic woman also dominated the room and showcased her stage presence. I got the feeling she was the host of the show or something, since she knew everyone there and acted as the mediator. She was being silly and sang to a popular 80's hit. She was clearly drunk beyond the point of no return and made us a part of the crowd. After nearly a half hour of waiting, my mother's song request finally came on. If my memory serves me correctly, she sang "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman," by Carole King. She was in her element, doing what she does best. She sang from her heart and sent the crowd cheering. Her performance was amazing and everyone's jaw hit the floor. People loved her blue-eyed soul. After her song, a grip full of people came up to her and told her how great she was. I was happy for her, for it had been too long. Following my mother's performance, came my little sister's debut. The sound of Christina Aguilera’s hit, "The Voice Within" began to play and caught her off guard. She rushed to the microphone and quickly took charge. I always knew my sister had singing talent, but I never knew the extent of it. I was nervous for her since she had never sang in front of a real audience before. Even though it was just karaoke, it was more than that for her. It was her chance to get a glimpse of life as an entertainer. It was time to see if she has what it takes to move a crowd. She started off softly, just as she should have, and then went in for the punches at all the right places. She nailed the runs which many people have difficulty doing. I had never felt so proud of her in my entire life. I started to tear up out of sheer shock and amazement. Not only was she doing a fantastic job, but she captured the crowd in a sincere way. They weren't cheering for her just because she was a young girl singing karaoke. They were cheering because she has real talent and true potential. When she was done, we all stood up and gave her a standing ovation. The one drunk lady came up to her and told her she needed to get signed to a record label. After my family sang, the king of Sing Sing took over once more, and we were over listening to him.

In the spirit of music, we all wanted to hear some real jazz. Nick and Spiro combined forces to think of the best jazz joint in the area. It was pretty late and our options were limited. After driving for a few minutes, we landed ourselves at a hole-in-the-wall jazz place that was open until 2:00am. The place had a small-town, New Orleans feel to it. It was sort of shack-ish with photos and articles of famous jazz musicians, everywhere. Our waitress was a big, African-American woman with a blonde wig. She let off a real relaxed vibe and made me feel like being "cool", as jazz musicians would say. I ordered myself a Bloody Mary, since I had been craving one all night. My mom got a Cranberry & Vodka while Nick and Spiro ordered coffee. The band started playing and I could tell the singer was completely hammered. My mom shouted out, "Play some George Benson!" The singer disregarded her request and that's when she let out another, "Lets hear some Benson!" She wasn't meaning to be a pain in the ass, but it just happened. With a hint of attitude, the singer replied, "I heard you." He looked back at his keyboard player and shot him a "can you believe this woman," look. At that moment I told my mom to keep it quiet. Clearly this guy had something up his ass. As they started to play, my mom sang along quietly in the background. The trumpet player took notice of her talent and put his hand to his ear. He was an old black man who was just as "cool" as our waitress. He exerted a positive vibe that almost made up for the singer's negative one. The sax player was just as egotistical as the vocalist. There was no doubt that he was great, but he let that get the best of him. When he wasn't playing, he just sat there, looking bored as can be. He didn't care about the band or the music and it really ruined the whole experience for me. In the middle of the set, he came up to our table and grabbed a french fry from Nick's plate, without asking. I began to dislike him more and more with his every action. A drunk woman started dancing to the music and inched her way closer to the sax player. She was dancing a little provocatively and he yelled, "Ew, get away from me!" He made a scene and tried his hardest to embarrass her. You're a musician...get over it! In fact, I was over it. We got our bill and the band paused for a quick break. As I was heading out towards the door, the singer bumped into me pretty hard and didn't give as much as an apology. He continued on his way and I was about to flip out on him. Spiro saw my reaction and calmly reiterated that the guy was wasted. Spiro and I come from the same breed. We both have low tolerance for stupidity an being inconsiderate. I am usually able to control myself, but a mixture of those two elements will send me on my way to ripping someone a new ass. But I let it go and walked out the door. It was about 1:30am and the lack of sleep was catching up to me. We drove back towards our hotel.