I did the thing I most dreaded doing next. I called my parents.
“Hello?” my mom’s voice said over the phone.
“Mom,” I squeaked out.
“Erika, what’s wrong? I can hear it in your voice.”
“I…I was fired, Mom. I’m no longer onThe Naughty List.“ Tears immediately flooded. I spent the next thirty minutes telling my mother everything.
“Oh, my Erika. I wish I was there to help make this right. I’d go have some words with this producer woman and give her a piece of my mind.”
And I knew she would. My mother wouldn’t care if that’s not “how things are done” in New York. She’d stomp into Rebekka Eldridge’s office and give her a verbal tongue lashing. Just the thought of that made me smile.
“I just feel…so…helpless.”
“I’m sure you do, dear. But you’re not. You are a strong, brilliant, talented, independent woman. I would never tell your sisters this, but I’ve always admired you the most. You had a dream as a child, and you went after it. When that nastiness happened with Asher, you had your dark moments, but you pulled yourself out and became a cabaret star. I have zero doubts that you’ll be able to do the same thing again here.”
I wasn’t exactly a “star,” but I loved that my mom always saw me that way. “I just don’t know where to begin.”
“As Lao Tzu said, ‘the journey of life begins with one step.’ Just take a step, Erika. Let your feet be your guide. For today, maybe do something you love. What brings you the most joy in life?”
“It’s always been the theater,” I said.
“Well, don’t let these people take that away from you. Go, reconnect with your joy.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I will. I love you, Mom. More than you can ever imagine.”
“I love you more, Erika. And always know, you can always come home…even if it’s just for a visit.”
After we finished our conversation, I decided I needed to find my joy. I picked up my phone and called Johnny.
“What’s up, Erika?”
“Do you still know the Phantom?” As soon as the words escaped my mouth, I realized how odd that sounded. “Err…I mean, do you still know the guy playing the Phantom?”
“I knew what you meant. And yes. Why?”
“Think you can get us tickets for the matinee?”
“He told me to call him any time, but it may be late. Why?”
“I need to find my joy!”
“I have no idea what that means, but I’ll call you back in ten.” With that, he hung up the phone.
I sat there on my couch waiting to hear back from him. Sure enough, my phone started vibrating nine minutes later.
“I have two orchestra tickets for the 2:00 p.m. matinee. I told them to leave them at the box office under your name. He’s a huge fan of yours, by the way.”
“Really?”
“Yep. He caught your 54 Below show and absolutely loved it.”
“Ahh…that’s so sweet of him. Please thank him for me.”
“Nope, you can do it yourself. I had to promise you’d visit backstage after the show was over.”
“I don’t know if I’m ready for that, but that’s hardly the worst thing I’ve done to get tickets to see a Broadway show.”
