“Enough about that. Look at you! You’re a vision. All this colour. Are you going on a date?” Her eyes teased. “Is it that handsome David boy I met before?”
Sassy’s nerves swooped back into place. “I’m playing guitar at a coffeehouse tonight! At Chez Monique. It’s my first time.”
Mrs. Levin clapped her hands together. “My dear! How wonderful. I have to tell Mr. Levin. He will be so proud. I wish we could come, but the family is coming for dinner. Next time, we will be there.” She nodded once. “I will let you get ready. I just wanted to give you this. You know Mr. Levinand his dear little plants. He believes every home should have plants in it, so he sent you this calendula. He says to put it on your balcony with your geranium and water it once a week. It should bloom all summer.”
Sassy felt a rush of gratitude for the older woman and gently touched a sunshine-orange petal. “Thank you. This is exactly what I needed.”
Mrs. Levin leaned closer, and Sassy caught the woman’s spicy scent. She’d been cooking. Something with oregano. “You will be wonderful tonight, I’m certain of it.”
Sassy held on to her smile as she closed the door. Yes. That’s what she needed to remember. She would be wonderful tonight. With or without Joey.
Davey would be working in the kitchen, he’d said, and he would meet her there. He told her to arrive around nine, because Ed, the manager, wanted to meet her by the bar before she performed. At eight thirty, she stepped into the fifth-floor hallway and set out to Yorkville.
It was a lovely, warm evening, and the streets were active with cars and people enjoying the summer weather. Sassy walked between them, catching snatches of conversation and fighting the urge to invite every single person on the sidewalk to come and listen to her sing. When she reached the entrance to Chez Monique, with its dark brick exterior, she was startled to see a line outside the door. A shiver of nerves passed through her, but she set her head on straight and snaked her way through. She wasn’t the only performer, after all. These people had probably come to watch their own friends or family. They didn’t know Sassy—yet—but they would love her. She would make sure of it.
Hugging her guitar case to her chest, Sassy went to the counter and asked for the manager.
“So you’re our new little star, are you?” Wiping his hands dry, a man emerged from a back room then shut the door against the unwanted light. He was tall and bony. A dark halo of hair was all he had left on his head.
“I’m Sassy Rankin. Are you Ed?”
“That’s me.” He sniffed with amusement, his thumbs dug into his pockets. “Sassy. I’ll bet you are. All right. Lemme look at you.”
Sassy stood awkwardly, not sure what she was supposed to do while he inspected her.
“Do you want to hear me play?”
“I’ll hear you soon enough.” He walked behind her, then circled back and gave her a pat on her backside. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s good,” he said, nodding appreciatively.
Sassy set her jaw. This wasnotgoing to happen again. Not here, on her special night. “Just tell me where to put my case.”
For the first time, Ed met her gaze. “I can show you the back room right now, if you’d like.”
She squeezed her guitar tight, revolted. “You are disg—”
“Sass! Hey, Sass!”
She could have cried, seeing Davey’s goofy smile coming toward her. “Look at us, working! Hey, you look great.” He hugged her, and she clung to him a little longer than usual.
“This guy’s a creep,” she whispered.
“Yeah, but he has a lot of connections,” he replied quietly. “Don’t worry about him.” Louder, he said, “Tonight’ll make you a star.”
“Right,” she replied, stepping back.
“You don’t believe me? Who knows who might be in the audience? I hear scouts come in here sometimes.”
Wouldn’t that be a thrill? “What about you? Busy cooking?”
His head angled from side to side. “Not quite. I’m peeling potatoes tonight.”
Ed closed in on them. “Shouldn’t you be scrubbing plates or something?”
“Sure.” Davey’s arm wrapped protectively around Sassy. “I just came to show my old lady where to leave her stuff. Come on, babe. Let’s get you set up.”
Grateful, she followed him through the room, sensing Ed’s glare on her back. Would she ever get another gig after this? If kissing up to Ed was the price she was expected to pay, her dad was right: she needed to get out of this business. She hoped he was an anomaly among club managers.
Davey stopped before a closed door. “Here you go. They call it the greenroom, which is weird, since everything in here is basically orange andbrown, but it’s where the performers go before they play.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Maybe because you’ll make lots of green here. Have a blast, babe.”
