I was startled awake by a continuous ringing in my ears...one I thought my hangover had generated, only to be surprised that the fire alarm was sounding. “Shit,” I mumbled under my breath. I rolled over and tried to ignore the blaring noise. With no luck, I grabbed the nearest sweater I could find and trudged down the stairs, bumping into Sidda on my way out. She turned back with a sneer and nudged me. She never did care for me much. I could hear the sirens of the fire truck in the distance, hurrying to save the building they thought was in flames. Just my luck though, no smoke was billowing out. A false alarm. I had hoped this dump would be burned to a crisp. It certainly deserved to be. I reached into my right pocket to fetch a cigarette, only to find nothing but lent. I began to make my way over to the pub. Hopefully there’d be some drunk left over from the night before who would let me bum one. I hadn’t had a drink in nearly 8 hours…I was desperate for a taste of anything with liquor. Anything to make me forget the events of the morning. My mother used to take me down to the diner on the corner when I was little. She’d bundle up my cousin Margaux and me and lead us to sit alone in a booth with a cup of lukewarm hot chocolate. Margaux always looked as though she was mortified, but I used to pretend I was drinking coffee in New York City, waiting for my big break as an actress. My mother would walk across the street to the theater, and return hours later with her make up smeared and the smell of vodka streaming from her pores.  

magdalene

I woke up ten minutes later than usual, and didn’t bother to climb out of bed until another hour had passed. The minutes ticking had no meaning to me. I had nothing needing to be conquered. The sweater I’d worn for the past three days was cramped up in a stale pile of cigarettes and reeked of the Irish Pub. I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten home last night, but I was sure I’d seen Felix on the street somewhere along the way. As I pulled on the sweater, I clasped my broken watch on my left wrist, and I scrounged around for some quarters to buy a bagel down the street. The watch was a waste of time since it no longer ticked, but then again I didn’t have much use for seconds and minutes anyway. It wasn’t like I ever had any engagements.  I figured I should wait until at least noon before I downed my first brew, so I took my time getting my bagel. I saw Jacen Vaughn on my way, and I desperately wished I had something to say. Any sort of conversation would have been fine. I even would have been happy to chat with Yung Li. I was beginning to feel like I was invisible. I decided I’d spend my extra change on a bus ride. It was getting too chilly to walk. As I paid my change, I found an empty seat next to the window. I recalled a conversation I’d heard the other day. A girl I had never seen before was asking directions.

 “Can you tell me how to get to Le Royale?”  She asked.

 The women she was asking snickered a bit, and I held in my comments. It had been years and years since I’d stepped foot into that place. I never thought I’d ever return. But just hearing the name of the theater made me curious to see what had become of it. I decided that was to be my destination for the day. I’d just have to hold off until later for my beer.