“Good for who? What’s up?”
“A few weeks ago, an old friend begged me to step into this gig for him in the Village.” He picks up the phone, smiling. “His wife went into labor and he didn’t want to leave the band hanging.”
“So he asked you?” I blow out an impressed breath. “Must go way back.”
Monk’s a big deal. Asking him to sub at a local gig is like bringing in LeBron for a pick-up game on the playground.
“It was fun. Whatever.” Monk shrugs and smirks. “So there’s this chick singing with the band that night and she was phenomenal. Sick with it. Like ‘star’ written all over her. It’s only a matter of time with this one.”
“What’s her name?”
“Oh, you’ve never heard of her. Neevah Saint. I started following her on Instagram after that gig. Anyway, she just posted that she’s in that Broadway playSplendor. She’s an understudy, and apparently the lead actress is on vacation so she’s stepping in tonight for the first time.”
He glances at his watch and then to me. “What you got going on? You wanna catch a show?”
“You think we can get tickets day of? With such short notice?”
He gives me a do you know who I am look. “Bruh, I always got a hook up.”
“I was gonna look at first passes Verity sent over of the script.”
“Screw that. We’re in New York. Come on. You work too hard.”
“Look who’s talking.”
“Yeah, but I play hard, too. Extract the stick from your ass at least for tonight.”
“Wow. You really know how to charm a guy.”
“Bruh, we way past charm. I’m dragging you down to this show.”
I stare glumly into my empty glass. “Aw, hell.”
“Aw hell my ass.” He signals to the server who never made it over with my refill. “Check, please.”