return_to_nola

Maybe this was a bad idea.

There was a beignet place down the street from Phoenix Effect. It was no Cafe Du Monde or Cafe Beignet, the two great rivals for the title of best in the city (Andy would give it to the latter, hands down, any day of the week), but it was nice and inexpensive and had decent seating, which he was currently taking advantage of. It also had chickory coffee Andy himself had not brewed, which was a treat on its own, though loyally he thought the recipe at Phoenix Effect was better.

So the location part was fine, but the social interaction to come—that was the bad part. Maybe. The nervous anticipation, of course, was terrible, but he remembered his school therapist (mandated by the district, which his dad had reluctantly agreed to but scoffed about in private) saying how breaking through shyness, making friends, only got easier with a lot of practice. And he actually had gotten better, thanks to being a barista—he could make light small talk while making a drink, answer questions and chuckle politely at bad jokes.

But face-to-face, direct interaction with a potential friend? That was way more intimidating. Especially since he couldn't help but suspect Katie was just doing this because he'd offered to mention her mural services to the manager. Which was fair! He guessed! He certainly couldn't have said anything that made him seem genuinely interesting.

Maybe it would be better if she just didn't show up. Or maybe that would be much, much worse.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

nola_jeangrey

"That's seriously so beautiful. You should have that." Katie was sure.

From:

nola_littlemermaid

"It's not a rush." Though now that he'd said everything out loud, maybe it was. "I hope you get yours too."

From:

nola_jeangrey

"Everyone's always in a rush." Katie wasn't, not really. A person would show up and be right eventually. "But I agree with you that it's not. I don't mind waiting, I have a lot going on."

From:

nola_littlemermaid

"Like creating beautiful art?"

From:

nola_jeangrey

"Right! Thank you for calling it beautiful." It meant everything.

From:

nola_littlemermaid

"Sometimes it's easy to tell the truth," he said.

From:

nola_jeangrey

"Oh, wow. Thank you for that, too. You're great." Sincerity was rare in the world, but Katie knew where it all had gone; here, to Andy.

From:

nola_littlemermaid

Andy laughed bashfully. "I don't know about that."

From:

nola_jeangrey

“I do! I’ve made up my mind. Have you always lived here?” Talking to Andy was interesting, and fun, and Katie was into it.

From:

nola_littlemermaid

He nodded. "I was born here." Had never left the area, actually. His father had refused to evacuate during Katrina, so Andy hadn't even left then. "What about you?"

From:

nola_jeangrey

"Do you love it? Would you live anywhere else?" Katie was such a sucker for the magic of New Orleans that she really wanted to stay. "My family is in Florida. They weren't so happy about me studying art instead of something real, so I came here and worked a bunch of jobs and didn't sleep once through college, and now I love it so much."

From:

nola_littlemermaid

"I'd try living somewhere else, but I think I'd come back eventually," Andy said. He was interested in the idea of traveling up the eastern coast, following the heat and sand until it became cold and rocky. "How long have you been out of school? Can you sleep now?"

From:

nola_jeangrey

“Where would you go? What do you want to see?” Katie would travel, but she also loved the idea of a solid home. A base. “I sleep now! And I make a lot more art. And sometimes I eat great food instead of the cheapest possible food. It’s a pretty good life.” It really was, all things considered!

From:

nola_littlemermaid

"I don't know for sure...maybe Boston? Old cities. And the coast." He felt a little embarrassed, honestly, both by the vagueness of his dreams and the idea of having one at all. He'd never left the city before now, after all—why would he now or later? "And that sounds like a good life. Though some of the cheaper food here is still amazing." Andy gestured to his now empty beignet tray as evidence.

From:

nola_jeangrey

“Old cities. I like that, that you like old things.” Katie suspected that Andy was wise, old-soul wise, so it all kind of made sense together. And it was lovely. Also, he appreciated beignets as much as she did, so she laughed. “I guess we really proved you right!”

From:

nola_littlemermaid

"No beignet is a bad beignet," Andy said, something he truly believed. Fried dough with powdered sugar? Yes, please. "But tell me more about your murals. Do you have ideas for Phoenix Effect?" He thought he better know as much as possible, in case the manager had questions hone he brought it up.

From:

nola_jeangrey

“Oh!” The art. Katie had almost forgotten. “I do have some ideas. I think the name is of the place is so powerful, you know? It calls to me all the time. The phoenix is such a beautiful creature, this incredible symbol of power and resilience and rebirth and hope, and not like, rainbows and delusion hope, but real, earned, hard-won hope. I just see the phoenix as a noble, formidable character, beautiful and strong, rising from flame and ash… a beacon.”

When Katie talked about the idea, something inside of her was swelling and aflame; her eyes lit up; the hair rose on the back of her neck. It was extraordinary. She had to make this artwork. She just had to.

From:

nola_littlemermaid

Andy could absolutely see how much Katie was drawn to the idea, though he was unsure himself. Fire and flame had never really drawn him, and he could see how too much might break the relaxing coffee shop vibe. "So it won't be too much about the fire part?" he asked carefully. "The destructive aspect."

From:

nola_jeangrey

“I don’t think destruction is a good theme for a place where people love to hang out!” Katie said brightly, even though, in some part of her mind, she was drawn to the dramatic, clean, perishing and clarifying act of destruction through fire.

Wow. That was terrifying to realize. She was never going to mention that to anyone ever.

From:

nola_littlemermaid

"Probably not," Andy agreed in relief, because there was no way he could successfully advocate for that. "But rebirth and light and beauty all sound wonderful."

From:

nola_jeangrey

“You have to work with the environment when you make a mural, you know? It has to be for the people in the place.”

Definitely not all fire and flame and death and power. Why would it be that? Why would Katie even remotely want that?

From:

nola_littlemermaid

"You sound really thoughtful about this," Andy told her. "Very professional."

From:

nola_jeangrey

“Thank you so much!” Focus on the words, Katie, not the fire. “It’s part of the art, I guess. You have to be a professional, like a business person, weirdly enough.”

From:

nola_littlemermaid

"Have you done many of these before?"

From:

nola_jeangrey

"A few. The city has hired me or my friends to make murals, so sometimes I've created them, sometimes I just help bring them to life. It's fun, the collaborating." Except, of course, Katie liked it best when she got to make the art, create the design.