“He’s the guy I was telling you about,” Gloria whispered to her companion, Jayme, a plain-looking woman in her early thirties. Gloria and Jayme were both route managers at Westside Food Distributors. Their mutual fondness for cats, candle parties, and needlepoint had led to a long-lasting friendship.
“Hi, everyone,” Adam addressed his new friends. “Who’s Bobby D.?”
Eunice, Gloria, and Buzz all chuckled. “Bobby Darin, silly. The singer. We all think you sound like him. Look over here,” Eunice said, pointing behind her left shoulder to a picture on the wall. “That’s me and Bobby in 1952. He headlined at a variety show in New York where I was singing in a trio called the Broadway Babies.”
Adam blushed. “Of course I know Bobby Darin. I’m a huge fan. Thanks for the nice compliment, but I only wish I could sing like him. So you knew him, huh?”
“It’s show business, darling. You know everyone,” Eunice smiled wryly. “He wanted me to…well, let’s just say he found me attractive. But I was already married to my Sammy.”
“Well, how about a song, Madame E? I’ve been dying to sing all day. How about a few group numbers, while I have a drink?”
Eunice began playing songs from Oklahoma. Adam felt more comfortable on that bar stool next to Buzz and Gloria than he’d felt anywhere else in years. He didn’t really remember the exact details of the Saturn Return thing that Felicia had mentioned a couple of months back, but he definitely felt something aligning.
After the Oklahoma numbers, Gloria introduced Adam to Jayme. Before much additional conversation could take place, Eunice started playing “The Gambler.” The little patch of existence that Adam found inside Nye’s was emotional comfort food. His new friends were real, average people. They were salt-of-the-earth types. They didn’t believe their own bullshit like Moody or the people who clamored around the bar at Café Jazz. Nobody was there to be seen or to show off their new clothes or jewelry. Sure, Eunice loved to drop famous names and tell stories about her time in the business, but when it came right down to it, she derived most of her pleasure from helping people like Gloria come alive. Adam was still trying to figure out why he felt compelled to go to Nye’s. Buzz and Gloria were there mainly out of loneliness, but they didn’t try to hide it or make excuses for it. Adam was more than lonely. He was lost, too.
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