Kylie in the City #1, Page 2

  Chapter 2

  Walking into the Upper West Side brownstone apartment I shared with my two LDS roommates after rehearsal that evening, I headed straight for the tiny strip of space we called a kitchen, and fished out a bag of Oreos from the cupboard and coconut milk from the fridge. It was my go-to “eat my feelings” snack of choice, and I couldn’t wait to devour the entire bag after the humiliating episode with Scott during rehearsal. Still completely mortified, I dreaded seeing him again the next day. I plopped down onto the couch and dipped the comforting Oreo into my coconut milk, savoring the ooey-gooey chocolate coconut party in my mouth. It was heaven and exactly what I needed to ease the tension of the day.

  Megan, my roommate, walked in from work just as I was finishing off the bag, “Bad day?” She asked eyeing the empty Oreo bag.

  “You could say that.”

  She gave me a sympathetic look and sat down next to me, “So, not to make your day any worse or anything, but we have to figure out this new roommate thing.”

  “I know. We should probably put up an ad at the Institute, and I’ve already told the Relief Society President that we’re looking for someone as well.” Time was running out, and we needed a fourth roommate before the first of the month.

  “Great. I’ll post to NYC LDS Housing tonight, too.” Meg offered.

  I nodded. Rent was ridiculously expensive in the City, but it was a ton more affordable with a bunch of roommates, and we couldn’t really be picky if we wanted the opening rented soon.

  “So what are your plans…” she started to ask when the front door opened and slammed shut, making us both jump in our seats.

  Our third roommate, the door slammer, Rachel, stormed down the hallway and into her room. We ran after her, “Rach, what happened?” I asked coming to a halt as she was about to slam her bedroom door shut. She decided against slamming it in our faces and motioned us inside. She cuddled up on her bed holding her pillow and we followed, making ourselves comfortable on the bed next to her. Knowing Rachel, it would probably be awhile before she was done venting.

  “So?” Meg prompted.

  Rachel huffed, “Stupid, Damon.”

  “He’s not ‘great’ anymore?” I asked.

  She shook her head.

  “I don’t get it. You’ve ditched us the last two weeks to spend all your free time with him, and now he’s stupid?” I raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

  “Shoot, we didn’t even get to meet him before he made Stupid Status,” Meg chimed in.

  “He dumped me today.”

  “What?”

  “Why?”

  Meg and I were awesome at blurting out “starts with a ‘W’ ” questions in unison.

  “He didn’t give me a reason. He didn’t even have the decency to do it in person. The jerk Dump Texted me!”

  Oh boy, if there was one thing that made a single girl cross-eyed crazy angry, it was the Dump Text, and Rachel, with her fiery temper, was not the person to test it with.

  She was fuming, and rightfully so, “I really hate dating. When does it get easier?”

  “I think it will get easier when we don’t have to do it anymore.” I said and sighed at the sobering thought. It really kind of stunk. Dating was, and always would be, hard.

  “It doesn’t seem to bother the guys, though,” Rachel said annoyed, “They seem to be just fine with their ‘Love ‘em & Leave ‘em’ attitudes. Heck, most of the time all they want is a NCMO the easiest and cheapest way possible. So, hanging out in order to make out is the norm, instead of dates they have to plan and pay for. It’s all so depressing and unfair that this is all we have to look forward to with these stupid guys!”

  She was really on a roll now. Rach could vent about the state of dating like there was no tomorrow. I had to agree with her, though. NCMO’s (pronounced nick-moh), or Non-Committal Make Outs (the Mormon version of a just kissing, no strings attached, make out), seemed to be the only thing the guys we went to church with were interested in at all. It was almost as if they had completely forgotten how to date. Then once they had their fill, we got the Dump Text, or if they were huge jerks, they would Houdini us and disappear without a word. It really did seem like they were getting the better end of the deal with how dating worked nowadays. And Rachel was right, it was definitely unfair.

  “You’re right, Rach, but what are you going to do about it this time?” Meg asked. Leave it to Meg to be insightful and try to find an answer to the problem, rather than just letting her vent. I guess that’s why she was so good at her job as a therapist.

  Rachel’s eyes lit up, “Date like them.” She said with determination, “Give them what they give us… nothing.”

  “Ok, like how?” I asked intrigued.

  “We can’t expect dates or have unrealistic notions about dating. We need to separate our feelings from the whole dating experience. We need to go out there and NCMO the bejeezies out of them… just like they do to us. No emotions. No strings. Just fun.”

  “Hmm, dating like them, huh?” Meg mulled it over, “I like it. Why not? Nothing else seems to be working that well in my dating life.” She shrugged, “Ok, I’m in.”

  “I agree. Let’s do it.” I said with a firm nod. I had nothing to lose at this point either.

  “Seriously, I think this will be good for us.” Rachel said.

  My phone buzzed while we were making our “Date-like-a-Man” plans. I didn’t recognize the number, but I picked it up anyway.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi? Kylie?” The male voice on the other end asked.

  “Yes?”

  “This is Brother Wright, the ward Executive Secretary. I know this is last minute, but the Bishop asked if I would call you to see if you could meet with him tonight at the church? He has something he wants to talk to you about.”

  “Sure, that’s not a problem. What time?”

  “How about 7:30?”

  “Sounds good, I’ll be there then.”

  “Alright, I’ll let him know. Thanks.”

  I ended the call wondering what on earth the Bishop wanted to talk to me about. It had to be he was just checking up on me, or he had a Calling in mind for me. Either way, I had to hurry to slip into a skirt and get down to the building that housed both the chapel for our regular church meetings and the Temple. It was just a few blocks away, but I wanted to stop and get a slice of pizza for dinner beforehand.

  I ran out the door in less than 15 minutes and was on my way. I hoped what the Bishop wanted to talk to me about wasn’t serious.