Friday, April 1, 2022 NYU, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York, United States

“Don’t go,” Ella pleaded.

“Hey. I have held on as long as I can. To make sure my little bird here can sing.” Dr. Fedoriw motioned to her.

“But I think you have found your song. And I do not think it is physics.”

Ella sat there guiltily. She had been ignoring her studies and it was coming to the fore now. She hadn’t realized it was so obvious.

“But… I have so many new ideas. I was going to get on track again.”

“Silly bird. I’m just here to push you out of the nest. Now I’m going home to defend my people, my family.”

And with that, her advisor and friend was gone. Headed back to fight against a human war of aggression. Ella wondered if he would have stayed if she had shown him some magic. And then wondered if that was a selfish thought.

She trudged her way across Washington Square to a food cart near the law school. Human greed and vanity were definitely a problem.

She was almost to the subway when Charlie messaged her.

Drinks. Meet at 67?

Why Charlie loved that bar so much, Ella did not know. She loved it enough that when she and Connor broke up, she had insisted the bar go to her. But why go up to Harlem every time.

No. Too far. LB. K? Kk.

And so Ella made her way over to an unassuming door on 7th Avenue and headed down the stairs. It was early and she snagged a table easily and requested a bartenders choice of a drink which came back as a Ramos Fizz 1. Too summery for Ella but she nursed it anyway. The foam had settled and disappeared by the time Charlie threw her fancy leather bag down and plopped down beside her for a side hug.

“So I have good news and bad news,” Charlie started.

“Let me start, only bad news from me. Dr. Fedoriw is going back to Ukraine… to fight.”

“At his age? Why isn’t he out drinking with us?”

Ella stirred her drink and said nothing.

“Oh honey, you are upset aren’t you?” Charlie gave her another side hug. “By the way, you have a fizz mustache.”

Ella quickly rubbed it off her upper lip and then looked around to see if anyone had seen her.

And then they both started giggling.

“Okay. What is your news?”

“Well bad news, Lay Mou does taste terrible. For two million a bottle I expected it to be even worse though.”

“And in good news, I got a promotion. And got to fire that asshole, Goldberg.”

At Ella’s look of confusion, Charlie supplemented, “The guy ogling your tits during the interview.”

“Oh yeah. He was an asshole.”

“Let’s get some drinks so we can toast to my promotion. I’m buying.”

Charlie paused and then stole Ella’s glass to take the last sip.

“Oh, and Xu knows I know about him being a dragon. Now where is that waiter?”

Charlie explained how she had been caught out. And that Xu just seemed amused if anything. Which helped Ella calm down

Charlie had told the waiter to go with another bartenders choice, but to skip the ‘weakass shit’. And he had come back with two drinks that Ella couldn’t hear the names of due to the rising volume as people came in.2 3

“Cheers!” Charlie yelled and clinked her glass before downing her drink.

“Damn that’s good. You going to drink yours?”

Ella guarded her drink. When Charlie was out to celebrate , it could be dangerous. But what she wasn’t doing was objectifying Ella and every man that walked by.

“You okay? I thought for sure when that guy in the blue shirt walked by, you would have said something.”

Charlie blushed a bit, odd. “He was good looking, although not as good looking as Mr. Cowboy over there.”

Ella glanced over to see the man she had pointed out. He was wearing a nice set of dark blue jeans that weren’t too skinny, but just normal. Nice ass she noted. A button down. Cowboy boots, and he had a cowboy hat which he was holding.

His face had high cheekbones and he had olive skin. Dark black hair about shoulder length, pushed back. Clean shaven.

And a fucking glowing white raven on his shoulder.

“Charlie… Charlie… that guy. He has a magic bird thing on his shoulder.” Ella whispered to her.

Charlie looked at her and then looked at her drink, “That’s it. I am getting whatever you are having next.”

“No. I am serious.”

“Well shit.”

Isaac leaned against the bar. He didn’t know what to order and just told them to bring whatever. They brought him something that was whiskey-based. Too strong for him. He felt ridiculous.

Well when he swiped right on the dating app, he had been hopeful. The first couple years of law school were almost over and he was happy to be done with them. All the theory had been interesting but these people had never had to actually deal out justice. Most of them were heading to large law firms to make money, and who could blame them?

And now he was getting stood up by his Tinder date. At a fancy bar he had no business being in.

He was really wishing he had a Big Sky and was back at the dorms. Or, honestly, back on the reservation. But New York had its advantages and one of them walked up to the bar right next to him.

“Hi, I’m Ella. Can I buy you a drink?” She was average height. Long black hair cut straight across the front. Beautiful face, long eyelashes and full lips, and from his quick glance down, well she wasn’t lacking anywhere else either.

One thing Isaac did love about New York was the woman didn’t fuck around. He knew he wasn’t that bad looking either. He’d done okay in New York, the cowboy thing had worked out for him pretty well.

He’d discovered a lot about himself in these past two years, but that also scared him — what would happen when he went back? And a traitorous voice inside said ‘if’ he went back.

“Well then I’d be much obliged.” He drew out his drawl into something more Texan sounding. It usually worked better than his native Montana accent.

She gave him a nice smile and her eyes glanced over his shoulder for a moment before she turned over to the bar and ordered two drinks.

“I’m Isaac. Nice to meet you.”

She took a sip and leaned in close. Her eyes were hazel which made her look exotic, but then he noticed they were contacts. A bit fake, taking her down a notch in his estimation. But then again, he wasn’t marrying her.

“So Isaac, tell me about yourself.”

He did his spiel - moved to New York, at law school at Columbia, about to graduate, etc.

She paid avid attention. And then started playing with her hair — something Isaac had read was a strong sign of interest.

Ella had read the same book.

“Montana? Is it as beautiful as I have read?” she asked, forcing her voice to sound a bit ditzy. Guys liked it when girls were a bit dumb, right?

“At times it is heartbreaking.” His voice held a bit too much truth in that statement and Ella felt a bit guilty. But she needed to know what was going on.

“So what did you do in Montana before coming here?” Just keep asking questions, Ella thought; people love talking about themselves.

But Isaac felt uncomfortable about it, “Errr… I was a peacekeeper for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.”

“Like a police officer?”

“Yeah.” He had lost his smooth vibe. Fortunately this girl didn’t seem too put off. Maybe he’d get lucky tonight anyway.

“Let’s get another drink and get out of here.” Damn. She was aggressive. But damn if she wasn’t hot as hell too.

“I’ll get this round,” he insisted. He pulled out his wallet to pay and was glad his date had stood him up.

Ella was glad she hadn’t taken Charlie’s advice which had been to go up to Isaac and ask him if he wanted to fuck.

Sometimes Charlie was a bit too much.

That damn bird. It was so hard not to look at it, especially since the last time she had looked, it winked at her.

They finished their drinks and Ella lied, “Hey, I live just up Seventh. Come on…” she dragged him up the stairs and while leading him up, flared her eyes to clear the alcohol out of her system, something she had been practicing.

“What was that flash?” Isaac asked.

“Camera or something. Maybe tourists down here.”

She got him upstairs and up Seventh a bit and then over. She looked back and saw that Charlie was following.

“Just down this way…” Pointing to an empty alley.

He walked in behind her and wasn’t prepared when she swept his legs, not gently rapped his head against the side and pulled a handgun on him.

“Shit… you robbing me lady?”

“What the hell is with that white bird on your shoulder!” Ella paused, “And why is it laughing?”

Ramos Gin Fizz

2 ounces gin, such as Ford’s or Beefeater ½ ounce lemon juice ½ ounce lime juice 1 ounce simple syrup 1 ounce heavy cream 1 medium egg white 1 small drop orange blossom water Add heavy cream to a shaker filled with ice, and egg white to a separate shaker without ice. Shake both at the same time until the tin with cream is well chilled. Shake the egg white for a little longer, then combine the two in the egg white tin (without ice). Add lemon juice, lime juice, simple syrup, and gin. Add a small handful of pellet ice and shake for as long as you can stand (at least three minutes). Strain it into a cold fizz glass (or a highball glass). Place in the fridge for a minute or two. Top with soda water and finish with orange blossom water.

French Pearl

¾ ounce fresh lime juice ¾ ounce cane syrup 1 sprig spearmint 2 ounces Plymouth Gin ¼ ounce Pernod Classic Pastis Lime and mint for garnish Combine the lime juice, cane syrup, and mint sprig in a cocktail shaker. Muddle the ingredients. Next, add the Pernod and gin. Fill the shaker to the top with ice and shake well. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel and mint sprig.

Mezcal Fig Sour

1 1/3 cups simple syrup 10 dried figs, halved 1 (4-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup) 1 (750-ml) bottle mezcal 1 1/4 cups fresh lemon juice (from 8 large lemons) 3/4 cup water Whole nutmeg Combine simple syrup, figs, and ginger in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium. Reduce heat to low, and simmer until figs are softened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate mixture, covered, 8 hours or overnight. Pour mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a bowl; discard solids. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week. Place mezcal in a pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups fig-ginger syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into pitcher, followed by lemon juice and 3/4 cup water. Refrigerate until chilled, 2 hours or up to overnight. Stir and pour over large ice cubes into rocks glasses. Garnish servings with freshly grated nutmeg.