Alexis and the Missing Ingredient

by Coco Simon

  My feet felt like they were made of lead.

  “Do not be nervous, my young doe. My information will be beautiful, and you will enjoy it very much. Come. I can already see your aura, which is very strong. Very positive.”

  Gulping nervously, I took Madame Khalil’s outstretched hand and followed her into her inner room. She shut the door after us, which made me panic a little, but she smiled and said, “Do not worry. It is all part of the show.”

  I laughed nervously. “The show?”

  “Yes. People pay for the drama,” she said wistfully. “They do not believe in my gift unless I make myself into a spectacle. It is very sad. But we are not here to be sad!” She snapped her fingers in the air. “Tonight we are here to unlock the joyful mysteries of your future!”

  Yikes!

  “Please to have a seat,” she instructed me, gesturing to the chair across from where she lowered herself. She flounced her tunic and her hair out behind her as she sat, and a delicious scent of clove billowed out. It reminded me of baking, and I felt myself relax a little bit.

  “Good. There, my pet. We are here for a nice time. If you relax, you will find it very pleasant, and perhaps you will not even want to leave!” Madame Khalil laughed prettily, and I sat back in my seat a little. “Now, let us start with your aura, which is very strong. Yes, you are very strong!”

  I smiled a little, because I do like to think of myself as strong—somewhat on the outside, but definitely on the inside.

  Madame Khalil continued, “Good! I see hard work. I see you are very organized. I see someone who is very thoughtful, thinking of others. But also I see . . . you are a little shy with your friends, no?”

  Wow. That was fast. “Uh . . . yes. Sometimes,” I agreed.

  She spoke to me firmly, like she was lecturing me. “You are a leader. You must not feel shy. You have the very good ideas. People will like to follow you. But you must use your power for the good. Like me! Ha-ha-ha!” She chuckled again. “Now, please to give me your hand for a look.”

  I held out my palm toward her, and she lifted it gently. I wondered if this would take long or not. So far I liked what I was hearing, even though none of it was really a surprise to me. I just didn’t want to hear anything too specific that would haunt me forever.

  Madame Khalil made noises deep in her throat as she felt my palm and turned it from side to side to inspect it. “Hmm. Ah! Uh-huh. Uh-hmm. Ach. Ah. A la.”

  “Is it okay?” I asked nervously, unable to wait.

  “Ah. Yes. It is very good. You are special. Do you see these lines? You will have many children. You will be a very good mother. Or maybe a very good teacher. It is unclear if they will all be your children or someone else’s. You will be very successful. I tell you this already, no? Your aura, it is very strong. Now. Business. Hmm.”

  She started making the noises again, and I was all ears, not wanting to miss anything.

  “You will start very young. You will be very successful. There will be a long break in the middle. Children, maybe. Or travel. Then more success. Your own business. Yes. Something with food, maybe, no?”

  Wow! I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Maybe!” I said. Madame Khalil looked up and smiled.

  “I am right, no? Madame Khalil is always right. Now. Your friends. You must be the peacemaker. You must not start trouble. You are on this Earth to end trouble. Do not seek it. Stay away from troublemakers. You must have peace for your success. But . . . I see a very, very busy social calendar. Lots of travel to New York City. Maybe even you will live here for a time. You are good with numbers, no?” she asked suddenly.

  “Yes, I am,” I admitted. “How can you tell?”

  “Shape of fingers.” She nodded, pleased with herself for being right.

  “Does it say I will work with numbers?” I asked, disappointed in myself for so quickly believing all this hocus-pocus, but still wanting to know.

  “Yes.” Madame Khalil nodded again firmly, poking me in the palm. “Yes. Of this I am sure.”

  She seemed to be wrapping things up, and now I didn’t want it to end. It was fun talking to someone who seemed to have all the answers and who seemed to want to discuss you and your future.

  “Any advice?” I asked hesitantly. I didn’t want to know anything specific, but what the heck!

  Madame Khalil frowned. “Yes. Be sure to take your vitamins. Take care of your health, especially with sleeping.”

  Gosh, had my mother paid her to say that?

  “Also, you will find yourself in the middle of things. You must be sure to keep things peaceful. And you must take more chances for yourself. Not for business. For you! For love! For fun! Try new things! Keep life interesting. Responsibility is yours for this. All work and no play is very bad for the heart line. Okay?”

  I grinned. “Okay. Yes. Thank you.”

  “You are a good girl. I can see this. It is in your aura. Okay. Go and send in a friend. Good luck to you. Take a card. Visit my website, okay?”

  I laughed and took the card. “Thank you.”

  Outside, the other girls jumped on me. “What did she say? What did she say? Was it scary?”

  I blinked at the light, which was a tad brighter than in the inner room, though by no means glaring. I suddenly didn’t really want to share the information. It was too new, and I hadn’t processed it. I ached for my planner, which was back at Mia’s. I wished I could log in all the comments, so I could and refer back to them later.

  “Anybody have a paper and a pen? I need to write it all down in a list,” I said.

  The others groaned and pushed Ava in next.

  “Pretty good, right?” asked Mr. Cruz with a laugh, offering me a pen from his pocket and a sheet of paper he pulled from Madame Khalil’s printer tray.

  “Yes, it was really good!”

  “Then it’s all true!” he said. “If it hadn’t been good, I would have given you my whole it’s-just-a-hokey-act speech.”

  “Oh, gosh no! Please don’t do that!” I said, laughing. “I want to believe it. Thank you!”

  “My pleasure,” said Mr. Cruz, his eyes twinkling. I wondered if he’d fed her any information about us when he’d made the appointment. Well, even if he had, it was okay. I liked what I’d heard.

  We waited quietly in the outer room, and once we’d all cycled through Madame Khalil’s inner sanctum, she came out to bid us good-bye. Or maybe for Mr. Cruz to pay. Either way, it was good to see her again, and I vowed in my heart that one day I’d return, with all my children and business success in the food industry, and after some travel.

  As we exited, we all began to chatter at once, pleased with the plumping compliments Madame Khalil had privately bestowed upon each of us. Somehow she’d managed to get to the heart of each person’s skills and attributes and make them feel very good about what they already had. Maybe there was more business sense in all this than I realized at the start. The best things in life take the basics and make them better.

  Katie and Mia led the way to our next stop. I was starting to fade, as I am not used to walking this much or to staying up this late. I hoped “get rowdy” would fall off the to-do list by the time we got home. I call sleeping anywhere, I thought.

  Ava and I trudged behind the “leaders” as we crossed a few blocks over to get to our next destination.

  “I can’t imagine where we are headed. I mean, there’s nothing over here. This is like a wild goose chase,” Ava muttered crankily.

  “Well, I’m sure it’s something good if we’ve come this far!” I declared. I didn’t want to align myself with Ava just now since she was being so negative.

  Finally, we turned down another cobblestone street, with more storefronts clad with flags and decked with black fire escapes. (The stores were all starting to look the same to me.)

  “How can you ever find your way around this place?” I asked incredulously. “Everything looks the same!”

  The others all laughed. “Alexis! That’s not true!” said Katie
. “Anyway, I love the walking. It makes me feel so alive!”

  Katie, of all people! My fellow Maple Grover was now acting like a native New Yorker.

  “Oh yeah, city slicker . . .” I started to tease her a little, but then I remembered Madame Khalil’s words about being a peacemaker. Quickly I changed my tune. “Then you’re going to have to be my guide and teach me all about this place because I am clueless!”

  Mia laughed. “Alexis is never clueless! This is a treat!”

  “Ha-ha,” I said.

  “Here we are!” cried Katie as she stopped in front of another tall storefront, this one with a line snaking out the door.

  I craned my neck back to read the sign. “Georgetown Cupcake! No way! Like on the show!” I said.

  Katie grinned. “You got it!”

  “OMG. This is awesome!” I was really excited. I admire these sisters so much. They started this bakery that became this huge national chain. It’s like they’re living my dream, having it all and making so many people happy at the same time. Hey, maybe that’s why Madame Khalil thinks I’ll be spending time around lots of kids when I grow up! Cupcakes attract kids! And sure enough, even though it was pretty late, there were plenty of kids in line, yanking on their parents’ hands and pointing at what they wanted. City kids definitely stayed out later than kids where I live.

  Inside, everything looked so delicious, even the big mural of cupcakes on the wall, and the place was packed. I couldn’t help counting the number of customers and multiplying by $2.75, the price of a cupcake (in the unlikely event people bought just one). With fifty people in the store at the moment, multiplied by basically three bucks, the store was making . . . only $137.50. Hmm. With four people behind the counter and rent and supplies . . . Not great numbers. Maybe opening a cupcake store isn’t the way to go, I thought suddenly.

  “Maybe we should get an assortment?” offered Mr. Cruz, interrupting my math reverie.

  “Oh yes, Dad! But . . . let’s let Katie order them, okay? Since she’s the expert.”

  “Absolutely,” agreed Mr. Cruz.

  I glanced at Ava to see how she’d handle this, and her brow was a little wrinkled. “I’ve never been here. I think I read about it, maybe. I can’t believe I’ve never been, though!” She seemed astounded by the fact Katie knew about it and she, the native New Yorker, did not.

  “Don’t worry, Ava, there are thousands of places I’ve never been in this city,” said Mr. Cruz comfortingly. “It’s so hard to stay on top of all the new stuff cropping up all the time.”

  “Yeah, but I can’t believe I’ve never been!” said Ava.

  “Hey, now you’re here! Don’t worry about it!” said Mia, joking, but it seemed to irritate Ava.

  “Well, I would have thought you might have—”

  I could sense trouble brewing, so I used my old trick again. “Hey, look! Taylor Swift!” And everyone turned again for a nanosecond and then started laughing.

  “You’re like the boy who cried wolf!” said Katie, shaking her finger at me.

  “Yeah, I’m the girl who cried Taylor!” I said, and we all laughed. Phew. Crisis avoided. For now, anyway.

  CHAPTER 7

  Always Prepared

  Thank goodness we did not have to get rowdy when we got home. It was actually pretty late, and even Mr. Cruz was tired. He asked us all to get right to sleep, since we’d have another big day tomorrow, Saturday.

  Finally, I was lying in the dark, snuggled under the covers and thinking over the day. It had been fun, but I wished Emma had been here to share it all with us. She never would have eaten sashimi, and the two of us would have been able to discuss Madame Khalil’s predictions in-depth. “I wonder how Emma’s doing,” I said.

  “Oh, yeah. Poor Emma with all those boys,” Katie said with a moan.

  “Well . . . except Matt,” I cautioned, since I have a huge crush on Emma’s older brother.

  “Right! Except Matt,” amended Katie. “Sorry.”

  “And Sam!” called Mia from up in her bed. Sam is the oldest in Emma’s family, and a supercutie.

  We all laughed.

  “And Sam,” agreed Katie. “Oh, and that little Jakie is so adorable, we really can’t forget him!”

  “Oh, for goodness’ sake, will you all please stop talking about people I don’t know?” asked Ava, aggravated. She sat up and fluffed her pillow hard, almost punching it, then she lay back down with a huff.

  There was a brief silence. “Sorry, Avy,” said Mia. “Sometimes we forget.”

  “I don’t think we talk about people you don’t know all the time. Just occasionally, and then only by accident or necessity,” said Katie quietly.

  I agreed with Katie. Ava was being overly sensitive, but I didn’t want this to turn into a fight. I had thought three would be a tricky number, but now I could see that numbers don’t have much to do with anything. It all depended on who was in your threesome or foursome.

  “It’s just, none of us has any brothers, not counting Dan,” I said. Dan was Mia’s newish stepbrother. “So we’re kind of fascinated by the Taylors.” I thought maybe if I explained it a little, it wouldn’t seem so exclusive.

  “Yeah, well, I do have a brother, and I do not find him fascinating,” said Ava crankily.

  “What’s your brother’s name?” I asked Ava.

  “Christopher,” she said.

  “Older or younger?” I asked.

  “Younger,” said Ava.

  Wow, we weren’t really getting anywhere with these one-word answers.

  “Is he gross?” I asked.

  “Yes!” said Mia. “Sorry.”

  “I guess so,” said Ava. “Yes.”

  “What’s he up to tonight?” I asked.

  “Probably home watching sports with my dad,” said Ava.

  “Oh my gosh, he is sooo obsessed with sports.” Mia laughed.

  “Yeah,” admitted Ava.

  “I mean, he’s good at sports too. It’s not like all he does is watch them. Remember, we went to watch his basketball game that time . . . ,” Mia reminisced.

  Ava propped herself up on her elbow and finally laughed a little. “Yeah. And he made that three-pointer from across the court, and my mom screamed! That was so embarrassing!”

  “It was hilarious! And he was, like, the champ of the game. His team picked him up and carried him around!”

  “Oh boy, was he hard to live with after that!” said Ava.

  I felt a little better now that I’d softened up Ava.

  “That’s like the time we went to Matt Taylor’s game . . . ,” began Katie.

  Aaargh!

  I wanted to crawl under my covers and stay there. She’d just undone all the work I’d done making Ava feel included. You just can’t win, I told myself. Shortly after that we all fell asleep, thank goodness. At that point, there was nothing left to do.

  The next day was beautiful, and we all woke up early, but Mia’s dad had been up even earlier and had gone out to get us delicious bagels from around the corner. They were still warm and very soft. Katie and I couldn’t stop oohing and aahing over them.

  “These are good bagels,” said Ava. “But the best ones are right by my apartment. Ess-a-Bagel, it’s called. Those are really New York City bagels.”

  Katie and I glanced at each other, like, What does it matter? These bagels are delicious.

  Mia changed the subject quickly. “So let’s talk about what’s on for today. Let me get my list.”

  She returned and began reading off agenda items. “Breakfast, check. Clean up and get dressed, almost check. Shopping around the Flatiron. Maybe cupcakes at Billy’s in Chelsea. Stopping by that baking store you’re interested in, Katie. Lunch at Shake Shack. Then MOMA. Look for Wayne Thiebaud pictures. Next, Magnolia, of course. Walk through the park. Then maybe Dylan’s Candy Bar, for market research, of course. Plus, Katie there’s that place you asked about. You know . . .”

  Katie nodded. “Right! Got it.”

  I didn’t
understand half of what that girl had just said! MOMA? Thiebaud? Flatiron? “Whaaaaat?” I cried in frustration, and put my head in my hands. I looked up just in time to catch Ava rolling her eyes.

  “Have you just never spent any time here before?” she asked icily.

  “Well, we’ve come in to see a lot of Broadway shows,” I said. I knew I was being defensive, but she was being . . . offensive, actually.

  “But you live pretty close. You never come in for the day or anything? To shop?” Ava wondered.

  I shrugged. “My sister comes in. I’m just not all that into shopping.”

  “Yeah,” agreed Ava, looking me up and down as if to say, I can tell.

  Well, look who woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I thought. Should have tried the air mattress, missy. But I thought of Madame Khalil again and bit my tongue.

  “We should try to come in more,” agreed Katie, stepping into the fray. “We just get so busy with work and school and little events and stuff out there that it never occurs to us to come in. It is fun, though.”

  “I still come in all the time,” said Mia.

  “Obviously,” said Ava. “Now, do we have to go to all these bakeries today?”

  Mia and Katie and I all looked at one another. I was feeling less enthusiastic about the cupcake retail business in general after I did my store math last night, but at the same time, I actually didn’t want Ava to “win.” (Isn’t that terrible? And me, a peacemaker!) I also felt bad for Katie, who was honestly interested from a business standpoint but also as a true baker.

  “Yes. We’ve had it planned for weeks,” said Mia firmly. What she didn’t say was, You don’t have to come, but it was kind of clear that that’s what she was thinking.

  There was a silence for a split second, and then Ava said, “Okay. But then let’s go to the new Sprinkles or to the Magnolia at Bloomingdale’s. I haven’t been up there in ages.”

  Mia looked at her and then said, “Let’s play it by ear.”

  “I remember Emma mentioned the Magnolia at Bloomingdale’s,” I said. “She was in for a shoot or something for them, and she and her mom stopped in for a treat.” (Emma models, and sometimes work brings her into the city.)