Peppermint Tea and Pippa Soo

Sunrise

It's Wednesday, so here's a chapter! Play the song, "Sunrise" by Norah Jones (linked above) at the third *****, when Natalie is being woken up by Pippa

*****

I was officially explored out.

Well, not exactly finished exploring – I don't think anyone could fully explore every nook or New York City. But I was sick of the subway. So far, I had been in the city for a week, and I still got lost every time I tried to take the subway. Pippa wasn't much of a help, considering that by the time I got up, she was usually gone for rehearsals. I saw her for a few minutes at night, before she collapsed into bed, but we hadn't really gotten much time to talk. I knew there was so much of New York that I hadn't been to, but I wished I had someone to explore with.

*****

"Hey Pippa, what are your rehearsals like?" I asked. I was grateful that Phillipa had the weekend off, and we were currently back in her favorite little bakery, sitting at the window and making funny faces at the people rushing around outside in the cold.

Phillipa lit up. "The show is so much fun! The stuff that Lin and Alex have written, well, it's amazing. I have no idea how Lin's able to turn his thoughts into such articulate phrases. And we have the most ridiculous cast, everyone always pranking each other. Some of the guys have been working on this stuff together for years now, so they're really tight. The rest of us, even though we came in at different times from workshops, have gotten really close too." She paused, breathing in the middle of her unplanned monologue. "And Jazzy bakes for us a lot!"

"Back up," I requested. "By Lin, I'm assuming THE Lin-Manuel Miranda? And who are those other people, Alex and Jessy?"

"Jazzy," Phillipa corrected, "Short for Jasmine, Jasmine Cephas-Jones. She plays one of my sisters, as well as the slut who sleeps with my husband. And Alex Lacamoire is also a brilliant man, like Lin. He does a lot of the music arrangement, so for example if Lin has the melody or even just words, Alex helps write the physical sheet music and also will conduct the orchestra during the shows. He helped Lin with In the Heights, and plays piano like a boss."

I shook my head. "Some people are so frickin talented. How about Lin? What's he really like to work with?"

Pippa smiled. "He's cool. He's one of the most energetic people I know, like sometimes he reminds me of one of those little Energizer bunnies. I have no idea how he sleeps at night. His ideas, though, sometimes get carried away. We'll sometimes show up to rehearsal one day, completely block something, and the next day he will have added two lines, changed the tune of the song slightly, and changed the tone of the piece." Phillipa chuckled. "It can be quite entertaining, really, to watch him run around like a madman."

"He sounds like he'd be cool to work with. I still can't believe you work with him."

Her eyes sparkled. "I'll ask if you can watch a rehearsal. It might be a lot of sitting, but I know you've done theater so you have an idea of all the preparation that goes in to a show. I don't know, might be interesting."

"Really?!" I practically squealed. "You'd do that for me?"

Phillipa nodded. "Sure. No promises, though. You might have to sit through the guys singing about banging the Schuyler sisters." She pulled out her phone to text Lin her request.

"Sounds fine to me." I said, even though I had no idea who any of those people were.

Pippa's phone buzzed with an incoming text. "Oh, and my boyfriend wants to meet you. Does dinner on Thursday work for you? We can do something casual at our apartment."

I nodded. "Yeah, its not like I have any plans. I mean, I don't really know anyone here."

Something caught me off guard. "Wait. When were you going to tell me about your boyfriend?! Who is he? What's he like? I swear, if he's anything like the last guy you dated..."

"Oh god, no." Phillipa shuddered, remembering how weird the last guy had been. Really, he hadn't been to strange – unless you count his foot fetish and the fact that he ate Parmesan cheese on practically every meal, even going so far as to carrying around his own personal tub to restaurant. "Nothing like the last guy. He's, well...indescribable." She said, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks.

Well, as long as he wasn't as weird as the last guy, I was ok with it. "Really? You're not going to give me anything better than that?"

Pip shook her head, smiling. "Nope. You'll have to meet him and understand."

Well then. Looks like I'd have to wait until Thursday.

*****

I woke up the next morning to Phillipa shaking me. "Don't you know its bad to shake children?" I asked, trying to pull my sheets back over my head. It was Sunday, for crying out loud. Shouldn't I be able to sleep in, in peace?

"Come on, its already 6:15."

What the actual heck. It was still dark grey outside, and I responded with a groan. "Why, you awful ruiner of sleep."

Phillipa was unperturbed. "We have yoga!"

"We?"

"Yep! I skipped it last week, since I wanted to take you on the ferry. But we're doing it today!" She replied, much too cheerful for 6:17 am on a FRICKING SUNDAY MORNING.

Actually, yoga didn't sound awful, even though I hadn't danced in at least a month. So, I hauled myself out of the warm bed and into leggings and a sweatshirt and wrapped a scarf around my neck.

A few minutes later, and we were walking a few blocks to an undisclosed location.

"Its so peaceful," I remarked, looking around. It was about 6:50, the sun not up yet. "I mean there's still people, and its cold, but it seems more...I don't know, real?"

Phillipa smiled. "Yep. I love the early mornings like this, quiet, not as much in the rush hours because it's the weekend. The city feels more personal. This is the real New York that tourists don't get to see."

*****

By the time we got to the building, the frigid December air had woken me up fully. We took an elevator up several stories, stepping out into a foyer where a few other women stood around, talking quietly. A minute later, the teacher welcomed us into the studio, which was in a corner of the building. Two of the walls were completely floor-to-ceiling glass windows, looking out over rooftops.

"This class is called Sunrise Sunday," Phillipa told me quietly as we stretched. "In a few minutes, if we're lucky and its not too foggy, we'll be able to see the sun rise over those buildings."

She was right. Although there were some low clouds, I was able to see the moment the sun peeked over the far off buildings and light up the sky. The teacher had us just sit there, stretching out, and watching the sun slowly climb up the sky.

I felt like I was sitting in the clouds. Really, I was just high enough in a soundproofed enough room that most of the constant buzz on the city was nonexistent, but I was relaxed all the same.

The class turned out to incorporate a bit of yoga with meditation and was overall a quite relaxing experience. After we were done, Phillipa introduced me to one of the other people in the class, a girl named Carleigh who was in Hamilton with her.

On the way home, we stopped at what Pip claimed was "the best Jewish bakery in the world" for bagels and lox, a Sunday morning tradition according to both Pippa and Carleigh. Even thought by 9 am it was still cold and too early to be up on a Sunday morning, I felt more energetic and at peace than I had been in a while. Also, I was definitely going to be sore for a day or two. But my Sunday was off to a good start.

*****

A/N: Happier chapter! Fun stuff coming up! We might meet a few special people J

I love the song 'Sunrise' by Norah Jones. It feels just kind of chill, and I really liked listening to it while writing the second half of this chapter – the tune is a bit optimistic but also soothing, which plays into the fact that they're in a peaceful yoga class. (that analysis was brought you by a student who has spent too much time in AP English classes).

The Spotify playlist for this story is up! Its called "Peppermint Tea." Right now, there are some songs already in this story as well as songs that I fell like Nat or Pippa would listen to. Feel free to comment here or in upcoming chapters or PM me any songs you think I should add.

Vote! I love reading all of your comments!

K