Priya and Emily headed over to the bar, and after they ordered vodka tonics from the bartender, Priya turned to Emily. “Why does he call you Queenie?”

“The first time we met, he called me a crystal queen, and then he wrote a song about me back then called ‘Queen of All the Keys.’ After that, it stuck for a while. And Queen became Queenie. A nickname of the nickname, I guess.” Emily shrugged. She was simultaneously embarrassed by and proud of the name. It was fun to be a queen.

“I’m still not over this,” Priya said. “We’re in the same room as Austin Roberts. And he hugged you. And shook my hand. And called me by name. This is kind of nuts.”

Emily laughed. “He’s just a person like everyone else,” she said. “I always thought he’d be a star one day.”

The two women sat down at a bar table for two as the room started filling up. Word must’ve gotten around that Rob was there. When the bar was packed to the point that people were lining the walls around the small stage, Tony came by to say hi. Emily wouldn’t have recognized him if she’d seen him on the street. In college he had long hair that he’d worn layered and wavy. Now his head was shaved and it seemed like he worked out pretty hard.

“You look great, Tony,” she said, when she hugged him.

“You too, Queen,” he said, looking at her. “I’ve always wondered if you’d pop up again. I searched for you every now and then on social media, but I never found you. I did find a lot of other Emily Solomons, though.”

“I’m not on it,” Emily said. “I’m a psychologist, and I didn’t want my patients to be able to find out too much personal information about me.”

“Huh,” Tony said. “I never would’ve pegged you as a shrink. Well, I’m glad you popped up tonight. We’ll have to get all three of us back together up there. A reunion show minus James.”

Emily nodded. “Sure,” she said. “I bet I could still follow Rob’s lead.”

Tony hugged her again. “Really great to see you, Queen,” he said.

As he walked away, Priya started laughing. “This Queen business is too much.”

Emily laughed, too. “I guess we’re all just used to it.”

—

The show started. One of Tony’s friends came out with an acoustic guitar and sang a beautiful rendition of “Fire and Rain.” Then another came up, plugged his guitar into the amp, and sang “Bad Moon Rising.”

“Meh,” Priya whispered to Emily. “The first guy was better.”

“Are you covering this for the Times?” Emily whispered back.

“Maybe for the Washington Square News, if the kids’ll accept an article from university staff,” she answered.