Why did she start with that? She’s supposed to get right into the story of how she got fired. This always happens to her. She thinks she’s going to conquer something, and then, when the moment comes, she freezes. Her brain tries to pull up an image of her notes but comes up blank.

C’mon, c’mon, c’mon. Just say anything.

Seconds pass. There’s just the sound of her breath on the microphone, her pulse in her ears. This is what she gets for procrastinating on rehearsing this routine. She deserves this.

“Say something!” someone hisses from the crowd. Another person cheers in agreement.

Natasha shifts onto the balls of her feet. “So, uh . . . yeah, stuff has changed in my life lately. And by that I mean it’s been a shit week.” Shit. “I, uh, was supposed to be engaged right now.”

A snicker passes through the crowd.

Natasha sighs. “Yeah, me, the sloppy Indian chick with a breastfeeding stain on her shirt actually had a guy. A cute guy.”

She focuses on a forty-year-old white guy in the front. His bushy eyebrows are raised.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” She points to him and his entire table laughs. “Well, it’s true. My cute boyfriend proposed and I said no. Why? Hm. Good question.”

“Woo!” A group of women cheer from the back corner. Natasha makes out a tiara and sash. Ah, a bachelorette party. Perfect.

“I think I see a bride back there.” Natasha shields her eyes with her hand.

Everyone turns to face the bachelorette. Some people clap.

“Yeah. You, the bride. Congratulations. I really mean that. You’re exactly who my family wishes I was,” Natasha says. “Oooh my family. My desi family. They’ve got a lot of opinions about me not being with this guy. But they really don’t know what I was dealing with. We women, we really put up with a lot, am I right? And we do it with a fucking smile!”

And then, because of the alcohol, her nerves, and something else, something that feels bigger than her, Natasha goes into a rant about how sex with Karan had gotten boring, how it was true that guys who were cute weren’t that great in bed, and how she couldn’t see herself just being with this one guy forever.

Cheers pass through the entire crowd. One woman even whistles. Natasha sees two of the women in the bachelorette party stand up and raise their hands in agreement.

A rush of excitement and pure, adrenaline-driven thrill pass through her. Is this how it’s supposed to be? She’s never felt so alive, so connected to something greater than herself. It’s a high that’s bigger than anything she’s experienced before. Every part of her feels like it’s floating.