Friend #9 - Severine
My French Manicurist
Week 9. As the new year approaches, I’m looking to expand 52 New Friends and one of those things may be renaming seeing as the name is taken by a different publication. I’m thinking - 52 Friends. It makes sense because a lot of the people I feature here aren’t necessarily new but friends that I have lost touch with. Let me know what you think.
I met Severine in October of 2021 in Miami when I went to the nail bar below my building to get a manicure. “You remind me of my sister,” she tells me every time we meet, “the hair, the eyes.”
Severine is originally from Annecy, France but has been living in Miami for the past six years and recently became a US citizen. When she was 25, on a quick girls’ trip to Miami, she met her husband who is Cuban-American during a night out. “He did everything to bring me here,” she says, “he was only 27 but was sure that we’re supposed to be together.”
“Have you ever been to a psychic?” I ask her, “I think it’s voyant in French.”
“I did actually in Portugal and for me, she saw a boat and it was right before I moved to Miami. For one of my friends, she saw her with a man and a baby but in reality, the man was mean and left her with the baby,” she explains.
“I went to one last year in Miami but nothing that she said came true,” I say.
“I can’t do pedicures for the next couple of weeks,” she tells me over text. My immediate thought was that she might be pregnant. “You’re right,” she says, “people thought I was just being lazy but I’m very early on, I’m telling you but I don’t want to share yet.” This was months ago and she’s currently at the five-month mark. She already has a daughter named Cait.
“It’s hard to make friends in Miami,” we both confess. Severine admits that even after spending years in the city, she finds some of the people superficial and hard to connect with. “I think, in general, people are very into themselves these days,” I say.
“Is Miami more expensive than France?” I ask her.
“Yes, especially the rent. In France, you can rent a nice apartment for 900 Euros. Here, that’s impossible,” she says.
She’s going back to France at the beginning of January to visit her family and for the baby's gender-reveal party.
