As the closing song ended, Chase followed Maggie out the doors. Once in his Jeep, he noticed she seemed oddly quiet.
“Hey, everything okay?”
“Yeah, everythings good. Thanks for letting me come. I really enjoyed it.” Maggie proceeded to look out the window while biting her lip.
“You seem like you have something on your mind.” Chase backed out of the parking lot and pulled onto the street.
“Remember when the pastor mentioned their need for donations for their homeless ministry?”
“Yeah, I remember him saying that.”
“It’s something I've been thinking about a lot.” Maggie proceeded to explain her encounter with John and the man at the drugstore. She told him about how helpless she felt seeing so many people in need in Santa Monica. “I’ve been trying to think of a way I could help. I sort of have an idea forming.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Well, it involves you.” Maggie bit her lip again and smiled.
Chase was a goner. He might as well sign up now. “Okay, I’m intrigued.”
“What if we held an event at The Break? Maybe you and a few others could perform and we could ask for donations. I know it’s kind of asking a lot. What do you think?”
Chase nodded his head slowly, mulling over Maggie’s proposal. “Grant, my boss, is a hard-core business man, but maybe if I spin the idea of philanthropy to give The Break some good publicity he’d be on board. It’s a long shot, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh, that’d be awesome. Thanks so much. I’m excited! I was thinking that maybe if someone donates $10 they could get a free drink or something? Or even just like half-off a drink? I don’t know. It’d be cool if there was some sort of incentive.”
Grant was highly unlikely to be down with giving away free stuff, but if it brought in more patrons and made him look good—he just might buy in.
Maggie continued, “It’d be great if we could come up with a catchy name for the event too. Like “Break the Cycle” or “Give Others a Break.” I’m just spitballing here. Any ideas come to mind?”
Chase blew out a breath and laughed. “Those are way better than anything I could come up with. You’re good at this Maggie.”
She looked down at her hands folded in her lap. It was obviously difficult for her to take a compliment, but she deserved to know how amazing she was.
“I’m serious. It’s really cool you want to do this. Whether we can make it happen at the bar or not. It’s a great idea.”
Maggie shot him a closed mouth grin. “Thanks. I really haven’t felt this passionate about something in a long time. I guess coming face-to-face with a need everyday has really impacted me.”
“I think after living here for a few months, I’ve just gotten used to seeing homeless people everywhere. I don’t even really think about it much. I don’t want to be that way, though. You really opened my eyes today, thank you.”
Maggie reached out and touched his shoulder. “Well, you’ve opened my eyes to some important things too… Like pizza and Belgian waffles. So thank you.” Maggie’s grin melted his heart. If she kept looking at him that way, he would turn into a puddle.
At that moment, Chase pulled in front of her apartment building. “Hey, I wanted to ask if you’d help me pick out a few more songs for my set at the Hollywood Theater.”
Maggie turned to face him. “Really?”
“Yeah, clearly you know what the people like.”
“I don’t know about that, but I can try.” Maggie's eyes flickered brightly.
“Do you have any free time this week?”
“I work until 3 pm tomorrow, but after that I’m free.”
“I’ll be at the bar, but if you don’t mind stopping by, maybe we could brainstorm while I work.”
“Perfect… See you then.”
As she turned to open the door, he hopped out and met her on the other side. “Can I walk you up?”
