“Oh, thank fuckness!” Sabrina clapped her hands and sat next to Trixie, opposite Trent and me. “I couldn’t hear myself last week, so hopefully, we could discuss the issue before the concert this time.”
What a mess. “No, guys, this is Trent, and he’s—”
“New in town,” Trent finished for me, placing a hand on my forearm. “Not your sound guy, though. Sorry.”
His touch lingered for several beats. The heat of it on my bare skin was like a promise of a hug I desperately needed, and a complication I couldn’t allow in my life.
“Oh shit, sorry. I’m Sabrina, by the way.” She gave Trent a solid once-over, trying, and failing, to be discreet about it, then turned to me. “Can you text the sound guy, Charlie?”
“Yeah, sure.” I sent a quick message and received a reply that he’d meet us at the venue in an hour. “We’re playing a gig at a bar tonight,” I told Trent.
“You’re all in a band?” Trent leaned over, folding his muscled arms over the table.
“Well, yes. But we rarely play our original songs.” By now, I was used to other bands looking down on us for not breaking through with our own set, as if our playing other people’s songs meant we were worse musicians.
“Hey, there will be time for that.” Sabrina gave me her“do-not-undersell-us”look. “Tonight, we’ll kick some serious butt with a bunch of covers.”
“But before that, I’ll demolish a stack of pancakes and a pot of coffee.” Trixie rubbed her hands together when Neve appeared. She’d been an on-and-off cook at Randy’s, introducing all sorts of recipes, from healthy shakes to fun shapes of pancakes. With her bursting energy, she’d been doubling as a server too and telling us that we remind her of her grown kids.
“So that’s your order then, Trixie?” Neve jotted it down on her notepad. “What can I get for the rest of you?”
“I’ll have another set of dinos.” Trent handed her his card. “I’m buying,” he said, then seeing Trixie open her mouth in protest, he added: “It’s what newcomers do where I’m from.” The look of utter innocence he leveled my way was a sign he hadn’t lost his playful side after all. He’d known I was full of shit and still accepted the damn food.
“Coffee for me,” I said. “Thanks, Neve.”
“Chocolate shake with sprinkles, please,” Sabrina chirped, her eyes sparkling. Girl loved her dose of milk with sugar. Once Neve left, Sabrina turned to Trent. “So, what are you doing here?”
Trent looked up from the cuticle he’d been intensely picking at. “I moved to the city three days ago and started work at my uncle’s construction company. I’m hauling bags of cement and holding onto two-by-fours since I know nothing about the trade. The job is supposed to give me a fresh start, and the pay is great, so I can’t complain. But it’s not for me. I’ll do it for a while, but I don’t think I’ll find myself there. In time, I’ll look for something else, but it’s a big city, and it feels a bit overwhelming.”
“Uh, okay.” Sabrina nodded, smoothing her dress down. “I meant here, at Randy’s.”
“Oh.” Trent blushed. “I’m sorry. It’s another long story.” He wrangled the napkin in his hand as if it had killed his hamster, then turned to me. “Can you tell me about tonight’s concert?”
I wanted to listen to his stories, but the way he hid behind his water cup told me to leave that topic alone. “We’re playing covers at the Y2k rock night.”
“So you may know some of the stuff.” Sabrina smiled sweetly, but I knew what she was doing.
“Wanna come with us?” Trixie asked and leaned back, crossing her arms.
There we go. Now we all had put this gym-boi into a difficult position to refuse.
“What? To see you live?” Trent’s entire face lit up. I swear, if he was a golden retriever, his tail would be wagging. “That would be great,” he said, not hiding his excitement.
Ok, that was not the reaction I’d expected. I recognized that look of joy and it stirred my heart to see it on a grown man, to have the confirmation that all those years hadn’t killed the sunshine in the boy I used to know.
“Shit. I’m not sure if we have more friends and family tickets left.” I fished out my phone to check how many we’d given out.
Trixie eyed Trent. “He can be our technical support.” Her not-so-subtle air quotes sent the message.
“I’ll be happy to carry your things.” Trent’s straightening up in his seat was unnecessary, as his bulk was visible from three blocks down. “Just take me with you.”
“Great.” Sabrina clapped her hands. “Pancake boy is coming with us.”
“His name is Trent.” I glared at her.
“I like the sound of Pancake Boy.” Trent accepted the plate Neve brought and dug in.
“So that’s your rock n’ roll nickname.” Trixie grabbed the mug of coffee Neve handed her as if she hadn’t seen caffeine for weeks.
