Her glacier blue eyes took me in with confused recognition, as if she recognized my face but couldn’t place it. That didn’t surprise me, I got that look from time to time when a fan almost recognized me but couldn’t quite place me without my bandmates right there.
But it was the look the waitress gave Connor that had me on edge, her icy eyes growing cold and guarded, filled with mistrust and apprehension.
“Welcome to Fred’s,” she said, working to keep her tone neutral. “Can I start you guys off with some coffee?”
“Yeah, that’d be great. Thank you,” Connor said, offering the waitress a sweet smile. The name on her nametag readRaina.She poured hot coffee into our mugs. A bowl of creamers sat half empty on the table, and she reached into her apron, grabbing a handful of creamers to add to it.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes for your food order,” she clipped out before walking away. She stopped at a few tables to check in and top up coffee before she disappeared into the back.
I glanced back at Connor, who was looking around the diner cautiously…taking in all the patrons.
“So, how do you feel to officially have studio hours booked?” I asked her, grinning. I was excited for her. I still remembered how I’d first felt walking into the studio all those years ago.
“Excited, I guess? Although I don’t feel like I’ll be ready.” She smiled, shaking her head. “I mean, it feels like I’ve been dreaming about this moment forever. Now that it’s almost upon me, I feel totally unprepared.”
“We’ll have a couple of weeks to get ready. We can do the preproduction things now if you want. I still have all my recording equipment at my mom’s. It’s not as good as the stuff you’ll find in a studio, but we could fiddle around until you’re more comfortable.”
“I’d like that!” Connor smiled softly.
The waitress reappeared, this time with her order pad in hand. “Have you guys decided what you want yet?” she asked, her expression unreadable. Stoic and unyielding, and for some reason…familiar.
There was something about her that reminded me of Calum. Her eyes were the same cold, glacier blue. It was in the way she held herself even. Cold, closed off. Braced for a fight.
“Yes, I’ll have the lunch special.” Connor replied, closing her menu and sliding it over with a warm smile. The waitress nodded, scribbling onto the order form. Then she grabbed the menu and tucked it under her arm before looking at me expectedly.
“I’ll have a cheeseburger with all the fixings and fries,” I replied, closing my menu. She jotted that down, then grabbed my menu.
“I’ll be back with your food,” she said before leaving us once again. Conversations were happening all around us, and nobody seemed to be paying attention to either one of us. Only the waitress seemed to be concerned with us. She watched us warily, like she expected trouble from us.
“Tai seemed pretty frustrated with you guys last night,” Connor said, drawing my attention back as she reached for a few creamers from the bowl in the middle of the table.
“She was,” I admitted, nodding. “She’ll mellow out once we get into the studio and start recording. She hates it when we deviate from the plan, but she’ll get over it. The label needs to see that we’re just as committed to our work here as we were in Toronto, and they’ll see that in time.”
“Makes sense, I guess.” She nodded, scooping in the sugar and stirring. She lifted the mug, blew on it, and took a sip before her lips curled in disgust. She set the mug down, wiping her lips. “Ew. That’s…the worst coffee I’ve ever tasted,” she laughed, covering her mouth.
“It can’t be that bad,” I said, lifting my mug and tasting it. I spit it back into the mug as discreetly as I could. “Yup, it’s that bad. Wow. We’ve had some shitty coffee at some questionable truck stops over the years, and even those tasted more…”
“Like coffee? Less like tar?” Connor supplied helpfully, giggling. Her laughter was like music to me, I wanted to get lost in the sound.
“Yeah.” I laughed too, shaking my head.
“I can’t wait to go on tour and sample all the crappy coffee,” she admitted, glancing out the window to the street outside. “Even if I’m just essentially a lackey for you guys—and a groupie to you.”
“You wouldn’t be a lackey, or a groupie. Those songs we’ve been writing, they’re amazing, Connor. Good enough for you to open for us. Cal and Evan will agree, soon as they hear what we’ve been working on.”
“It would be fun,” she admitted. “I don’t know if I’d be ready to open for you but performing a few songs with you guys…that I could see myself doing.”
“So what do you say, wanna travel with me? Explore the world, play music in a bunch of cool places?”
“Um,definitely!” She grinned just as the waitress returned with our lunch, setting the plates down in front of us.
“Could we get a couple Cokes too?” I asked. Raina all but rolled her eyes.
“Certainly. Anything else?”
“Nope. Thank you,” I replied, put off by her coldness. She walked back to the pop machine, grabbing two glasses, filling them with pop. She returned, placing them on the table before she walked away again to tend to another customer.
Connor sampled a home fry before she picked up her sandwich and took a bite. “Mmm, well. The foods really good,” she commented after she’d finished chewing.
