“I’m okay. This is fucked up and intrusive, but I guess this is part of the deal.”
“Sadly.”
Eighteen
“Ihavenoideawhat I’m going to order,” Val said as he sprawled in the armchair. “Everything looks so good.”
“What does?” Kaj asked without taking his eyes off the TV screen. “Fuck you, Markus.” He tossed the controller on the coffee table as the tech literallyfinished him, ripping the front of his skull, impaling his brain, and eating it.
“Baraka will always beat your Scorpion skinny ass.”
“Dishonor on you. Dishonor on your cow.”
After spending the day sightseeing, the crew had come back to the hotel to freshen up a little before going to dinner, and now they were here, hanging out in the lounge room. The same place Niels, Noah, and he had been talking that morning.
The two musicians agreed to tell everyone about their relationship, like Niels had suggested, but he was nervous about it. They hadn’t decided when or how, and Kaj doubted anyone would take it wrong, but they weren’t serious. Telling them would make it official, make it real.
He wasn’t afraid of the jokes or being teased, but of the pressure if something went wrong. So being busy for most of the day and beating the crap out of someone in this virtual scenario took off the edge of the anxiety he was feeling.
“The Milanese is awesome,” Frederik told Val. “Also, the Spanish tortilla and the desserts. Fuck, those are great.”
“In short, we’re gonna roll back to the hotel later.” Xander laughed.
“Basically, yeah.”
Frederik had made a reservation at a place he’d gone to the last time he vacationed in Argentina; he said it was one of the best he’d ever tried, and that man knew what he was talking about when it came to food. So, of course, they let him lead the way.
“Oh, look who’s finally here,” Ben, the pyrotechnics guy, exclaimed when the lounge door opened.
“When you grow as much hair on your head as you do on your beard and balls, you come talk to me,” Aksel clipped as he entered. “It takes time to look like this.”
“Like a princess?”
“You’re just jealous.” Aksel shrugged, his brow slightly furrowing when he scanned the room. “Where’s Noah? I thought you’d all be waiting.”
“With Niels,” Xander said.
“Is everything okay?” Aksel wondered as he sat on the arm of the couch beside Kaj.
“I think it’s just related to the interview he has tomorrow.”
“Oh, okay.”
“This time I’m gonna try the steak, though,” Frederik continued in his parallel conversation with Val, leaning forward on the couch. “I’ve heard they’re a religious experience. Like…” He scrolled on his phone and faced the screen toward the photographer. “Look at this beauty. Cooked to perfection, seasoned just right.”
“I’m salivating like a dog,” Val groaned, squeezing his eyes dramatically as he clenched the chest of his hoodie. “Stop torturing me.”
“Anyone want another drink before we head out?” Xander asked, moving toward the small bar in the corner of the lounge room.
As the crew fell into easy conversation, planning their last day off before the concert in Buenos Aires, Kaj found himself checking the time on his phone for the tenth time. He knew that conversation had nothing to do with the interview.
“I wanna go to that street market,” Ben said, grabbing a beer from Xander.
“El Mercado de San Telmo?” Frederik said.
“Yeah.”
“That’s definitely worth checking out. My wife loved it. She got her mate gourd from there.”
