“Shari, he is undoubtedly gorgeous, but also a child! He’s probably only sixteen!” Max cackles.
“Definitely sixteen,” Elle agrees, nodding solemnly. The traitor.
“No way! I’d say he’s like…early twenties? Oh god, I hope he’s in his twenties, otherwise I feel like even more of a predator.”
Jaime very unhelpfully chimes in with, “Dude, he’s an actual baby! Youarea predator!”
“Guys, he’s serving alcohol, so he has to be at least eighteen! So…legal,” I defend with a waggle of my eyebrows.
They all fall into a fit of laughter. I know we’re only joking about the whole situation, but he was honestly so beautiful it hurt to look at him for too long.He’s going to make some age-appropriate girl very happy someday.
We wanderaround the field so we can all buy merch in the form of Jenna Hendricks t-shirts, eye up the food stalls for when we get hungry again later, and so Elle can shortlist which rides she'll force the other two on.
Finding a vacant hay bale long enough for all four of us to sit on, we perch to people watch and finish our drinks in the sun. The first opening act is on stage and we watch them on the big screen, amusing ourselves by noting their dance routine is nowvery much catered for the fact they're in their fifties, as opposed to the choreography in their music videos when these songs were originally released twenty-five years ago.
The hay digs into the backs of my thighs and is uncomfortable as fuck, but it's the only place available to sit. The ground itself is completely carpeted in a thick layer of powdery earth, and our sandal-covered feet are already filthy.
“What do you think her opening song will be?” Elle muses as she sips her wine.
“It'll have to be one of her biggest hits. Maybe Daydreamer or A Bump In The Road?”
“Ooh, what about Best Laid Plans?” Max bounces in her seat.
“I think Daydreamer. It's got to be her biggest hit, right? And then she'll close with another big one. Like, Idea Of Love,” Jaime chimes in.
“Oh, I forgot about that one! Man, she's got so many big songs. Remember that time we made Shari get up on stage in Planet Hollywood back home and sing Sweet Fantasia with the live band?”
I smile at the memory, shaking my head. They used to force me into situations like that all the time when we were growing up. Living in Malaysia, there was always karaoke or a band wherever we hung out.
“I’m so excited!” Max claps.
“Speaking of excited, shall we get another round? So Shari can eye-fuck the child bartender?”
“Legal, guys! Definitely legal!”
I’m surprised when we end up at Brad's terminal at the bar again, considering there are so many of them and it's pure luck of the draw which one we'll be ushered over to.
“Welcome back, ladies. Having fun?” he says around a blinding grin.
The girls order their wines and then Brad turns to me and asks, “Double Bacardi and Diet Coke, right?”
Well, that shouldn’t warm my insides, but it does. I know it’s not exactly a complicated order to remember, but he must have served hundreds of people already today. So the fact that he remembers me in any way? I might swoon a little.
As he hands over our drinks, I notice that mine is in a much smaller cup than before. “Brad! Being a lil stingy on the old Diet Coke there, aren’t we?” I take a sip of the drink and immediately wince with the burn of the alcohol in my throat.
He smirks at me and winks. Again! He really needs to stop doing that or I might end the night as a puddle. “I take it you don’t actually enjoy the taste of rum?”
This. Guy.
“It’s not that, I want this drink to last, Brad. At this rate, I’ll have finished it before we even get near the stage!”
With a casual shrug of one muscular shoulder, he says, “Maybe I want you to come back again sooner, Blaze.”
Puddle metamorphosis, here I come.
Max picksour path to drag us as close to the stage as we can get without having Platinum Passes. The vibe is chilled as we bop along to the final opening act, surprised that we know as many of their songs as we do. It's a squeeze to get through the crowd of dancing bodies, but everyone is in good spirits.
“I wonder if there are any celebs in the VIP or Platinum areas,” Elle mutters as she cranes her neck to try and see into the cordoned-off section.
