“I knew I recognized you!” Cassandra suddenly gasped, her eyes growing wide staring at my husband. My mood fell slightly. Please don’t let this be a weird dinner now. Mark wrapped his arm around my waist again and pulled me closer. I looked up at him and he forced a smile.
“You do?” He said in such a fake, sarcastic enthusiasm I tightened my lips so as not to giggle.
“Yes! You’re the drummer from Maria Maria. I’ve been to three of your shows. No way. I had no idea you were married,” she gushed. Thomas cleared his throat and she flushed pink with embarrassment.
“Sorry, I’ve never met a celebrity before.”
My husband chuckled and then excused himself to go see about our table. When he was out of earshot Thomas asked her if she was alright.
“Am I going to be the jealous one tonight?” He teased, but I could see that he wasn’t amused. She shot a glare at him.
“I’m fine. It just surprised me is all. Renee, I apologize. I didn’t mean to ogle your man,” she joked. I gave her a quick smile.
“It’s okay. We get it a lot. Well I do. I’m not the famous one. I’m the behind the scenes unofficial band family member.” Her eyes went wide.
“Oh my God. That means you know Ethan Andrews too! Oh, and Adrian and the one with the Mohawk!” I nodded, realizing that this evening was not going to be pleasant.
“Yep. Derek. They are all nice people.” I took a gulp of the drink in my hand. I glanced up at Thomas who looked mortified. Mark returned and told us to follow the maitre d. We did and thankfully were given a table in a corner. I was sure Mark probably requested it. Once we were seated Mark and I ordered another round of drinks and Thomas got himself an old fashioned and Cassandra some red wine. Silence fell over the table.
“I love your dress,” I said to her. I made sure to sit across from her, so that she didn’t spend the night making googly eyes at Mark.
“Thanks! I bought it for tonight. I like yours too.” I thanked her as well. Her dress was pretty, but I noticed once she took off her coat that it was way skimpier than mine. She had chosen a midnight blue strapless dress that went barely to her knees. I noticed that she had a tiny butterfly tattoo on her collarbone.
“Cute tattoo,” I offered, starting to feel repetitive. Someone else needed to start a conversation quickly. I couldn’t keep offering compliments. Her hands reached up to touch it.
“Thanks, me and a few of my friends all went and got them together right after high school. I’m not much of a rebel. I’ve only got two.” Her eyes were sliding over my inked skin. I had a little more than two. My shoulders and upper chest were covered with tattoos, as well as most of my back. Out of my group of friends I’d say I had the least amount.
“Most of mine were done when I was much younger too.” Thomas chuckled.
“I remember taking you to go get your first tattoo. You were such a chicken,” he accused.
I rolled my eyes.
“You weren’t much better, I swear I saw tears when he started on your back,” I added and he shrugged and laughed it off. There was another awkward pause so when we got our drinks and each had the chance to get a sip in, Thomas clapped his hands and looked at Mark.
“So, elephant in the room. I’m the old boyfriend and the guy who’s been making out with your wife for the last few weeks.” He smiled awkwardly at Mark. My eyes shot to my darling husband. He was notorious for his temper. Oh God, this wasn’t going to be good. He gulped, clenched his jaw, then visibly relaxed. He started chuckling, and that turned into a full-on belly laugh.
“Well nice to meet you man, I’m the guy who gets to watch it tomorrow.” It was like the tension was finally lifted off the table and we were all able to relax. We opened our menus and began looking for our meals. I had never been to a strictly french restaurant, so I didn’t recognize most of the food. I mentioned it to Mark and he chuckled. Leaning over to gaze at my menu he pointed to a few things.
“This isn’t bad. Or this one, I bet you’d like the beef bourguignon. Order that,” he suggested. I looked at him in confusion. He gave me a shoulder lift.
“I’ve been to France before.”
“When?” I accused. I don’t think the band had ever played outside of the country.
“Me and Derek went once for a weekend. Right after the band went on the hiatus. Just for fun. We were young, dumb, and had a bunch of cash. It was fun. We should go sometime.” Hmm. I learned something new about him everyday. I loved how spontaneous he was.
When the waiter returned, I ordered the beef bourguignon like he recommended. The rest of the evening went better than the first half hour. We talked about movies, laughed when Thomas’ dish was found to be covered in garlic, and for the first time in a long time, didn’t discuss music. Well, for the most part. Cassandra did try to interject once or twice and ask about the band. Mark skillfully shot the conversation down quickly. He was more used to crazy fans than I was.
I did start to feel a little guilty. I noticed that as the night went on the more she started disconnecting from the table. She drank more and merely pretended to listen. In his defense, her boyfriend did attempt several times to bring her into the conversation, but she didn’t really have much to contribute. She didn’t seem to have any mutual interests in any of us. When our plates had been removed and we were merely relaxing I put my elbows up onto the table and put my head in my hands and looked at her.
“We’ve spent the evening talking about all of us, let’s get to know you Cassandra. What do you do for fun?”
She looked around the table with wide doe eyes. “I don’t know. I like to bake.” Thomas reached for her hand. She lit up for the first time in an hour.
“Cassandra makes the best cakes. They look so cool. She could be on one of those baking shows,” he bragged. She was blushing but beamed at the attention.
“I’m making a cake for the afterparty tomorrow.”
