Becca typed the reply, and Ellie watched the three dots appear as Kelly started responding, followed by a burst of messages:
AMAZING
You're going to love them
Solana is extra but in the best way
Brooke is the funniest person alive
Dress cute, the VIP section is no joke
Cannot WAIT x
Ellie found herself smiling at the screen. There was something infectious about Kelly's enthusiasm, something that made the anxiety dissolve and replaced it with pure anticipation which, Ellie reflected, is precisely how fun things should be. And this was going to be fun, whatever else it might be too.
***
The gig was on a Friday night and Austin was doing its thing even that early in the year: the daytime heat lingering into the evening and not a breath of wind to relieve it. Moody Amphitheatre was packed, the crowd buzzing with excitement, and Ellie and Becca found themselves feeling slightly out of their depth as they skirted past the normal entrance and headed towards the VIP area.
They'd dressed up for it. Not overdressed, but Becca was wearing a top and skirt combination that Ellie had never seen her put together before and that was, to her eye at least, devastating… if Kelly didn’t want her then Ellie certainly did. Ellie meanwhile had put on a minidress and boots, very different to the jeans and t-shirt she’d worn to work that day, and Becca’s repeated glances in her direction told her that it was working. They looked good, and they looked like they belonged. Even if they didn’t quite feel it.
Kelly spotted them first, materialising out of the VIP crowd at the bar with a squeal that was possibly louder than the warm up act.
"You came!" She threw her arms around Becca first, then Ellie, and Ellie was struck again by how naturally physical Kelly was, how her warmth was expressed through touch as much as words. She looked amazing… cut-off denim shorts, a top that left very little to the imagination, cowboy boots that only a native Texan seemed to be able to make look cool rather than costume. Her hair was loose and she was already a couple of drinks in, her blue eyes bright with excitement.
"Come meet the girls," Kelly added, taking Becca by the hand and leading them through the VIP area to a private box near the front with actual seats and a waitress bringing actual drinks. Thesecurity checked their lanyards discretely with a nod, and they were through. VVIP apparently, not just VIP.
Solana was the first person that Ellie noticed, because Solana was the sort of person you noticed whether you wanted to or not. She was sitting with her boots up on the railing, a drink in hand, radiating an ease that came from somewhere deeper than plain confidence. It was the ease, Ellie reckoned, of someone to whom having a box for a gig wasn’t just an option, it was the only option and had been her whole life. She was stunning, but in a slightly unorthodox way: high cheekbones, dark eyes, bronze skin, dark hair worn loose, it was like she was a melting pot of heritage that all came together spectacularly well. She stood when she saw them coming and smiled warmly.
"You must be Becca and Ellie," Solana said, shaking their hands in turn once Kelly had introduced her. Her voice carried more than a hint of Texas. "Kelly hasn't shut up about you two."
"All good things," Kelly added quickly.
"All very good things," Solana confirmed, and there was something in her smile that told Ellie she knew exactly what the good things were. Not judgmental, not salacious. She simply knew and, it seemed, firmly approved.
Brooke was different energy entirely… she came barrelling over from the bar with two drinks she hadn't ordered for anyone in particular, thrust one at Ellie and kept one for herself.
"Hi, I'm Brooke, I talk too much and I'm already drunk, and Kelly says you're the coolest couple she's ever met, which given that she lives with a man literally named Colt is a high bar." She paused for breath. "What do you do? Wait, don't tell me yet, letme guess. You…” pointing at Ellie "…something nerdy but well-paid. And you…” pointing at Becca "…something where you help people."
"Tech," Ellie said.
"Therapist," Becca said.
"Called it," Brooke said, looking immensely satisfied. "I'm a genius. Also I'm a bartender, which is basically the same as a therapist except for the worse advice and the far better drinks."
Kelly leaned over to whisper to Ellie, “She’s not a bartender, she owns a bar and likes the power trip of working behind it sometimes.” She grinned. “Don’t tell her I told you.”
Ellie liked them both immediately. Solana had a quiet charisma that drew you in without trying. She listened more than she talked but when she did talk you found yourself leaning in. Brooke was a hurricane in human form, funny, loud and entirely without filter. The dynamic between the three of them, Solana, Brooke, Kelly, was clearly years deep, obvious from how they knew each other’s stories and could finish each other’s jokes.
The gig was incredible. Ellie didn't know the band too well but they were good, one of those live acts that reminded you why people paid hard earned money to see music in person. And the VIP section, particularly the box, was spectacularly good: close enough to feel the bass in your soul, just high enough to see everything, drinks appearing without anyone seeming to order them and, as Ellie discovered when she tried to pay for some, all included in the entry.
"How did you get these tickets?" Ellie asked Kelly during a lull between songs.
Kelly grinned and nodded towards Solana, who was deep in conversation with Becca about something. "Solana knows people. And by knows people I mean her family basically owns half of Texas."
Ellie looked at Solana with fresh eyes. "Seriously?"
"The Delgado family. Cattle ranch out west, thousands of acres, old money. But don't let that put you off… she's the most down-to-earth rich person you'll ever meet. She just happens to be able to get VIP tickets to anything." She paused. “She’s going to be famous, mark my words. We’re in town for her big launch tomorrow, she’s got a perfume coming out. Cimarron, or something like that. Figured we might as well make a weekend out of it.”
