“I’ll be right behind you,” she calls after me. “I just have to stop at the ladies’ room on the way out.”
I nod. Then I wave goodbye to Tara and let the crowd swallow me and spit me out on the other side of the room.
CHAPTER FOUR
KNOX
The loft is hardly recognizable when we find ourselves up here for the second time tonight. It’s wall-to-wall people. Where before the space felt open and light, now a sardine can reference comes to mind.
“I think we’re going to be up here for a while,” Matti mumbles as we’re ushered around the back of the bar to a table set up for us, complete with security.
It’s the last thing any of us say to each other. Within seconds, the line is open, and fans are rushing forward for their chance to take pictures and get signatures.
At least twenty minutes have gone by, and it’s been the same interaction on repeat at least a dozen times already when some pint-sized woman with brown hair and pink highlights shows up in front of me, clearly about to shake things up.
I can tell because this woman, unlike the ones who came before her, is practically being forced to make her way up to meet me, pushed and prodded by the eager fans behind her.
“Having second thoughts?” I tease, trying to break the ice. “You can just keep walking, I won’t take offense, promise.”
“I would if I was here for me, which I wouldn’t be, so this moment would never come to pass, but I’m not, so I can’t,” she mutters anxiously. Then she takes a deep breath and takes the final step up to the table of her own volition. “I need a favor.”
“Oh, yeah?” I sense a birthday wish via video coming on. I try not to say yes to those, only because there’s no way to say yes to all of them and saying no to everyone instead seems fairer somehow.
“My best friend is kind of obsessed with you,” she starts, then makes a face, apparently not liking the sound of her own words.“Notyoupersonally.” She waves her hand back and forth just to make sure I understand she misspoke. “She’s not that kind of girl.”
Wherever this is leading, at least it’s entertaining me. “What kind of girl is that?”
She rolls her eyes. “You know, ‘the crazy, throws her panties at you, offers to blow you on the tour bus, then goes home to leave her husband because she’s certain she now shares a cosmic connection with you’, kind of girl.”
I have to fight back a laugh. “Got it. Thank you for clarifying. Please, go on.”
She sighs, and I think she might be having second thoughts again. But she recovers and carries on, “As I was saying. She’s a huge fan of your work. And I mean that in a literal sense. She’s like, in love with words, and apparently, you string them together pretty well when you’re writing lyrics. Plus, she goes gaga anytime she’s witness to mastery of some sort of skill, which according to her, you’ve achieved on the guitar. Then there’s your voice. I don’t think she can really explain that one away, other than she’s man deprived and thinks you sound sexy as hell. So, there’s that.”
I chuckle. “Yes, there’s that, but where is she?”
“I’m glad you asked.” She grins. “We’ve arrived at the favor portion of this conversation. See,” she pulls her phone from her pocket, “we had VIP tickets, which entitled her to a meet and greet, but which she was too shy to show up for. But, since I stood in line, and don’t actually care about the meet and greet – no offense-”
“None taken.”
“Well, I was hoping I could FaceTime her, you know, since I’m here, and you could say hi to her. Kind of a swapped out meet and greet.” She eyes me curiously, waiting for my reactioneven as her finger is hovering over the video call button, waiting to give it a tap.
I let her sweat it out a minute before I grin at her. “What the hell, let’s do it.”
Her face lights up more than I would have expected it too given her dry demeanor thus far. “She’s going to freak.” She lets her finger land to make the call. “Also, she’ll probably kill me. But I’ll die happy having done this for her.” Then she turns away so I’m out of sight when her friend answers.
Before I can respond, her friend picks up.
“Now we’re FaceTiming?” As soon as I hear the voice, I recognize it. The chick from before, defending my song. “What the hell is happening to our friendship? Do I even know you anymore? Do you even knowme?!”
“Calm down. This is a one-time-only occurrence, I promise.” Her friend smirks, looking over the top of her phone at me before she adds, “I just really need to show you something.”
“Dude, if you’re still in the restroom, I don’t want to see it.”
I take that as my cue to walk around and say hi. Only hi is not what comes out.
“Holy shit.” Not only does the woman have a mouth and mind I was already into, but she’s also so stunning my own brain ceases to function for a moment. I shake my head, trying to clear the fumbling thoughts from the forefront and regain some of my usual charm, but all I manage on round two is, “Goddamn.”
I don’t know if she’s more surprised by the sight of me or my lacking social skills, but she recovers a hell of a lot faster than I do. “Well, holy shit and god damn to you too.”
