no competition: her cousin's band part two

[caljones]

Olivia needed to stop by the store really quick so she could get a thing of mouthwash and they decided to go back to the park. Danny had his own guitar with him and they started to have a little jam session while there. After a while he said,

"You know, one of these days, we're going to have to write a song or two together."

"You know, you might be right."

"In fact, I have one that I've been stuck on for a while." He took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. It didn't have a title or chords, but had one verse and part of the chorus.

"Is it about anything?"

"Not really. It sort of chronicles what tends to happen when you sub for Chris."

"Oh. Interesting. Mark does not hit on me!"

"Yes he does. You're clueless, remember?"

"That's true. Why would he do that with you around?"

"He doesn't. Scott and Chris have told me he does."

"I'm surprised he's still alive."

"I'm not that mean."

"But you are that protective. So, do you have any idea about where you want this to go?"

"I was thinking that maybe we could see this kind of thing from the perspective of everyone in the band, including you. I've already talked to the other two about it and they like the idea."

"Are they going to be writing their verses or are you?"

"I am. Our perspectives are very similar to each other so it's not hard. We love you, think you're talented and tough, and we're all protective of you. I'm just stuck on how to do it."

"What do you want to say?"

"I don't know."

She put the paper on the back of her guitar and leaned on it.

"What is the beat of it?"

"Kinda fast." He snapped his fingers in a fast walk.

She moved her head to the beat and started to hum what she heard in her head. What she was constantly told as a musician by people who didn't know her the way her friends and family knew her, was to finish the words and then do the music on her songs. That was what the conventional wisdom for musicians in those parts was. Well, as everyone who knew her well knew, she was never one to follow conventional wisdom.

"What do you have in mind?"

"This." She pulled her guitar up and picked out a few random notes to find where she wanted to be, then strummed a few chords and notes and sang the little bit of the chorus. "Something like that."

"Sounds nice."

After quite a while of working on that, they put their guitars away and chatted for a bit. When they fell into silence, she started to think about her musician friends. The ones who led rock bands like she did, or at least were part of one, went to her for help on any song they had, whether it was for lyrics or music, but it was mostly music. She certainly had a magnificent ear for melodies. Once, she had even helped another friend of hers arrange a medley of songs. She looked at her guitar and sighed. That dang thing was impacting her life in a way she had never expected. Being a musician for a living, either behind the scenes or in front of it, was hardly what she thought she'd ever do for a living. Maybe Danny was right, maybe she was destined to be a professional musician.

The talent shows she had competed in were either first or second place. Certainly, that should tell her something about her skills, if everyone asking her for help with their music doesn't, as well as the tips she earns in the park.

She jumped as her cell phone rang. It was Nick.

"Hello?"

"Hello. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, and yourself?"

"I'm all right. I was curious."

"About what?"

"What are you doing later tonight?"

"Um, nothing I think, let me check." She checked the calender of her phone and saw it was empty. "I'm good."

"All right. I want to take you out."

"Where?"

"It's a surprise."

"Uh-oh."

"Where are you?"

"The park."

"Alrighty then, I'll be picking you up pretty soon."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

She hung up and laughed.

"Nick is going to be picking me up in a little while."

"Where is he taking you?"

"He wants to surprise me."

"So that's what the ‘uh-oh' was for."

"Yeah."

"Are you going to tell him how you feel?"

"Probably not, but I might."

"I think that I might leave you alone but, I also think that I should meet this guy you like so much."

"Oy vey."

He started to laugh and she looked around for him. After a few minutes, she spotted him.

"Here we go. Hey, Nick!" she beckoned him over to her and he kissed her soundly on the lips, at which point, Danny cleared his throat.

"Hi. I'm Nick."

"I'm Danny, her cousin."

"Nice to meet you."

"Bye, Danny."

"You're not getting away that easily."

After what felt like hours, Danny finally let them go.

"And I thought my brothers were bad."

"You're totally worth it." He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

"So where are we going?"

"Not telling."

"Damn it."

He chuckled and led her out of the park, to his car.

"Is it out of town?"

"A little bit. You'll like it though."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, yeah. Trust me. When did you get the skull?"

"Just before you got me."

"It looks good on you."

"Thanks."

The place Nick was taking her to was like a jazz club with a restaurant built into it. There was a small dance floor with the tables built around it.

"This is right out of the forties."

"The jukebox is all swing and ragtime."

"Ooh. I like this place already."

"I knew you would."

They were seated near the dance floor and she got up to look at the jukebox. She chose a few songs and sat back down.

"So how do you know about this place?"

"It belongs to a very old family friend of ours and I actually work here sometimes."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

"Why only sometimes?"

"It's just when they're short handed or something needs to be repaired. The husband passed away a couple years ago and he was the handy man. He'd been teaching me stuff like that for years and when he died, she came to me and I've been doing it ever since. He brought me along on some fix-it jobs all around town and everything just went from there."

"That's cool. What about when they're short handed?"

"Anything and everything."

"So is the repair work your day job?"

"Pretty much. I know it's weird having that kind of job for a living at our age but it works."

"Yes, it does." She unconsciously twirled a small section of her hair between her fingers while she hummed.

"What are you humming?"

"Huh?"

"You're humming something. What was it?"

She thought a little about what she had been humming. She was hesitant to tell him because she wasn't sure how easily he embarrassed, and she didn't know how he would react to it.

"Well, it's about you."

"Really? I'd like to hear it."

"Okay." She took a deep breath and started to sing the ballad she had memorized long ago. He smiled as she sang and took her hand. When she finished, he blushed and asked how long ago she had written the song.

"I started it the day before our date and finished it that night, before I left. It sounds better with a guitar. It's not supposed to be a cappella."

"Oh. It sounded good to me. Have you shown it to your band and audience in the park yet?"

"In the park I have, but not yet to my band mates."

"Why not?"

"I don't know."

"You should. If the people in the park liked it as much as I did, you should. Unless you're planing on putting it on your first album or something."

"Do you really think that'll happen?"

"I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet."

Eventually, food was delivered to them. Nick smiled at her.

"So what are you doing after school?"

"Going to school either here or New York for music. What about you?"

"Go to a community college and learn the repair business. I'm gonna stick with being a handy man and just do stuff with my band on the side. It's been good for me."

"Oh. Do you know where?"

"Wherever there's a beach."

"Cool. Send me some sea shells."

"Okay."

They shared a chuckle and a good swing song came on the jukebox. The singer had started singing when the whole thing totally stopped.

"Nick, need to fix the juke again."

"Okay. I'll be back." He stood up and went out the door, returning a few minutes later with a small tool kit. He had it fixed in less then a minute and sat back down. "Sorry about that."

"No problem."

"All right, how about dessert?"

"Sure. You want some?"

"All right."

After a minute of deliberation, they agreed to share a large sundae.

"This is a personal favorite of mine."

"Sounds mouth watering."

"It is."

A short time later, a large bowl filled with homemade ice cream topped with loads of Carmel, whipped cream, cherries, and sprinkles was placed between them.

"Wow."

"My thoughts exactly." He raised his spoon. "Cheers."

She laughed and tapped her spoon against his and they each took a bite.

"Whoa. Wow. Yum."

"Uh-huh."

It took a while, but they were able to finish it. Because he was practically an employee (and he fixed the jukebox again), he got half off. He held her hand as they walked back to his car and the entire time he drove.

When he got to her house, she didn't get out.

"I had a lot of fun tonight."

"Me too."

They kissed for a good five minutes, maybe more. She walked to her room quickly to avoid her brothers and flopped onto her bed. There was a knock on her door. She sighed and told whoever it was to come in.

"Hey, Olivia."

"Hey, Kelly."

"Who were you with?"

"A dude who was in the competition with me, Nick."

"Oh. Do you like him?"

"As much as I like Greg."

"What are you going to do about him?"

"I don't know. I found out that he's going to be going to school to be a professional handyman."

"Where?"

"By a beach. He has always loved the water."

"What about his band?"

"Side thing."

"Oh."

"What about your Nick?"

"What about him?"

"How are things going with him?"

"Good. He said that next time Stereopath is in town, he's going to come see me and Greg will come see you."

 She smiled and sighed. "Would you mind telling our brothers not to bother me?"

"Sure. I think Brian will be the only one that listens."

"He always is." Kelly left and Olivia curled up on her side, facing the wall. The ice cream she had eaten was making her feel really tired and she just barely mustered the energy to get up and change. As she was about to climb into bed, there was another knock. That time, it was Brian.

"How was work?"

"Good. I'm subbing for Chris again. And I just learned that the local guy I like is going to school near the beach to be a handy man, so I'm not sure if I'm going to see him again."

"Wow. Is that who you were with tonight?"

"Yeah."

"When are you going to sub for Chris?"

"Uh, I don't really know just yet. They're for next week and the one after that. We're going to talk a little more tomorrow some time."

"Cool. What's going on with Kelly?"

"What do you mean?"

"I think she's seeing someone but I have no idea who."

"She is. When she went to New York with us, she met Greg's lead guitarist, Nick."

"Oh, I see."

"Yeah."

"Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

"You, too."

He walked out and turned off her light.

The next day, she was going to go to work slightly early so she could talk to her boss about what was happening with Danny's band and her own. He had sent her the confirmed dates, times and venues of each show so she could more accurately decide her work week for the following weeks.

"So what do we have here?"

"This is a list of all the shows for the next couple weeks."

"And this is with your cousin's band?"

"Yeah. And Greg is trying to get us some more shows between rounds as well because of that show in New York two weeks ago."

"Okay. How many are planned for yours?"

"None yet. He's going around to a few places for us to play in as we speak."

"All right then. So all of this is going to be right around here, no overnight trips?"

"As far as I know, but when it comes to Danny's band, things can change, so we'll have to play that by ear."

"Right. The only shows that would conflict with your schedule, should nothing change, are Friday and Saturday, so you'll be off those days. Hopefully there really won't be any shows for your band interfering with your cousin's. So the first is Monday, right?"

"Yeah." She looked at her watch. "Are we done here?"

"Yeah." He made a copy of the list of shows and handed her the original. "I want you to take the counter primarily for now."

"Okay." She went to clock in and start her shift.

Monday rolled around with a quick rehearsal so she could learn a couple of their new songs. She was sitting in the middle seat of the van, next to Mark. He was drumming his hands on his knees, as ususal, while they chatted. A little while after they left, Mark asked her when she last ate. Everyone was hungry, so they stopped to get some fast food.

When they got to the venue, everyone was a little surprised to see her, the lead singer of the Lonewolves, without her band and with another one.

"I'm subbing for the usual lead."

"What happened?"

"He hurt his shoulder."

"You don't seemed too surprised by that."

"If you knew him like we did, you wouldn't be either."

"Klutz?"

"Big time."

"How do you know this one?"

"My cousin is the lead singer."

"Oh."

They got everything all set up and started to do sound check. After about an hour of telling the sound guy to make various adjustments for Olivia on one song, all four of them were beginning to suspect that he didn't like taking orders from women. He didn't really listen to the guys very well either, so she figured he was just an idiot. Scott walked up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder as they finished up.

"You know how Mark is always drumming on his legs when he's next to you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, he does it to keep from wrapping his arm around you."

"Really? I just chalked it up to him being a drummer."

"Well, that was it before he met you."

He walked away as Mark tossed her a bottle of water and threw a charming smile. Even in the way off chance Danny would allow the two of them to get involved, she kind of thought of him, and the rest of the band, as family. He was like her cousin's brother, she could never, in reality, be with someone she felt like she was almost related to. One good thing though, was that he was very intuitive about her blood sugar levels. It seemed that all he needed to do was look at her and he could tell if it was low, even before she did. She took a swig of the water and thought about him. Perhaps that intuition was sort of a safer way of showing his feelings for her, if what Danny said was true. Whenever he looked at her, she couldn't shake the feeling that he wanted to kiss her.

A few seconds later, she felt faint and someone wrapped their arms around her from the back and she was carefully sat down. Mark appeared in front of her with a piece of chocolate. The piece was just big enough to bring her blood sugar to where it was supposed to be, for at least an hour. It had been awhile since she was really able to eat but they were right by a small coffee shop so she could get something to tide her over until the end of the show. Mark even offered to make sure she got there safely and pay for it if needed.

"Come on." Mark put his hand on her shoulder and led her away. Olivia looked at Danny and noticed him holding back a smile. Mark just wanted to spend some time with her alone. She night not have feelings for him, but she liked him enough to hang out with him without Danny butting in. It was so difficult to really talk to any of the guys with him interrupting all the time.

They sat down at the counter of the shop and they choose a sandwich and a coke. While they waited for their food, Mark wrapped his arm around her.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Know how my blood sugar is before I do."

"I don't really know. I like to watch you and I've figured out your body language when it gets too low. That sounds bad, doesn't it?"

"Just a wee." She took a sip of her coke. "So what do you do when you watch me? Apart from monitor my blood sugar."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Now that you mention it, not really, but at the exact same time, I'm very curious."

"It depends on if I'm around Danny."

"Should my mind be in the gutter?"

"Maybe." He smiled mischievously, indicating that her mind should, indeed, be in the gutter. They chuckled and he wrapped his arm around her. She was tempted to ask just what kind of fantasies he had about her, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Between bites, Mark would run his hand along her arm and just look at her with a sort of dreamy look in his eye. Occasionally, from a distance, he had a little bit of a lost puppy dog look and Danny teased her relentlessly that he was thinking about her.

When they finished, they slowly walked back to where the show was to take place. The show wasn't supposed to start for another hour and the two decided to go hang out in the park for a bit.

"So what's been going on with your love life?"

"Not the hell of a lot."She sighed.

"What's wrong, Sweetheart?"

"I'm just a little confused right now."

"About what?"

She told him about Greg and Nick and what she had discovered about what he was going to do after he finished school.

"I don't know what to do."

"What do you want to do for school? If you don't get in the music industry that is."

She scoffed slightly in amusement. "Well, I want to be involved with music in someway. If not in performing, then with like producing or something like that, you know?"

"Oh, yeah. I can see that easily. What about teaching music?"

"Side job. You already know that I occasionally teach younger children the guitar at no charge. Regardless of what I do for a living, I can still do that. I just hope that if I perform for a living, I'll still have time to do it all."

"Same here. Those kids, or anyone you teach, will find no better teacher than you."

"Thank you, Mark."

After a time, they went to where the show was supposed to be and got ready to play. This had been the first time for her or the band that they had so much time to kill between sound check and show time. Five minutes before they were due to start, the venue was completely full with screaming fans. All of them where aware that the regular guitarist was injured and that she was subbing for him. They were always very supportive of her and generally, if they liked one band, they liked the other. Chris's clumsiness was actually a bit of an ongoing joke with many of them, as whenever he was injured, no matter what, she subbed for him (their show schedules rarely clashed somehow).

After the show ended, one of the fans approached her.

"What exactly happened?"

"As far as I know, he tripped and hit the wall, and in doing so, pulled the tendons or something in his shoulder. There are no shows after these two weeks so he'll heal properly."

"Good."

The only bad thing about doing these shows with Danny, is that they seemed to pass far too quickly. The two weeks flew by and she talked to Chris on the day of the last show. They talked a little about the competition and he wished her luck in the battle. She was glad they had a lot of respect and support for her regardless of what she planned.