Not a Date

When I got home, I dumped my gear on the couch and sat down. What a day. It certainly was a rollercoaster of emotions, but things were finally looking up. I had a lead on my first bandmate, she was cute too. Not that I’m excited to have a cute bandmate or anything; it’s just good from a marketing perspective. You come for the cute face and stay for the music, it worked for Parallax after all. I looked over at the poster on my wall. This girl’s eyes did look awfully similar to Hayley’s. As I sat there, gazing at the poster, I caught a whiff of myself. Whew, I really worked up a sweat out there. I decided to hop in the shower before our interview.

Even though it was purely a band interview, I couldn’t help but feel like I was getting ready for a date. I mean, from everyone else’s perspective, that’s what it would look like. A boy and a girl eating dinner in a restaurant together. That sounds awfully like a date to me, and what about afterwards? Where would I actually listen to her playing? It would need to be somewhere with a bass amplifier. I didn’t know if she had a portable amplifier, even if she did, it completely slipped my mind to ask her to bring it. She would either have to come to my place or we would have to go to her place afterwards. If my face wasn’t already red from the hot water, I would have blushed immensely. This was seeming more and more like a date the more I thought about it.

I got out of the shower and dried off. What clothes should I wear? Unable to shake the feeling of getting ready for a date, I decided to wear something a little more formal than I usually wear. After some deliberation, I found some nice clothes in the back of my closet. Once I was dressed, I still had a little time before I needed to head to the restaurant. I decided to clean up around my apartment, just in case we ended up coming back here afterwards. Not like I expect that to happen, but just as a precautionary measure. You can never be too prepared.

There, that looks good. Not too messy, but not too tidy either. A respectable punk rocker’s apartment. I sat down on the couch and started counting the cash I made busking. 70, 71, 72 bucks. That’s my best haul yet! To be expected of my best performance yet, and they’ll only be getting better from here on out. Although, despite that, I’m still going to be cutting it awfully close on making rent this month. Not to mention that this date- er… interview is going to eat into that significantly. No matter, obtaining bandmates is an investment; an initial upfront cost that opens the door to more profitable opportunities down the road.

I stuffed some cash in my wallet, and put the rest back in my guitar case and headed out. I made my way to the restaurant, arriving a few minutes early. When I arrived, I didn’t see her anywhere in the waiting area.

“Over here!” I heard her call from a nearby booth.

I sat down across from her. Inside a cloth travel case, her bass sat next to her in the seat. She had also dressed up since our encounter out on the street, it made my heart flutter.

“I didn’t catch your name when we last met,” I said, sitting down across from her.

“Oh, my name’s… Sunny,” she said with an awkward pause.

“Mine’s Jimmy. It’s nice to meet you Sunny.”

The waitress came and took our orders, leaving us in an awkward silence.

“Ahem. Shall we start the interview?” she asked nervously, fidgeting in her seat.

“Interview? We don’t need to be that formal about it, I just wanted to listen to your bass playing, as long as you’ve got the fundamentals down you’re pretty much in.”

She made a pouty face. “I think we ought to do this properly. You should interview me, like I’m applying for a job.”

Is she for real? Most people would be ecstatic at the idea of landing a job with no interview, but this girl actually wanted one? “Suit yourself,” I said. “Have you ever played in a band before?”

“I have,” she responded.

“What kind of music did you play?”

“Punk rock.”

“Good, good. Was this band successful?”

“I guess so…”

“Why’d you leave?”

She glanced away. “I had a falling out with the other members.”

“Creative differences?”

“You could say that…”

I could tell she was uncomfortable talking about her past band, so I decided to drop the topic. “On a scale of one to ten how would you rate your bass playing?” I continued.

I could tell that she was relieved that I shifted the topic. “Eight,” she said confidently.

I raised an eyebrow. “Where would you say your playing is lacking?”

“Well, I can’t do anything too fancy, but I’d say I’ve got a good hold of the fundamentals. I’m pretty proficient at all the techniques used in punk rock, at least.”

“That’s great! Okay, last question, can you sing?”

Her face went bright red. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I’ve been a huge fan of Parallax for years, I love their sound, especially their vocals. I would love to have a female singer for our band.”

“I… can sing a little…” she said, fidgeting.

“If you’re uncomfortable you don’t have to. Hey, right now it’s just the two of us, we don’t need to worry about vocals just yet.” I said, trying to calm her down.

She nodded.

The waitress arrived with our food, immediately breaking the illusion of a professional interview, and bringing me back to the reality that this feels like a date.

We began to eat our food in silence.

“What’s so good about Parallax anyway? They’re pretty mediocre if you ask me,” she asked me after a few bites.

“Well, I already told you I love their vocalist.”

She choked on her food.

“I meant her voice! I’m in love with the sound of her voice!” I explained, trying to clear the air. “She’s my biggest musical inspiration. She’s the reason I decided I want to devote my life to music.”

“It’s not all it's cracked up to be,” she said, regaining her composure. It’s a tough, cutthroat world out there.”

“Trust me, I know it. I spent five hours out there in the heat today, and I only made 72 bucks. I could make more than that if I had gone to college and gotten a proper job, but I didn’t. Everything I did, I did for the sake of my art. I’m going to make my living off my music or die trying.”

She smiled. “I think you’ve got what it takes. My previous bandmates didn’t, but I think you do.”

I smiled right back at her. “You done eating?” I asked, looking at her empty plate.

She nodded.

I started to reach for my wallet.

“There’s no need to do that,” she said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“I paid the bill before you got here.”

“Why? I was going to pay the bill.”

“That’s exactly why. I can tell you’re struggling with money right now, it’s the least I can do, since you’re interviewing me to join your band.”

Dang, do I really look that poor? I guess not having a cell phone doesn’t help. “Well thank you, I really appreciate it.”

She smiled and stood up, grabbing her bass. “Where to now?” She asked.

“Do you have a portable bass amplifier?”

“No, I thought you’d bring that one you were using earlier.”

“Nah, that’s a guitar amplifier. A bass wouldn’t sound very good played through it. I guess it can’t be helped, want to go back to my apartment?” I asked.

She turned bright red. “Y-y-your apartment? After our first date?”

I turned bright red too. “No! It’s not like that! I’ve got a bass amplifier at my apartment!”

“Why do you have one of those? I thought you were a guitar player!”

“I got it for free! It was broken and the music store was going to throw it out. They gave it to me, and I fixed it.”

She thought it over for a moment. “Alright, but this is just for my audition, don’t expect me to spend the night or anything.”

“Of course not! I’m not the kind of guy who normally takes a girl home after the first date!”

“It wasn’t a date! It was an interview!”

“You just called it a date a second ago!”

Her face got even redder. “Come on, let's go!” she said, grabbing my hand and storming out of the restaurant. Our waitress chuckled to herself, watching as Sunny dragged me out the door.