The Last JoyRide

Part 25

Friday 1:52 PM

Maybe it was jealousy, just perhaps. I honestly didn't like seeing Joy with another fellow, but I knew she was in character. I guess the problem was that I was always infatuated with her characters too. Damnit, this was getting complicated. I quit the pretend call and walked to them just before the salesman closed her in the booth.

"I'm sorry, Joy, I couldn't reach them. There's a chance they've already come and gone."

She looked at me wide-eyed, disappointed like. Salesman Adam didn't budge. Then she turned to him.

"Hey, you didn't see two guys come in here earlier? They would have been dressed a little flashy, you know what I mean?"

"Joy," he said, leaning against the door.

"We see all kinds in here. Flashy to me is nothing to someone else."

"They would have been driving a red Ferrari."

Adam still shook his head negatively, and he never took his eyes off her. I couldn't blame him for that. She had him, and she knew it.

"Adam," she said softly, taking his hand.

"Do you think you could ask anyone else that works here? This could mean a good gig for me. I've been trying to get their attention for a while."

He looked at her hand holding his, then back to her sweet face and smiled.

"Sure, I can do that. Give me a minute. You can go ahead and hook up if you want. I'll be right back."

He dashed off around the corner out of sight, and Joy hit the bass with one resounding thud and scrunched her freshly made-up face at me.

"When the hell did you learn to play bass?"

"Oh, I picked it up in Highschool. The GoGo's were my idols. My friends and I were all nerdy ugly girls, but we loved music and thought we'd be cool if we learned to play instruments like they did. It didn't last. I kept my bass, though, and played for years. Under my bed at home, that's where it is now. Haven't played in a while, but it's relaxing."

She thumped the bass again.

"Still makes me feel cool too!"

I shook my head, unreal the stuff I was hearing.

She continued to thump away, making some really cool sounds, and just like that, Adam, the salesman, popped back in with a giant grin on his long pallid face.

"Dear Joy, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you missed your pals. They were here, bought some strings, a couple of midi controllers, and a bunch of sound mods. They hung around a while but left about half an hour ago."

Joy looked right past me, then at her boots and sighed, and hung her head, deflated. She unplugged the bass, let the cord drop to the floor, and then handed it back to Adam, still nursing his informative grin.

"And as luck would have it," he continued, "the midi controller they needed wasn't in but would be in today. So they paid for it, and we're sending it over to them today when it arrives."

He held the bass Joy handed him, letting it rest on his sneaker.

"Where are they recording?" She wasted no time asking.

"Metro Sound," he responded matter of factly.

Joy lept off the stool and threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him off balance. Then I couldn't believe it, planted a kiss right on his right cheek, then headed for the door, leaving me flat-footed again.