Not Another Player

19.Miscues & Malfunctions

Eye of the Tiger // Survivor

Ten seconds of stilted silence pass before anyone makes a move. Then Ryan, the tipsy guy at the table, says something ridiculous to break the tension.

"I never said you were a Curt replacement!" Ryan says loudly, not quite a yell but close to it.

"Yeah, you did. He told me after you pulled him aside at the court appearance last month." Seth says.

"Is that why he's been a little bitch? I never said he was a replacement. I said he was no Jason Newsted."

Seth gives Ryan a look. "The former bass player from Metallica? What the hell does that mean? Jace is our drummer. And we don't play thrash metal."

Ryan puts his head in his hands, shaking back and forth in tipsy exaggeration. "Newsted was a replacement for Clint, who died. The guy never gelled. They resented that they even had to hire him. He was an outsider even when they were hitting platinum status. Jace isn't a replacement. He's the one. You understand what I'm saying? No Jace, No C1. We're just a second-rate garage band without him."

Seth looks back at Alex before dropping his head. "Why the hell haven't you said that to him? The kid is here thinking you hate him no matter how many times I tell him the opposite. Go say all that to him."

Ryan groans. "This dinner better be worth the drama it's costing me."

"The drama is from the shots you knocked back before we came."

Ryan shoots a pointed finger at Seth without even turning back to look at him. "That we can blame on Curt. The a-hole put me in a mood."

Ryan disappears down a stairway looking for Jace while the rest of us sit in more stunned silence.

"Well, that was unnecessary." The woman I don't know speaks from the end of the dinner table after Zack follows the girls out.

"Misty." The guy she came with reacts in a warning tone. Clinton groans. The C1 guys lean back and let the next show play out, not a care in the world written on their faces.

"What? It's what we're all thinking." She throws her hands up.

"Frank, if you ignore it, will it go away?" Clinton asks with a shake of his head.

"Pshaw," the woman, Misty, brushes him off. "As if he could get rid of me. The man needs me to figure out all the unsolved cases."

This time Frank groans.

"Um...what's going on?" I lean forward, not sure I should even be asking.

Clinton points to Frank. "This is my brother Frank, a homicide detective, and his girlfriend, Misty."

"Girlfriend is code for full on clinger," Frank says, earning an eye roll from Misty.

"Keep telling yourself that, babe. I know feelings aren't your jam." Misty leans forward to look at me directly. "I'm the answer to his prayers, cause the man wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hades to solve a crime without me." She brings a hand to her mouth in mock whisper. "He tries real hard, though."

"I'll show you hard," Frank smirks.

"For fucks sake, keep your creepy foreplay behind closed doors. My kid is right here." Clinton's already covering his daughter's ears.

"I'll take her to the bathroom while this gets...worked out." The woman I've assumed is his ex stands to lead the kid out of the restaurant.

What a shit show.

"What I'm wondering-" Misty starts but gets cut off when Frank covers her mouth with his hand.

"Ew!" He shouts seconds later, pulling his hand back and wiping it vigorously on his napkin. "God, every time."