new life | depeche mode

Chapter 22 - John

"Maybe when the set is over he'll come talk to you!" Mallory whispers.

"I wish Andy would look at me." Winnie sighs.

"What do I do?" I ask.

"What do you do? Talk to him! Get a drink! Dance! We are in a club!" Mallory exclaims.

The band comes to the ending of their song.

"I'm Simon Le Bon, let's give a hand for... Roger Taylor on the drums! Andy Taylor on the  guitar! John Taylor on the bass! None of them are related, by the way! And Nick Rhodes on the keyboard!"

As Simon finishes speaking, the crowd bursts into applause.

"We are Duran Duran. Thank you, and good night!"

Before they all file offstage, I catch eye contact with John again.

He mouths something to me, but I can't make it out.

I point to myself. "What? Me?" I mouth back.

He nods, and mouths whatever he said again.

"He says 'Stay put'." Winnie says.

I nod, and the band walks offstage.

"Oh Winnie, isn't this a proud moment? Our little baby is growing up!" Mallory jokes.

Winnie and I laugh.

"Why would he want to talk to m-" I say, but I am cut off.

"He's coming!" Mallory says. "Winnie and I are gonna go to the bar if you need us. He's super sweet, he won't give you a hassle."

"But I have a boyf-" I start.

"You'll be FINE!" Winnie says. "Don't leave before you say goodbye. We have to exchange numbers!"

I feel someone tap me on my shoulder. I turn around to see no other than John standing there.

"Hi." I say. That was stupid, right? Who says hi like that. What the hell am I doing? I have a nice boyfriend who I forgot to call tonight. I'm not cheating, right? I have no plans to fool around with this guy. But what are his intentions?

My brain is running wild. Eve, just shut up!

"Hey. I was already introduced. What's your name?"

"My name's Eve Reynolds." Is the last name too formal. Just the first name sounds too weird. Okay, last name was good.

"Do you want to get a drink?" He asks.

"Sure." I say, hoping that it doesn't sound too rough, and off we go to the bar.

We talk and drink. I find out a lot about him. Nothing seems too flirty. We have similar taste in music. I'm fascinated that he's an only child, and he's fascinated that I used to live in America.

"I don't really remember much, I was five when we moved. But I liked where we lived, we had a nice front lawn and I would play jacks on the sidewalk with the older neighbor girl."

Then, we dance.

"I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not a good dancer." I say.

"Stop it, you're fine." He says.

We dance to a few songs. Then, I check my watch. Holy shit, it's 10:45! I didn't leave a note for Cathy, and she didn't give me the her aunt's number.

"Hey can you give me a second? I need to call my friend Cathy. We're staying at a hotel together for a work convention and she went out before I did and I didn't tell her that I was going out..." I say, rambling.

"It's fine, go. I'm gonna go get another beer." John replies.

I go and find the payphone by the bathroom, and I call the hotel.

"Can you connect me to Room 339?" I ask.

The man at the front desk connects me, but there is no answer. I hang up, call back the hotel, and leave a message with them to give to Cathy.

I find John at the bar, and we talk some more.

Winnie and Mallory walk over when John's telling me about his band.

"You've out-partied us, I'm impressed." Mallory says.

"I have to babysit all day tomorrow, so we have to go. We need to exchange numbers, remember?" Winnie says. I quickly exchange numbers with Mallory and Winnie, and we say our goodbyes.

"They are so loyal to the band. I've seen them at every show."

"They're crazy about you guys." I reply. "I should get going myself. I have to be up early for a convention for the newspaper I work at tomorrow. I'm an intern, so it's amazing I got chosen to go. This might be my foot into an actual job at the paper."

"Good for you! But that's too bad, I was going to ask you if you wanted to do something tomorrow." He says.

Do I pull the 'Sorry, I have a boyfriend' line now? I don't want to be that kind of girl, who mistakes a simple invitation as a date.

"Maybe you could escape for a little while to see us practice? We're growing a solid fan base here in Birmingham, and the goal is to release singles and an album next year."

"My boyfriend's in a band, and that's his goal too." I say. John's suddenly gets a funny look on his face, and I realize what I've said.

"I didn't realize you have a boyfriend. I feel rather stupid now." He mumbles.

"I'm so sorry if I led you on in any way. Partying, drinking, flirting, it's not my thing! Listening to music and writing is my forte. I got a boyfriend accidentally! My sister and her boyfriend were feeling bold one day and set us up on a blind date. They hoped to piss us off but we went along with it for weeks, then we just started dating for real." I explain. "And you were being so funny and nice. I'm not a master flirt so I couldn't tell if you were flirting with me. I never got any attention like that in school!"

John's face starts to look less wounded as I talk. I guess I must have led him on. How stupid am I?

"I believe you. Is your boyfriend nice? Is his band good?"

"Yes, and yes."

"Here." He says, and scribbles his name on a clean napkin on the bar countertop. "If my band makes it big and you want concert tickets, or your boyfriend breaks your heart, call me."

I laugh as I accept the napkin, and he winks at me.

"I have to go, and I'm sorry again." I give him an awkward hug and go to leave.

"Wait!" He calls out, grabbing my arm, in a non-threatening manner.

"Yes?" I say.

"I'll walk you back to your hotel. It's late, and it gets seedy around the Rum Runner at night."

"Thank you." I say, and we walk out the door together.