The Boys in the Band (Reverse Harem)

Chapter 3: A Little Info

"So we were going to celebrate finding a new singer by having going out for a drink," Sullivan said. "Care to join us?"

They were standing outside the studio in Soho in the sultry summer night. The sun had just set, and the city was bustling and noisy in the best possible way, redolent with the smells of coffee and food.

"Really?" Momoko asked.

"Really truly, you have no idea how relieved we are," Tommy said with a nod. "We were at our wits' end, you saved us, for real."

"No, I mean, I believe you about the drink, I just meant you don't mind me tagging along?" Momoko clarified. "We just met and everything..." she let the sentence hang there.

"We wouldn't ask if we didn't want you," Sullivan assured her. "Besides, you're the reason we're celebrating, of course you need to come, right, boys?"

They all made sounds of assent.

"Okay, I'm in," Momoko agreed happily. "I should warn you, though, I can drink like a sailor. My father is descended from Scotsmen who drank ale for breakfast, so the legends go."

"That sounds like a challenge to me," Jude said, throwing an arm around Momoko's shoulder. "Let's go, before it gets too crowded."

The bar was the guys' regular hang out, it seemed, for they were greeted by name when they came in the door.

"And who do you have with you?" asked the bartender, whose name was Clive.

"This is our new lead singer, Momoko McDaniels," Jude announced with a flourish as he presented her to Clive.

"That's a mouthful, and the hell you say," Clive responded, eyes wide. "What happened to Marshall?"

"He left us, if you can believe it," Tommy answered. "For another band. Two weeks before a gig, three months before Battle of the Bands."

"What a dick!" Clive burst out. He looked at Momoko. "So you're a canary, eh? You can sing?"

"I'm okay," Momoko answered with a laugh.

"She's incredible," Dane said with a smile. "You should hear her, Clive, honestly. We're here to celebrate finding her, that's how good she is."

Clive smiled at Dane. "Okay, then, first round's on me." He turned the smile to Momoko. "Pick your poison, er, Kokomo. What's that name mean, anyway?"

Momoko laughed. "It's Momoko, and it means Peach child or Peach girl, I guess." She looked at the young men around her. "Since it's a celebration, how about we start with shots? Vodka?"

The guys looked at each other.

Whoa.

"A young lady after my own heart," Clive declared, putting a hand over the body part in question. He pulled out a bottle of Grey Goose and laid out six shot glasses.

"Uh, Clive? There are only five of us," Sully pointed out.

"You don't think I'm going to celebrate with you?" Clive twirled his gray mustache. "I'm just as happy as you are that you found, um, Peaches, you know?" He poured six shots and put the bottle away. "And I'm not only the bartender, I'm the owner, I can do what I want, right?"

He gestured to the glasses, but then held up a hand. "Hold on, hold on, Peaches, show me some ID, first. I didn't get a good look at you before, but now that I do, you look about fourteen years old, young lady!"

Momoko laughed and showed him her driver's license.

He looked at it, and looked back at her.

"You're twenty-two? Really?"