Some Things Never Change [SHAWN MENDES]

March 17, 2018

"This round is on me," I said as I got up from the table.

I walked through the dimly lit room, winding through dozens of drunk people before finally making it to the crowded bar.

"Pitcher of Corona, please," I told the bartender, an older man in a plastic St. Patrick's Day hat.

While I waited, my phone started to buzz in my front jeans pocket. It was Ceci.

You're home?

I hadn't been in Toronto much lately. My tour ended in December but then my focus had immediately turned to my third album. I'd been at a place called The Woodshed in Malibu, and I'd traveled to Jamaica, with hopes of creating a masterpiece. I was experimenting with a lot of different sounds and styles, which was a bit risky for me. Up until now I'd played it pretty safe.

My first single off the new album was dropping in five days, followed the next day by a second. I was especially nervous about this first song because it was going to show a side of me I'd kept private. At the same time, I was really excited to be writing music that was personal and meaningful to me and that could help others. I was out with the guys tonight to help ease my anxiety. I also wanted a little normalcy before the craziness of a song release started. There would be nonstop interviews and appearances which were pretty draining.

I typed in a reply.

Just for a few days

Coffee tomorrow?

The bartender handed me my pitcher and I gave him a twenty and told him to keep the change. He was in for a long night and it was likely that some of the drunk patrons would get nasty with him.

I set the pitcher down and Ian started to pour from it. I got settled in my seat and was startled by a pair of hands covering my eyes. The familiar perfume scent on the person's wrists gave their identity away.

"Ceci!" I exclaimed as I pulled her hands away and spun around. "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing as you. I'm here with a group of friends," she said, pointing to a table across the room. "We're drinking green beer, though."

She looked so damn hot tonight in a jeans miniskirt and a tight cropped kelly green sweater. Her hair was up in two buns and she had a headband with little shamrocks on springs that bounced up and down. Her lips were green and I wasn't sure if that was from lipstick or the green beer she'd been drinking. Based on how she slurred her words, I could tell she was slightly inebriated.

"Sit with us a while," Brian suggested, patting the chair next to him.

"I'm kinda on a date," she said without looking at me, "so I should probably get back to him and my friends."

Brian's face fell and I wondered if mine did, too, because my heart definitely sank. Ceci had never brought up another guy in front of me. I wasn't stupid enough to think she hadn't dated during her two years of college, but if she had, she'd kept it from me. I was fairly certain that prior to last April, she hadn't fucked anyone else given how adamantly she'd insisted that I should have informed her that I had. That was eleven months ago. A lot could have happened during that time.

Obviously it was very hypocritical of me to care, given that I'd had sex with a dozen different people on my last tour. Some were fans and others were fellow celebrities. It was easier to hook up with someone famous, because they were more likely to be discreet. Now that I was nineteen I was less worried about my image. I'd done an interview in New Zealand in November where I'd admitted to having lost my virginity at sixteen, though obviously I didn't give any details, and to hooking up with a twenty-five year old. At Christmas, I'd expected Ceci to bring this up, but if she'd heard it and it had bothered her, she kept that to herself.