Heart Shaped Spotlight

"How could anyone be afraid of us?" Kevin said, holding up his coffee mug with his pinky extended. "We are very classy individuals."

“You know, I've heard rumors that most musicians were a bit mental," Trisha said to Lora, "Here it is, barely noon, and I've already learned something today. The rumor is actually true."

Trisha’s nose crinkled as she flashed me a cute grin, and I reached under the table to take her hand.

We all ordered a ridiculous amount of breakfast food, while Kevin declared that we were not allowed to call this brunch since it was no longer technically morning. The group had a wonderful chat about Trisha’s idea to have them play on the second half of the Love Rockers album, and they were all absolutely on board. As always, the conversation turned to whether we should be located in Toronto or Vancouver.

“If we want to play shows in L.A. and San Francisco, Vancouver is much more convenient," Kevin said. “And Portland would love us.”

"But Toronto has a better music scene overall,” Doug countered.

Lora waved a fry back and forth as she stared into space, thinking. "Toronto's music scene has been wavering a little, but it's close to Hamilton, Windsor, London, Niagara, New York, and Chicago. If we did a bunch of looping tours, built up a twelve city route that we repeated every two months, that would establish our home base pretty quickly."

"That's true," Doug said. "Plus, two of us are nomads, and two of us have family ties to Toronto now, so that just makes sense."

"Oh, who has family in Toronto?" Trisha asked.

“My brother lives in the west end, and I can crash on his couch for a while," Lora said. "And Nate has you."

I tried to smile at Trisha, but she was examining the crumbs on her plate as if they held the secrets of the universe. "Hey," I said quietly, "I've always intended to move back to Toronto. It's my favorite city."

She nodded, looking up at me thoughtfully as the server poured another round of coffee for us. I leaned back so that she could reach Lora's mug, not sure why Doug was snickering.

As soon as the server left, Doug chuckled, "He has so many tits in his face at all times he doesn't even notice anymore.”

"He can see them, but since he's not a drummer, he's able to control himself," Kevin said. "Not everyone has to comment whenever breasts meander past them."

I was relieved to see that Trisha wasn’t bothered, just laughing with them.

“Psst,” Lora hissed at me.

I thought she was trying to settle the boob talk down, but I followed her gaze to where two girls in their late teens or early twenties were obviously staring at us. The second I looked at them, they spun away, hunched over their phones.

“Do you ever get used to that?” Trisha asked me.

“I don’t really notice it anymore,” I said. “It comes and goes in waves. Don’t worry, it will likely settle down in a few weeks.”

“Until your album drops,” Doug said. “Then your precious little pretty boy smile is going to be plastered across billboards.”

“I doubt it,” I laughed.

Lora waved her last fry at me. “They did with the winner of the second season. It’s great promo for the next round.”

“Excuse me,” a tiny voice behind me whispered. I turned to see the two girls standing at my side, smiling nervously. “Aren’t you Nate Roberts?”

“I sure am,” I grinned. I noticed that Trisha yanked her hand from mine, but didn’t think it was personal.

“Congratulations on winning,” the little blonde said softly. “Could we take a picture?”

“Sure.” I stood up, handing her phone to Doug and putting my arms around both of them. It was always sweet to see how excited fans were to get photos.

After he took a couple of shots, I said, “Hey, this is my new band. Do you want a photo of Hemlock and Emeralds as well?”

The girl with the purplish-blue hair looked like she was about to explode. “Really? You have a new band? Yes, please!”

We took photos with one girl, then the other, while Trisha tried to hide behind my shoulder. “Let me out, I’m not in the band,” she whispered.

She sounded so frantic that I jumped out of her way, letting her slide out of the booth. I slid back in beside Lora for a few more photos.