I grimaced. I had no intention of agreeing to this competition. And what did he care about Razer?
"Why are you so interested in Razer? I should be asking what's going on with you and him. Do you have a thing for him? Now that you mention it, I have noticed a bit of tension there. Maybe it’s sexual tension... He is single, you know."
Alex sneered. "It's nothing. He just gets under my skin. He's not even that talented."
God, competitive rockers. They were the worst. I yawned. If he couldn't think of anything more entertaining to talk about, he could leave me in peace. He hadn't even seen Razer play so I don't know how he'd made that judgment.
"Sorry, I'm boring you," he said. "So Violet, what do you do when you aren't working?"
"Sleep."
"I mean apart from that. What do you do for fun?"
"Fun? I sleep for fun. It's my hobby. And, when I'm done with sleeping, I take a nap. That's my free time schedule."
He laughed, his hair flopping back into his eyes.
"You wouldn't be interested in going out to get a drink sometime? The two of us, together? Forget about the contest. There doesn’t need to be any big fuss if it’s just a drink.”
I tried to stop my eyes from rolling. I tried my hardest. It was nice of him to try but I had to nip this in the bud. There'd be no going for a drink, no date and no stupid contest.
"Yep, I wouldn't be interested. It's nothing personal. I just don't date rockers. I don't date musos at all. And I don't go out. You know what I do most nights of the week? I sit in this room or downstairs, drinking and listening to bands. That's my job. Asking me out for a drink is like asking an accountant to come around and add up numbers or whatever it is that accountants do. You understand what I'm saying? If I'm not here, I'm in a total Zen-like state of nothingness."
He sighed, leaning over so that the leather of his pants brushed against my leg again. I pushed him back.
"I mean it, Alex. I don't date."
He moved back slightly and turned to watch the band onstage. They were wrapping up and had all the attention. Even the friends of the other bands crept up close to the stage to check them out. Those little guys sure had a palpable energy.
When the band finished their set, Alex turned back to me.
"So, what's going on with the club?" he asked.
“Who knows? Chuck doesn’t even seem to know himself.”
“It’s good to see people coming out to support the place. At least they aren’t looking around for another bar to hang out in.”
That brought a new fear to my mind. Once word got out about this, would the club be instantly doomed? Any decent band wouldn't want to book themselves to a club that could fold any moment. And, without decent bands, we'd have nothing.
Who knew how long this would all last?
I needed to fix things and I needed to do it fast. If only I could fix it without agreeing to their stupid terms.
Chapter 11 RAZER
I'D NEVER BEEN INTO a flower shop before. Never bought a woman flowers. Well, except for my mum and then my sister organized it and I just chipped in. I must've looked like a real fool in there, my body filling the entire shop. I felt like I was going to knock something over or smash things to bits. The place had all kinds of little knick-knack things on shelves waiting for a guy to make a false move and knock them to the ground. It's not easy buying flowers.
That flowery smell overwhelmed me. It reminded me of my nanna's perfume when she grabbed me for a cuddle but so strong that it was like a hundred nannas. I loved my Nan but a hundred of them would scare the bejesus out of me. They'd crochet me to death or something.
"Excuse me." A woman pushed past me.
I moved out of her way and stumbled backward almost knocking a bucket of some spiky green things.
I got to the counter then realized I had no idea what I wanted to buy. The shop girl stared at me, not being helpful at all. In the end, I just mumbled that I wanted a bunch of roses. I had no idea what to order but chicks liked roses, I guess.
The girl pursed her lips then grabbed a bunch and wrapped them up for me.
I felt like even more of a dick carrying them into the bar but that was the only way I could think of to give them to Violet. I didn't know her home address. Sure, I knew where she lived but I had no idea what the street name was. She’d just been calling out right or left when I’d carried her home and I’d been too engrossed in holding her in my arms that I didn’t look at the street sign.