Page 10 of Served
It was mostly quiet, but the servers and bartenders were prepping for the night and glass was clanking. I walked over to the bar and asked Jaz where the greenroom was. She threw the bar up and walked out to lead the way. Amy walked with us until we got to the door.
“Ok, I’ll be at the bar so if you get to come hang, cool. If not, I’ll see you at six! Break a leg!” Amy grabbed my shoulders hard and kissed my cheek. Luckily, she didn’t wear a lot of lipstick.
I knocked on the door and it quickly flung open.
“Great, you made it. Come on in, sit. Did you bring your music?” the guitarist asked.
I sat and pulled the music from my bag and noticed them all staring at me when I looked up.
“Is this too much? I wasn’t sure.” Now I was panicked. “I can go home and change, I live just up the street.”
They all laughed in unison and Eric came and plopped down next to me.
“No doll, that’s perfect. Definitely a step up from the old front man.”
“And not a bad view for me,” the drummer chuckled out.
“Excuse him, he doesn’t get out from behind the drums often,” the guitarist said, clearly irritated.
I had hoped the other two would introduce themselves since I knew Eric already by name, but I didn’t want to ask because I had met them already and felt like I should know. I’m sure they told me, or it was on the email but if so, I forgot. My nerves were all over the place.
“Hey Tim, what’s the lineup tonight so I can mark it down?” Okay cool, so the guitar player was Tim.
“Uh, let’s see, I have mine numbered. Eric, take this and then pass it to Joe when you’re done.” And Joe is the drummer. Okay, I got this. I just needed patience and attention. Joe passed the papers to me when he looked it over and I marked the songs in order. It was only 20 songs total but being a regular, I knew lots of breaks happened in between sets. Which was perfect because I was able to memorize them all.
“So, Lucy, you think you’re ready for tonight? Wanna go do some warmups or you good to sound check?” Tim asked. He was very businesslike, but still polite.
“I think I’m good. I did a few warmups at home and kept the whistle wet all day.”
Laughter erupted from Joe and Eric, and Tim rolled his eyes. “Again, I’m sorry.
“I hang out here a lot and work at a radio station, they don’t bother me.” I winked at the boys.
We walked to the stage and tested the sound and equipment. Everything seemed great so I went to the bar quickly for a water and to steal a hug from Amy.
“You looked so great up there! A natural!” Amy was beaming with pride. I almost hated to burst her bubble.
“You know, I still have to actually perform. That was just sound checks.” She pushed my shoulder and rolled her eyes.
“I can still be excited that you were up there, on stage, in your little spicy getup. What did they say about your outfit?” She asked like a nine-year-old looking for gossip.
“Well, as men they like it for sure. As the band, they said it was perfect. Still, I need to buy some more pants at least. It’s one thing for my cleavage to be out because I mean, they’re hard to hide,” I said as I pointed to my robust lady lumps. “But I’m definitely freaking out about my undies on display. Or more accurately, my ass cheeks.” When you have a big backside, even more coverage doesn’t cover it all unless you wear granny-panties, and I wasn’t there yet.
“Well, if nothing else, you should get good tips tonight!”
I tossed a balled-up napkin at Amy before I gave her a squeeze and trotted back to the stage. I walked to the mic and was hyping myself up when Jason walked over.
“You left this at the bar. You’ll need it up there,” he said as he passed my water to me.
I leaned down to grab it and put it on the stool that was on stage for me and heard more chuckles behind me. I just basically mooned the whole band.
“Thanks, I wasn’t even thinking. Kinda nervous.” Jason was glaring at the band behind me. It was like he was jealous, or protective, and that caused a twinge in my chest.
“You’ll be great. Just do what you did yesterday.” I thought I saw one side of his lips curl into a grin. Before I could say anything else he walked away. The next thing I knew, the drummer was counting us off and the show was starting.
It was surreal. Seeing the club at peak time from the stage was amazing. The view was crazy. The lights were bright in my face, but I could see the moving colored lights over the dancefloor. At first people were coming in and getting drinks, hugging friends, finding a place to sit. But as people got settled, the ones sitting were watching and bobbing their heads. Some people came up to the small “floor” in front of the stage and danced and jumped around. I was feeding off the energy and all my fears about my outfit, singing in public, and being on the stage disappeared. The anxiety melted into excitement quickly. The energy flowing through me made me feel like a rock star.
I walked the stage, singing with the guys, dancing with them, and even leaned on them for a little sexy kitten vibe. As our first set was wrapping up, I couldn’t help but notice Jason glaring from the bar. It was across the club, but I swear his jaw was clenched and he looked like he could break the glass he was drying with his bare hands. I couldn’t figure that one out, but I couldn’t worry about it now. I was on stage, and I was having a blast.
