Warning

"We're living in repetition and we're content in the same old shtick again. Now the routine's turning to contention like a production line going over and over and over like a roller coaster."

Billie Joe looked up from his laptop screen and took another bite of his sandwich. As he chewed, he looked around pensively at the small restaurant he was proud of himself for finding. It was obviously not a hotspot for the trendy people or the business elite. It was more for the underbelly of society, the punks and misfits. Billie Joe found it comfortable and inspirational and the food was great. It was also a wireless spot so he could work while he ate, another great perk about it.

He leaned back in his booth and stretched his legs out under him. Minneapolis was still a miserable place for him to live, but it was beginning to grow on him. He had gone to a couple of shows within the past few weeks and got a couple of leads on some hot underground bands along with some new connections that would come in handy as he got deeper and deeper into his work.

His still had not, however, seen Adrienne since that day on the sidewalk. He had gone by there everyday at that same time hoping to see her and talk to her. Even if it were just to say 'Hello' and 'Remember me? '

Billie Joe took a drink of his beer and looked up as someone else came into the little stop. His eyes watched her go up to the counter and speak with the cashier and reach for her purse. He did not take his eyes off of her and gave a silent will for her to look his way.

As if she actually received the command, the woman looked up and around the shop and her vision landed on Billie Joe and stayed there. He tipped his beer towards her in greeting.

Adrienne gave him a small smile and took the carry-out box the cashier gave her. After she thanked the cashier, she made her way over to where Billie Joe sat alone.

"Hey." Adrienne said when she reached his table.

"Hey." Billie Joe responded as he pulled his screen down. "Haven't seen you in awhile." He extended his hand to the empty side of the booth.

"Yeah, I know. I've been leaving at a different time everyday." Adrienne confessed as she sat down across from him. Once she finished her statement, she bit her lip in awkward silence.

Billie Joe had to grin at her. "You don't remember me do you."

"Yes I do. You're the guy I ran into the other day and spilled my coffee on. Billie Joe." Adrienne said in slight offense.

"Yeah, but not then. Before that. Way before that." Billie Joe grinned wider at her confused expression. "I wrote some of my best stuff about you."

Adrienne's hand flew to her dropped mouth. "Oh my God Billie Joe... Armstrong. Oh, how are you?" She reached over the table to hug him.

"I've been better and worse." Billie Joe said as they embraced. "What about you? You look great."

"Oh, well, thank you." Adrienne blushed lightly. "Wow. What are you doing out here? I haven't heard from you since you left a thousand years ago." Her expression became more distant. "I haven't heard anything out of you."

"I know and I'm sorry, but it wasn't my fault." Billie Joe said as he leaned forward a bit and moved his computer out of the way. "Adie, I loved you and I wanted to be with you but things got out of my control."

"What happened?" Adrienne played with a napkin as she watched him intently.

Billie Joe took a breath and let it out. He had been aching to tell her this for years." After I left here, we got a record deal with Reprise Records and we were going to take it. But, one night I was out with my brothers and some friends and we were driving back and it was late and we got hit by some guy who fell asleep at the wheel. It hit my side and I got the brunt of it. I broke my arm, my ribs, cracked my skull and severed my vocal cords. I couldn't move or talk, much less sing or play a guitar. I wanted to call you so bad but I was out of it for over a month and I couldn't talk for almost a year after, if not more. By then, I don't know, I figured you had moved on so I guessed I had to too." He looked at her dark eyes. "I'm sorry."

Adrienne nodded and decided internally not to press the subject without bringing her skeletons to life too soon. "So, what about the guys? What's up with Mike and Tre'?"

"Uh," Billie Joe rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "In that year I was recovering, we kinda drifted apart. We just lost touch with one another. Mike and I still talk occasionally. He owns a café outside of Oakland called Rudy's Can't Fail Café and he has a daughter named Estelle. He's doing good. And Tre'... Well... Nobody's seen Tre' in the past eight years. Last I heard he was being an accountant somewhere, but I don't put too much faith into that."

Adrienne laughed. "Well, I'm sure he's banging on something, wherever he is. So, what have you been doing these past few years?"

"Writing." Billie Joe answered as a waitress passed their table. "I worked for a magazine called 'Warning' and I freelance to Rolling Stone and stuff."

A smile of recognition spread over Adrienne's face. "I think I've read your work then and I've used some in my lectures. Especially your more recent ones where you got a bit political. They were great. But, wait. I would have recognized your name, but you used an alias didn't you?"

Billie Joe laughed. "Thank you. Yeah, I was St. Jimmy. He's my little alter ego friend who all the letterbombs went to after we went to print and editorials came in from readers. St. Jimmy's awesome. Lectures? What do you do now?" Billie Joe crossed his arms in comfort and waited for her answer.

"I teach Sociology at a local community college." She told him. "I like to focus on some current affairs while doing the lesson lectures and bringing in different things with different views on hot topics."

"Awesome."

"Oh, speaking of which," Adrienne checked her watch. "I gotta get back. I have class in twenty minutes. It was so great to see you." She hugged him again. "Maybe we'll see each other again soon."

She and Billie Joe exchanged numbers and a few more quick words before Adrienne left the restaurant knowing she would not be able to see him ever again.

Billie Joe watched her leave. When she turned the corner away from him, he pulled his screen back up and began to type again.

"I thought I ran into you down the street, but then it turned out to only be a dream. I had made a point to burn all of the old photographs since she went away and then I took a different path. I could remember the face but I couldn't recall the name and I wondered how whatsername has been."

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Billie Joe stood in the old abandoned parking lot surrounded by people listening to the band Wilted Flower. He had a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He leaned up against a random car and listened to the licks of the guitars and pounds of the drums. His eyes watched punks of all ages jump and mosh together in perfect, imperfect harmony.

Billie Joe didn't have anything to take notes on besides his memory and he was more concerned about just watching the scene and taking it in instead of worrying about how he was going to write about it.

His eyes landed on a couple not too far away. There was a guy who looked about twenty with a guitar slung about his shoulders with tattoos and piercings holding hands with a short, dark haired girl around the same age and caliber. They looked happy as they leaned in for a kiss.

Billie Joe remembered living a life like that. He remembered kissing Adrienne before every show he had here in Minneapolis Her kiss was like a good luck charm. He remembered seeing her in the crowd as he played and in his bed later that night.

Feeling bold from the sight or perhaps the drinks he had drunk, Billie Joe pulled out his cell phone and searched for her number. He let it ring a few times before her voicemail picked up.

"Hey, Adrienne. It's Billie Joe. Uh,... Call me when you get this or whatever you know."