It's Our Time to Shine
I've Got Perfect Placement.
After about 10 minutes of waiting for the guys to finish the interview, according to the clock that was hanging up against the wall above me, they were done.
”Yeah, I’ll be with you in a second. I’m just gonna go and get Lina, and we’ll meet you downstairs”, I heard a voice saying from the hall outside the waiting room.
“Hey! Did ya wait long?”, Bert asked as he came into the waiting room.
“No, it was okay”, I replied, getting up from the sofa before throwing the seal of the chocolate bar in the trash can that was placed by the corner.
“Oh, you bought a chocolate bar? Awesome!”
“Yeah, here’s the rest of the change, by the way.”
“No, keep it”, he said with a smile.
“Okay, thank you”, I said, greeting his smile.
Then suddenly, the TV screen in the waiting room which had been black, now started showing a picture again.
“Hey, it’s us!”, Bert burst out, sitting down in the sofa. “Come on, babe – sit down next to me.”
I sat down next to him with not too much enthusiasm, this due to the fact that I’d seen the interview only minutes ago.
I figured that once an interview had been done, it would be aired over and over again on that very TV screen until it got replaced by a new interview.
Still, I sat next to Bert and watched the interview with him without complaining.
After all, he didn’t know I’d seen it before.
“It’s so weird seeing myself on TV”, he giggled. “Like, do I even look like that?”
“I’m afraid you do”, I answered with a small laugh.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Bert looked at me with a smile before putting his arm over my shoulder and cocking his right eyebrow.
“Do you feel intimidated now?”, he asked.
“Not really”, I giggled.
“Can I ask why?”
“Because you could never intimidate me.”
“Good…”, he said, smiling as he leaned over to me and imprinted a soft kiss on my lips.
And just as we were about to get comfortable, Bert’s cell phone rang.
“Fuck, we’re never allowed to be alone, huh?”, he laughed, pulling away from me before getting his cell out of his pocket.
“Oh, it’s Quinn. Hey, dude – what’s up? Yeah, yeah, we’re comin´. Just needed to get Lina. Plus, we saw some of the interview on TV now. Yeah, on TV. I guess they air the newest interviews on the TVs around here in the building. Not sure, though. But, yeah, we’ll come down now. See you guys in a few. Bye.”
“What did he say?”, I asked curiously.
“Just where we were and when we were comin´”, Bert answered before leaning over and kissing me again.
“Bert… I think they were tired of waiting, so they called to let us know that”, I giggled, trying to push him away from me.
“Nooo, I wanna stay here with you. Just for a little while.”
The childish tone in his voice was hilarious, but for what it was worth, I didn’t want to go, either.
“Come on”, I said laughing, finally succeeding on wiggling my way out of his arms as I got up from the sofa.
“Okay, okay, but you owe me one.”
“Yeah, sure. You wish…”
The both of us headed out of the waiting room and down the hall to the elevator where we needed to wait until it reached our floor.
“Hey… Did you by any chance watch the interview while it was being aired live?”, Bert suddenly asked.
“Yeah, as a matter of fact I did.”
“Did you mind that we mentioned your name?”
“No, it was okay. I bet there are a lot of Lina-s in the world”, I said with a smile.
“… But from Norway?”
“Nope, a little less than 2000 I would think.”
“Fuck, have I screwed things up, babe?”, he asked in a worried tone in his voice.
“No, don’t worry. I just hope that anyone back home in Norway don’t receive the Japanese MTV channel on their satellite dish”, I laughed.
“Come here”, Bert smiled, wrapping his arms around me before squeezing me tight against his body.
During that very moment, the elevator finally reached our floor.
A couple of people headed out of it and luckily, there were no other people in the elevator as me and Bert entered it and pushed the button so that took us to the ground floor.
Down at the entrance, we were met by the other guys.
“There you are. Fuck, we’ve been waitin´ for a while now”, Quinn said a he saw us exit the elevator.
“Yeah, sorry, dude. Just needed to watch some of the interview”, Bert explained.
“Did I look good?”, Jepha asked ironically.
“Ask Lina, she’s the girl here.”
“Sure, Jepha. I would’ve fucked you as soon as the cameras stopped recording.”
“For real?”
“No, not really”, I answered, trying desperately to hold back my laughter.
I failed.
“Whatever. I bet the Japanese women beg to differ”, he said, looking at me with a smile before gently bumping into my shoulder as headed outside.
“So, where are we going now? I mean, it’s not even 4:30 pm yet and we’ve got one and a half hour before the sound check”, Quinn added.
“What about checkin´ some shops?”, Jepha suggested.
“I’m with you on that one”, Dan responded as he leaned against the wall.
“Guys?”
“Yeah, totally. Lina, you with us?”
“Always.”, I answered, giving Bert a smile.
“Awesome, then let’s go!”
“Oh, man – we gotta go and check out that store!”, Jepha burst out as we crossed the street.
“Dude, that’s a store that sells purses.”
“Shoulder bags. They sell shoulder bags”, he corrected, looking at Bert with a resigned look upon his face before entering the store.
We all had no other choice but to follow Jepha inside.
“Look – that one’s pretty rad”, Quinn said, pointing at a shoulder bag that was hanging on a rack.
“Yeah, it was. I’mma check it out”, he responded, almost running over to the other side of the store to check it out.
“Dude, this one was cool!”
Jepha was standing in front of the mirror with the shoulder bag over his right shoulder while turning around to see if it had the right ‘look’.
“It’s a purse, Jeph”, Bert added grinning.
“It’s a shoulder bag.”
“It’s gay!”
“Even too gay for you?”, he asked with a smirk on his face.
“Fuck you, man”, Bert responded laughed before flipping him off.
“Excuse me, gentlemen – is there anything I can do to help you?”, a Japanese saleswoman asked with a smile as she approached us.
“Yeah, I’ll have this shoulder bag, please”, Jepha answered, taking it off and handing it to her.
“Very well. If you would be so kind to follow me to the counter…”
“Wow, look at that cool shoulder bag!”, I said excited as Jepha went with the saleswoman to buy the shoulder bag.
“You like it?”, Bert asked.
“Yeah, don’t you? Or do you think shoulder bags are too ‘gay’.”
“Nah, not really. I just love fuckin´ around with Jeph when it comes to shoulder bags. I know how much he loves wearing ‘em, so it kills him every time I call it gay”, he giggled.
“Watch it or else he’ll hit you some day”, I said ironically.
“He already has. Hey – do you like shoulder bags, then?”
“Sure, I love them! They’re much nicer than bags and stuff – easier to carry around with. Plus, they look better”, I smiled.
“So, you like that one over there?”, Bert asked, pointing at the one I was looking at.
“Yeah, I love it.”
The shoulder bag that I was fixated on was almost hidden behind several others, and with its all-black coloring along with some red incomprehensible text printed on it, it must have been one of the best looking shoulder bags I’d ever seen.
“You want it?”
“What? No…”
“Come on – do you want it?”, he repeated with a smile.
“There are a lot of things I want.”
“So what do you say about lettin´ me buy you that shoulder bag – you know, as a half-birthday birthday present?”
“Do I owe you anything if you do?”, I asked while cocking my right eyebrow.
“We’ll just have to wait and see about that one”, Bert answered, lifting the shoulder bag off the rack before giving it to me with a smile as we headed towards the counter to buy it.
“We’re having this one”, he said to the saleswoman in the counter, placing the shoulder bag on the counter.
“That will be $25, please.”
“Here you go.”
“Thank you, sir. Do you want me to put it in a bag?”
“… Lina?”, Bert asked, looking at me while waiting for me to answer.
“No, that’s not necessary.”
“Very well. Here you go and have a nice day.”
“You too!”, I smiled before Bert and I met the other guys by the exit.
“Hey, dude – did you buy a shoulder bag?”, Jepha asked surprised.
“Yeah, I bought it for Lina as a present.”
“Fuck – yeah, I forgot about that. Hey, I’ll fix you something later today, okay?”
“No, it’s okay. Forget it. I don’t want you guys to buy me stuff. That’s not why I’m here”, I replied with a smile.
“Then why are you here, then?”
Jepha’s question really made me thinking.
Why was I really here…?
”Yeah, I’ll be with you in a second. I’m just gonna go and get Lina, and we’ll meet you downstairs”, I heard a voice saying from the hall outside the waiting room.
“Hey! Did ya wait long?”, Bert asked as he came into the waiting room.
“No, it was okay”, I replied, getting up from the sofa before throwing the seal of the chocolate bar in the trash can that was placed by the corner.
“Oh, you bought a chocolate bar? Awesome!”
“Yeah, here’s the rest of the change, by the way.”
“No, keep it”, he said with a smile.
“Okay, thank you”, I said, greeting his smile.
Then suddenly, the TV screen in the waiting room which had been black, now started showing a picture again.
“Hey, it’s us!”, Bert burst out, sitting down in the sofa. “Come on, babe – sit down next to me.”
I sat down next to him with not too much enthusiasm, this due to the fact that I’d seen the interview only minutes ago.
I figured that once an interview had been done, it would be aired over and over again on that very TV screen until it got replaced by a new interview.
Still, I sat next to Bert and watched the interview with him without complaining.
After all, he didn’t know I’d seen it before.
“It’s so weird seeing myself on TV”, he giggled. “Like, do I even look like that?”
“I’m afraid you do”, I answered with a small laugh.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Bert looked at me with a smile before putting his arm over my shoulder and cocking his right eyebrow.
“Do you feel intimidated now?”, he asked.
“Not really”, I giggled.
“Can I ask why?”
“Because you could never intimidate me.”
“Good…”, he said, smiling as he leaned over to me and imprinted a soft kiss on my lips.
And just as we were about to get comfortable, Bert’s cell phone rang.
“Fuck, we’re never allowed to be alone, huh?”, he laughed, pulling away from me before getting his cell out of his pocket.
“Oh, it’s Quinn. Hey, dude – what’s up? Yeah, yeah, we’re comin´. Just needed to get Lina. Plus, we saw some of the interview on TV now. Yeah, on TV. I guess they air the newest interviews on the TVs around here in the building. Not sure, though. But, yeah, we’ll come down now. See you guys in a few. Bye.”
“What did he say?”, I asked curiously.
“Just where we were and when we were comin´”, Bert answered before leaning over and kissing me again.
“Bert… I think they were tired of waiting, so they called to let us know that”, I giggled, trying to push him away from me.
“Nooo, I wanna stay here with you. Just for a little while.”
The childish tone in his voice was hilarious, but for what it was worth, I didn’t want to go, either.
“Come on”, I said laughing, finally succeeding on wiggling my way out of his arms as I got up from the sofa.
“Okay, okay, but you owe me one.”
“Yeah, sure. You wish…”
The both of us headed out of the waiting room and down the hall to the elevator where we needed to wait until it reached our floor.
“Hey… Did you by any chance watch the interview while it was being aired live?”, Bert suddenly asked.
“Yeah, as a matter of fact I did.”
“Did you mind that we mentioned your name?”
“No, it was okay. I bet there are a lot of Lina-s in the world”, I said with a smile.
“… But from Norway?”
“Nope, a little less than 2000 I would think.”
“Fuck, have I screwed things up, babe?”, he asked in a worried tone in his voice.
“No, don’t worry. I just hope that anyone back home in Norway don’t receive the Japanese MTV channel on their satellite dish”, I laughed.
“Come here”, Bert smiled, wrapping his arms around me before squeezing me tight against his body.
During that very moment, the elevator finally reached our floor.
A couple of people headed out of it and luckily, there were no other people in the elevator as me and Bert entered it and pushed the button so that took us to the ground floor.
Down at the entrance, we were met by the other guys.
“There you are. Fuck, we’ve been waitin´ for a while now”, Quinn said a he saw us exit the elevator.
“Yeah, sorry, dude. Just needed to watch some of the interview”, Bert explained.
“Did I look good?”, Jepha asked ironically.
“Ask Lina, she’s the girl here.”
“Sure, Jepha. I would’ve fucked you as soon as the cameras stopped recording.”
“For real?”
“No, not really”, I answered, trying desperately to hold back my laughter.
I failed.
“Whatever. I bet the Japanese women beg to differ”, he said, looking at me with a smile before gently bumping into my shoulder as headed outside.
“So, where are we going now? I mean, it’s not even 4:30 pm yet and we’ve got one and a half hour before the sound check”, Quinn added.
“What about checkin´ some shops?”, Jepha suggested.
“I’m with you on that one”, Dan responded as he leaned against the wall.
“Guys?”
“Yeah, totally. Lina, you with us?”
“Always.”, I answered, giving Bert a smile.
“Awesome, then let’s go!”
“Oh, man – we gotta go and check out that store!”, Jepha burst out as we crossed the street.
“Dude, that’s a store that sells purses.”
“Shoulder bags. They sell shoulder bags”, he corrected, looking at Bert with a resigned look upon his face before entering the store.
We all had no other choice but to follow Jepha inside.
“Look – that one’s pretty rad”, Quinn said, pointing at a shoulder bag that was hanging on a rack.
“Yeah, it was. I’mma check it out”, he responded, almost running over to the other side of the store to check it out.
“Dude, this one was cool!”
Jepha was standing in front of the mirror with the shoulder bag over his right shoulder while turning around to see if it had the right ‘look’.
“It’s a purse, Jeph”, Bert added grinning.
“It’s a shoulder bag.”
“It’s gay!”
“Even too gay for you?”, he asked with a smirk on his face.
“Fuck you, man”, Bert responded laughed before flipping him off.
“Excuse me, gentlemen – is there anything I can do to help you?”, a Japanese saleswoman asked with a smile as she approached us.
“Yeah, I’ll have this shoulder bag, please”, Jepha answered, taking it off and handing it to her.
“Very well. If you would be so kind to follow me to the counter…”
“Wow, look at that cool shoulder bag!”, I said excited as Jepha went with the saleswoman to buy the shoulder bag.
“You like it?”, Bert asked.
“Yeah, don’t you? Or do you think shoulder bags are too ‘gay’.”
“Nah, not really. I just love fuckin´ around with Jeph when it comes to shoulder bags. I know how much he loves wearing ‘em, so it kills him every time I call it gay”, he giggled.
“Watch it or else he’ll hit you some day”, I said ironically.
“He already has. Hey – do you like shoulder bags, then?”
“Sure, I love them! They’re much nicer than bags and stuff – easier to carry around with. Plus, they look better”, I smiled.
“So, you like that one over there?”, Bert asked, pointing at the one I was looking at.
“Yeah, I love it.”
The shoulder bag that I was fixated on was almost hidden behind several others, and with its all-black coloring along with some red incomprehensible text printed on it, it must have been one of the best looking shoulder bags I’d ever seen.
“You want it?”
“What? No…”
“Come on – do you want it?”, he repeated with a smile.
“There are a lot of things I want.”
“So what do you say about lettin´ me buy you that shoulder bag – you know, as a half-birthday birthday present?”
“Do I owe you anything if you do?”, I asked while cocking my right eyebrow.
“We’ll just have to wait and see about that one”, Bert answered, lifting the shoulder bag off the rack before giving it to me with a smile as we headed towards the counter to buy it.
“We’re having this one”, he said to the saleswoman in the counter, placing the shoulder bag on the counter.
“That will be $25, please.”
“Here you go.”
“Thank you, sir. Do you want me to put it in a bag?”
“… Lina?”, Bert asked, looking at me while waiting for me to answer.
“No, that’s not necessary.”
“Very well. Here you go and have a nice day.”
“You too!”, I smiled before Bert and I met the other guys by the exit.
“Hey, dude – did you buy a shoulder bag?”, Jepha asked surprised.
“Yeah, I bought it for Lina as a present.”
“Fuck – yeah, I forgot about that. Hey, I’ll fix you something later today, okay?”
“No, it’s okay. Forget it. I don’t want you guys to buy me stuff. That’s not why I’m here”, I replied with a smile.
“Then why are you here, then?”
Jepha’s question really made me thinking.
Why was I really here…?
♠ ♠ ♠
It's a very special day today, it's actually someone's birthday;HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY, DAN!
You are, hands down, the best god damn thing that ever happened to The Used.
You, Dan the man, complete the band itself, and are, without a doubt, an amazing drummer.
I love you, dude. (: <3
---
this is so weird.
summer vacation and all.
my readers are all disappearing.
and so am i... almost. xD
i hope to see you all next fall.
but i'll continue to update, though.
just not as much as i've done. ;D
xo,
lina.