Tattoos and Coffee

I had been sitting, drinking coffee and reading ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’. Nervous about my meeting, I arrived twenty-minutes early to prepare myself. Though, the person I wanted to interview was waiting patiently on the other side of the café. He had no idea what I looked like, so I took advantage of this by mentally organizing on what I wanted to say.

Idolizing this man for a good four years, the anticipation of this moment was rather painful. Numbing myself to the building anxiety, I shoved my book into my knapsack, pulled out a notepad with a litter of questions on it and headed over to him.

At first he had a look of confusion at seeing me, but he broke into a smile when I gave him a slight wave. A dawning realization spread across his features; the colorful tattoos that trail up and down his arms, and on his hands, peer up at me as he waves for me to sit down faster.

“Hello,” He says softly, “it’s proper nice to meet you...”

Smirking, I replied, “Britt Keena. Nice to meet you, too...”

Giving me another smile, he answered in his thick British accent, “Oliver Sykes. So, what is it you want to ask me?”

Suddenly, I couldn’t help but feel a bit lame for having written all of my questions down on paper.

“Hm, okay,” I peer down at the notepad, clear my throat and begin, “how’s it feel to travel around the world with your band?”

Oliver gives a curious glance at the table, “It’s a lot of fun meeting fans and seeing all of the different cities and countries. But I do miss my dog, Oskar, and my parents a lot. Pretty much the only downfall about being on tour all the time.” I nod my head while I’m writing down his answer. He perks up a little and pulls out his cellphone, “this is Oskar. He’s a miniature-pinscher and my best friend.”

I smile, “What a cute little dog!”

“Isn’t he?” Oliver says, giving a final glance at his phone before putting it back in his jeans’ pocket. “What’s next?””

“What inspires your designs for your clothing-line Drop Dead?”

He rests his faces in his palms; a thoughtful look veils his face, “Well, I have a lot of crazy ideas, you know? And then I draw them out and they just become the design. Of course, not all of them turn out great, but I work off of what looks the best and, there you go: a new t-shirt, tank top or sweater. We have new hi-top shoes coming out for our winter collection and I’m really excited for those! I kind of leaked a sneak preview of them on the internet…”

“Oh, well… they seem pretty awesome,” I say with a grin, “what do you have to say about the people who have a ‘strong dislike’ for your band Bring Me the Horizon?”

Oliver twists his face up and suddenly lets out a snort of a laugh, “whether they love us or hate us, it’s still an ‘obsession’. It’s odd how many people we anger and how many people we make happy. There’s never really an in-between. But it doesn’t bother us that people dislike us, because we have such a huge fan base. We can’t be doing everything wrong, you know?”

Again, I nod and quickly scribble down his answer. I realize that I don’t have anything else to ask; a feeling of sadness clutches me that I couldn’t think of anymore questions. There were so many things I would like to get to know about him but nothing formed into a proper sentence. Taking a long sip from my chilling coffee, I start to clamber to my feet.

“Seems that we’re done for today, Mr. Sykes. And it was awfully nice of you to give me a moment of your time,” I say cheerfully.

“It was nice meeting you Miss Keena, and have a nice rest of your evening,” He grins. Standing up with me, pulling on his black jacket and tugging on a gray beanie, he offers, “let me buy you a cookie and then you can be on your way.”

“Um, alright,” I agree, excitement flickering in my eyes.

We go up to the counter together and he orders me a giant chocolate chip cookie. The doughy treat melts in my mouth as soon as I bite into it; Oliver is polite enough to wait with me while I finish. Both of us stand out in the chilly October air, plumes of mist escaping our mouths as we make conversation.

“Well, better get going,” I say as I swallow the last bit of cookie, “thank you so much for everything. You have no idea how much it means to me.”

“It was no big deal,” Oliver shrugs, glancing down the sidewalk before giving me a bright smile, “bye, Britt. Lovely meeting you.”

“Bye.”

Both of us went our separate ways; him off to tour the world while I went back to my quaint living. Nothing could have prepared me for such a spectacular moment and honestly, I don’t think I will ever be able to forget.