Listen To Your Heart

About a week later, I went up to AJ, who I had become quite friendly with over the past week. Amanda had left a few days ago, and it was just me running everything.
“Hey AJ.” I said, peeking my head into her cubicle.
“Hey Jamie, what’s up?” She asked, turning away from her computer to look at me.
“Well I’m thinking about asking everyone that is coming on the tour out for dinner and drinks tonight. I want to get to know everyone better, considering we’ll be living together on a bus for two months. What do you think?” I asked.
“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. I’m in.” She smiled.
“Alright, I’m going to talk to the others and get back to you.” I told her.
“Okay, see you in bit.” She smiled before turning back to her work and I went off to the rest of my team. I walked into the room and saw everyone at their desks.
“Hey guys, can I talk to you all for a moment?” I asked the room. One by one, everyone turned away from their work. “So since we will be working together for the next few months, and then trapped together on a bus and so on, I would really like to get to know you all better. So I was thinking, if anyone is interested, we could all go out for dinner and drinks tonight.” I suggested, nervous about rejection. They all looked at each other and nods came from around the room.
“Sure. I’m in.” Sara said, speaking up first. Everyone else quickly followed with their approvals.
“Great,” I smiled. “Any suggestions about the restaurant?” I asked.
“How about Fat Belly’s around the corner?” Shawn suggested, causing murmurs of approval.
“Alright. That sounds great. So how about we meet there at 7?” I asked. Everyone nodded and smiled and bid them farewell and went back to AJ.
“Hey AJ. Fat Belly’s at 7 tonight. Be there or be square.” I told quickly as I passed her cubicle.
“You got it!” I heard her call as I made my way back to my office.
That night, we were all sitting around a large table filled with food and drinks.
“So how many of you have been on a tour before?” I asked. AJ, Dave, Shawn, Morgan and Giselle all raised their hands. “So we have two newbies. How exciting.” I said, looking at Sara and Rotem.
“First time for everything.” Sara smiled and took a sip of her drink.
“What about you?” Giselle asked. “Have you been on tour before?”
“Well kind of. I’ve never worked on a tour, but I went on Warped Tour with my best friend’s band last year.” I told them.
“Oh cool. What band?” Morgan asked.
“Okay, this is going to sound weird but it was actually The Maine. And before you ask, I had nothing to do with them being on this tour. I got the job and they got asked to be on it on the same day. We didn’t find out about the other until after we had both said yes.” I explained.
“What a coincidence!” Rotem said.
“Yeah, pretty weird.” Dave commented. I nodded and tried to change the subject.
“So Giselle, how many tours have you photographed for?” I asked.
“First off, call me Gissy. Everyone does. And this is my third tour, but I do a lot of AP’s photo shoots.” She explained.
“Gissy. All right. I like it. Speaking of names, yours is pretty cool Rotem.” I said, looking at her.
“Thank you. It’s actually very common in Israel.” She said.
“You only moved here a little over a month ago right? Why did you decide to come here?” I asked.
“Something new.” She shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to come here. I don’t know if it’s permanent, but for now, I like it.” She told me.
“Well new is good sometimes.” I smiled and took a bite of my food. I looked over at Dave and Shawn. “So, what’s it like being the only boys in a sea of girls?” I asked them.
“I’m not complaining.” Dave smirked.
“That’s because you’re a whore.” Shawn elbowed him.
“Can’t deny it.” Dave shrugged.
“You know, you two don’t seem like the tech geek types.” I told them.
“We can be hot and smart at the same time!” Shawn gasped, faking offense. I laughed.
“Oh, so sorry. Of course you can.” I said with a smile. We kept up the conversation while we ate and I learned a lot about everyone. They all seemed pretty cool and I was excited for tour. I think that we all will get along fine. When we were done and it was getting late, we decided to call it a night. I said good-bye to everyone and we walked our separate ways. I got a few yards away before I heard my name being called. I turned around and saw Shawn coming towards me.
“Hey Jamie, I wanted to ask you something.” He said, walking up to me.
“Sure, what’s up?” I asked.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go out again, but just the two of us.” He smiled.
“…Are you asking me on a date?” I asked.
“Yeah, I guess I am.” He said.
“That’s very sweet Shawn. You’re a really nice guy, but I just got out of a relationship and I’m not ready to start dating again just yet. I hope you understand.” I told him, frowning.
“Oh no, of course I understand. Don’t worry about it Jamie. But, uh, when you’re ready, will you let me know?” He asked with a shy smile. I nodded.
“Of course.” I smiled.
“Great. Well have a good night Jamie.” He said, backing up in the direction he was going to walk.
“You too. Bye.” I said with a small wave before turning around and continuing my walk to my car.