See You at the Show

‘Hello,’ Liam speaks aloud as he walks through the doors of the bar for his second performance, ‘How’s it going?’ Liam was dressed in a plain white tee shirt with a red flannel wrapped around his waist with a pair of dark jeans that clung to his thighs and legs. His red and black Nikes were laced perfectly and showed no signs of the normal wear and tear.

‘It’s going.’ Elle replies simply using a fresh cloth to wipe down the glass counter tops, ‘Are you ready for tonight?’

‘As I much as I possibly could be. The crowd was ace last night so I’m looking forward to it.’ Liam cheers already pulling his guitar out of its case.

‘Will your girlfriend be coming tonight?’ Elle wonders curiously in hopes of keeping their conversation going.

‘I wouldn’t hold your breath,’ Liam scoffs, clearly a nerve had been hit by bringing up his girlfriend, ‘I don’t get it – how are some people so wrapped up in their own world that they can’t appreciate someone else.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Elle replies, at a loss of words for the proper response.

‘Don’t be. Claudia is a good person, she just has her moments. She’s good.’ He speaks aloud trying to convince both Elle and himself. ‘Hey, would it be cool if I got a beer?’

‘Coming right up.’ Elle replies getting Liam a fresh thing of beer, ‘Here you are.’

‘Thank you.’ Liam grabs the bottle allowing his slender fingers to linger over Elle’s.

‘Let me know if you need anything.’ Elle speaks, her voice no higher than a whisper.

‘Got it.’ Liam retorts already bringing the cold bottle to his pink lips.

Elle watches Liam’s set throughout the night as she did the previous night. He played with so much passion it made her stomach swell with those electrifying butterflies. His fingers gracefully swayed on the strings of his guitar. Elle feels a slight pain of jealousy as a group of girls huddled towards the front of the bar to watch Liam’s set. He smiles and waves in their direction and they all giggle together. Elle sighs frustrated, as she has to wait in the back and work while the others were up close and personal. When Liam finishes for the night several girls walk up to him and hand him tiny pieces of paper, their numbers Elle was one hundred percent sure of it. Liam carefully puts his new numbers into his back pocket before going to pack up for the night.

‘Elle?’ a deep voice calls as the lights go up so Elle can start cleaning up for the night.

‘Travis?’ Elle questions, completely stunned. Elle and Travis ended their relationship a few months ago after being together for three months. Travis was an up and coming musician, struggling, but he was trying. Elle and Travis ended their relationship, mutually, so he could actively put all his time into his music. Elle, being the understanding person she is, she wanted him to give his all into his dreams and she couldn’t bear to be the person that held him back.

‘Hey, long time no see.’ Travis wraps an arm around his former girlfriend. The familiar scent fills her nostrils. ‘How have you been babe?’

‘I’m good doing well thank you. It’s just been the same old thing really, serving drinks, calling cabs, and all that.’

‘You look good, really good actually.’ Travis compliments sending a comfortable chill up Elle’s spine. ‘Do you want to get drinks or something?’

‘That sounds great, let me just get my things.’ Elle agrees bending over behind the counter to get her purse and jacket. ‘Goodnight Bobby!’ Elle calls out to the manager’s office.

‘See you tomorrow.’ Bobby calls in return not bothering to show his face for more than a solid five seconds. ‘Hello Travis.’

‘Hey Bob.’

‘Bye, Liam. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ Elle smiles waving goodnight Liam while he finishes his beer.

‘Goodnight Elle.’ Liam replies quietly with a short nod of his head.

Once Elle is securely out of sight Liam heads over to the bar to throw away his glass bottle. Bobby comes out to lock the doors up for the night. Liam uses one of the clean wash cloths to wipe the sweat from his forehead, running a hand through his dark brown hair.

‘Hey Liam, is there something I could do for you?’ Bobby inquires fetching the keys from his pocket.

‘Who was that guy that was with Elle?’ Liam couldn’t help but easing his wandering mind. It was weird because he was with Claudia and he only met Elle a short twenty-four hours ago but he couldn’t get her off his mind. There was something about Elle that drove Liam wild in the best way possible. When Liam was on stage in front of a few dozen people, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of the girl working in the back. The way she smiled at every new customer that approached her made Liam smile. The sarcastic comments she made to her boss throughout the night made him crack a smile through the night.

‘Oh, that would be Travis. Elle’s former boyfriend. He’s this musician or so he claims to be but he hasn’t been around here in a while.’ Bobby explains, only filling half of Liam’s curiosity. ‘Why do you ask?’

‘No reason. I was just wondering.’ Liam replies in a short mutter as he pulls his phone out of his pocket to see who was ringing him. Claudia. Right, his girlfriend Claudia. The Claudia that he was crazy about. Most of the time. ‘I better take this. I’ll see you tomorrow night.’

‘Have a good night.’ Bobby responds as Liam bends over to get his guitar case.

Liam looks at Claudia’s name written clearly across the screen of his phone before pressing ignore as he gets into the dark black range rover waiting outside of the bar. For some reason, Liam couldn’t bring himself to answer his girlfriend’s call – with these new feelings rising for Elle, he found himself torn.