A Helping Hand

5 beers down, 2 hours in and 1 giant feast later, everyone was sitting outside on the deck thanks to the fire pit in the centre of the circle. It was crackling away, warming up the chilly February evening air while Matt tended it, making sure it would stay alight well into the evening.

The evening had been perfect. The band taking time out of the studio to actually spend time together had been a great idea, and Val had to give herself a pat on the back. She had been listening to Matt whine about little things happening in the studio for the last month and a half, and as much as she loved him and the band, there was only so much she could listen to by herself. At least if they talked any shop talk tonight, the others could respond to his advice and notes, rather than Val nodding along while Matt ranted before ultimately going into the office to write it all down.

Val headed to the kitchen, stepping out of the conversation between Johnny and Matt about the latest vocal melody he recorded for Sidewinder. She started making herself another drink, thankful that Matt remembered to pick up some vodka while he was out, and didn’t only get Jack Daniels. She liked the whiskey, but it was about time to change it up.

The doorbell sounded making Val jump and spill the shot of vodka she was measuring for her drink.

“Ah, fuck!” She cursed, looking at the spilled liquid on her kitchen counter. She sighed at the waste, and grabbed a towel to wipe her hand as she made her way to the front door. She had no idea who would be ringing the doorbell at 9pm when all their friends were currently out the back.

Val opened the door, not bothering to look through the peephole to see Indy standing at her doorstep. She was obviously dressed for a date, the woman wearing a gorgeous pink-tinged nude coloured wrap dress with a white faux fur shawl covering her shoulders against the slight chill in the air. Her make up was beautiful, muted nude tones playing up her features and making her blue eyes pop while her lips were stained a deep red.

“You look beautiful!” Val exclaimed, leaning over and giving Indy a hug. She took a step back and admired her once again. “What size shoe are you? Those heels are to die for!”

“Hey Val, thanks! I am a size 9,” Indy replied, blushing at the attention Val was giving her.

“God damn you, giant woman,” she cursed.

“Hey, I’m not that much taller than you,” Indy said, looking at Val. “Well, when I am not in heels, at least.”

“You’re still a giant,” Val countered, smiling at Indy. “Come on in!”

“Thanks.”

“I, ah, didn’t expect to be seeing you tonight.”

“I didn’t really expect to be coming.”

The pair made their way through the house and into the kitchen, Val making sure to mop up the earlier accident.

“Want to talk about it?” Val asked Indy, taking the initiative and grabbing out another glass to make the other woman a drink. Not that Val had been on that many dates other than with Matt, she understood that Indy showing up at 9pm was not a good sign that the date went well.

“Not much to say, really. Just a set up gone bad,” Indy replied, leaning against the counter top. She was grateful to have another girl to talk to. It wasn’t often Indy could have ‘girl time’ as her best friend lived on the other side of the country.

“Uh oh,” Val commented. “Did he know it was bad, too?”

“I doubt it. He couldn’t see past his own ego to see anything other than his reflection in any shiny surface,” Indy replied, rolling her eye. Val couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“He’s Brian!” Val exclaimed, making Indy laugh as well. Val turned around, handing Indy her drink. She accepted with a grateful smile and took a sip. “Well, how he used to be, anyway. That boy couldn’t walk past a window without making sure he could see himself.”

“You should see him in the studio! Sometimes I swear he is part owl when he cranes his neck to catch a glimpse!” Indy agreed, letting Val know that the vanity had not yet passed.

Both woman laughed for a few solid minutes before starting to regain control of themselves. Each took a sip of the vodka orange Val had made.

“So, how did the set up happen?” Val asked.

“Just a friend of a friend situation. One of the musicians I have worked with in the past set us up. I finally gave in after the 6 month barrage of pleading,” Indy explained, rolling her eyes.

“You’ve very dressed up considering you weren’t really interested,” Val noted, motioning to her outfit.

“It really should have been a tip off that he was too into his money to be a decent person when he insisted to have the date at a fancy restaurant,” Indy replied, shrugging. “He is obviously used to women being swooned by the ‘wine and dine’ approach and ignoring his personality.”

“Sounds like you had a ball,” Val chuckled.

“You don’t even know the half of it,” Indy said, sighing. “Thank god Huntington was a compromise location between my house and his, and I quote, ‘mansion in Laguna Beach’. There was no way I was going more than 1 hour for a ‘date’.”

“Worked out well for us! Now we get to see you,” Val replied, smiling widely.

“Thanks again for the invite.”

“Please, don’t even mention it. I love having another woman around again! I feel like it’s been so long since one of those boys bought home someone decent.”

Indy laughed lightly along with Val, unsure how to respond to the last statement. Though she wasn’t just some girl dating one of the boys, she did feel warmed by the words. Indy was used to working with and befriending guys as her time was usually spent working. The music industry was a very male-dominated field, and the recording side of it was even more so. Over the last few year of her career, Indy had worked with only 2 other women, and even then they were fellow session musicians so they had spent all of 8 hours in their company. To have Val say that she enjoyed her company made her happy.

“Val, are you alive?” Matt yelled out, opening the back door and coming inside to find his girlfriend. She had been missing for a little while, and he was starting to worry.

“In the kitchen,” Val shouted out as a reply. She smiled apologetically at Indy about the loud noises.

“Here you are!” Matt exclaimed as he walked into the kitchen to see Val with a nearly empty drink in hand. He was surprised to see Indy standing in the kitchen as well, dressed to the nines. “Whoa there, hey fancy.”

“Hey Matt,” Indy greeted with a smile. She walked over and gave him a quick hug hello as usual.

“Aren’t you on a date?” He asked her, scrunching up his eyebrows. He walked to the fridge, getting out 5 beers and placing 4 on the bench. After his earlier conversation with Zacky, he wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing that Indy was here. With the way she was dressed, he imagined it would not help the “crush” Zacky had developed.

“Currently, no. I don’t steal other men’s women,” Indy replied with a cheeky grin. Val let out a laugh as Matt tried to figure out what she meant.

“Oh, you are hilarious,” Matt replied with an eye-roll. “I didn’t realise you batted for the other team.”

“Now who is the comedian?” she asked rhetorically, mimicking Matt’s eye-roll with one of her own. “I was on a date, but it was shit, so here I am!”

“Aren’t we lucky to be second choice?” Matt asked, putting a hand on his heart in mock-admiration.

“You should be, Sanders. You guys won out over going home to my fur-babies and drinking wine,” she replied, pointing a finger at him.

“Well then, enjoy the evening. Freshen up your drinks and come on out to the fire,” Matt told the pair, grabbing the beers from the bench and making his way back out of the kitchen and to the others out the back.

“Bottoms up,” Val told Indy, lifting her glass to her mouth and finishing off the drink in a mouthful. Indy followed suit, rationalising that she could have one more drink before she had to stop so she could drive home safely.

Val began making the pair another drink, following the same steps as before.

“So, I have to ask you something,” Val said, breaking the silence that enveloped the pair after her boyfriend’s departure.

“Uh oh,” Indy joked.

“Why are you single?” She asked. Val had been thinking about the question since the last family get-together. She reasoned that Indy was attractive, smart, and funny, and the way the guys had talked about her work in the studio, she knew she was also immensely talented, and a genuinely nice person.

“Whoa, loaded question, Val! I’m not that drunk,” Indy replied, taken aback by the blunt inquiry.

“It’s a fair question. You could have your pick of guys, I’m sure. I bet nearly every man you have worked with has hit on you.”

“That’s not true. Just because I am usually the only female in a session doesn’t mean I automatically get hit on.”

“So you haven’t been hit on?”

“That’s not what I said, I just mean that I’m not as much of a guy-magnet as you think I am. Besides, at this point in my life, I work too much to have a functioning relationship.”

“You don’t have to be a ‘guy-magnet’ to have a boyfriend,” Val challenged her. She put away the vodka in the freezer and the orange juice back in the fridge. “And the work thing is just an excuse.”

“It really isn’t an excuse, Val,” Indy replied, sighing. This conversation was starting to dredge up parts of the past Indy was happy to stay buried.

“It totally is,” Val said, picking up a drink and handing it to the redhead.

“If you think so,” Indy said, shrugging. She took a long sip of the drink, cringing slightly when she realised that Val had put in at least a double shot.

“Hey, sorry for making such a big deal about it,” Val apologised, coming over to stand next to Indy and put a hand on her arm. “I just like to see all my friends happy.”

“I am happy, Val,” Indy replied, looking at the shorter woman. “Just because I am single doesn’t mean I am not happy.”

“I know, I know, I just,” Val started, struggling to find the words she needed to explain her point. “I just know how hard it can be coming home to no one.”

Indy was quiet. She had struggled with this in the past, more often than not it was after a break up when she truly had only herself to rely on. She hated coming home to an empty house after a shitty day, having no one to talk about her problems to, having no one to cuddle up with and have a lazy movie day with. It was a deciding factor in adopting her dogs. There was no love like the love of a dog, it was unwavering and always there. But at times it still wasn’t enough.

“It is nearly impossible to start a relationship while I work all the time. I have no set hours, I can be in the studio anywhere from 2 to 14 hours. There aren’t many people who put up with cancellation after cancellation after cancellation,” Indy finally said, pulling herself out of her darker thoughts. “You understand what it’s like, you’re dating a musician.”

“Well why don’t you date a musician?” Val asked, her eyes lighting up. “They would totally understand what it is like!”

“Been there, tried that,” Indy replied, taking another long sip of her drink. “Musicians are assholes, no offence.”

“Not all of them.”

“Maybe not upfront, but they are.”

“There is always one exception to the rule.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it.”

“Bad experience?”

“Too many,” Indy admitted. The conversation was once more getting into dangerous territory. “Man, I feel like I am in therapy!”

Val laughed, breaking the tension and the sombre mood. She hopped up and sat on the kitchen bench, her drink all but finished.

“And how does that make you feel?” She asked, playing therapist.

“Ahhhh, you sound too much like my mother!” Indy joked, holding her hands up in a surrendering pose. “I don’t need therapy!”

“Well, if you ever need to talk, or just need some female energy, just give me a call. You have my number now,” Val said, laughing lightly at the end.

“Oh boy, do I ever have your number!” Indy agreed, laughing along with the blonde. “You are persistent, I will give you that.”

“And proud of it, lady!”

The pair were laughing once again as Zacky walked into the house for the next round of beers for the guys. The combination of a free weekend and a fire pit made all the boys very thirsty. He furrowed his eyebrows as he closed the sliding door, confused as to who Val was speaking with. He hadn’t noticed that she had been absent for quite some time until that moment.

He turned into the kitchen and saw Val sitting on the counter top next to Indy who was leaning against her, the both of them in a fit of giggles. He was surprised to see Indy in the kitchen, laughing along with the host of the evening. Her smile was contagious, and he couldn’t help himself from smiling as he watched her laugh. She looked beautiful.

“Am I interrupting something?” He asked, finally managing to find words to announce his presence. Val and Indy looked to the entrance of the kitchen simultaneously, their smiles still wide from their laughter.

“Hey, Zacky!” Val exclaimed. “Zacky’s here!”

“Hey!” Indy echoed, pushing off the countertop to walk over and give him a hug with his greeting. It was only then he noticed her outfit, realising she had come from her date. “Hey, I’m as tall as you now.”

“Finally not the shrimp anymore, hey?” He asked rhetorically, closing his eyes slightly as he wrapped his arms around her. His head rested perfectly on her shoulder for the brief moment they were entwined and he could smell the fresh, slightly floral scent of her perfume. He was entranced.

“An extra 4 inches tends to help a little,” she replied, pulling away from the embrace and motioning down to her feet. “Maybe I should wear heels all the time so I don’t get picked on.”

“You should give that advice to Johnny,” Val quipped, making all three of them laugh. “God knows he could use it.”

“And we definitely wouldn’t give him more shit for wearing heels,” Zacky said sarcastically. His attention returned to Indy once again. “Well, you look beautiful.”

“Th-thanks,” Indy stuttered out, a light blush flourishing on her cheeks. She was a little surprised at her own reaction, both verbally and the physical stomach flip straight after his compliment. She tried to shake it off, mentally scolding herself and rationalising that it was just because of the vulnerable conversation she was having with Val earlier. “You have all been so much more complimentary than my date.”

“He didn’t say you looked phenomenal?” Val asked incredulously. Even after the bad review she had heard from Indy about this mystery date, she was still surprised he wouldn’t have said anything about her appearance. She looked stunning, for fucks sake!

“Nope, not a word! Makes me regret not wearing sweats and an old hoody even more now,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“So I take it you have found the one, then?” Zacky asked sarcastically, the smile on his face not from his own quick wit. He was sympathetic that her date was bad, he had been on enough of his own to know how that felt, but it still made that selfish side of him elated when she admitted how bad the date was.

“Oh yes, we are getting married next week, and I am already pregnant with our love child,” Indy replied, playing along. “You will all get your invitations in the mail.”

“ZACK! WHERE THE FUCK IS THE BEER?”

Not 2 seconds after the question was shouted, Jimmy came tumbling into the room, arms flailing about.

“YOU HAVE BEEN GONE FOREVER!”

“Hey Jim,” Indy greeted, laughing at the theatrics of the drummer.

“INDY, MY LOVE!” He yelled out, galloping over to her and picking her up in a hug.

“Inside voice!” Val called out, hopping off the counter and heading to the refrigerator once more to top up the girls’ drinks.

“Indy, my love,” Jimmy repeated at a normal conversational decibel. “What are you doing here? You look fiiiiiinnneee.”

“Thanks, Jims. Just thought I would stop by and see you all,” Indy replied, having to repeat herself once again. Maybe she should have just greeted them all when she got here to avoid having to repeat her arrival story so many times.

“Well I like it! You should dress up for me more often,” he commented, keeping an arm around the woman as they spoke.

“Anything for you, Jimmy, anything for you,” Indy said, nodding along to the request. She looked to Val who was keeping in a giggle and rolled her eyes.

“Excellent,” he replied, nodding his head before his attention drifted to Zacky. “Where’s the beer, dude?”

“In the fridge?” Zacky answered, shaking his head.

“You are terrible at beer runs. The idea is that you get it from the fridge, and then take it to me,” Jimmy said, using his hands to gesture from Zacky, to the fridge, and then to himself.

“Now you can get it yourself,” he commented.

“Fuck that. It’s your job. The others are whining too,” Jimmy said, lifting his arm from Indy as he left the kitchen as abruptly as he entered it.

“Duty calls,” Zacky sighed, making his way over to the fridge and following in Matt’s footsteps, removing 5 beers (one at a time) and placing them on the benchtop.

“I will help you carry them out. I guess I should go and actually see the others,” Indy said, offering her help to Zacky.

“This is yours,” Val spoke up, appearing at Indy’s side and thrusting a full drink into her hand. “Take that out too.”

“Yes, sir,” Indy replied, taking the glass from Val before making her way over to Zacky. “If I take two, can you take three?”

“Thanks, that would be great,” Zacky said, nodding in reply to Indy. He watched her grab the neck of two beers with her left hand and lift them from the counter. He followed suit, taking a single bottle and holding it between his body and his cast, and then taking the other two in the same manner as Indy. “Thanks!”

“Anytime,” she replied, smiling. She started towards the entry of the kitchen, leading the three from the kitchen and out towards the back door. Zacky soon followed, and Val trailed behind Zacky.

Val took in the pair in front of her, noticing the playful banter between the two and Indy struggled to open the sliding door with her hands full. She tried sliding it with her hip, shimmying left and right without success. Zacky laughed at her, and she turned quickly to him, pointing her finger and glaring. He gently pushed her to the side and gave it a try himself, causing Indy to laugh back at him.

Val couldn’t help but start to wonder as she watch the both of them cheer as Indy finally got the door rolling open.