Perfection With Some Flaws

“These are some snazzy pants…”

Carlos stopped behind Daniel and I, picking up a pair of zebra-striped pants. He shoved them in Daniel’s face, asking what he thought of them. Daniel knocked Carlo’s hand away and looked down at the pants on the table.

“I do need some new jeans…”

“Hey, yo! My friend will be taking these!” Carlos began waving down a salesgirl, meanwhile Daniel started pulling the zebra pants out of his grip, trying to put them back. I giggled a bit, causing their attention to turn to me.

“Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just here, being a spectator.”

Daniel and Carlos continued their tug-of-war over the pants, even as the girl watched them.

“I knew you looked familiar! You’re Daniel Kessler and Carlos D! From Interpol!”

Daniel and Carlos turned their attention to the salesgirl, who seemed to spazzing out at the two semi-celebrities in front of her. Carlos let go of the pants and smiled at the girl, turning his charm on. All I could do was roll my eyes. I looked around and noticed a tent with really cute shirts not to far away. I silently walked over there, looking behind me once in a while to see Carlos talking to the girl, and occasionally smacking Daniel so that he would join in the conversation.

I hadn’t been watching my path, instead focused on the Daniel/Carlos spectacle, when I bumped into someone. I fell down, dragging the stranger with me. I groaned when my back hit the floor, at the same time trying to move out of the way of passing feet, people who didn’t have a care in the world.

I felt the person I had bumped into get up and brush themselves off. They spun in a bit of a circle before facing me and sticking out a hand.

“Need a hand up?” the person had a slightly gruff voice, which at the same time had a certain silkiness to it. I simply stared at the hand in front of me for a bit before accepting and getting up.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, once I was up and brushing myself off. I looked up at the person I had bumped into. Oh my, he was attractive. He was a bit taller than me, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Stubble lined his jaw line and mouth, making him look even more attractive, if that was possible. I couldn’t help but gape at him, especially since he looked a bit familiar.

“Are you alright?” he asked me, holding my arm to keep me steady. If only he knew that he was the one making my knees weak.

“Oh, I’m fine. Thanks,” I replied, trying to steady myself. It was quite difficult, considering my body was currently going insane and passersby kept pushing and shoving their way around us. After a while, he let my arm go and grinned at me. I returned the favor.

“You look really familiar…” he started, studying my face. I shrugged, pretending I had no idea what he was talking about. For once, I wanted a guy to get to know me for me, not my contacts.

“Maybe it’s just your mind playing tricks on you,” I replied, jumping onto the balls of my feet. He laughed.

“It wouldn’t be the first time…”

“Hi, I’m Imogene,” I interrupted, sticking out my hand for him to shake. It wasn’t exactly lying if I used my middle name, was it? Last thing I wanted was for him to put my name to my face.

“Imogene? Rare name. That’s pretty rad. I’m Jon. Nice… bumping into you.” A goofy grin spread across his face as he shook my hand.

“Yeah, that was fun.”

“Hey Raq! Where’d you go?” I barely heard Carlos and Daniel calling my name, but was glad that I did. I looked behind Jon and the thick crowd around him to see them heading towards me. Apparently, he noticed my diverted attention and looked around too.

“Look at the time. I have to go. It was nice meeting you again,” I pretended to check my cell phone and sped off before he could respond, racing right by Carlos and Daniel. They noticed my hurry and followed me back to the tour bus. I took a quick look behind me as we went, only to see a group of people go towards Jon, waving cameras around in their hands. Must be his friends…

“Hey, what’s up? Why’d you run by like a mad woman?” Carlos asked when we were all inside the tour bus, tired from running.

“Nothing, it was just hot, was all.” I replied, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, Daniel, who was sitting on the couch with Carlos, slightly glared at me, but waved it away and motioned for me to sit down. I obeyed, sitting on the couch opposite them. They both leaned forward and studied my face, much like Jon had earlier.

“Something’s up,” Daniel muttered to Carlos, his voice low as if they were conversing secretly. Carlos nodded.

“She didn’t buy anything. She always looks forward to Boomer Fest…” Carlos replied. Both of them continued staring at me. I tried my best to simply stare back and not crack a smile. If I did, they’d immediately pounce all over me.

Paul and Sam choose that moment to walk in, both of them talking about the crazy fans they’d encountered.

“She was offering you a blow job?” Paul looked at Sam, laughter threatening to break from his mouth.

“Yeah, I said no and I reminded her five times that I was married, but she still insisted.”

“Then what’d you say?” Carlos suddenly became interested in Sam’s “adventure.” Glad that the subject was off me, I snuck into the bunk area and began scrolling through my phone. If only I could call Jon and talk to him. Oh that’s right, Carlos and Daniel ruined everything. I sighed and found the name I was looking for, something that took a while even thought I had her on speed dial.

Lishi Wishi

Known to most as Alicia Way.