Another Saturday night, another gig. The bar was packed tonight. It was actually a good show. The band was tight, and no one got falling down drunk this time. The crowd was really into it too. They were singing along with every song. Almost every chair had a butt in it, and you couldn't fit another person on the dance floor with a shoe horn, it was that packed.
But, now the show was over and the crowd was thinning out. Even the band had taken off. Either leaving with their significant others or finding their regular weekend groupies. All that is, except the drummer. He was still on stage tearing down his gear. Every weekend it was the same. He ended up alone at the end of the night, breaking down his kit.
"Hey, where'd everybody go? Did they just leave ya here alone?" Jerry, the owner of the bar, asked as he stepped up onto the stage.
The drummer kind of chuckled as he unhooked the pedal from his kick drum. "Jerry, we have this same conversation every month we play here. I'm pretty sure you know the answer to that question."
"Well you never know," Jerry replied. "One of these times, it may turn out different."
"Well Jer, five years of being here at the end of the night, alone, says different...but, yeah, who knows," the drummer retorted.
Jerry laughed at the comeback. "Actually, I was wondering if you could do me a small favor?"
"Sure," answered the drummer. "What do ya need?"
"Well, my parents' anniversary is tomorrow, and I have to be over there early for the party. So, I was wondering if you could possibly close up for me when you're done here, so I can go home and get some sack time before the party?" the owner finally got around to asking.
"Sure, man. Shouldn't be a problem. I don't have anywhere special to be tonight anyway," said the drummer as Jerry tossed him the keys.
"Thanks man, I owe you one." He heard Jerry say, as the owner closed the door behind himself on his way out.
Alone again, the drummer started taking the cymbals down off their stands, and removing the drums from their rack mounts.
Just as he was stacking his drums in the corner, he was startled by a voice from behind. "You were great tonight."
The drummer quickly spun around, somewhat startled, not knowing what to expect, being alone all of five minutes ago. He was more than a little surprised to find it was a girl. No scratch that. This was a woman. Five foot, five inches tall, long blonde hair, standing there in a soft pink pullover sweater, a black leather skirt that was slit up the side, black stockings, and heels that were tied all the way up her calves with ribbons. She was jaw-dropping gorgeous.
The drummer felt more than a little silly now, about performing his 'Jackie Chan, I'm going to kick your ass if you mess with me!' spin move, as a result from the start this lovely creature's voice gave him.
But then he came back down to earth. He figured she was probably there to ask about the guitarist or the singer. That's the way it always was. The guitarist and singer made off with all the women.
You see, there were only two kinds of people who talked to the drummer before, during, or after the gigs. The first type was the guys, (either drunk or sober) telling him they were drummers also, how many years of experience they'd had, how many bands they'd been in, and inevitably asking if they themselves could get up and play. And then there was the second type, the girls who came up to him, talked to him for five or ten minutes, flattering him about his playing, telling him how good the band sounds, asking where and when their next gig was, then suddenly, BAM, they hit him with a right cross by asking if either the guitarist or singer were single, and then, POW, they finish him off with a upper cut, by asking if he could possibly introduce them to either one of the other musicians. It was a scenario that was played out, it seemed, a thousand times before. And, he expected tonight to be a thousand and one.
"Thanks," He finally got around to responding. "But, I'm going to just save us both a lot of time and let you know now the singer and guitarist are already gone for the night. I'm afraid I'm the only one here."
She flashed a sideways smile, giggled a bit and told him, "Well that's good because I'm not here to see either one of them. Actually, I'm here to see you."
He paused just a moment waiting either for the punch line, or making sure he heard her right. "Me? You're here to see me?"
"Yes," she replied. "You sound so surprised." He noticed her with a flattered look on her face, tracing little circles on the floor with her foot.
"Well, actually I am." He chuckled and asked, "How'd you know I'd be here?"
"I've been a fan of the band since the beginning. And, well...you're always the last one left. So, I just knew you'd be here." she answered, with that sideways smile still on her lips. "I sat in the back of the bar till everyone was gone, and I knew I'd get a chance to catch you alone."
'OK, this doesn't happen.' he thought. 'And if it does, it usually starts out with "Dear Penthouse, You won't believe this, I always thought those letters people wrote were fake...That is, until last night."' And yet, this blonde goddess was standing there in front of him, telling him that she was here to see...well, him.
"Wow, I'm really flattered," he managed to finally respond. "Can I get you a drink or something?"
She thought about it for a second. "Yeah, I could go for a Bud Lite. But the owner's gone, is that going to be to be all right? I mean, I don't want you to get into trouble or anything."
"Believe me, it's not going to be any trouble at all," he assured her. "I'm the only one in the band who doesn't drink, and the rest of the guys drink so much, New York wino's go 'Damn, you guys drink a lot!' So, I'm sure me giving you a Bud Lite out of the cooler isn't going to cause any problems. Besides, the owner owes me one for closing for him tonight. If it comes down to it, I'll just call in that favor."
He sat her on the stool at the far end, and walked around behind the bar to the cooler to get her drink. He opened the beer, and set it on a napkin with the bar's logo printed on it, in front of her, then came back around and sat on the stool next to her.