Glass Hearts

She knocked on the thin, wooden door, praying it was the right one.
‘Just a sec, I need to put pants on,’ he yelled. She heard the sound of things being pushed about behind the door.
She laughed as he opened the door. ‘Oh, it’s you. If I had known I would have left them off,’ he said with a smile. He was only wearing a pair of black skinny jeans. She the warmth rush to her cheeks as she prayed she wasn’t blushing again.
‘Very funny but I wouldn’t pursue a career as a comedian any time soon.’
‘Ha ha. That’s not very nice, is it? Do you want to go or keep making jokes about me,’ he asked sarcastically.
‘Come on,’ she said with a smile, noticing the way the reflection of the light on his nose piercing matched the sparkle in his eyes.
He ducked back inside his dressing room and came out dressed with a leather jacket in his hands. He ran his fingers through his hair and it fell perfect into place. He shut the door behind him and they walked down a few hallways and out the back door. A couple of security guys followed them to a taxi, just in case they had any trouble. There were still a lot of fans hanging around, smoking or hoping to get a glimpse of the band. They managed to find a taxi and began the short trip into London. She hadn’t lived here very long so when he asked her where they could go, she didn’t really have a good answer for him. He suggested Soho, which was always pretty interesting. They got out and he paid for the taxi, refusing her offer of paying. They walked down one of the dark London streets. At least it wasn’t raining, she thought to herself.
‘I’m starving. Do you want to eat,’ he asked.
‘I don’t mind, whatever you want to do.’ She looked up and smiled as he put his arm around her shoulder. She was only about 5’7 which made it a bit difficult for him.
‘Hmm, I’ll take that as a yes. This place looks okay. What you think, he asked as he pointed to a little steak house across the street.
‘Yea, sure. Let’s go. It smells amazing, even from across the street,’ she said with a laugh.
They crossed the street and the waiter found them a table towards the back of the restaurant, which was better for him. They ordered quickly and sat and talked as they waited for our steak. Austin told her about how he got involved with the band and asked her how her ended up in London. He was so easy to talk to and he was funny, which always makes conversations easier. By the time their food finally came, he had told her about the majority of his childhood and about his mother, which of course, almost had her in tears. They were so hungry, they ate in relative silence except for the occasional ‘this steak is perfect’ or ‘the sauce goes so well with these potatoes’, or more stupid little comments like that.
‘Wow, a girl that can eat,’ he said as she finished her last mouthful. She was a bit embarrassed to finish the entire meal but it was so good she had to. ‘Any room for dessert? I’ve been watching that couple over there finish a chocolate cake thing and it looked amazing,’ he said with a smile and he lent back in his chair and stretched.
Alex wiped the corner of her mouth as she replied, ‘don’t think I could finish a whole one.’
‘After all that, I don’t think I could either. Should we share one?’ He smiled at her as he picked up his water glass. She watched as the condensation dripped off the edge of the glass and onto the table.
‘Sure. I could never say no to chocolate cake,’ she said with a laugh.
Austin called the waiter over and ordered. The waiter came back a few minutes later and asked him if he would mind signing something for him. Austin gladly signed. Turns out he was a huge fan and said the chocolate cake was on the house. We thanked him before he went back into the kitchen. He came back a few minutes later with the cake, placed it on the table with a huge smile on his face. She knew exactly how he felt. Austin was her hero as well.
‘So what time is your flight tomorrow,’ she asked as she cut the corner of the cake. She watched some of the chocolate fall on to the plate as she lifted the fork to her mouth.
‘About 7 in the morning I think. We have an interview or something we have to do.’
‘After a 12 hour flight, that doesn’t sound too fun,’ she said, wiping her mouth with the corner of the red cloth napkin.
‘Trust me it’s not,’ he said with a laugh. He took a sip from is glass and took another forkful of cake.
He let her finish the lat of the cake and they finished their drinks and paid the bill. She made him accept her half of the bill, which was really cheap due to the manager being a fan as well. Austin quickly signed a few things and took a few pictures and he led her out of the restaurant and into the cold air outside.
The night seemed to be flying by, probably because she was still pretty sure she was dreaming. They stepped on to the sidewalk and she felt the small drops of rain hit her skin.
‘Do you want to go back or should we go for a drink,’ he asked as he put his hand on her waist and they crossed the street.
‘Whatever you want, I’m not the one who has to get up early,’ she said as she put her hand on the small of his back. His leather jacket was cold on her bare wrist.
‘I won’t sleep tonight. It’s easier to stay up and then just sleep on the plane. Let’s try this one,’ he said as he walked toward the front door of a pub.
He opened the glass door to a dark pub. It was pretty busy and it stunk of weed. They squeezed their way to the bar and ordered. The bartender brought their drinks after a few minutes and they stepped away from the bar. Austin told me this bar belongs to a friend of his manager and that the band would always come down here when they have time. Sometimes they would even play a set there, which she thought was pretty cool. The music was loud but it was good. A lot of older rock like Guns and Roses and Metallica and bands like that. We took our drinks and headed to the back of the pub, hopefully where Austin wouldn’t be recognized too much.
They were there for about 45 minutes, attempting to talk over the music. Then Austin stopped and pulled out his phone. He had gotten a text message from his manager saying they had to get going soon. She had realized it was so late. It was almost midnight. She finished the last of her drink and they stood up and she led the way back towards the front door.
‘Sorry we had to go so early.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ she said with a smile. ‘And anyway, it’s not that early.’

Notes