“Well, that’s wonderful news. So, did he ask you out on a date or anything like that?”
“He did ask me to go to a nightclub tonight to watch the band perform. They’re playing at a club called the Venus de Milo. He even offered to let me ride with him.”
“And you said yes, right?”
“I told him I would probably go.”
Maddie could hear the frustration in Sancha’s voice. “You would probably go? Wrong answer. I believe the correct answer is ‘yes.’ Are you trying to play it cool with him or what?”
“Not intentionally—you know I’m not like that. I’m not trying to play games with him. It’s just that I’m still hesitant about this whole thing. It’s been so long and there’s still the possibility that…”
Sancha cut her off. “Don’t think so negatively. You know better than that. You’ve got to keep your thoughts positive, and you can’t let the events of your past stop you from living a full life. You’ve been on your own long enough, Maddie. Now go out and have some fun.”
“I know, I know.”
“Then why do I have to keep telling you?”
“I don’t know why. I can’t explain it. I just have this feeling that something bad will happen. I’m not trying to be negative. I’m just trying to be realistic.”
“You of all people know the consequences of negative thinking. Tell me what harm could be done by going to the nightclub to watch him perform.”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m just being silly and paranoid.”
“So, are you going tonight?”
Defeated again by her friend’s reasoning, Maddie sighed and said, “Yes, I’ll probably go. I’d like to see their stage performance. Adam said it’s even better than their rehearsals, so I’d like to see if for myself. And, to be totally honest, I really want to see Adam again. But I will drive myself, just in case.”
Chapter 7
Friday nights at the Venus De Milo were always wild. With different styles of music on each of the three levels, it drew an eclectic and dynamic crowd. The band never knew what kind of audience they would get.
The band members were doing their usual setup, sound check, and warmup when Luke said, “Hey, Adam, that chick…Maddie was it? You were right about her. She is smokin’ hot!”
Jason chimed in, “Yeah man. Dude, did you ask her out?”
“Yeah, give us the scoop. How did it go last night? Did you get lucky?” Zach joined in.
Lacey, always the mediator, interrupted, “You jerks leave Adam alone. He’ll tell us if he wants to.”
“Well, if you didn’t ask her out, I’m going to,” Luke blurted. “She is so freakin’ hot!”
Even though Adam knew not to take Luke seriously most of the time, it wasn’t above Luke to move in on someone else’s girl, not even a friend’s girl. Adam could usually take Luke’s ribbing with no problem, but for some reason it rubbed him the wrong way when Luke talked that way about Maddie.
Annoyed, Adam said, “You already said that once, Luke. You’re sick, man, and I don’t mean that in a good way. Like she’d want to go out with you anyway. Besides, I saw her first, so back the hell off.”
“Oh, so it’s like that?” Luke taunted. “Well, what are you going to do about it? Try and stop me, bitch.”
Lacey intervened, “Chill out, boys!”
Zach said, “Adam, you’re keeping us in suspense. We’re waiting to get the juicy details. Come clean with it already. Did you ask her out or not?”
Adam knew they were relentless and would never give up. He sighed and said, “I asked her to watch our performance tonight. That’s all the details you’re getting.”
Claire leaned forward and said, “And did she agree to come to the show tonight?”
Adam felt his face fall just a tad, but he tried to remain upbeat.
“She didn’t commit to anything, but she said she’d try to make it. I took that as a good sign because that’s the same thing she said when I asked her to come to rehearsal. I’m hoping she will come tonight as well.”
Jason said, “Speaking of that, how long did she stick around after everybody left? She was still there when I left around midnight.”
Adam shook his head knowingly.
“I know what you’re angling for, Jason, and I’m not biting. But if you must know, I’m not even sure what time it was. To tell you the truth, I was enjoying talking with her so much that I lost track of time. We talked for hours and got to know each other a little better.”
Luke bellowed, “Just how well did you get to know each other? Tell us. Did you get lucky last night? That’s all we really want to know.”
“Pigs!” Lacey feigned disgust as she leaned in closer to hear better.
Adam shot Luke the “go to hell” look.
Undaunted, Luke continued, “That means no. You bombed. Blue balls. I can tell by your reaction. You would’ve been bragging about it if you had.”
“I’m not a kiss-and-tell bastard like you, Luke. I don’t divulge that kind of information,” said Adam as he grew more irritated. He clenched his fists.
Luke retorted, “Oh yeah, Mr. Holier-than-thou. That’s bullshit! You’ve divulged plenty of information to us in the past.”
Adam clenched his teeth and said, “Well it’s different with Maddie.”
This piqued Zach’s interest. “Oh really? How so?”
Adam’s anger melted away as he thought of Maddie and their night together.
“I don’t know exactly. She just seems like a… how should I describe her? A very nice, intelligent, classy lady. The type of woman that you take things slow with.”
Luke snorted and said, “Nice, intelligent, classy lady, my ass. You just wussed out. I bet she was waiting for you to make a move and you didn’t. You probably disappointed her. So now she’ll come running to me.”
Adam couldn’t imagine Maddie ever having an interest in someone like Luke. That did a lot to dampen any
