![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smackenzieOn Saturday morning Laurie made himself some coffee, showered and shaved, rolled up a pair of nice work pants, secured the roll with a rubber band, put it and his work shoes in a bag, put the bag in one of his bike's saddlebags, and went to work, where the most recent rumor making the rounds of the restaurant had him seeing things because he was crazed with grief.
Saturday afternoon he was stiffed out of a tip by a table of six after they ran up a fairly large bill and made his life hell for an hour, told every damn person working at Calla, including the kitchen staff, the busboys, the hostess, and the valet parkers, that he was NOT imagining things, almost got sideswiped by an SUV on the way home, and forgot to turn his cell phone off, resulting in a most lovely dead battery.
Laurie talked to Danny about the Monday gig at Underworld (in specific terms) and about last Tuesday's fiasco at the Blind Pig (in very oblique terms). Danny still hadn't remembered anything more but seemed to be adjusting, and more importantly didn't seem to be completely traumatized by his first experience kissing a boy. He was still a little worried he'd give something away at school and end up a pounded mass on the floor of the boys' gym showers, but he was game to try again.
Laurie also talked to Parrish, although only for a few minutes, during which he said he was getting a little stressed and the people at the restaurant were bugging the shit out of him, but did Parrish still want to see Steerpike on Monday? And Parrish said yes, and when could they see each other again? Laurie said to ask again on Tuesday morning. Parrish said maybe he wouldn't have to. Laurie figured that meant they'd be together.
On Saturday afternoon he started getting phone calls from people he hadn't really seen or talked to in a while, except in the most casual ways. A friend from college called to ask how he was, what had he been up to, when could they get together and catch up? Laurie stopped himself from saying "Ask me again Tuesday morning," and instead they made a tentative plan to have coffee on Wednesday, and that was kind of nice. Laurie managed to keep in contact with people who really mattered to him but was kind of casual about a lot of former lovers (like the friend from college), but at the same time it wasn't because he didn't like them any more or didn't want to have anything to do with them once they weren't having sex. He just... drifted sometimes, lost people's phone numbers and email addresses and eventually stopped being able to find them when he wanted to. So he was glad this guy had called him.
He did wonder if the sudden increase in random "remember me?" calls had something to do with Gunther's suicide, if word was getting around and people were trying to reconnect in general or if they'd heard he'd be playing at the funeral service and were worried about him. Maybe it didn't matter. HE wasn't worried about himself, although he couldn't wait for Monday to be over.
Saturday night Laurie went to rehearsal at Mission's house, which was about par for the course and went the same as most previous rehearsals. They argued some more about the set list for Monday and then about the set list for the October 30 show. They ran through all the songs. Bran tried again to get them to agree to play "Peake." Lea asked Laurie how his date went. He said it was good. Bran asked what was he playing for Gunther's funeral, and would he play it on Monday? Because Bran wanted to do some kind of tribute. Laurie asked why. Lea asked why. Mission pointed out that most of the kids who would be at the show wouldn't have any idea who Gunther was, and in fact most of them would probably be there to see Mintyfish anyway and wouldn't care what Steerpike did as long as they got off the stage in an hour and a half. For all they knew, people would show up expecting to see Fifteen-Cent Solution and feel cheated enough to want their money back. Bran said that wasn't his problem, and it kind of fell apart after that.
"He wanted me to play 'Hallelujah,'" Laurie said, when Bran had calmed down some and Mission had stopped looking like he really wanted to throw something big and heavy at Bran's head. "I've been listening to Jeff Buckley, making sure I know it. I'm not playing it on Monday."
"But something," Bran pressed.
"I still don't understand why," Mission said.
"Because Gunther was a big deal in the local scene. He was proud of his work with little bands, he supported local acts over big-name acts, he worked hard and was dedicated and he was a good guy, ok?"
"Ok, ok," Laurie conceded, "there's nothing wrong with giving him his due. We'll play something else. Maybe something from the EP, because he worked on that."
"Not 'Peake,'" Lea put in. "Gunther didn't like playing it any more than the rest of us."
"'The Boys from Rome,'" Mission suggested. "The drum track's all his work."
"Didn't we say no to that last rehearsal? I don't remember most of it."
"Laurie," Bran said, "what about 'Behind Blue Eyes'? You know that, right?"
"The Who song?" Lea said, turning from her impending argument with Mission to blink at Bran.
"Yeah," Laurie said, "I think I've got it down." He thought about it for a minute - Gunther had been almost classically Aryan, blond and blue-eyed, and apparently he'd been a good actor because no one would have guessed he'd ever be depressed or desperate or hopeless enough to kill himself. Maybe that would satisfy.
"I still say no one's going to care," Mission muttered.
"So we'll make them," Bran said. He looked over the set list he'd written down at the last rehearsal. "We'll do it instead of... uh... 'The Last Slam,' between 'Bluesky' and 'Swallow Hard and Smile.' Ok?"
"Ok."
"Ok."
"Fine."
"Good," Bran said. "One more time through it."
On Saturday night after rehearsal Laurie begged off drinks with Lea, and went home to practice.
On Sunday morning he took the bus to work because he no longer had a good clean shirt at the restaurant and he didn't want to ride his bike in his waiter clothes, and then he worked the brunch shift which was much better than the Saturday lunch shift, and the thing with the ninjas seemed to have blown over.
On Sunday night he went to his parents' house for dinner, which was comfortable and chatty and warm and filling.
And on Monday he woke up early and went downstairs to meet Lea so she could drive him and the acoustic guitar he'd borrowed from Bran to the funeral home.
words: 1177
total words: 46,627
Saturday afternoon he was stiffed out of a tip by a table of six after they ran up a fairly large bill and made his life hell for an hour, told every damn person working at Calla, including the kitchen staff, the busboys, the hostess, and the valet parkers, that he was NOT imagining things, almost got sideswiped by an SUV on the way home, and forgot to turn his cell phone off, resulting in a most lovely dead battery.
Laurie talked to Danny about the Monday gig at Underworld (in specific terms) and about last Tuesday's fiasco at the Blind Pig (in very oblique terms). Danny still hadn't remembered anything more but seemed to be adjusting, and more importantly didn't seem to be completely traumatized by his first experience kissing a boy. He was still a little worried he'd give something away at school and end up a pounded mass on the floor of the boys' gym showers, but he was game to try again.
Laurie also talked to Parrish, although only for a few minutes, during which he said he was getting a little stressed and the people at the restaurant were bugging the shit out of him, but did Parrish still want to see Steerpike on Monday? And Parrish said yes, and when could they see each other again? Laurie said to ask again on Tuesday morning. Parrish said maybe he wouldn't have to. Laurie figured that meant they'd be together.
On Saturday afternoon he started getting phone calls from people he hadn't really seen or talked to in a while, except in the most casual ways. A friend from college called to ask how he was, what had he been up to, when could they get together and catch up? Laurie stopped himself from saying "Ask me again Tuesday morning," and instead they made a tentative plan to have coffee on Wednesday, and that was kind of nice. Laurie managed to keep in contact with people who really mattered to him but was kind of casual about a lot of former lovers (like the friend from college), but at the same time it wasn't because he didn't like them any more or didn't want to have anything to do with them once they weren't having sex. He just... drifted sometimes, lost people's phone numbers and email addresses and eventually stopped being able to find them when he wanted to. So he was glad this guy had called him.
He did wonder if the sudden increase in random "remember me?" calls had something to do with Gunther's suicide, if word was getting around and people were trying to reconnect in general or if they'd heard he'd be playing at the funeral service and were worried about him. Maybe it didn't matter. HE wasn't worried about himself, although he couldn't wait for Monday to be over.
Saturday night Laurie went to rehearsal at Mission's house, which was about par for the course and went the same as most previous rehearsals. They argued some more about the set list for Monday and then about the set list for the October 30 show. They ran through all the songs. Bran tried again to get them to agree to play "Peake." Lea asked Laurie how his date went. He said it was good. Bran asked what was he playing for Gunther's funeral, and would he play it on Monday? Because Bran wanted to do some kind of tribute. Laurie asked why. Lea asked why. Mission pointed out that most of the kids who would be at the show wouldn't have any idea who Gunther was, and in fact most of them would probably be there to see Mintyfish anyway and wouldn't care what Steerpike did as long as they got off the stage in an hour and a half. For all they knew, people would show up expecting to see Fifteen-Cent Solution and feel cheated enough to want their money back. Bran said that wasn't his problem, and it kind of fell apart after that.
"He wanted me to play 'Hallelujah,'" Laurie said, when Bran had calmed down some and Mission had stopped looking like he really wanted to throw something big and heavy at Bran's head. "I've been listening to Jeff Buckley, making sure I know it. I'm not playing it on Monday."
"But something," Bran pressed.
"I still don't understand why," Mission said.
"Because Gunther was a big deal in the local scene. He was proud of his work with little bands, he supported local acts over big-name acts, he worked hard and was dedicated and he was a good guy, ok?"
"Ok, ok," Laurie conceded, "there's nothing wrong with giving him his due. We'll play something else. Maybe something from the EP, because he worked on that."
"Not 'Peake,'" Lea put in. "Gunther didn't like playing it any more than the rest of us."
"'The Boys from Rome,'" Mission suggested. "The drum track's all his work."
"Didn't we say no to that last rehearsal? I don't remember most of it."
"Laurie," Bran said, "what about 'Behind Blue Eyes'? You know that, right?"
"The Who song?" Lea said, turning from her impending argument with Mission to blink at Bran.
"Yeah," Laurie said, "I think I've got it down." He thought about it for a minute - Gunther had been almost classically Aryan, blond and blue-eyed, and apparently he'd been a good actor because no one would have guessed he'd ever be depressed or desperate or hopeless enough to kill himself. Maybe that would satisfy.
"I still say no one's going to care," Mission muttered.
"So we'll make them," Bran said. He looked over the set list he'd written down at the last rehearsal. "We'll do it instead of... uh... 'The Last Slam,' between 'Bluesky' and 'Swallow Hard and Smile.' Ok?"
"Ok."
"Ok."
"Fine."
"Good," Bran said. "One more time through it."
On Saturday night after rehearsal Laurie begged off drinks with Lea, and went home to practice.
On Sunday morning he took the bus to work because he no longer had a good clean shirt at the restaurant and he didn't want to ride his bike in his waiter clothes, and then he worked the brunch shift which was much better than the Saturday lunch shift, and the thing with the ninjas seemed to have blown over.
On Sunday night he went to his parents' house for dinner, which was comfortable and chatty and warm and filling.
And on Monday he woke up early and went downstairs to meet Lea so she could drive him and the acoustic guitar he'd borrowed from Bran to the funeral home.
words: 1177
total words: 46,627
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-11-25 02:05 pm (UTC)