Kill of the night

Chapter 5

When you see this ### play the song attached!!

March 27th
Melbourne

Josie

Right now, it's 5:45 pm. Drew picks me up at 6:00 pm and I'm locked in the bathroom having an existential crisis. I'm sitting cross-legged on the toilet, my belly is in knots and I've never been more insecure than I am now.

It's my first job as a pianist, and it's not a bar mitzvah for the son of my parents' friend, or an amateur cafe. I'll have to play an event for a company that seems important, surrounded by rich and snobbish people while violins play along with me. I should be happy but the only thing I can express is dismay.

Maybe it's the nerves taking over, but right now I can't see myself killing it. I want to spend the day eating ice cream with Vicky on the couch, while we binge watch friends for the 3rd time.

The fact that I impulsively gave my address to a total stranger is also making me uneasy. He was being so nice that I didn't even have time to think about the possible consequences. If he ever does anything to my address, I swear I'll tell his grandmother. She won't hold back, I'm sure.

The door abruptly opens and I jump in place along with a gasp, "You can't stay in the bathroom forever Jo, sooner or later you'll have to go to your room to put your shoes on" I roll my eyes.

Whenever I think Victoria is gonna say something encouraging or friendly she turns it into a joke. It's just how she is.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Many artists perform barefoot, I hear it brings them closer to the audience" I roll my eyes again and she giggles, "Why are you so tense?"

"I've never done this V, how can I not be tense?!" She sends me a sympathetic smile.

"Think of it like your first time, you get nervous and very stressed because you think it's gonna hurt, then when it all starts you realize that you were just exaggerating and that it's completely tolerable"

"Was your first time like that?" I widen my eyes.

She widens her eyes back at me, playfully, "Yours wasn't?" She laughs and takes my hands, forcing me to get up from the toilet no matter how hard I try to stay seated, "I don't want to be that annoying friend, but you were the one who accepted this, you can't give up now"

"I would never give up on this opportunity, but you can't blame me for being stressed"

"What if we smoke one before you go?" She pulls a perfectly curled joint out of her bra.

Who wears a bra at home?

"One, why are you wearing a bra? And two, it would be unprofessional of me to do that as much as I want to relax" I fix my hair for the fiftieth time in the mirror.

"One, if you want me to flash my tits around the house that bad, I'm down, and two" She rests the joint between her lips and starts walking out of the bathroom straight into the living room, "your loss"

Ding

"Fuck, Vicky, he's here" I pick up the phone and go after her.