Mic Drop

Chapter 2

As Tillie walked down the sidewalk toward her car, her steps were light on the concrete. She was so pleased with her performance she practically floated. She tasted the remnants of herb smoke on her lips, letting them break apart when she laughed at the way Ben had been heckled by multiple members of the crowd about his stained shorts.
Her mood was mellow due to her THC high, and the dropped temperature matched. The stuffy air had transitioned into something mild and less-humid. Her hair wouldn't recover though.
She strode down the street she walked once a week after her show here. What the burnt out street lights lacked in illumination, the moon made up for with its all-encompassing glow that chased away the otherwise dark summer night.
     Tillie plopped into her car, a bright blue, mid 2000s sedan, that she had somehow managed to perfectly parallel park a block down from the bar. She jammed her key into the ignition and cruised her way toward her favorite dive bar that was just a few miles away.
Over the sounds of the wind whipping at her ears through her lowered driver's window, and the blaring house music she bopped her head to, she heard her phone vibrating the plastic in her cup-holder to the right of her.
      She grabbed her phone and rolled up the window, turning down the music to the appropriate level music should be played at to avoid permanent hearing damage.
"Whatsup," Tillie said, answering her best-friend, Maya's, call.
"How was the show tonight?" Maya asked excitedly.
Tillie grinned in response to her other half's genuine interest in her doings.
"Oh you know, just another absolute crush. I ended up going over my time because the crowd wouldn't stop laughing. I was not going to cut the set short and leave out the closing punchline."
"The one about how you found out your mom has implants and so you must have gotten your big tits from your dad?"
"People think it's crazy, but it's literally true."
"It is crazy. You're fucking crazy," Maya laughed.
      Tillie and Maya met in college during their sophomore year. Tillie was studying broadcast journalism and Maya was studying public relations. They sat next to each other during a copywriting class and instantly bonded over their annoyance with their professor who would always find a way to bring up his divorce.
      The two began helping each other with assignments and identified qualities in each other that they appreciated. Maya admired Tillie's confidence with public speaking, and her desire to spread important information to the masses via television. Tillie admired Maya's desire to aggrandize aspiring creative individuals, her genuine care for helping people succeed and prosper. The two vowed to use each other's services if their career plans ever faltered.
      "You missed it. Ben spilled beer on his lap and left the stage early because the crowd was yelling piss boy at him," Tillie smirked, taking a quick turn onto the avenue that led to the bar.
      "I swear I miss all the good stuff. I wish I could've been there. But I've been working on editing this proposal for hours. How the fuck am I supposed to convince this tech startup to hire me to advertise for them?"
     "You don't. Because you don't even give a fuck about tech."
      Maya's huff was so loud Tillie swore she could feel the heavy breath fill her ear.
     "I need money. I need it bad, Tillie. I don't care if I have to falsify my-" Maya traced the recently typed words on her laptop screen. "Extreme passion to promote Doggy and successfully disseminate their mission to help dog owner's find love."
    Tillie's grin turned into an expression of repulsion.         

     "Oh, fuck, Maya. You're trying to do advertising for a fucking dog based dating app? You don't even like dogs."
      "Again–money, Tillie."
      "I'll give it to 'em, Doggy is a decent name for the app because it references literal dogs and my third favorite sex position. Not bad." Tillie said, releasing the repulsion from her face. She turned into the bar's parking lot.
Another defeated, frustrated huff from Maya.
     "Why don't you meet me at Marty's? I just pulled up."
    "I really need to finish editing. I have to have it sent over by Friday."
"It's Saturday, Maya. You have 6 more days."
Silence.
"Come on, you'll have plenty of time to send the K-9 capitalists their proposal. I'm walking inside," Tillie said, opening her car door. "I'm buying you drinks. I got some extra money because I got a fat tip at work yesterday from some business man who kept staring at my dad-given tits. See you soon."
"Ugh, you are so-"
Tillie ended the call and strode in Marty's with a smirk of satisfaction.