Anything (Van McCann | CATB Fan Fiction)

2. Mercury Lounge, NY

|Van|

The walls of Mercury Lounge reverberated with the sound of our amplified instruments. Bob's cymbals crashed while the snare drum tapped out the beat. John's guitar was squealed at the riffs of our song, 'Homesick', while Benji's bass provided a steady backdrop for us to paint our musical masterpiece upon.

I was not holding back any ounce of my ability, as I sang the intense chorus at a pitch that was at the upper crest of my range. The crowd was roaring at its best. All instruments were going full bore, hard and intense. As the song reached to a near end, all instruments dropped off to complete silence. A small portion of the crowd were still cheering and roaring when the music stopped, but they then died down, following the silence of our instruments. I closed my eyes and began to sing the lines in that pin-dropping silence.

I said, "I'm only looking out for you."
She said, "It's obvious that's a lie.
But I only ever put out for you,
You know it's obvious you don't try."

"Thank you, New York!" I told the crowd, but my voice got lost in the roaring cheer and endless applauses. The hairs were standing up on my arms when we were done with the song, and I was grinning from ear to ear. Wondering if the guys felt the same, I twisted my head to meet John's and Benji's faces. Benji was smiling as widely as I was. John, was being John, or Bondy rather, putting on his ever straight face, but I knew he was all jumpy inside too. Bob let out a low whistle. "Shit, mate. That was awesome!"

I nodded in agreement. I then gripped the microphone stand again, shifting my gaze out in front of me. Ear-splitting screams blended into one giant wall of sound. Girls of every race, age, and size were jockeying for position in front of my feet. I smiled down at them with an encouraging expression.

"The band and I, we, would like to thank each and everyone of you for coming down to see us tonight. It's been fun. Real fun. And it means the world to us," I said. "We are Catfish and The Bottlemen and this is Kathleen. Good night, New York!"

Kathleen was always the crowd's favorite and everywhere I looked, they were singing along to it. I kept the majority of my attention on the girls who were clamoring for me to notice them, but I lifted my eyes to the left corner of the stage. There was a girl standing somewhere near the monitors, in front of the barriers. She was holding up a camera, clicking away in oblivion. I reckon she's with the press.

I saw hundreds of girls every night, some plain, some beautiful enough to be highly sought-after cover models, but this girl...even seeing her through a crowd, there was something about her that sang to me. Satisfied with what she took, her wavy brown hair bounced along her back, as she walked away from where she stood. My eyes followed her trail, but, her silhouette soon disappeared into the darkest part of the hall. What an odd overwhelming sensation, I thought to myself. I shrugged the silly thoughts of her away and shifted my focus back to the crowd of fans.

We endlessly thanked the crowd once our set ended. I was still having chills from our performance and I could tell that my band members were also still in a euphoric state. Our tour manager, Dan, told us that there were a small group of fans waiting for us outside of the venue so we quickly showered and went outside. I personally, loved meeting fans. I could never complain about it as they were the ones who supported our band to become what we were.

The small crowd of fans soon left after we were done with signings and photos. I was ready to chill out and have a couple of drinks with the band and the crew - we were all like family while on the road. A bunch of rowdy boys having fun over beers, fags and Fifa.

We went to the bar not far from the venue we played. It was not as packed as the rest on the street; a nice place to unwind and chill.

"Ey, where's Mike?" Benji asked, realizing that he was nowhere to be found.

"I don't know, mate. He was walking behind me but I lost him at the doors back at Mercury," Larry said. "He must have left with Vienna."

"Who's Vienna?" I asked.

"Nah, their coming over mate. Just texted Mike telling him we are here. So yeah, Vienna... Remember Mike said that he's gonna hook us up with a photographer for the tour? That's her. She went to check out your band just now," Dan explained, as I signaled the waitress to come over to our table so we could order drinks.

"Oh, the photographer's a lass?" John asked.

"Wait till you see her," Larry laughed.

"Was she fit?" Bob curiously asked. Benji snorted at his question, but he still looked over at Larry, waiting for him to answer Bob's question.

"Larry wouldn't tell you if she really is fit," I laughed.

"It's for me to know and for you to find out, mate," Larry ignorantly grinned.

Out of the corner of my eye, I happened to notice Mike outside of the bar, approaching the door, with a familiar looking woman next to him. I squinted my eyes to really see who she was. And to my surprise, she was the girl I have been eyeing in the crowd. Camera girl.

Everyone at the table glanced over at the both of them as they stood at the end of our table.

"Guys, this is my friend, Vienna."

Vienna. What a lovely name. It matches my name too. Van... Vienna... Vanna? My heart suddenly started to beat faster. Thankfully no one could hear my inner thoughts, or the sound of my heart beating.

"Hi," she smiled.

I was about to sip on my drink but I was held back by her presence. The first thing I noticed was her eyes. Those beautiful, hazel eyes. She was saying her hellos and awkwardly extending her hand to everyone at the table as I watched her. And then it was my turn to introduce myself.

She glanced over at me and grinned. She was a bit hesitant to extend her hand to me. Did I intimidate her? Smiling, I willingly extended my hand out first for a handshake. "Hi. I'm Van. Van McCann."

"Nice to meet you...Van."

"Mmm..." I was distracted by the way she said my name. It was oddly mesmerizing. She frowned at my response. She'd probably misunderstood my response, thinking I was a prick when in fact I was just mentally disoriented by her.

"She's fit, innit?" Larry whispered in my ears like he was reading my mind or something. He's been my mate for years. He'd probably figured out that I was mentally handicapped.

I looked over at him and shook my head. "Pass," I mouthed as I finally sipped on my beer.