The smell of coffee beans and fresh pastries hit my nose as soon as I step into my friend Emily's workplace. She hears the door open and waves me over from behind the counter.
"Hey, Kath! I'll get to you in a second," she exclaims. I nod my head in her direction and walk over to the nearest table.Emily soon walks over and collapses into the seat in front of me.
"Long day, Em?" I chuckle. She rolls her emerald green eyes at me and grins.The poor girl looked exhausted, but I knew she would never quit her job.She's been working there for a while now and the pay helps her with being in uni. I, on the other hand, dropped out to pursue my dreams of music and art; however, my parents didn't agree with my choices and cut me off completely. I currently have a nice job in a record store, but it comes with shitty pay. The main source of money comes from my boyfriend who literally pays for the roof over my head.
"Long is an understatement. I do have some tickets for a small gig tonight, though. Wanna join?" She asked.
"Don't see why not. I'm up for anything. Who's playing?"
"A band called Catfish with the Bottleboys or sommet like that," she explained. "Not too sure but I've listened to a few demos. They seem pretty class if you ask me."
I've only known Emily for a year or so, but her music taste has never failed me. I've gotten into a lot of smaller artists that I love due to them sounding similar to The Strokes or the Arctics.
"Sure. God knows I have nothing else to do tonight." I replied, rolling my eyes.
"That's my girl!" Emily chuckled. "My shift's just ended. I'm heading to the back to go change."
"Don't strain yourself," I quipped. She gave me the finger and stood up from the table.
Eventually, she got out of her work clothes and we were headed to the pub the gig was located at. We walked in to see that the bar was somewhat crowded. People were inside drinking and buzzing about.
"I had no idea this place would be so loaded!" Em exclaimed taking in her surroundings. "They must be good I guess." I nodded in agreement and we squeezed our way further into the bar.
"Fancy drinkin' tonight, Kath?" she questioned.
"Nah I have work tomorrow. Don't want to risk it." She hummed in understanding and turned towards the stage as the lights dimmed. Four lads bounced onstage with excited looks on their faces.
"Hello everyone, we are Catfish and the Bottlemen," said the lead singer. "We appreciate you guys packing this place. This song's called Homesick."
Immediately they launched into the song. The singer's voice was quiet at first but quickly crescendoed as the rest of the band picked up. Emily and I started dancing soon after; I don't think we ever stopped throughout the whole show.
"Thank you, everyone! Once again we are Catfish and the Bottlemen. Goodnight!" the singer shouted.
"Em, that was amazing!" I yelled over the crowd. "We should meet them after and tell them what a good time we had."
"Kathleen did you have something to drink?" she teased. "You're usually shy as fuck. What's gotten into you?" I chuckled and shrugged.
We sat down in a booth and chatted while simultaneously looking for members of the band in the crowd.
"I think I've spot the guitarist!" I yelled. I bolted out of my seat and made a B-line for him with Emily at my tail.
The guitarist was waiting outside the stage door with a pack of cigarettes in hand. My bet was he was probably waiting on someone for a smoke break. I cleared my throat before I walked up to him.
"Um, excuse me?" I asked. He glanced in my direction."You're the guitarist, right? Of the band that just played?"
"That's me. Johnny Bond at your service, but you can call me Bondy. Who might you be?"
"I'm Kathleen and this is my friend Emily. We thought your set was absolutely class."
"Well, thanks lass! Our lead singer, Van, would love to hear that."
"Would love to hear what?" another voice said.
A scrappy lad who looked about my age came out from the hallway where the stage door lead. He sported a black jumper with matching black skinny jeans with brown boots on his feet. Normally I would recoil at the two neutral colors clashing, but somehow, he made it work. He focused on me with his ocean blue eyes, and I suddenly lost the ability to speak.
"These two lasses loved our set," Bondy explained. I grinned nervously and Emily pinched my side.
"Mate we were dancing the whole night!" Emily yelled. "I haven't seen Kathleen have this much fun in months,"
"Kathleen is it? They call me Van," the singer asked, glancing at me.
"Yeah, it is" I replied shyly. "You could call me Kath if you would like though. Oh! And this is my best friend, Emily"
"Well, Kath and Em, would you care to join us for drinks? The rest of our band's already sat down."
"I'm down but Kath is too much of a lightweight to drink before her job tomorrow morning," Emily smirked. I swatted her on the shoulder eliciting a chuckle from both Van and Bondy and they led up to their table.
"Bob! Benji!" Van shouted. Two other lads with big hair looked up from their conversation, one with glasses and another without. Both of their brows slightly creased when they saw us behind Bondy and Van.
"Lads! Who's this?" the one without glasses asked.
"This is Kath and that's Emily," said Bondy. "They came up to me and said they liked our set."
"Well cheers then!" he replied. "My name's Benji. This is Bob, our machine of a drummer." Bob smiled and greeted us softly. Em and I both smiled in return.
"Take a seat girls," Bondy said. "Order anything you'd like. It's on us."
"Really?" I asked. "That's sweet of you. I'll just take water.though."
"You go to a bar to get water?" Van playfully teased. I chuckled and felt heat rush to my cheeks.
"No need to feel bad Kath," said Benji. "Bob's not ordering anything because he gets drunk off a beer in eight minutes."
"What? No I don't. That's a lie!" Bob interjected. He smiled as a blush went into his cheeks.
"Nah mate, you can't deny it!" Bondy retaliated. "Your girl Mar had to deal with you giggling the whole night. She still complains about us not helping you because we were doubling over in laughter!"
All the boys then started reminiscing about stories that they shared, and Em and I were thoroughly entertained by them. They were a close group of friends who had good times with each other while being on the road. Time seemed to pass quickly and soon enough, it was nearly 1 AM.
"Alright boys," Emily said. 'I think we're calling it a night. Kath and i weren't expecting to be out this late and we're dead tired."
"Would you mind giving us your numbers first?" Van asked. "You lot were a lot of fun to hang out with."
"Sure!" Emily side snatching my phone out of my hand. She gave it to the boys and passed around hers as well. Once they were all done they handed them back to us.
"Nice meeting you girls," said Van. "See you soon, Kathleen?" I looked up at him with a slightly surprised look on my face, Why did he single me out and not Emily? My cheeks got hot again and I giggled.
"Yeah!" I replied. "Thank you for a class night."
"Cheers love."
Em and I got up and headed towards the door after waving the rest of the boys goodbye.
"You're totally crushing on Van," said Emily. "I can see it in your eyes."
"Oi, fuck off will you?" I replied while smiling widely. For the rest of the night, Van was all I could think about.
