The Art of Loving

[23] This Isn't over so Easily

Once they found something for dinner for everyone and packed everything they needed for the gig they were on their way to Mike and his friend's new club. The club itself wasn't actually new though, and that was easy to tell, but somehow they had managed to create a nice atmosphere inside. While the guys were getting their equipment ready and the club filled with people slowly but surely Ellie waited by the bar with Mary, enjoying a drink or two. She was going to photograph this gig too but because of how the stage was built she didn't need to work with two cameras of lenses, the setup the had strapped around her neck would do just fine.

When everything seemed to be ready, Mike went on the stage to announce them - even though that probably wouldn't have been necessary since they seemed to know about 90% of the audience. Ellie managed to make her way to the front without too much trouble and aside from the occasional few minutes staring at her boyfriend she managed to get some great shots of them, she was looking forward to developing them when they would get back.

When they had finished with their set for the evening Ellie took a moment to just breathe at the side of the crowd. It had gotten very warm in the room. However now there were a few moments of relative quiet after they had to change the setup of the sound system and Ellie enjoyed that before the sounds of a Jimi Hendrix record filled the room. There were worse things to listen to. Making sure that no one accidentally squished her camera she started to make her way towards where she assumed the guys still were.

The club was very full, and a lot of people were trying to get to the stage to talk to the guys. There was no dressing room or something like that, so it wasn't like in the city hall where they had a moment of quiet. Ellie wasn't sure that either of them really minded, especially because they knew a lot of the audience, but Ellie sort of minded because it meant she had to fight her way through the crowd to get to her boyfriend. It also meant that she didn't know who was talking to Brian, and that was what worried her a little. Because Sue had hinted that Marcia most likely wouldn't miss out this opportunity to see Brian and Ellie thought she had seen here in the crowd already. That was worrying.

But the first person she ran into that she knew was Freddie. Of course Mary was also there, somewhere, but because Ellie had been taking pictures she didn't know where her friend had disappeared to after they had been at the bar before. So it was somewhat of a relief to see someone she really knew.

"Hey!" Freddie exclaimed and hugged her, smiling at her. "Did you like it? Was my outfit any good for photos?"

Ellie hugged him back and nodded with a smile. "It was, yes, it was wonderful. I really liked it, you looked fantastic." She smiled at him before she glanced over his shoulder, trying to spot a certain curly haired man.

Freddie smirked and let go of her. "He's packing up the guitar, I'm sure he's looking forward to seeing you. To the right of the stage, go ahead."

"Thanks!" Ellie told him with a smile before she went to see if Brian really was where Freddie thought he was. She hoped so, because she was looking forward to seeing him. The closer she got there, the more people there were, but Ellie managed to push her way through the crowd anyway. As it turned out Freddie had been right, Brian was standing to the right of the stage, surrounded by some people. Ellie recognised some from the last gig, some friends they had here, but the one person she really wasn't happy about seeing was Marcia. She was standing right beside Brian, touching him again. Last time Ellie hadn't liked it, but now it really bothered her. What she had felt then was nothing compared to what she felt now.

With a little more urge to her steps Ellie managed to push her way to Brian's side. She placed her hand on his arm and smiled, trying to keep a neutral face and ignore Marcia. She had agreed to be grown up over this and she would be. "Hey you. That was wonderful, you were fantastic," she told him, smiling widely at him when he finally looked at her.