The Gemini

28 - Tick Tick

December 3, 1988

Alan Lewis was such a sweetheart that Jody wondered more than once if Roger had him on his payroll. He treated her like a princess. And now here he was hiring her on the spot. Sure she killed the set tonight and the people loved her, but Jody had a feeling that even if she flopped and had the personality of a piece of cardboard, Alan still would have welcomed her on board.

"Does that sound good to you?"

He was asking for her approval of her new schedule. Here at Pandemonium she would be working four nights instead of the five she was working at 94 East, but she was getting paid three times the measly hundred bucks that A.B. was giving her.

"Hell yeah." She nodded with a laugh. She would be an idiot to turn three-hundred down.

Alan humored along with her and gave her one last compliment before heading on his way. "Send my hellos to your guy and let him know that this Friday is open. He's more than welcome to fill it."

"Will do." Jody okayed even though she was sure that Roger wasn't going to want to separate himself from the studio long enough. It was the only thing occupying his mind even more so lately.

The club was winding down. A few people still hung about. Overall tonight was a good one. Aside from a successful set, Jody made quick friends with some of the regulars. She even ran into the Linda girl that she met at the record store. Jody really didn't think she would see her again, but tonight she found out just how persistent the woman could be.

Linda was full of questions. Most of them were about music and mixing. While discussing favorite songs, they got on the topic of Gemini. Jody was tickled at how Linda lit up when talking about him. The woman got even more excited when she found out that Jody knew him.

"He reminds me of this boy I used to know." Linda had said. "I used to be in love with him but then he went away. I keep hoping that maybe I'll get to see him again one day."

Jody noticed that Linda's conversing tended to be scatterbrained; she would jump topic often but always made everything relate back to Gemini. By the end of their conversation Jody realized that Linda's fandom tilted close to an obsession. She was glad when Alan had interrupted and requested to talk business with her. Linda caused a slight uncomfortable feeling in Jody's gut and she was sure that it wasn't jealousy.

With a glass of cola, Jody now sat at the bar people watching. She laughed to herself when she saw Duane finally chatting up the girl that he'd been eyeing all night. It was at Roger's orders that Duane came along to the club with her. He said that it was for protection but Jody knew that Roger just wanted to know her every move.

"I trust you," he'd said, "it's everyone else that I don't." Whatever he wanted to call it, Jody didn't mind too much. While getting to know Duane a little, she learned that he was two years her senior and that he was much goofier than she thought he would be. She was glad about it.

After catching him scouting the girl in stripes, Jody let him off his leash and told him to go have fun. He made sure to peek back at her every now and then and nod or throw her a thumbs up which she would return.

Continuing to scan the room, she saw a couple of members of the band that played earlier on the stage packing up the last of their things. One of the taller figured men looked familiar to her. When the guy shifted his hair over to the left, Jody smiled and walked over.

"Hey stranger."

Tommy turned around, his blue eyes meeting Jody's image briefly before they carefully searched around the place. "Hey."