The Golden Boys

Chapter 17

Chris waved back in an ever so casual way. Jason, who had been talking to Chris,  followed Chris' gaze and saw me. He gave me a nod, then went back to his story. But Chris' eyes continued to hold mine.

"Next?" A voice in front of me called.
Blinking, I turned around, and the concession worker behind the counter was looking at me with an impatient glare.
"Sorry," I muttered. "Can I get a hot chocolate please?"
"Coming right up."
While I stood there waiting, I was resisting the urge to turn around and see if Chris was still there.
The last time we'd really spoken, more than just a hello, that is, was that night in Kerry Park.

A couple days after that, Jeff had picked me up from the shop and taken me to lunch at the Pike Place market.
That was when he told me the 'shocking' news: Chris and Susan had broken up.

Of course it wasn't news to me, but I kind of had to play dumb. When I asked him the reason he said Susan cheated on Chris the night of the Alice In Chains concert. "Crazy, right?" Jeff had asked, shaking his head.
"Crazy..." I agreed.

The lady handed me the hot chocolate then, and I turned around, holding the warm cup in both my hands. Peripherally, I could see the two guy's figures against the wall opposite me, but I kept walking forward.
The crowd began to thicken as I got closer to where I'd left Stone and Jeff.

After some searching, I found them.
Jeff smiled as I approached them and slipped his arm around my waist.
"This is just crazy," said Stone, throwing his hands in the air then dropping them dramatically at his side.
I guess he was still in denial.
"I know, man," Jeff said comfortingly. "I was looking forward to that interview."

Stone nodded slowly, looking off, and then said "Mother Love Bone... disregarded, entirely."

I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh.
Jeff looked down at me disapprovingly.

Still trying not to laugh, I slipped out of his arms. "Hey, where you going?" Jeff asked, frowning.
Xana walked up then before I could respond.

"Hey! Is that coffee?" She asked, nodding to my styrofoam cup.
"Hot chocolate," another voice answered for me quickly.
And there he was, Chris- with a mischievous look in his eye.
Despite the rise in heart rate, I rolled my eyes. "What he said."

"Hey," said Jeff. "It's Chris Cornell, from Soundgarden." He grinned widely.

Chris' eyes cut to Jeff. "So, what's going on?" Ignoring Jeff's words.
He glanced around at all the people.
"Ah we're just hangin' out," Jeff said casually, shrugging.

"That's, that's good." Dry, un interested.
"Just trying to be cool and stuff," Jeff added with another grin.

"That's good," Chris repeated.
"So that's good, Chris, right?"

Jeff said, still smiling but I could hear the hint of irritation in his tone.

Before Chris could say anything else, not that I expected him to, a guy and girl ran up to Chris holding a video camera. "Chris!" the girl said in an overly excited voice. "We're filming for a project. Can you tell us what's happened here tonight?"

I waited for Chris to turn them down, but he surprised me, yet again.
"Sure."
And then, in a clear, interview voice: "So, what happened was...."
Chris explained the whole thing about the Cult having to cancel, and I watched as the girl became completely dazzled by him.
I knew the feeling.
A couple of hours went by.
People were actually having a good time, everyone talking, laughing, just hanging out.

At some point, the girl and boy who had videoed Chris, put the camera on Stone, who, to no surprise, loved it.
I saw him motion to the crowd. "Out here, rock people of all sorts: Susan Silver, Chris Cornell, Jeff Ament."
The guy swung the camera to capture all of those people, who were oblivious as they conversed. Speaking of her, Susan was talking to a group of people I didn't know. I never saw her try to talk to Chris or even be near him.
At half past 10, the same male voice came over the crackling speakers to announce we were at last free to go.
"Be safe out there, and Happy New Year," the voice said.

Xana found me and asked if I'd want to go grab a bite to eat. I'd never had anything but that hot chocolate, so I agreed. Well, of course, the guys somehow got word of it.
So a group of us ended up at the largest table at Linda's Tavern.
After ordering our food, I stepped up to the bar to grab a drink.
There was a guy sitting on my left, who was wearing a blue flannel shirt and had messy, shoulder length hair. He'd just got done taking a shot when he looked over at me.

His blue eyes looked straight into mine.
"Good evening," he said in a slow, mellow voice.
"Hi," I responded. And then it hit me.

"You look very familiar. You're from the band Nirvana. Right?" I asked, hoping I wasn't totally off.

He nodded slowly. "You are right about that. Have we met before?"
His calm voice was very pleasing to the ears, almost soothing.
"I think so... I came to your show in Olympia with my boss a few months ago."

"Oh! Okay. Yeah. It's starting to come back to me. You'll have to tell me your name, again though," he said with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"I'm Heather."

"I'm Kurt Cobain. And Heather, mkay. I'll do my best to remember it this time," he murmured softly.

Hm. Kurt Cobain.
His name had a nice ring to it.

I looked down and noticed his jeans, faded, with holes in the knees... and very worn-in converse on his feet.
After I got my drink, I went and sat back at our table.

I was sitting between Xana and Jeff.
As I took a sip of my drink, Jeff leaned towards me.
"Is that Kurt from Nirvana you were talking to?" he asked in a low voice.

"Yes it was," I said.

Jeff stared toward the bar where Kurt still sat, and made a face.

"I'm not sure why... I just really don't like the guy."

"Really?" I questioned. "He seems nice."

Jeff shrugged. "Maybe he is."
End of that conversation.

After we finished up, Xana invited everyone at the table to go to her house, if they didn't have other plans, to ring in the new year.
It was nearing midnight, I realized when I looked at the clock on the wall.
As we all headed for the exit, I purposely went last, because I wanted to invite Kurt to come to Xana's.
But when I got up to the bar, I saw a girl with bleached blonde hair now sat on the stool beside him. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders in an almost possessive way. Her big eyes glared at me as I passed by. I never said a word.

Back at Xana's, the group consisted of Andy, Stone, Melanie, Greg, Bruce, Jeff, Chris, Matt, Kim, Jason, and myself.
Someone turned on the New York NYE show, and when the ball dropped, everyone cheered and clapped. Andy kissed Xana, Stone kissed Melanie, and Jeff kissed me.
When we pulled away, I found myself searching for Chris.

My eyes found him quickly- he was sitting on the couch beside Matt.
Jeff, whose back was to Chris, hugged me again tightly. On my tip toes, I peeked over Jeff's shoulder.

Chris was looking at me, too.
"Happy New Year," he mouthed.