[[[all of your flaws]]] [[[part i]]]

53.

I'd watched from the bar as Dan did his show, the crowd getting bigger at each one he did now. He winked at me across the room and I held up my pint, rubbing it in that I could drink. Until I learned to drive, he'd have to stay sober.

'He's amazing.' A tall guy with a moustache said from besides me.

'I know.' I beamed. That was my boyfriend, I thought proudly. I had enjoyed ringing around places and setting up gigs. My phone hadn't really stopped ringing since I'd uploaded Dans music on internet review sites. People seemed to really like him. I'd even had a few guys interested in joining him. I'd solved all his problems and it felt really good.

The next morning, we were out at a cafe around the corner from our place eating a greasy breakfast, when my phone had rung yet again.

'Dan.' I whispered, covering the phone with my hand. It was always confusing when I thought I was being contacted by a prospective employer but I was greeted by a guy called Will who played bass. 'It's someone asking if you want a bass player?'

He chewed his toast quickly and took the phone from me with a grin. He ended the call after planning on meeting later that day. I felt so excited for him. At this rate he'd be top of the charts within a month! It made me want to be a part of his career.

'Are you coming with me?' He asked, tucking back into his breakfast.

'Sure! I need to vet all these people before you allow them to join.'

'Thank you so much for helping me.'

'Look, I've thought about it, what you asked me before...' I began. He put down his cutlery and gave me his full attention. Since he'd asked me to be his official manager I had thought about it a lot. I was already pretty much doing it for him. I'd still had nothing back from anywhere else. My job seekers money had come in, all £60 a week. I was getting increasingly desperate. 'And maybe I should do this...just until something else comes up?'

'Yes!' He punched the air in triumph. 'I knew you'd come round.'

'Just for now. And we do it properly. Like, I'll register as self employed or whatever and you pay me a wage, a proper wage. I want holidays and lunch breaks. And a company phone. The works.'

'Deal.' We shook hands across the table.

'But I guess we need to make sure we don't mix business and pleasure.' I grinned before leaning over and kissing him.

'I guess I can't ask you to marry me then?' I felt like the whole room had fallen silent and were staring at us. They weren't. No one had overheard our odd conversation. No one even looked up from their scrambled eggs. Even I didn't want to hear what he'd said. 'Sorry.' He quickly added, looking hurt that I was just staring at him.

'No. It's not...I, erm. What?' I sighed heavily. It was so unexpected. So random. He surely didn't mean it.

'I just guess that we can't get married if you're my manager. I don't know what the rules are.' He shrugged.

'You've been thinking about stuff like that then?' I was stunned.

'Yeah. Kinda. Not right now, obviously. But one day?'