“That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout,” Butch said to a round of high fives.
Dexter held up his hand to get our attention. “Hold it, hold it—” he began. “That’s not all.”
“What else?” I asked.
“He said he’s got a good friend who runs a club downtown and he’s gonna talk to him about booking us there for a month, and then bring us back here. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like Hard Bop has arrived!” Gordon stood up and shouted.
That just gives us an excuse to order another round of drinks. Two rounds later, the club was getting ready to close. After we broke down our equipment and packed up, I said good night to everybody and headed for the door. There was one woman sitting alone at the bar. As I got closer, I was totally shocked to see that the woman was Carmen.
“Hey, Tee,” Carmen said, and gave me a friendly hug and kiss on the cheek.
“I didn’t know you were here.” It was good to see her. I hadn’t seen her in so long, I’d forgotten just how absolutely gorgeous Carmen was. “To tell you the truth,
I’m actually shocked to see you.”
“You did invite me, didn’t you?”
“Yes, yes I did. But knowing that you don’t like jazz and how you feel about me focusing on my music, instead of accounting, I didn’t think you’d come.”
“I guess I’m guilty on both counts, so you have the right to be surprised to see me. But I started thinking about how important tonight was to you. And the fact that you would invite me, meant something to me.”
“What did it mean to you?”
“It meant that you wanted to share something that was important to you with me. That maybe you thought that I was important to you. And that’s all I ever wanted.”
“You were always important to me, Carmen.”
The bartender walked up and wanted to know if we wanted another drink before he closed up.
“No, thanks. I had enough to drink already. But for the lady, whatever she’s drinking.”
“Another ginger ale?” the bartender laughed.
Carmen smiled that smile I fell in love with. “No, thanks, I think I’ve had enough, too.”
“Hey, good show tonight. You guys were great,” the bartender said.
“Thank you.”
“That always means better tips for me,” the bartender said and walked away.
“By the way, how long have you been here?”
“I was here when Zack and Chris got here.”
“What? You been here just about all night.”
“That’s why I’m drinking ginger ale. Unlike some people, I know when I’ve had enough. Y’all had to partially carry Chris out of here.”
“Yeah, he was pretty wasted. But if you were her that long, why am I just now seeing you?”
“You been busy with your friends and I didn’t wanna interrupt. I didn’t want you to think I was forcing myself on you.”
“You wouldn’t be forcing yourself on me. You could have sat with them and enjoyed the show. Which reminds me, did you even enjoy the show?”
“I’m sorry, Tee. You were great.” Carmen kissed me on the cheek again. “I didn’t know you were that good. I was so proud of you.”