Summer Sushi
#1 of Stories From beyond the Backstage
This is more or less just an introduction for a couple of my characters, Johnathan Reed and Freddy Line. Other characters mentioned such as Jesse, Max, and Darius will be properly introduced in different stories. Vera I'm still debating as a regular character.
Comments are appreciated!
The mid-day sun shined a laid back, relaxed ray of light through the apartment window. Smooth Jazz could be heard from an i-pod docking station, adding to the easygoing scene. John sat at his desk, his chin propped up in his palm as he flipped through the web pages on his computer. He sat around in just a pair of boxer-briefs, which was normal for him on a lazy summer day.
He gave a small curse as he scrolled through an eBay page with an item that had been bought by, literally, a last minute bidder. It annoyed him that people could be that obsessed.
The white furred feline twitched his ears a bit and swished his tail as he checked that time.
12:30
The realization of what time it was made his stomach grumble. He hadn't even had breakfast that morning so obviously he was hungry. He didn't really feel like making anything so he grabbed his cell and scrolled through his contacts list. He selected one in particular and waited for the recipient to answer.
After a few seconds of ringing he heard, "Hey John!"
"Hey Fred, 'sup man?"
"Not much, messin' around on my bass some."
"Jesus dude do you ever take a break from that thing!?" John exclaimed sarcastically, "I swear you're always practicing whenever I call you!"
"Not always, I give myself some downtime," Fred replied in his defense.
"Yeah, but you're pretty much always cooped up in your apartment," said John with a mixture of exasperation and sarcasm in his voice, "which brings me to the reason why I called you in the first place."
"Wudja have in mind this time?" Freddy asked in a sort of mock amusement. While he didn't mind going out with friends every once in a while, John would often times drag him out to random parties or bars. Fred wasn't much of a partygoer; especially when there was hardly anyone else he knew attending them.
"Just wanted to see if you wanted to go out to lunch or somethin', nothin' big," John answered nonchalantly, as if he gave these kinds of invitations on a regular basis.
There was a slight pause before Fred said, "Oh damn, it's that time already!? Geez I've really been getting into it this time!"
"God Fred I'll never understand you," John said with a chuckle, "Seriously though, you up for some lunch?"
"Yeah sure, why not? Sushi sound good to you, I haven't had any in ages?"
"Works for me, I'll meetcha at Jubei's in a few minutes then. Later man!"
"Later!"
Clicking his cell phone shut he got up and made his way to his bedroom, sifting through his closet until he selected a navy blue t-shirt. The design on the front had a white outline of a saxophone with the words Cool Cat written under it in a sort of 'Jazz Font'. He threw on a pair of khaki shorts, snagged his i-pod and ear buds and headed out.
About fifteen minutes later he found himself at the front entrance of Uncle Jubei's Sushi Bar. It may not have been the biggest or most extravagant of restaurants, be they defiantly served the best sushi in the city; in John's opinion at least. And Jubei was an awesome guy to know as well, so eating there for John or his friends was an extra pleasure. As soon as he walked in an older looking akita bounded up to him with more grace than you would expect from a man his age. "Johnathan!" he called out ecstatically in a heavily Americanized Japanese accent. He shook John's hand vigorously, "Nice to see you again!"
"Nice to see you too Jubei," John said back as he returned the handshake. The old man always seemed to be in a good mood, and it spread easily. John couldn't help but have a big smile on his face whenever he saw him. "How's business been treatin' ya lately?"
"Oh it has had its ups and downs," he said as he gave a 'so-so' gesture, "But I have never had a single customer leave unsatisfied," he added with a big, comical smile on his muzzle and giving two thumbs up.
John couldn't help but laugh at the old man's old school humor. "Great to hear," he said, giving Jubei a light pat on the shoulder. "By the way, you wouldn't've seen Fred come in have you?"
"Why does my timing always seem so perfectly in synch to you mentioning my name?" said a voice filled with sarcasm.
John nearly had a heart attack when he realized that Fred was standing right next to him; no one had been a moment before. "Jeeezuz! How the fuck do you keep doing that?! You're like a damn ninja or something!" Jubei was laughing his ass off at John's spastic manner, and John was doing everything he could to keep himself from scowling as he tried to smooth his tail out.
Fred just looked at the other feline quizzically as he answered sincerely, "I don't even do anything and yet people still get surprised... am I that hard to notice?" It was even surprising to himself sometimes.
Fred had some of the same features as John: tall, skinny, long black hair, and blue eyes for instance; except Fred's fur was light grey and his hair was thicker, feathered, and always tied back when in public. He was also wearing khaki shorts today and had a white t-shirt with the Gallien-Krueger logo on the front. Another thing he and John had in common was that they both wore necklaces with music related pendants. His was in the shape of a Bass clef sign and John's in the shape of a Treble clef. People often thought that they were brothers because of their similarities, but there was no family relation whatsoever; just good friends who happened to have similar traits.
Once John had finally settled down Jubei led them to their favorite table, which was seated next to an elaborate portrait of a Japanese cherry tree. Fred never tired of looking at it whenever he was there.
They made their orders rather quickly; having most of the menu memorized they knew exactly what they wanted when they first stepped in. They sat in silence for a moment after their water glasses were filled, then John decided to break the ice.
"So other than practicing for a million hours on your axe, what else has been going on with you?"
"Mh, just regular day job work at the record store really. Not much else after last Saturday night's gig."
"Didja finally fuck that Russian chick that's been hangin' all over you these past few months after said gig? I know she was there!"
Rolling his eyes in exasperation Fred answered, "Will you shut up about that already!? I've told you, she's just very friendly, she treats everyone like that."
"Oh she was being especially friendly to you after that gig. She looked like she was gonna rip your clothes off and have you fuck her right there on the stage man!"
"She was just overly excited is all, she's not like that," Fred said in a defensive manner,"It was just her first time seeing us play and she thought we were amazing."
"She thought you were amazing you mean!"
"Fuck off," spat the grey feline, fed up with John's persistence on the matter. John couldn't help but chuckle.
The girl in question was an Arctic vixen by the name of Vera. She was an international student from Russia that they met at the college they both attended. She was only a music minor at the time but then switched to a music major at the end of the last spring semester. John had always interpreted her behavior around Fred as her hitting on him, whereas Fred would deny that theory and say that she was just really nice. He had seen her act similarly to other people before. John never stopped pestering him about it ever since, and the fact that she had became a full music major made him even more persistent.
"The signs keep getting more obvious every time we see her! She's even a music major now dude; she's trying to get even closer to you!"
"She's a talented pianist, and has gotten even better over the past year thanks to Dr. Jordan; of course she would want to switch to being a music major!"
"I think she's trying to get her fingers on more than just piano keys by this time."
"Dude shut up already! I told you she isn't like that!" Fred's voice was almost at a yell by this point, and he started glancing around to make sure people weren't staring.
Their conversation was interrupted for a moment as a waitress came by with their rolls. Fred didn't hesitate in starting, partly because he was starving and he was hoping the silence would give him a moment to think of something to change the subject. John didn't give him the chance.
"Look, the only reason I keep bugging you about this is because she's hot as hell and really nice; and yet you haven't even made a move on her yourself. I know you like her."
"As a friend yes, I just don't think she'd be right for me is all."
"What the fuck! It's not like you have to marry her or anything. Just bone her already and you'll be strutin' your stuff all over town. You'll feel like a bad mother-fucker after that I'm sure."
Heaving a deep sigh that was full of irritation Fred looked straight at John's face with a look that seemed just as irritated, with a hint of cynicism. "Okay look, if it'll make you shut up I'll try and slip the subject in the next time I see her. Just don't bug me anymore about it now alright?" He stuffed a piece of the dragon roll in his mouth as if emphasizing the fact that the current topic should end.
John raised his hands in defense and nodded his head, "Fine, fine. But don't think I won't wonder about it later." He left it at that, then picked up his own chopsticks and started on his own meal.
After a few moments Fred had cooled down to his regular laid back self again. He could hardly ever stay irritated for very long, especially with John; they were the best of friends after all.
He looked back up at the white feline with a more calm expression this time as he asked, "So what have Darius and Max been up to since Saturday?"
John took a minute to swallow before answering. "Max has pretty much been partying every night and sleeping for most of the day when he isn't at the auto parts store. Bastard's been gettin' more tail than I do in a month," he added with a sarcastic sneer. "Darius has been in his studio working on what could be a new song for us."
"Cool, I'll have to stop by his place later this afternoon and check it out."
"You wouldn't've happened to talk to Jesse lately have you? I haven't really seen him since Saturday, and he kinda disappeared right after he helped us pack."
"I talked to him yesterday. He told me he had started his new job on Monday but he wouldn't tell me what it was; only that he would be working evenings and some nights. He did reassure me that it wouldn't interfere with band stuff though."
John raised an eyebrow, "Kinda sketchy dontcha think? Not telling us what he's doing part time?"
Fred just waved a hand with a "pft". "He sounded pretty embarrassed about it from what I could tell. For all I know he could have gotten a job at a fast food place or something."
John shrugged but nodded in agreement. "Could be it... he is kinda a health nut, and not much of a people person off stage. I can see how he'd feel ashamed of working somewhere like that. We've all been there though, and it's all for the sake of keeping the bills paid."
Fred raised his water glass, "And here's to hoping I won't have to rely on fast food for income ever again!" "Amen," the white feline responded merrily as he raised his own glass and clinked it with Fred's.
Their meal continued with a little small talk for a while, until their plates were practically licked clean. Feeling more than content they paid for their meal , tipped their waitress, then headed to the front door in a leisurely pace; saying a quick goodbye to Jubei as they walked out. As they stepped out onto the sidewalk Fred looked over to John and asked, "So have we got any set dates for out next gig?"
John tilted his head back as he thought for a moment. "The bar we played at last week said they want us back again this Saturday, and one of the Jazz clubs asked if we could set up a trio this Friday for a sort of dinner music thing before their main guest comes in. Other than those I'm still waiting for other people to respond."
"Well at least we can possibly get a regular gig out of... what was that bar called again? Matry's yeah!"
"It's possible, but we're gonna have to work hard if we wanna keep it. We'd need to at least write some more songs to keep things fresh if we do."
"I don't think we'll have to worry too much. They were makin' bank with all the people that came by during our last set. If we can keep the numbers up we should be golden."
"Let's hope so," the grey feline said as he looked on his phone for the time.
2:15
"So do you feel like going over to Darius' place to check out his song," asked Fred. "I've got the rest of the day off."
"Can't right now, I have to get ready for work soon. I'll be bartending at The Spark until about 11 tonight."
"Okay cool, guess I'll go ahead myself then. Don't have too much fun tonight!"
"Hard to have fun when you're serving the drinks instead of drinking them," John responded as they both gave light chuckles. "Although maybe if wear the right clothes and act suave enough I might be able to snag some numbers tonight; the chicks have been really letting loose out there lately!"
"Well I wouldn't know," Fred said sincerely.
"You don't know what you're missing my virgin friend," he said with mock enthusiasm, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "You're a rock star in about every way but partying attitude... but then again I guess we kinda need that to balance it out between me and Max."
"Whatever you say man," said the grey feline sarcastically.
John patted him roughly on the back before turning around and headed down the street. "I guess I'll talk to you later then. Call me tomorrow so we can figure out the trio thing before Friday."
"Will do man, later!"
"Later!"
Fred turned the opposite way to head to his place first. As he strolled along he looked up and saw a beautiful clear sky. He smiled as he thought about the coming events, feeling contented with the course of his life. It was a lovely day, made better by spending time with good friends and eating excellent sushi.
Hopefully the rest of the summer would be as enjoyable as this day.