Quin fully immersed herself in work for the next week, putting in an unnecessary amount of hours outside the store meeting with designers so she could avoid Magda who since Saturday night had been a nonstop fount of babble about what an idiot Quin was for turning down Taylor Hanson. Magda didn’t seem to take the hint that Quin couldn’t bear to talk about it any more. She had already overanalyzed the encounter to death and didn’t need any more opinions on the subject. Quin found herself still flabbergasted by the blunt nature of his come ons and also with her body’s reaction to said come ons. She had been approached by men in bars since she was able to enter them at nineteen, and she had encountered many men who lacked skills in the fine art of seduction. But something about her minutes of speaking with Taylor Hanson had been something completely different. He hadn’t been overly desperate for her to sleep with him like so many had, but rather, he had been absolutely certain that she would. That fact both angered and aroused her. How good was he to be that certain?
“Well, Quin Harper. Nice to see you, it’s been so long!” Magda said with feigned excitement as Quin walked into Noche five minutes before closing time on Friday.
“I’ve been busy with new designers. The fall line is going to be fantastic!” Quin said, trying to get Magda off her back.
“I’m sure it is,” Magda replied, “Look, I’m sorry about going on and on about the Taylor Hanson thing. I just wish you would’ve taken him up on his offer because it’s been ages since you got laid.”
“Trust me, if anyone’s aware of how it’s been since I’ve had sex, it’s me.” And with that, they sunk into their typical afternoon routine of straightening up and closing the shop.
“Are we still going out tonight?” Magda asked, and Quin couldn’t help but smile. For weeks they had been planning on going out to celebrate two successful years of the boutique being open. “I’m so getting you drunk, missy.”
“Yes please,” Quin said. Once everything was locked up and they had changed into their favorite going out dresses, they headed for Sounds of Brazil for their first stop of the evening. They sat at the bar and drank dirty martinis, talking about anything but the strangeness that had been last Saturday night. As Quin drained the last of her fourth martini, she knew that she was officially drunk, but didn’t care. She was out with her best friend in the entire world for a girls’ night of celebration.
“Are you ready for our next stop?” Magda asked and Quin nodded, setting a $100 bill on the counter and shoving it in the bartender’s direction before following Magda out the front door. Magda had spent a lot of time planning their evening, researching new clubs to add to their list of usual haunts, so Quin asked no questions. Not even when Magda lead her directly into the Nokia Theater in Times Square.
In fact, Quin didn’t stop talking until Magda pushed her down in a seat. That brought her back to reality at last.
“Where are we?” she asked, but she already knew the answer. Magda just smiled and stood up to go to get them drinks at the bar. Quin looked around and found herself seated in the balcony of a concert venue. One with a giant Hanson banner hung over the stage.
“Please don’t kill me,” Magda grinned sheepishly when she sat down with two more martinis in hand, “I got us VIP seats!”
“To a Hanson concert?!” Quin demanded, “What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that we have no idea what their new music sounds like and I saw that they were playing here when I looked up their website.”
“You are unbelievable,” Quin muttered, sipping her drink angrily.
“Ooo! The opening act is starting,” Magda said, turning her chair to face the stage. Quin huffed and followed suit, picking up the chair and dropping it back to the floor noisily. They sat through the opening act, which was actually pretty good, and then waited for Hanson to come out on stage. Twenty minutes after the opening act had ended, the guys took the stage. Quin rolled her eyes as she realized that Magda had seated them where they would have a prime view of Taylor at the piano.
“Aren’t these great seats?” Magda asked, “Doesn’t Taylor look good?”
“Shut up,” Quin said directly into her glass.
“You know, I bet he still wants to sleep with you.”
“Shut up,” Quin repeated, sneaking a glance at the stage in time to see him drop down to the piano bench, his eyes closed and his head thrown back as he pounded his fingers against the keys in perfect time. Unable to stop herself, she stood and went to the railing, putting herself closer to the stage and right at the edge of the balcony. She found herself mesmerized by him, how he got the crowd engaged, they way his body moved to the beat, the way his mouth moved against the harmonica during “If Only.”
“Enjoying the show?” Magda asked, her double meaning lost on the thoroughly drunk Quin.
“They’re good. Isaac’s really good on the drums,” Quin said, her eyes not leaving Taylor.
“Zac is playing the drums. Isaac plays guitar,” Magda informed her. Quin just nodded and kept watching. “You know… I’ve heard that if you hang out by their tour busses after the show, you can usually talk to them.”
“Yeah, sure. Sounds good,” Quin said, trying to play it cool. In reality, that piece of information made her heart jump. She told herself that she wasn’t giving in to anything, all she wanted to do was tell him that she’d really enjoyed the show. That was all.
She looked back down at the stage and found Taylor looking right at her. Doing what all people tend to do that kind of situation, she turned around to see if someone was standing behind her. There was no one there, so she turned back to find him still looking up, but now he was smiling as well.
“He’s looking at you,” Magda said in a sing-song voice to her.
“No he’s not,” Quin lied.
“Yes,” Magda paused, “He is.” Quin bit her lower lip and kept watching.
“So, the tour busses, huh?” she asked.