My new plan though was just show up a little bit prior to the show. I knew there would not be any issues getting where I wanted to be because I didn’t really care that much. I know it seems stupid but when you have a crush and you think there is a chance, no matter how small, and then you see that chance go out the window then it stings a little bit. It stings a little more when you are forced to go confront that reality when you would rather just stay home and quietly get drunk.
So, GG and I show up about 30 minutes before the show was supposed to start and meet up with her friends and everything was fine getting in. Oh, let me stop for a second because I have to mention something about one of her friends. She is actually a singer too and is probably C list now and reached a peak of A for one album. One. Anyway, she (let’s refer to her as (NB) used to be really nice back in the day but she is one of those people who when they became famous totally changed. I knew her before and after and the after was awful. Oh, and don’t even get me started on how she even became worse when she got married to a permanent A lister.
OK, so we are at the venue and we make our way backstage and there is SH and she sees GG and NB and air kisses and hugs are exchanged and then GG introduces me. SH looks at me for a long second and then repeats my name and then shakes her head. She then asks if I am the same person who set it up so I could interview her and I sheepishly say yes. She then takes a finger and starts yelling at me that she was at the venue super early and in makeup just so she could look presentable for the interview and waited and waited for over an hour for me to show up and she just went on and on for a good five minutes. She totally let me have it. Then, out of the corner of my eye I saw GG tearing up because she was trying not to laugh. When GG saw me looking at her though she lost it which caused SH to lose it. It turns out that earlier in the day the two had spoken to each other and hatched this little plan. I guess it served me right, but hey, my crush had still been out to dinner with a guy the night before.
NB looked totally lost with everything. I’m not sure why GG even invited her but they had been bff back before they both hit it big and GG is and was loyal. Friends for life.
One thing that did change after that little performance was that I was more relaxed and I got Punk’d by a crush. Not as great as dating her or more, but at least it was something. So, to celebrate, I did what I do best. Drink. I got the side eye from GG when I started talking about doing shots so I kept the possible embarrassment factor to a minimum for her. One thing the booze did do though was get me to take some chances I normally would have passed on. I don’t always have the best game, but the booze gave me a boost and after the show when there were several of us sitting around talking I did manage to ask SH out because she seemed to like me. Of course it also could have been my bacon cologne she found so fascinating. In any event, she did say yes and we spent a good portion of the rest of the evening hanging out and went out a few times before she found some guy and fell in love and got married. Hey, no regrets. I had a great night that night. Some things are meant to last forever like my friendship with GG and some are meant to last a few minutes or days or weeks like my time with SH. I have seen her a couple of times since and we are nice to each other but there has never been a hint of a spark since. She is not with the guy she married any longer, but still there is nothing. There was that one night though.