“They’re probably all asleep on the bus,” I figured. “Let’s go. This is really stupid.”
Resigned, we left the parking lot area and walked up the street away from the deserted club towards a small shopping area. My heart sank as I realized we still had hours and hours before the show, and what were we going to do? Go back to the club when they were soundchecking and try to break in? For what purpose? I was annoyed that I’d even made this suggestion.
We decided to go to a coffee shop and sit down for a while. As we walked up to the shop, there were a few people sitting out at the patio tables despite the chilly air. Fern grabbed my arm and hissed, “Look.”
Marie-Lise was sitting with a cup of coffee and a magazine. She was wearing big dark sunglasses and was dressed in jeans and a sweater, but it was unmistakably her.
“What do we do?” Fern asked.
“Let’s get something to drink,” I suggested. We went into the shop and ordered two coffees, then abled onto the patio and chose a table a little ways from her.
I didn’t want to stare at her too obviously, and made a conscious effort to keep my eyes on Fern. “We won’t get a chance any better than this,” I said. “We should go talk to her.”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to bother her,” Fern said, her gaze flicking from me to Marie-Lise.
“She’s just reading a magazine. Let’s go. We’ll regret it if we don’t,” I said. Fern tried to protest, but I picked up my drink and approached the table where Marie-Lise sat.
“Excuse me,” I said as politely as I could. “Are you Marie-Lise?”
She looked up from her magazine and gave me a pleasant smile. “Yes, I am.”
“Er, are you busy? Mind if we join you?”
She hesitated, and in that moment I truly felt like the rudest person on earth. Quickly, I tried to redeem myself somehow. “I mean, I know you’re on tour and you’re always around people and stuff. It’s gotta be pretty draining. If you’d rather just sit and relax by yourself, no worries. I totally understand. You don’t know us, I mean, for all you know we’re psychos, right? We don’t want to annoy you.”
“You’re not annoying,” she said, continuing to smile. “Sure, why not sit down. I mean, I have to get going in a little while, though.”
“I totally understand,” I said, putting my drink on the table and pulling up a chair. Fern followed suit. “You gotta load in and soundcheck, all that stuff.” I was trying to speak with authority, to relate to her as one band member to another and show her we were on the same page, but I could tell I wasn’t impressing her.
She nodded, continuing to smile at us. “So, you know I’m Marie-Lise. What are your names?”
Fern and I introduced ourselves, and she shook our hands across the table. I could tell she was in a “mode” — obviously the mode she would always be in when meeting fans. I wondered if there was any way to get her to feel comfortable with us. It was interesting, seeing her like this, with no makeup on and her pale hair pulled back into a messy ponytail.
“So, how’s the tour going?” Fern asked in the softest, most terrified voice I had ever heard come out of her mouth. I wanted to giggle, she was so nervous.
“Oh, it’s great,” Marie-Lise said. “We’re out for five months. About halfway done now, and everything’s going wonderful. Great shows.” She sounded so formal, as if this was an interview.
“There’s a reason we wanted to meet you and talk to you,” I interjected. “See, Fern and I are in a band ourselves.”
She nodded. “That’s very cool. What do you guys do in the band?”
“I sing, and Fern plays guitar.”
“Awesome. What’s the band called?”
“Colostomy Hag,” I said proudly.
Her frozen smile flashed into a genuine grin for a second. “That’s one of the best band names I think I’ve ever heard,” she laughed.
“Thanks!”