Breaking a Rule

 Jack Dempsey pushed the end call on his smartphone screen. The show the band he's been a roadie for was now confirmed. In Lexington, Kentucky, at the Happy Place. Opening up for Cat Wild. Every time he heard something by her, he thought of his good friend Laura. She had written a novel which she'd published six months ago. She'd spent so much time on this novel. A year of long, hard hours between the time she worked as a life coach. Laura was a lifetime fan of Cat Wild, a female-fronted band that made lots of albums. In her novel, Laura mentioned their hit song "Here We Go Again." It was a song about complicated love reaching boiling points of insanity. Laura mentioned the song title during a tense part of the book, when things couldn't get any worse with this main character's "It's Complicated" love life. Main character Fiona is in a toxic, unhealthy relationship with Erik, who is verbally abusive. She has dreams she wants to pursue. The one who really likes her, it has taken her a long time to really fall in love with. A laid-back, soft-spoken guy named Craig. Laura wanted to find a way to give a copy of it to Cat Wild herself. She lived near Lexington and wanted to make a point to do this, no matter what.

Now that that show was confirmed, Jack called Laura. 

She answered on the 3rd ring. She took a deep breath, knowing Jack was always a breath of fresh air every time they talked. "Yo, Jack."

"You sound like you've had a trying day."

"I have. It can't get over fast enough. Isn't it true that if a day seems to go by so slowly, it's only an opportunity to make it better?"

"I guess." Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"Please tell me something good." Laura sighed.

"I will, But first, are you sitting down?"

"Uh--um--I am. This had better be good."

"I can sneak you in to see Cat Wild."

"What! You can? How? When?"

"I'll be at that venue called the Happy Place. I've been there before doing roadie work for other bands. I've always known their super-inefficient management. I can get you in and get away with it."

"Jack, you're the greatest."

It was a blazing, humid late-August afternoon on the day of the show. So humid it was Jack took off his shirt. Laura made sure to be around him. Where that inefficient venue owner was, no one knew. For all anyone knew, he may have stepped out and gotten a cup of sweet tea at McDonald's, a drink he may have gotten addicted to. 

The band Jack did roadie work for always had this habit of getting there late. It was always something, traffic, the lead singer's German Shepherd, or a serpentine belt wearing out all of a sudden. Load in time was supposed to be 4:00. Here it was 4:23. 

Cat Wild had gotten there. Her band's crew was dashing back and forth getting amps and speakers onto the stage. During this time, Laura had to go to the bathroom. When she walked back to Jack, he was talking to Cat. Laura dashed back to the hallway. The copy of her novel was in her hand, her hand felt clammy. Whether it was from the humidity or the anticipation of seeing Cat and finally meeting her--just moments away now--she wasn't sure. She dashed back to the hallway and sat on the floor. She got her pen out and autographed the part of the book where the mentioned that hit song. What she wrote: "'Here We Go Again'--but I here I go again writing another novel. I hope you enjoy this book.

Her heart pounded all through her body. She knew she was going to faint. No, don't fangirl, Laura. You're a professional. She approached Jack and Cat, introduced herself to Cat, gave her the book, told her about her mention of the hit song. Cat loved it so much and thanked her for doing that. She said reading novels kept her sane in all the hurry up and wait she had to contend with while on the road and in the studio.