"So when their set ends you... Frank are you listening to me?"Harry snapped his fingers in front of my face for the third time today. I wasnt making a very good first impression. Every time I tried to focus, I kept being drawn back to Gerard and what he might be doing.
"Right yeah sorry. When they uh... End their set?"I focused on the soundboard that he was pointing to.
"You need to switch off the microphones for their instruments, in case they knock it or something like that. You leave their mics on until they are getting off the stage. And you dont turn anything back on until the next band says so."
"Wow, I didn't even know you guys did all that. I thought it all just like, stayed on or something."I said as I tried to memorize which buttons were which.

"Yeah a lot of people underestimate how intricate this job is."Harry smiled at me,"But dont worry. A lot of the time either me, Di or Dewees will be running this show. Di just said she was sick of dealing with shitty customers all the time and wanted a break."
"What does she mean by shitty?"I asked suspiciously as we walked out of the little box room with all the controls for literally everything.
"Just sometimes you get rude people who dont even want to wait two seconds for their drink. But those sorta people dont usually come in here. So dont worry."Harry reassured me. I watched his back as he walked between tables and towards the counter.

"Right well. I'm not sure how long til Di gets here. She is usually about ten minutes away at this point but I really do need to leave, I have to pick up my daughter from pre-school. They finished early today so I have to leave early. I'll put the closed sign up so you can just wait inside peacefully."Harry said as he grabbed his keys from under the counter.
"No problem at all."I nodded and perched on the nearest seat.
"She shouldnt be too long. You can just chill before she throws you in the deep end of making coffees."He winked at me and flipped the open sign to closed.

"You go get your daughter. Everything will be fine."I suprised myself by saluting him as he waved and left me alone. I never saluted people. That was always either Ray or Bob. I stared at the door before sitting back in my seat and sighing. I wished Gerard was here. I wondered what he was doing right now. Probably sitting in his bedroom... Or working with Mikey... As soon as I was done I was going to go see Mikey at work. See if he knew what Gerard was thinking.

I jumped as a phone started ringing. I looked out the front windows and couldnt see Di anywhere. I stood up and went to the counter. The phone was on a shelf underneath and it was definitely ringing. I looked closer and saw that it was Di calling. Seeing as I knew her I picked it up.
"Hello?"I said stupidly into the phone.
"Hey Harry- you aren't Harry are you?"She said. She sounded really sick. Oh fuck, I knew why she was calling.
"No. No I'm not Harry."I giggled.

"Is that you Dewees?"
"Di its Frank."I smiled.
"Oh! Hey! Uh... Where is Harry?"
"He had to go early to pick up his daughter."
"Shit. Okay well um I cant-"Di sneezed violently,"I cant come in today. As you can probably tell, I'm sick. Shit that means Harry cant come in at all. Uhhhh I'll give Dewees a call and see if he can cover me."She sniffed.
"Okay well um..."
"I'll call you back okay Frank?"
"Okay. Talk soon."I mumbled and hung the phone up.

I leaned against the back wall for about 5 minutes before the phone rung again. I checked the id and made sure it was Di. It was, so I picked it up.
"Dewees is gonna be there in 10 minutes."Di said straight away.
"Awesome. I've never actually met him."
"Oh you'll love him. He's good people."Di said. She sneezed again before saying,"As much as I would love to chat about what you think of Harry, I need to get back to bed. I only just woke up which is why I called so late. But I hope everything goes okay. I'll probably see you in a few days."
"Okay well, feel better soon Di."I said sadly. We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone.

"Great."I muttered to the air and went back to sit down. Another few minutes passed before the door opened and with a gust of icy wind, a tall guy pulled off his sunglasses dramatically and said,"I have come."
"Hi, I'm Frank."I jumped up and smiled at him.
"Wassupp Frankie boy? I'm James. Or Jimmy. Or Dewees. Whichever you prefer."He walked in and dumped a shopping bag on the counter.
"So Di ditched us has she?"He said as he started pulling out food. I walked over and started helping him so he started putting it away as I unpacked the bag.

"She has a terrible cole or something."I said as he started putting muffins in a fridge.
"Yeah yeah thats what she said last time her boyfriend managed to get the night off."Dewees laughed.
"Oh. Well it seemed pretty convincing."I mumbled.
"Nah she's just had practice at it. And she knows the days that Harry has to leave here early. I dont understand why she does it really. I mean, I'm happy to cover her."Dewees moved the empty bag out of the way and leaned over the counter to look at me.

"So what do you need to learn still?"
"Uhh... Well Harry showed me the box office place... thing. And Di started to show me how to make a coffee at the other day but I forgot."I said sheepishly.
Dewees laughed loudly and said,"I like you. Come round here then, you want a coffee? You drink it?"
"Ah yeah a hazelnut latte."I smiled.
"Gross. You ought to try butterscotch. I know Di has her special 'guessing everyones favourites' but you NEED to try this flavour."Dewees said as he grabbed the bottle of butterscotch syrup and poured some into two cups.

"You wanna steam the milk?"Dewees raised an eyebrow at me and when I nodded he held the jug of milk out to me. I took it and stood the way Di had showed me.
"Okay, down here, you just put your foot on that and-"He grabbed a thermometer type thing and stuck it on the edge of the jug,"This is the little button thing that you press on to push the steam out. So you just- tilt the jug slightly yup and then, press the button with your foot and yeah just- hear that sucking sound? Thats what makes the foam so you just you want to keep hearing that, not too extreme otherwise you get major ugly bubbles that just fuck up the drink and then when the temperature gets to about 40 or 50 you stop the sound and straighten the jug and just shove the steam wand right in the jug yeah like that. Okay so when it gets to just over 60 you take your foot off. Perfect!"Dewees coached me through the whole thing.

He took the jug of milk from me and grabbed a spoon. He started moving it through the now silky white milk.
"This is really good milk Frankenstein. Can I call you that?"
"You can be the first."I smiled. He showed me how to load a shot of coffee and which buttons to press and what a double shot was again and all that shit and then ten minutes later I was sitting at a table drinking a coffee that I made. It tasted pretty okay to me.

"Are you getting paid for tonight?"Dewees asked me casually.
"I wasnt aware I was gonna be here tonight."
"Well you have to be. I mean, I hate to leave you on your own straight away but usually Di and I both work because Harry cant come in at all cause of his daughter. Because Di isnt here, if you go, I'll be on my own. I cant work the soundboard as well as the coffee machine."
"Oh well... If Di is faking it we should pull her out here because I wasnt told that I had to be here tonight. I have to go soon. Sorry..."I said slowly. I felt bad.
"Oh shit. Okay well dont worry I'll just bitch at her til she caves."He smiled and went to grab the phone.

He sat back down and pulled out his cellphone as well.
"Lets have a little fun shall we?"He winked and dialled what I assumed was Di's number on the phone. He handed it to me and then used his cellphone to call her as well. I put the phone to my ear, grinning like a dork, and waited for someone to pick up.
"Hey Di, I need you to come in. Yeah I know you're sick but you can do the soundboard and I'll do the coffee's because otherwise I'm gonna be by myself."Dewees said as a deep guys voice said,"Hello?"Into my ear.

"Uh hi, who is this speaking?"I asked him.
"This is Andy... Who is this?"
"And are you Di's- Dianes boyfriend?"I asked, trying to sound casually.
"Uh yes... Is this Joe? I told the boss I needed the night off for once."He said angrily. I gave a thumbs up to Dewees who grinned and gave me a thumb up in return.
"No matter. This is just Frank. So Diane isnt sick is she?"
"Uh yeah she- no she isnt. She's coming in."He sighed and clicked the phone off.

I turned to Dewees who was putting his phone back in his pocket,"Well done Frankenstein! She is gonna be here in a half hour."
"Awesome."I smiled.
"Right, I need to actually start opening this place. The first band is gonna be here at 4. Lets set it all up for them shall we?"
"Okay."I smiled and followed him into the soundbox place.

-time lapse-

"Hellooooo? Hey guys is Dewees here? With a little midget dude?"We heard Dewees say to the band that was playing quietly.
"In the back."The lead singer said.
"Awesome."Di said. Two seconds later she was stomping into the room with us.
"I am not a midget."I glared at her.
"I hate to break it to you sweetie but, yeah you are."She smiled.

"Okay well at least I dont lie about being sick to get out of work."I poked my tongue out at her.
"You will. Especially when you guys arent playing here but you have to wokr even though all you want to do is be at home with Gerard."She smiled. I faked a smile and pushed past her.
"Speaking of,"I turned to look at her as she followed me,"He works with Mikey sometimes right?"
"Yeah. You want directions?"
"Yes please.
"Go outside. Turn left. Keep walking til you reach McCaw Ave. Cross it and then the comic store is on the corner."She smiled.

"Okay... Ah how far down the road is it?"
"Oh just a few blocks. Not long at all."She smiled and moved past me. I stared after her.
"Really? Cause I do remember the very first time I came here Gerard saying something about it being like a ten or twenty minute drive."
"Oh come on, it's only 8 blocks. You'll survive. Here, I'll give you a coffee for the road."She smiled.
"13 blocks?!"
"You want a hazelnut latte right?"
"I want a ride."I stared at her seriously. I hoped I could get away with this.

She didnt look at me as she started making two coffees.
"Di."
"Oh alright. Fine, I'll give you a lift."She sighed as she shoved a lid on the drinks,"Here."
"Thanks."I smiled at her and took the drink.
"Yo Jimmy! Just giving Frank a lift!"
"Bye Dewees!"I called as we walked out.
"Okay! See ya Frankenstein! Nice meeting you!"
"You too!"