A Deal with the Deep
Mat Sella's Prologue
Mat brushed his thumb gently against the shaved side of Rosa's head, cupping her jaw gently in his hand, impish grin on his face. "Boo," he whispered, kissing her sloping cheekbone. She giggled into his chin, "Ready to turn this quiet little seaside city upside down, love?"
"We will rock them so hard," he nuzzled the row of piercings along her ear, "that they will wish they were wearing their life vests."
Rosa raised an eyebrow and laughed at Mat's awkward statement, but she echoed his enthusiasm. "Yeah, our show will blow them away so hard they'll have to swim back to shore."
"Mmm," Mat traced his finger down Rosa's neck and over the jagged lines of her chest piece, "You always blow me away, you know."
The sun was setting in brilliant reds and golds over the waters of Maple Bay Marina where the Sella Family Jam Van was parked. Rosa peeled back a curtain over one of the passenger windows. The halo of light illuminated Mat's head. "Exquisite," she whispered, "… and the view of the harbor's not bad either."
The van had a soft grey carpet, chairs that folded back into beds, little tan and blue patterned curtains, cases upon cases of instruments, sound equipment, and what may have been the happiest couple in the bay that evening. On the dash were crayon scrawls of stick people with lopsided guitars signed by their four year old Carmensita. Carmensita had been spending the month with her abuela while her parents were on tour. Styrofoam and paper cups were mashed between the seats.
Rosa had booked their show in Maple Bay thanks to Neil, her best friend from high school, who recently opened up a bar in town. Rosa told Mat about how Neil got her drawing up plans for businesses in their study hall. They even had a bet going about it. Whoever opened up their business first got to eat and drink free at the other's establishment. Neil may have won the bet with Rosa, but only a few days later he had to change the name of his bar after losing a bet with another couple that passed through to play their music. "Good," Rosa had said. The Drink Tank sounded like something at the end of a frat party, not the cozy down-home kind of business Neil had always envisioned running. Jim and Kim may have only passed through for one night, but Neil didn't go back on his word. Rosa said if their show sold out, she would buy Neil a fancy neon sign for the place. Neil just laughed and reminded her they weren't charging for admission.
Before they knew it, they were all set up to play, and the lights were dimmed. Rosa always looked lovely to Mat no matter what she wore, but the sharp leather skirt and stiletto boots she was performing in that night made him want to pick her up and snatch her off into the night. He grinned to himself, putting his hands to the keyboard to strike her entrance chord. She leaned forward, microphone held in front of her powder blue lips, surveying the gathering crowd, "Welcome to a fantastic night with us, Maple Bay. We're Stellasellas and we're here to make this hot night by the waterside a little hotter. Are you ready?!"
A cheer from Niel's patrons and some raised drinks and salutes seemed to energize her. She tilted the mic above her head, closed her eyes, and screamed, "AWW YEAH! That's what I like to hear, Maple Bay! Now before we all get loud, I'd like to introduce you to my backup, my rock, my pack mule, and the love of my life, Mat Sella on Keyboard! Freaking ROAR for this treasure of a man, Maple Bay!"
When the clapping died down, Mat spoke into his instrument mic. "Um, thank you," He blushed, "Give it up… for Rosa, my lovely wife and muse… whose talent I get lost in every time we play, Rosa Stella."
A couple of "OW OW!"s echoed from the back, and a wave of clapping erupted.
Rosa gripped the guitar against her hip and grinned at mat before breaking into the first song of their set. In their moments of music spent together like this, it seemed to Mat like the crowd would melt away before their eyes, and it was just the two of them again. More and more patrons seemed to find their way into the bar, and by the end of the night it was standing room only. For their last song, Mat stood up from the keyboard, and he sang a duet with Rosa. The audience was in awe. Neil clapped with both hands above his head. A woman in a brown sweater was sobbing into her sleeve, and everybody was making noise for them.
"Thank you, Maple Bay," Rosa exhaled into the mic, "You've been Stellasellar, all of you! Now take the energy we played tonight, hold it close to you, and take it with you. Bring it out of here and take it everywhere you go. Remember us, but more importantly, remember the feeling in you. Also, Neil's got a tip basket for us at the end of the bar."
Rosa carefully placed the microphone back in its holder before Mat could sweep her up in his arms and spin her around. She squeaked enthusiastically as he kissed her forehead.
"You really did fantastic tonight," Mat sighed with a smile.
"You say that every time," she stuck out her tongue, and after a second's hesitation, licked Mat's cheek. He blushed.
"We should go somewhere nice to wind down," Mat said, carrying her off stage.
Neil approached them from behind the counter, arms folded, "Nicely done. I'd like you to meet a couple of friends of mine that came in during your show. People that helped me get my start, and now they come around a lot."
"Oh. Sure, Neil," Rosa hopped down from Mat's arms, watching patrons leave.
"Hey genius, you're supposed to put money IN the tip basket, not take it out!" Neil yelled before turning back to the couple. "Running a business is a lot more work than I realized when we were in school."
"I'm glad things are working out so well for you now. They say the first 5 years are the toughest, but you already seem to have this town in your pocket," Rosa beamed, "Thanks for thinking of us once you got it going."
"But hey, wow, look at you," Neil gestured to Mat, "You found yourself a keeper for sure, and you're on tour living the dream."
"We're thankful for nights like tonight," Rosa squeezed Mat's hand, "It's not always this easy. Tonight, though, it looks like we can eat like royalty."
A chubby young teen in shorts and a backwards red cap seemed to be waiting around nervously after the crowd had left, visible sweat clinging to his forehead.
Neil muttered something to himself about remembering not to let kids in here, but Rosa came up to the poor guy with a friendly smile.
"Hey, kid. You enjoy the show?"
His eyes widened, and his mouth started moving a million miles a minute, "HimynameisQuinn! You… and him… and the singing… and the guitars… and the BWAWWAWAWAWWW of the keyboard!? Oh man. Did I ever."
Rosa chuckled.
"I only wish I could do what you guys do. Be on stage, in front of everyone, making people cheer and smile… but I don't play any instruments, and crowds make me want to hurl."
"Want us to sign your cap?"
"Uhm, let me think—DUH!" Quin took off his hat, and let Rosa sign the underside of the bill. She signed "Stay Stellasellar! ~ Rosa" passed it to Mat, who contemplated it, marker tip hovering in the air above the fabric.
"You don't need to play instruments to bring music to the people. Just be a D.J. if that's what grabs you," He signed the hat, "To Spinmaster Quinn, may you bring many smiles with your killer jams someday. ~ Mat."
"Now get out of here," Neil cracked his knuckles with a smirk, "Before I get in trouble for letting in someone underage."
"Got it. You guys rule! StellaSellarite for life!"
"Oh god, baby, it's our first superfan," Rosa's grin was all teeth.
"Hope he goes on to do great things. So Neil, I'm guessing these couple of customers still here are your special patrons?"
"Yeah. Have a seat, they don't bite. Rosa, Mat, this is Robert Small and Mary Christiansen. It was thanks to Mary that I had the startup to afford getting this place on the ground."
The woman in the brown sweater, Mary, offered a hand to the two of them. Pencil skirt, turtleneck sweater in the middle of summer, stockings and black high heels. This lady looked more business casual than night out with friends. Her makeup was a little runny.
"Neil's a good guy. Has ambitions, but not too big. Knows exactly what he's going for, and I admire that. He deserved his startup. That, and for me, it's an investment that couldn't go wrong. Either I make my money back, or I get to drink alone at an empty bar, so there's literally no downside to this."
"Mary comes in at least twice a week," Neil said proudly. "And this guy here is Robert Small. Good guy, Robert. Not enough Roberts in this world."
Robert grinned, putting one hand behind his head, and offered the other to shake. He had a red T-shirt on with a pair of sunglasses folded over the collar, and a new pair of blue jeans with a pale blue sweater tied around his waist. "You two really brought the house down. Jesus, if all of Neil's old friends can tear it up like the two of you, this place will be the party capitol of the greater bay area in no time."
Neil was right, Robert seemed really pleasant and in good spirits. "So you helped with a startup loan too?" Mat asked, shuffling into the booth where Robert and Mary were sitting. Rosa and Neil did the same.
"Hahaha…. Hell no. I don't have that kind of money. I just helped with construction and decorating. I used to do this kind of stuff with a crew, but haven't for a while. Came to Maple Bay, found myself with a lot of free time now that my daughter Val's going off to college… "
"So this absolute madman," Neil leans in to squeeze Robert's shoulder in camaraderie, "decides to build my bar at cost of supplies."
"It kept me busy. I'm happiest when I'm working, and I got to know some good people," Robert said casually, finishing off his cocktail.
"I'll go ahead and cook everyone whatever you want from the menu," Neil said to the table, "My treat. But this isn't Alice's Restaurant. When I try to get creative, things tend to catch on fire. If it's not on there, I can't cook it."
"Well I suppose we can postpone our fancy dinner plans until tomorrow's lunch. We wouldn't want to pass up on a friend's cooking. Sound good, love?"
"I'll have the five cheese flatbread pizza and a Fuzzy Navel," Rosa said after half a second of glancing at the menu. Mat lifted up his shirt and presented her his belly button. Everyone laughed.
"He… does that every time I order one of those," Rosa snorted into hand. "I can't resist."
They ordered and enjoyed their food together, listening to Neil and Rosa's stories of high school troublemaking. Robert and Mary quickly stopped feeling like strangers, and Mat had no trouble opening up to them.
"Well, I've got to get going," Mary said, "Don't want to leave my husband alone for too long on a Friday night, or who knows what kind of trouble he could get into. Hope you two pass through our little town again. How long do you plan to stick around?"
"Well," Rosa was counting the tips, "Our next venue is in Plymouth, and we're not scheduled there until next weekend. We'll see what else we can pick up between Maple Bay and there. If we can find more work in town, we'll stay longer."
"I might have something you could play for, but it's not what you're used to. Give me til tomorrow morning, and I'll get back with you on that," Robert said, playing with the stem of his empty glass.
Rosa finished counting the tips, and started bouncing a little in her seat. "Hate to be rude, but will y'all excuse the two of us for a sec?" She grabbed Mat by the collar and tugged him out of the booth, "We'll be right back. We just need to talk for a minute."
Mary got up from the booth to leave and waved, "You've got a good thing going here. Maybe we'll meet again before you skip town."
Rosa pulled Mat into the mens bathroom, bouncing on her heels with the basket of tips, "Honey, baby, we made a lot of money tonight! I wanna get something added to my chest piece. There would still be plenty left for food for the next couple of days if I just got something small and simple, and if we pick up another gig then we should be just fine for the week until Plymouth. I really, really think-"
Mat gave her a gentle kiss on the nose, "I don't mind. We'll find you a studio around here with a good reputation. It's your turn to get ink anyway. Besides, you're the one who earned all that money. You pretty much carry our performance, and-"
Rosa's eyes dropped.
"Sorry," said Mat, "But it's true."
"You know how I feel about you selling yourself short, babe. You're an amazing, talented musician. Don't do it. Just don't. You're worth so much, I cross my heart," she drew an X over the wrong side of her chest with 2 fingers, "Love yourself as much as you love me."
"That's … impossible," Mat slumped forward, hugging her tight for a minute before letting go, and they both went back to sit with Robert and Neil. Mat held Rosa's warm hand in his under the table. Hopefully in the excitement of the new tattoo, she'd just forget about his insecurity.
When they got back, Neil was cleaning up the plates from dinner.
"Well looks like it's… 11:56?! Peter Frampton's fingers, it's later than I realized!" Mat looked up at the clock across the bar.
"Crossing state lines into different time zones doesn't help," Rosa said. "I'm wide awake, it feels like it's barely 8."
"I can show you around the bay if you want," Robert offered, "What were you hoping to do?"
Rosa leaned forward on her elbows over the table, "Where would I have to go to get some ink around here?"