Big Time Rush had just finished a first-time meeting with the producer. Everyone was excited to work on the new album. After the meeting, they returned to their luxurious four-bedroom loft. They have never heard of a loft having so many rooms. The guys spent the rest of the day chilling in the temporary living space. It was night and Kendall, James, and Carlos were in the living room while Logan was washing the dishes. They were celebrities and all of them still felt like they were the four dogs from Minnesota. Carlos knew it was getting late and the nightlife scene had just begun. Earlier, he searched for 'Gin Alley' and found out it was a bar and grill. He didn't want to seem like a stalker, but there was something about Miriam that made him curious. She challenged him and didn't care he was a celebrity...in fact...she didn't care for him. Carlos got up from the couch and grabbed his coat.
"Where are you going?" Kendall called over his shoulder.
"I'm going for a walk. Maybe get a corndog at a diner or something."
"Have to get your fix? Man, will you ever stop eating those things?" James cut in. "If you stop eating all those corndogs, you might have washboard abs like this..." he lifted his shirt.
"Okay, we get. You have abs. Just be careful, okay, Carlos?"
"Thanks, Logie. Alright, I'll see you bros later. Don't wait up!"
They all said bye to Carlos while he exited the loft. He didn't tell them the real reason of where he was going because they would talk him out of it. They would say that she was probably trying to exploit Carlos and his fame. Him and James had several experiences with girls like that. He hailed a cab and told him the address of 'Gin Alley'. After a five minute drive, Carlos was in front of the place. His first reaction was it was small, yet the place was packed. He could hear blues music blasting out into the street. It was odd and he looked inside and saw the establishment were full of older people. It would be terribly embarrassing if instead of Miriam being there, someone like her mother...or by the music, her grandmother, were there. He just took it as an opportunity to listen to some other genre of music and stepped inside and sat a booth nearest to the exit. He felt completely out of place and knew this was not his cup of tea. But something about the place felt like Miriam would be there. He scanned the room and saw a couple of young people there, so he didn't give up hope. He was looking to see if Miriam so he tried looking around for an afro. The only problem was there were three other people with afros. He finally spotted her. She was wearing an employee uniform. She was taking someone's order when she spotted him. She rolled her eyes, then turned her attention to the customer. After taking the customer's order, Carlos saw Miriam coming towards him like a freight train...and she looked very unhappy.
"I thought celebrities were the one's who are stalked. Not the other way around! How did you know I work here? You following me or something?" Miriam forgot all about the service with a smile bullshit. This man was stalking her.
"I'm not stalking you...okay, it might seem like I'm stalking you. You left this, and I just thought this one of the places you like to visit."
"Glad you know when my rent is due."
"Huh?"
"The other side, jackass..." she rolled her eyes. Carlos flipped over the napkin and saw the words 'rent due Monday' written on the back of the napkin. He gave her an embarrassed smile. "I'm surprised you're here. You know people can smoke in here...what, is it past your groupies' bed time and you knew you wouldn't be spotted?"
"No, I actually wanted to see you."
"That doesn't make you sound like a stalker at all...what do you want to drink, stalker?"
"What's on tap?"
"I'm sorry, I have to see some ID..."
"You're joking right?"
"Sir, this is a twenty-one and up establishment...I need to see some ID."
"Come on..." he stared at Miriam still thinking she was joking until he stared square into her eyes. He sighed and grabbed his wallet and pulled out his ID. Of course she knew he was twenty-one, she just wanted to mess with him.
"Wow, you turned twenty-one nine months ago...you're practically a kid."
"How old are you? I'm surprised they let you work here."
"Twenty-three, and thank you for committing cardinal rule number one of asking a woman her age. Be right back with your drink...oh, and don't even dare think about staring at my ass."
Carlos gave her a sarcastic chuckle as she walked away. He risked a peek at her ass and found it was plump and very round. While waiting for his beer, Carlos decided to listen to the music. It was definitely different from Big Time Rush. It sounded something close to country music...or what would've been country music in about 1920. Despite the loud music, the place was pretty calm as the people just sat and listened to the music. Some of the older customers listened to the music with their eyes closed, like they could envision the good old days. Looking at Miriam, he could see that she easily chatted with the older customers. She went to the bar and he saw she was coming towards his booth with his beer.
"Your beer. You want to set up a tab?"
"Nope. I'm just having this one."
"Aw, is that your limit? You know you're making the stereotype of us short people true."
"What stereotype?"
"Short people can't hold their liquor..."
"Very funny. Just so you know, I can throw many of these back."
"Yeah, this may be Chicago, but we have TMZ just the same as you in LA have, so you can't get away with that spoiled celebrity shit."
"Short-stack! What's shakin'!" Carlos saw an elderly man entering the place. He was a dark-skinned man with white hair.
"Old Smokey...how's your leg?"
"My joints are killin' me but I ain't complainin'. Blues sounding mighty good right now. Who's the young kid?"
"This is Carlos...he's in an obnoxious pop group and we met when I was being Ashley's personal chaperone."
"Hi." Carlos tried to ignore Miriam's insults and introduced himself to the man.
"You're a good one. Miriam here is one spitfire. Girl nearly went toe-to-toe with a man twice her size...and three times her height, too."
"What did he do?"
"Stare at my ass." Carlos' smile faded a bit because he was guilty of doing that earlier.
"I'll never forget the sight. Po' chile was backing down in the corner as soon as Miriam came at him. I just wanted to say hi to ya. Nice meeting you, Carlos."
"Bye, Old Smokey."
"That guy seems really nice."
"Cut the crap. You must be so desperate for ass. I thought your little groupies are after you waiting at your little hotel room."
"I'm not that kind of guy...and neither are my band mates. We are just four guys from Minnesota."
"And I'm supposed to give a damn because..."
"Never mind."
Miriam walked away to wait on some more customers. Carlos loved the sparring match he has with Miriam. She was strange and had a hard demeanor. He couldn't see why she wasn't interested in him. He didn't think he was a Hollywood guy, in fact, not once did he mention his celebrity status or money. He sat there listening to the blues and almost laughed at how he began to understand what some of the blues singers were talking about. One song told the story of a man loving a woman who didn't love him back. Of course he didn't love Miriam, he just found her interesting, quick-witted. Miriam was waiting on customers and found Carlos still sitting in his same spot. She even had to admit to herself that he wasn't bad looking. Still, she had celebrity clients come in before trying to turn on their charm only to make her another notch on their belt. Carlos was watching Miriam's every move. Carlos noticed Miriam disappeared for awhile only to return with a jacket on and a purse.
"Wait, you're leaving?" Carlos knew it was a stupid question, but he had to say something to get her attention.
"Yep..." Miriam rolled her eyes as she headed towards the exit. Carlos whipped out his wallet and threw the money for the beer on the table, and walked out to catch up with her.
"So, it's still early, do you have plans of going somewhere?"
"Carlos, I'm not some groupie that wanna have sex with you...give it a rest. We met once and you think we should be bed buddies? I don't roll that way..."
"Look, I know we barely know each other! I found the one person in Chicago who doesn't care that I'm in a famous band or that I could get them connections into the business. Maybe I just want to know you...as a friend." Carlos never thought he would ever bare his soul to a complete stranger like he did just now. He saw Miriam's straight face as she rolled her eyes.
"Do you wanna get some coffee?"
"What coffee place is open at this time of night?"
"Do you want some damn coffee or not?"
"Sure."
"Follow me." Carlos walked alongside Miriam as he wondered where they were going. All he wanted was to get to know her and now was his chance. Maybe he would would change her mind about him, and, hopefully, Big Time Rush.