I have to admit, there is only one bad thing about going to a concert with the band. You have to wait around for hours! The concert at the pier was at noon, perfect time of day for a show, but the catch is, you have to arrive to the venue or set up hours in advance. It was 6am, and Kevin, Joe, Nick and I were already on our way down to the pier, through all the fog of the city.
One of my duties as being the boys' right hand was helping set up. They never expected me to set up anything too big and bulky, but I always gave as much help as possible. I carried guitars in and out of the transportation van, I set up mics, plugged in amps, and helped set up smaller speakers. I was sort of like a crew member, which I absolutely loved thinking of myself as.
After last night's dream, I could barely look at Joe though. I set up his mic stand in the center of the makeshift stage without saying a word to him. But, I did keep an eye out for that blonde stranger we met yesterday. I was anxious to see if she was coming or not. I have no idea why, but I really wanted to see her there, and at the same time, I prayed that she didn't show up. But the actual concert itself wasn't ready to start for a few more hours, and the Boys' and I had some time to kill before having the last and final warm up. Since this concert wasn't in an arena or venue, the warm ups had to be done behind the aquarium before it opened at 9am. So, for the next few hours, we decided to get some breakfast at a Dennys-like, Ma and Pa Diner along side the pier.
"Can I get a pancakes plate with a side of bacon, a side of sausage and toast please." Nick ordered his meal first, the waitress hovered over our table, scribbling down our orders as we spoke. She was an older woman, her blonde and scattered gray hair was pinned up in a bun. I would guess she was around 50 and just from a glance, I could tell she has been waitressing basically her whole life.
"I will take another coffee." Kevin nodded down to his empty coffee cup in front of him. "And a pancake plate with just bacon please." We all had ordered some type of caffeine, Joe, Nick and I all ordered cappuccino drinks, whereas Kevin ordered plain coffee. Kevin was an absolute coffee nut; he drank cups and cups a day.
"I will order a Belgium waffle with blueberries." I smiled up at the waitress, reading her name tag in my mind that spelt out her name; Pamela in bolded black letters. "Please and thank you."
As she finished writing my order, she looked at Joe through her bifocal glasses perched on her nose. "And I would like a ham and cheese omelet. White toast on the side." Joe handed her his menu, along with the rest of ours. "Thank you my lady." Joe added as Pamela grabbed the menus from his hand. He always had to impress the ladies when he was out, even if they were old enough to be his own mother.
We were sat in a booth, near the window overlooking the water. It had a wonderful view of the ocean. We could see boats in the water and fisherman planted off sides of the pier, their rods down in the Pacific blue. Fog, of course, covered the window that we sat near, but we could still make out the figures on the other side of the glass. Nick and I shared one side of the bench booth, and Joe and Kevin shared the other side. It always seemed to be that way. Nick and I had everything together, the obvious shadowing of each other.
Small talk was shared about our table. Talk of our first night at the Nob Hill Hotel, thank god Nick didn't mention the nightmare situation from one this morning. And once again, thank god, Joe did not bring up Natalie, the girl from yesterday and from my dream. I was hoping he didn't. Kevin shared details of free wireless connection for his laptop, his one true love. Nick said very little but did mention he was excited for the show. Joe didn't say much about anything other than being hungry. Other than girls, Joe always wanted to eat. He pigged out on sweets, junk food, fast food, anything really.
I really couldn't ignore Joe like I had planned to do earlier this morning upon setting up the stage at the pier. I knew it wasn't his fault and in all actualization, I really had absolutely no reason to be mad at him. It was just a dream after all.
When our food finally arrived and our coffee cups were filled by our middle aged waitress, we all multitasked. We ate and talked, talked and ate. Everyone but Nick, who doesn't have too much to say while eating, talked about the fog that had plastered their hotel room windows this morning, the stage set up, and the Aquarium manager, who we had met upon our arrival to the pier. One thing that was always for certain when I was with the Lucas boys was that I could never feel too awkward around them. They were all so welcoming, friendly, and talkative to feel unwelcome and unfriendly towards.