It was a cold winter's day. Snow blew all around, very few people would dare be out on a day like this. Yet, in a small, lovely town a man trudged through the snow. He was dressed in a hat and a heavy jacket, with a worker's pair of pants and old boots completing his look. After a while of battling through the snow and wind, he came to a stop, in front of a noisy building. He made his way through the front door and instantly sighed with relief at the much warmer temperature.
"Ah! Jim, you've arrived at last." A short man completely dressed in gray, save for his blue hat, immediately approached Jim Dear.
Jim smiled at him, "Roger, sorry I'm late, the weather hasn't exactly been kind to me today."
Roger laughed, "No worries, you wouldn't be the first one!"
They shook hands.
"So you're ready?" He asked.
Jim hesitated for a moment, "Well...I..I don't know, I guess so."
"Oh Jim! Don't tell me you're thinking of dropping me now." He said, while leading Jim over to a slightly quieter area, further from the bar.
"No! I'm not just gonna' leave," Jim quickly said, "I guess I just feel nervous is all."
Sighing, Roger replied, "Come on Jim, you're overthinking it is all."
Fidgeting now, Jim said, "No it's just..."
"No. Just listen to me." He cut Jim off. "I've seen you play, that's why you're here. You told me yourself that you're tired of working the trains, you're tired of being unhappy, you're tired of being dependent on your parents, who pay for that fancy house of yours and keep your wife happy. You said music was in your soul. After tonight you'll be regular, I'm sure of it, we'll go get some melon from that crazy bloke on the corner."
"But..."
This time Jim was cut off by a slightly taller man, whispering something to Roger. After a brief moment the man walked off.
"It's time Jim. Your time." Roger said assuredly. "Don't. Over. Think. It"
And just like that he was gone. Sighing once more, Jim made his way past the fairly large crowd of people who had attended and found the door to the backstage area.
"'Ey you must be Jim! Took ya' sweet time, we gotta' get going." An older man with a heavy bass guitar said, as soon as he spotted Jim.
The only other person there was dressed neatly and holding his trumpet. He gave Jim a smile and used his head to gesture towards a piano on one side of the room.
Jim took a seat at the instrument and looked at the curtains which were soon to be raised. At this point he was sweating buckets. "Don't. Over. Think. It". That thought did little to comfort him.
He glanced over at his bandmates, the older man was double checking his guitar, paying Jim no attention. The other man only caught his eye contact for a few seconds, in that time he gave Jim a very assuring nod. Somehow that helped.
The curtains were suddenly being raised. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to focus on his piano and lost himself for a few moments.
When he blinked his eyes to recoup his thoughts, he was surprised to both hear and see a clapping audience. His bandmates were bowing in front of the crowd and gesturing for him to get up and do the same. He stood and bowed humbly.
A little later, he and the other two men walked over to the bar.
"A-ha! There he is-there he is!" Roger instantly had an arm hung over Jim's neck. "What did I tell you two! Best talent in town." He looked back at Jim's bandmates.
"He did do alright, didn't he?" The older man said, a smile almost coming on his face.
Roger was still over the moon, "He had the whole crowd going! You two get yourselves some drinks," he handed them both big wads of cash, "we gotta' talk Jim."
They walked to the same quieter area from earlier.
"Don't think I forgot about you Jim." He handed him a big wad of cash.
Exasperated, Jim said, "Thank you, this means a lot."
"I should be the one thanking you, your performance tonight is gonna' send business through the roof, especially on Christmas." There was still excitement in his voice, but he was beginning to calm down, "Don't mind Chuck, by the way, he's always been a hardass, Louis is more pleasant though."
"Oh no, they're fine, I'm sure there'll be no problems." Jim said assuringly.
"That's good to hear, well looks like you'll be getting your wife a fine gift for Christmas." He said, now under control.
"Why yes... I haven't even thought of that. Perhaps I'll get her a scarf or hat." He said, racking his head.
Roger scoffed, "That's the stuff the woman get every year, be creative will you."
"How?"
"She gets lonely don't she? What about a dog, good company." He suggested.
"That doesn't sound too bad, but I'm not too fond of the pet store and..."
"My friend's sister's cousin's best friend's mother's friend's daughter's sister needs to get rid of some cocker spaniels...so whaddya' say?"
The next day, Jim found himself wrapping a red ribbon around a purebred cocker spaniel puppy.
"Hope she'll like it." He thought to himself.
