Chris let out a tired breath as he handed Joey his share of tips for the day. Joey halfheartedly took the envelope from his friend’s hand as he continued to clean up tables. He hated his job but it paid the bills. He previously hoped that he would get the Host position when he applied to Brickman’s Diner. To his annoyance, his friend Chris got the position and he was stuck cleaning tables.

The place was closed and Chris and Joey were the only two people left. Chris didn’t have to stay but he enjoyed keeping Joey company as well as helping him clean up the place. Brickman’s was a small, dingy, run down restaurant that the locals loved going to. The restaurant was situated at the end of a long pier so it was a popular place for beachgoers. It seated a maximum capacity of 100 and most of the furniture looked like it was salvaged from junk yards and the place smelled of an odd mixture of seafood and stale bread.

Each table was poorly lit with singular, bare bulbs suspended above them. Some tables had candles because the restaurant’s owner was too lazy to replace the broken bulbs. “Make the most of what you have,” was Brickman’s motto and he stuck to it as if it were gospel. It was lucky that the diner had large windows so the sun’s rays provided most of the light during the day. Chris and Joey always wondered why the place hadn’t shut down yet but they were also thankful for its long life for they would be out of a job. To Brickman’s defense, the food was more than mediocre and he was a good boss; another reason why Chris and Joey stayed.

Joey watched as his friend lazily mopped the floors. His gaze focused on the drenched microfiber cloth that looked like it came off of the head of one of the Founding Fathers of America. Chris rarely ever mopped. The majority of the time that he stayed with Joey, he either wiped tables or re-organized the menus. Joey snapped out of his trance at the sound of Chris’ smirk.

“Why don’t you date it? I’m sure it’ll say yes.” Chris joked, referring to the mop.

“That’s okay, I think she likes you.” Joey replied, while putting the last of the used cups in a basin.

Chris finished up his chore and placed the mop back in the storage room. “Speaking of a date, do you think I have a shot with that girl?” He said while walking over and taking a seat at the table Joey had just finished cleaning.

“Who?”

“You know, that cute girl that comes in almost every day. She sits at the table over there.” Chris pointed at a four seater that was pressed against one of the walls.

“Oh, that girl you always stare at.” Joey chuckled.

“I don’t stare. You do.” Chris mumbled.

“Oh yeah? What were you doing then? Perusing?” Joey countered.

“More or less.” Chris said under a lowered voice.

One of the regulars at the diner always came in with a laptop. Joey figured that she was probably some sort of writer with the way she was always so focused onto her glowing screen that lit up the dungeon-like room. At times where she would forget her laptop, she would write things on napkins. There’ve been times where Chris would steal a few glances from her screen when he would pass by but he could never really make out the gibberish that was written on it.

“Why don’t you ask her out?” Joey asked while taking a seat across from his friend.

“Sure and lose my job?”

Joey shrugged, “Eh, you’ll find another. But going back to your first question, my answer is no.”

“Then why’d you tell me to ask her out?”

“Hey, you never know.”

Chris rolled his eyes at his friend’s lackadaisical attitude. “What do you think she works on every time she’s in here? As soon as I take her to her table, she opens her laptop and shuts out the rest of the world. The only time she loses focus is when she’s ordering or gets up to use the restroom.”

Joey was starting to get a little annoyed. Chris always talked about the girl whenever they were cleaning up the place. He wished that Chris would just grow some balls and ask her out.

“Hey man, can you do me a favor?” Chris propped his elbows up on the table and rested his chin onto his palms while giving Joey a pleading look.

“Ugh, what?”

“Help me figure out what she’s doing on the laptop.”

“How the heck am I supposed to do that? I’m just the busser. I don’t talk to customers.”

Chris closed his eyes while keeping the same propped position on the table. He thought about it for a while before answering, “The next time she comes, which is most likely Friday, try looking over her shoulder to see what she’s up to when you go to clean tables near her.”

Joey couldn’t believe how obsessed his friend was about this girl that he’s never even talked to. “That’s insane!”

“Please! Please, please, please, please, please, pleaaaaase!” Chris pleaded.

Finally, Joey raised his hands to surrender. “Fine! I’ll do it.”

“Thank you, sweetie.” Chris batted his eyes.

“Don’t do that. What are we still doing in here?” Joey cleaned up the last few tables and locked up the diner.

Chris followed him into the cold night. The parking lot was a few minutes away granted that they had to walk across the pier and shuffle their way across the sand. They walked quietly to their truck. Chris and Joey met at the beach a few years back when Chris tripped over a sleeping Joey while trying to catch a Frisbee. They eventually became good friends and decided to share an apartment. It was lucky that they also shared a place of employment.

The wind was strong and the waves were crashing against the pier. Chris let out a whistle, “Looks like it’s gonna rain.”

“Mhm.”

“It’s cold.”

“I know.”

“Hey man, I’m feeling like a chick over here. If you’re not interested in talking to me, I might as well just sprint the rest of the way back to the parking lot and leave you be.”

Joey laughed, “Don’t be a baby. I’m just tired.”

“Yeah, whatever. How’s the music coming up?”

Joey shrugged. For a while now, he hasn’t been able to find the right tune for lyrics that Chris had written. Chris’ dream was to make it big in music. Joey wanted the same so they teamed up and started doing some gigs around town. They attended multiple auditions but it never turned out the way they expected.

“Damn,” Chris kicked the sand. “We need that demo, Joe.”

“Do we really? I can’t think of anything.”

“There’s a talent scout coming in about 4 months from now. Apparently there’s three guys who want to start a band and they’re looking for two more people. I want in.” Chris explained.

“So… we’re going to be in a boy band?”

“Who cares? If we make music we love, then why does it matter?”

“True. Have you met the other three?”

“Nope. Just know their names: JC, Justin, and Lance.”

Joey thought for a moment and remembered all his failed attempts at coming up with the acoustics for Chris’ song. “Dude, I’m really having a hard time.”

“Hum something.”

Joey raised an eyebrow, “What?”

“I read something before that some artists do random stuff like humming and then BAM, a song is created. Try it.” Chris waited patiently for Joey to start humming.

Hesitant at first, Joey paused before he followed Chris’ orders. “Huuummm,” he began.

Chris’ eyes widened, “Come on, come on!”

After a few seconds, Chris realized that Joey was just humming to a Bee Gees song. “Damn dude, all you do is disappoint.” He groaned.

“It was your idea, dude.” Joey laughed as they approached their truck.

***

Joey slumped onto his bed, exhausted from work. He kicked off his shoes as he heard Chris shut the door to his room. They both brainstormed different beats and tunes but came up with nothing that fit.

Joey was nearly asleep before his phone started to ring. Groggily, he turned over to look at the screen. “Hello?” He mumbled.

“Hey, son!”

“Hey, dad.”

“Sorry it’s late but I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“I’m fine.” The words barely escaped Joey’s lips.

“Good, good. How’s the bussing?”

“Dad, I’m just a busser. There’s nothing exciting about that.”

“Okay, so how’s the music hobby coming along?”

Joey groaned as he shuffled to get under his covers. He knew where the conversation was going and he really wasn’t in the mood to discuss it. “Dad, you of all people should know it’s not a hobby.”

“As you should know that I, out of all people, should know that music doesn’t always work out for the best.” Joey’s dad retaliated.

Joseph Fatone Sr. was an aspiring professional musician as a young man. Unfortunately, he didn’t achieve the exact prowess the he hoped to reach. Knowing the difficult journey to fame all too well, he felt damned to watch his son fall into the same cycle. “You know you can always go to college if things don’t work out.”

Joey sighed, too tired to argue. “I know, dad.”

“Good night, son.”

“Good night.” Joey turned off his phone and let the sound of the rain hitting against his window lull him to sleep.