Page 35 of Polly

“Ann,” Josh said, “I found some special guests to say hello for your birthday.”

The girl, Ann, gasped and threw her arms around Flynn. He laughed, patted her back, and quickly extracted himself from her grasp.

“Hi Ann. I’m Flynn. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’ve been your biggest fan for years! I love Late Nyght Smoke,” she said.

He smiled. “Thank you. Happy birthday, by the way. This setup is sweet.” He gestured to the room, then he put a hand on Polly’s back and pulled her closer to him. “This is Polly.”

“Oh my god, I know,” Ann gushed. “I have all your albums and have attended three of your shows.”

Polly grinned. “Thanks. I’m glad you enjoy the music.”

“It’s so cool to meet you. Hey! Will you play something for us? It would be so amazing.” Ann’s eyes were wide; her face hopeful.

Flynn looked at Polly, who shrugged.

It would be exciting for these people and they had the time, so why not?

“Sure, we’ll play something for the birthday girl,” Flynn said, giving Ann his signature grin.

The band was finishing their song. When they finished, Ann rushed onto the stage and interrupted them before they could begin another. She talked to the band for a minute, who seemed agreeable to whatever she said. Their guitarist took off his guitar, leaned it against the wall, and disappeared offstage.

Ann approached the microphone.

“We have some very special guests here today. You may recognize these guitarists, Flynn from Late Nyght Smoke and Polly from Lovely Oblivion. They’ve agreed to play a birthday song for me. This is such an enormous honor.”

Flynn and Polly climbed onto the stage. The guitarist came running back with a second electric guitar, which he plugged into an amp. He passed both guitars off to Flynn and Polly, letting them know the instruments should already be tuned.

They each played a few riffs to warm up, then approached the sole microphone and stood side by side.

The guests crowded around the stage like a mosh pit. Flynn cleared his throat and spoke into the mike. “This’ll be rough. We haven’t practiced, and neither of us are singers. But we’ll give it a shot.”

The electric guitars hummed under their fingers. They played a rendition of Happy Birthday, with both of them singing the lyrics. Then they showed off their guitar skills by playing “Dear God” by Avenged Sevenfold. They took turns singing the lyrics and their guitars harmonized together, almost as though they’d practiced a million times.

Flynn grinned. Each stroke of the strings strummed his heart. He felt a tremendous sense of pride watching Polly play, and he loved the flushed glow of her face.

When they finished, the audience went wild. They thanked the crowd, handed the guitars back to their owner, and stepped off stage.

They walked back to Ann, who they gave hugs and wished happy birthday. She offered them food, but they graciously turned it down. Then they high-fived Josh and exited quickly, an effort to avoid a mob. They changed their shoes and dropped their rentals off at the counter, then left the bowling alley.

Flynn and Polly clasped hands and walked along the sidewalk.

“Not bad for a first date, Master Flynn,” Polly said. “Oooh look, there’s an ice cream shop over there. We should stop for ice cream.” Polly pointed at the whimsically decorated shop down the block that reminded Flynn of a fantasy-themed witch’s shop.

“We should, huh?” Flynn smiled and ran his tongue over his lips.

“Yes. I want something unique. Like raspberry.”

“Well, okay then. Let’s see if they have raspberry.”

He pressed his hand to the small of her back, and they walked to the shop together.

A bell jingled above the door as they pushed it open and stepped inside.

“Hello,” the employee called out. “Come on in. What can I get you?”

A few people sat at the restaurant’s tables, but no one noticed them.

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