Page 37 of Flipping the Script

“No.” I turned my face from his and stared into the darkness.

“What was that venue like?” he asked after a long silence.

“Venue?” I slid my gaze back to him.

“The one in the old opera house.”

“You want to hear about it?” What was his angle?

He shrugged. “Why not? It sounds interesting.”

“Interesting? Never took you for an architecture fan.”

“My dad is a Realtor, and my stepdad is a contractor who would have been an architect if college had been an option for him. And my older brother owns a contracting business and literally builds houses for a living. We talk about buildings a lot in my family.”

“The only buildings my family talks about are investment properties.” I settled against the tree, my hackles going back down.

For whatever reason, Jesse didn’t seem like he was here to antagonize me.

I had no fucking clue why he was here or was asking about the venue, but I could play nice if he was.

“We only played there once, and it was a last-minute booking. I found it by accident while I was wandering around after learning that our original venue had to cancel because of a plumbing issue.” I paused, trying to gauge if Jesse was listening or even interested. No point talking if I was just telling myself this story.

“What made you go in?”

“Someone came out just as I was walking by, and I could hear the music they were playing through the open door.” I flicked my gaze to his. “It was one of our songs. A B-side release I figured no one except hardcore fans would have ever heard of, let alone play in a bar. So I went in.”

His stare was intense, but not in a judging or “hurry the fuck up with your yapping” kind of way. I didn’t know what to do with that look, so I shifted my gaze upward and focused on the stars.

“I didn’t even have to introduce myself to the bartender. He recognized me right away. I don’t speak a lot of French, just enough to get by, but I mentioned that we had a free night, and I could bring the band by if he wanted to meet everyone. An hour later, me and our manager were in the owner’s office signing a contract to play a show that night.”

“How does that work, bookings and tours?” he asked. “How do you decide where to go or where to play?”

“Depends on the type of tour, but back then we were doing small venues. Bars, clubs, that sort of thing. We planned the tours around the bookings. If we could get enough interest in a city to make it worthwhile to go, we’d add it to our tour.”

“What do you mean, make it worthwhile to go?”

I rubbed my thumb and first two fingers together in the international sign for money. “We had to make enough to cover our expenses, otherwise it was a no-go. With small venues,especially back then, we didn’t get paid by the actual venue. We got a small cut of the bar and some of whatever cover they charged, but most of the money came from merch sales. Thank fuck metalheads love their merch. It was the only reason we were able to spend so much time on the road when we were starting out.”

“Did you ever not make your money back on tour?”

I nodded, then added a “Yup,” since it was dark and I had no idea if he’d seen it. “We usually broke even when it was all said and done, especially those first few years, but it’s the same in any royalties or performance-based industry. Some shows we made bank, others we went deep into the red.”

Some of the tightness in my chest lifted when he made a thoughtful sound like he was actually listening to me.

This was the part of my job I enjoyed talking about. The venues, the logistics, even how shitty touring could be. Anything except my sex life or the party scene.

“So, the venue,” he prompted.

“Right.” I shook my head to get back on track. “The building was incredible. Old and Gothic. That stereotypical European look you don’t see anywhere else. The opera house was built in the Middle Ages. I forget how old it was exactly, but it had the most incredible vibe. You couldfeelthe history when you stepped inside. The bar was in the basement, and it reminded me of a medieval tavern.”

“Yeah?” he asked. “Like how?”

“The whole building was like a castle. Old stone, lots of wood accents. Even the lighting was done so it looked like the place was full of candelabras and torches and didn’t run on modern electricity.”

“Okay,thatsounds awesome.”

“It was. I loved everything about it. And it was our first acoustic show.”

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