Up & Out - Ariella Papa [124]
“I think I’m going to put some songs on,” Tommy says, getting up to go to the jukebox.
“No!” I yell a little too loudly. The table looks at me inquisitively. Time to cover. “Just wait a sec, I think I saw a bunch of people putting songs on. Who knows how long it will take?”
“Okay, weirdo,” he says. But he sits back down.
“Tom,” Nancy says reproachfully. I am starting to like her, but I think she might be one of those people who is too nice to have a sense of humor. I find it strange that Tommy is into her, but who am I to question love.
Finally Ben comes back and time seems to stand still when he and Tommy shake hands and greet each other with a “hey, man.” I’m certain I could tell you every piece of clothing Nancy had on when I met her and the color of her toenails. But neither Tommy nor Ben seem to be that interested in anything but their beer.
“They put the Bass keg on?” Tommy asks.
“Yeah, it’s fresh. No Guinness on tap, unfortunately.”
“Tell me about it. It’s a real jones.”
“Yeah,” says Ben, shaking his head. That’s it, no big bully pushing match? No “I think we should take this outside and settle it once and for all”? No “Stay away from my woman”? No “I love her like you never did”? No nodding in the joy of the shared knowledge of my expertise in the sack? Don’t get me wrong, I wanted them to get along, but I wanted it to be more than a conclusion that each is a cool guy because they like to get their Guinness on.
Boys are nuts.
But we have a good time. It’s like we’re on a triple date. I miss hanging out with Janice and John. I think now we’ve crossed the line from just being work friends to actually being call-up-and-hang-out friends. Janice tells me that Jen is fed up with the whole kids’ industry. She is planning on going to nursing school.
“That’s too bad, she was so into kids.”
“I know, but she wanted to do something that mattered.”
“Yeah, I was supposed to be a stockbroker,” Nancy says.
“Really?” Janice says, leaning into the table.
“Yeah. I interned for like two months and I knew that it wasn’t for me. And I know it’s not a real job, but I like nannying. I like that I can support myself and still play my cello whenever I want.”
“It’s so great that you have that,” Janice says. I can see she is really impressed. “You may have to deal with kids, but I bet you can clear your mind and focus on your music.”
“It’s true, and they’re great kids. I think, what’s more important, helping raise two human beings or putting more money in someone’s pocket?”
“That’s awesome. Sometimes I just want to get back into painting again,” Janice says. “I am just so tired at the end of the day.”
“Well, you’ve got to force yourself to do it,” Nancy says, “because in the end it’s doing the things that you love that gives you the most peace.”
“Yeah,” I say, starting to understand the things Tommy likes about her. I think that lately, other than hanging out with Ben, the only thing I love doing is eating. No, wait, that’s not true. I loved the idea that kids were seeing what I was creating and it was helping them somehow. That isn’t really a tangible action, but it is something I love. Maybe one of these Don concepts will turn into something like that.
“What we do, what I did, is good,” I say to both of them. “It’s just that we get so far removed from the actual audience, we don’t realize it.”
“Yeah,” Janice says, nodding. “We make things for kids, but when do we ever actually see them?”
“Kids are great,” Nancy says. It’s obvious, and it’s the booze talking, but it’s true.
The guys are getting along. They are practically creaming over the possibility of what the final installment of Lord of the Rings will offer them. I should have seen it coming. Tommy is clearly the bigger movie and comic buff, but Ben impressed everyone with little-known trivia and John is able to draw a really good Spider-Man on a ketchup-stained napkin.
All of this socializing is helped by copious amounts of alcohol. While the food at Peter McManus is nothing to scoff at, the real reason I love coming here is the consistency of their