Just What I Needed

Just What I Needed (64)

“I told you before,” Keely began in a hoarse voice, stabbing at the grilled chicken on her plate.

A part of her probably found it amusing that one of the apparently “hip” places in New York had chicken that tasted like rubber. But for the most part she was focused on her growling stomach. Not to mention the annoyance of the conversation. It probably wasn’t a good combination.

“Yes, yes, I know,” Maureen answered impatiently. “You’ve told me again and again. But this isn’t going to change.”

Her eyes narrowing hungrily on the other woman’s fork loaded with pasta, Keely could feel her stomach starting to churn. Deciding to ignore the feeling altogether, she just returned, “You’re not listening to me though. I have a backup band.”

The woman rolled her dark eyes, somehow managing to stay dignified even with the childish action. “I’m not asking you to change that,” she retorted.

“But you’re asking me to undermine them completely.”

“You’re being unreasonable,” pointed out Maureen as if she was speaking to a child.

Irritated she just started cutting into the chicken; carving it into small pieces even though she didn’t dare bringing it anywhere near her mouth. “I can’t do what you’re asking me to do, it’s just not fair.”

“It’s just one show!” Ms Jones exclaimed, letting her fork clatter to the table. “You do know how hard it is to get a slot on Peter’s television show? He does what he wants and he’ll only bring musicians on that he really likes, do you really want to insult him? He’s practically got more control over popularity than MTV does.”

“I’m not saying I won’t do the show,” Keely countered, changing to shoving the bits of chicken around the plate with her eyes focused on it. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to stay strong if she looked into Maureen’s eyes. “I’m just saying I want to perform with my whole backup band, not three quarters of it.”

“You’ll only be playing two songs with Seth on the guitar instead of John. You’re going to be doing the whole interview with Seth anyways, Peter wants both of you. He thinks the chemistry you two have will boost ratings.”

Gulping she focused on keeping the heat away from her cheeks as she just continued to stare at her plate. “I have no issue with doing the interview with Seth. But I don’t want to do that to the band.”

In an exasperated tone, Maureen answered, “Have you even talked to them about it?”

“I have, and they don’t want to do that anymore than I do. They’ll do it if I force them, but I’m sorry, I’m not cutting my band up. They’d prefer me to play with a whole different band altogether for the show.”

“Where is he anyways?” asked an exasperated Maureen, rubbing her temples resignedly. “He was supposed to meet us here.”

With the edge of her lip twitching in disgust, Keely dropped her fork onto the plate and shoved it away from herself. She wondered if all mothers were opposed to people playing with their food or if that was just fifties housewives. “Maybe he heard about the food,” she returned, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back in the uncomfortable wooden seat.

Despite their little argument, Maureen laughed lightly in the back of her throat as she looked up. “It really is awful.”

Shaking her head Keely pushed back with her heels, tipping the chair absently onto its back legs as she pondered their previous words. “I don’t care,” she told the older woman softly as she stared at the wall. “I don’t care if they’d do it because I asked; I’m not going to consider asking them to split up their band, even for just one show.”