Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 3 - Open Mic Night

Open mic night was a very new idea of Curtis's, Cat's boss, to try and bring attention to the store and encourage people to do some shopping while they listened to local talent. Tonight was the first night they'd be putting the idea into motion, and if things worked out Curtis was planning to make it a weekly thing – every Saturday from four to nine o'clock.

Curtis arrived at two to set up the little stage area at the front of the store while Cat continued to man the counter. They had a very surprising influx of customers so that Cat barely even saw the time pass. Before she knew it, it was four o'clock and a few people were trickling in, some with guitar cases on their backs.

One of these people, and Cat's stomach gave a very uncomfortable jolt when she realized this, was none other than Nick Bradley. As he was making his way down the signup line to get his slot number, he was talking to a heavily tattooed man with dark brown hair and glasses.

Cat ducked her head and used her auburn hair as a curtain to hide her face from view before realizing she didn't have to.

He couldn't see her.

She tucked her hair behind her ear again and sneaked another glance.

"Cat, come here for a sec," Curtis said over his shoulder at her. He was at the signup table sorting out when everybody would be performing. Cat could've sworn her heart stopped beating for a second when he called her name, her eyes darting back to Nick and his tattooed friend.

Cat darted around the counter and crept up to the signup table.

"Take over for me for a couple minutes, will you? I've got to take a piss," Curtis said.

He was a rather stalky man in his mid-thirties with long, unkempt hair and a straggly beard. He wore a t-shirt of some obscure 70s rock band that Cat only knew of because he played their records a lot in the store.

"Okay," Cat nodded and proceeded to take over the signups, hoping all the while that Curtis would get back before Nick's turn came along.

Of course Curtis took his goddamn time, and Cat had the vague suspicion that her boss was on more than just a pee break. She just hoped he wouldn't come back smelling like pot.

Nick and his friend were next in line now, with only a nervous-looking teenage girl and her shabby guitar case separating them from the table.

After working for him for almost a year, Cat knew Curtis well by now. He was this eternal bachelor with a bed-them-and-street-them sort of view on relationships. He was the last person to play matchmaker, but if she hadn't known better she would've thought he'd taken a page from Hannah's book and done this on purpose.

"They traded in the stoner guy for a hot girl... ginger, blue eyes," Nick's tattooed friend said in a hushed voice that was loud enough for Cat to hear. "And she's blushing, I think I spoke too loud," he added, nudging Nick playfully in the side and winking at Cat.

"Um, hi," Cat said shyly when the teenager left the line and Nick came strolling forward with his guide dog on his right ride, that same, goofy grin on his chiseled face. He'd grown a little more scruff in the time between their and date now, and Cat kind of liked the way it looked on him.

His brow rose quickly in surprise, and Cat knew he'd recognized her voice as easily as she'd recognized his face.

"Well, well, we meet again," he grinned.

His tattooed friend rolled his eyes dramatically up toward the fluorescent lights.

"Of course you'd know the hot one... You always know the hot ones. It's like you're a magnet for the hot ones. You're killing me Smalls," he grumbled, but he was grinning and Nick was grinning too, neither one of them seeming at all annoyed.