Mei ManuelI’ved known my friend for 10 years.
I remember the first time we met. I was still playing for another band when he suddenly told me his request for me to join his band. At first, I tried to say no. But at that time, I felt detached from the band I played for so I needed a welcome distraction.
Although I was slightly apprehensive when I took part in his band, the days turned to months and I just felt like this is the thing I have been waiting for all my life. I could never imagine myself without this band and I thank Kami everyday for guiding us even if his stalker tendencies were a bit freaky at first.
We were breaking to new heights and now, my dream of breaking to the West came to be. My friend was a silent force behind our band’s success even if I usually take the lead and speak on our behalf. He never lost faith and became our rock. My rock.
I wanted to thank him because of it … but how?
That question lingered until one faithful meet and greet for a gig we did. As usual my friend was all friendly with the fans we met, but when he saw a crimson-haired one, his expressions changed. He is usually a man of few words and to know if he was interested with something, you have to read his eyes.
His eyes looked as if Cupid had indeed struck him and every movement the girl did, he followed. I thanked my luck that I was the only one who noticed it and tried to confirm my theory that my friend had fallen head over heels for this girl. I went close beside her and had a big smile as if I like the girl. My friend didn’t disappoint as he had his snarl in his features as if he wanted to kill me right there and then.
I kept that small tidbit of the event to myself until we left the country. We were given the links to the photos and when I saw that particular one, I knew I had to do something. The girl clearly loved my friend and my friend… well, the less you say something about her to him, the better or else his vengeance will be two-fold.
I discreetly made inquiries regarding the girl and found myself discussing the idea with one of the girl’s friends. A Kami without any rival. This kami knew of the girl’s feelings for my friend and was quite ready to help me with my venture without anything in return. I would have indeed given her a reward so with a little prodding, she requested a simple lunch out to get to know each other and hopefully be friends.
I can work with that, she was quite interesting to get to know. You never know when you will need someone as powerful as her in your disposal.
Kami and I discussed how we can get them together. The crimson spirit was living in another side of the country while I was with my friend in another country. We had to make it work somehow.
Kami did have an idea that was sure to work. She asked if we were going to return to the country for another special gig. I checked with our team and as Kami predicted, we were indeed scheduled to return.
We worked with our resources and I even got our team to help me, with my friend knowing nothing about it. As the days passed, our gig to the country was announced and Kami has said everything is ready in her end.
We told both of them that we were going to have a blind date and needed a chaperone. My friend knew me too well when I meet up with friends… and in some cases, with girls and agreed to tag along. Kami said her friend agreed because she said she wanted her to help Kami see if the guy she was going to meet is worth it… in my humble opinion I am… but of course… that remains to be seen.
The location we selected was a beautiful private restaurant outside the city. Thanks to the promoters of our gig, they managed to get the whole place reserved to make sure we were not disturbed. My friend was clueless of the entire date and just tagged along. I then told him to go ahead in the center of the garden where a beautiful fountain lay as I was going to check myself in the mirror to make sure my ‘date’ won’t find me revolting… as if.
My friend did go and discreetly, from a nearby garden hedge, saw him standing in the fountain looking bored. A few seconds later, I heard Kami talking to the crimson spirit, who was wearing a beautiful dress which made me inwardly remember a romance flick our bandmate watched once. Kami then pointed to the fountain and told the spirit to wait for her there. I watched in anticipation as the spirit did go to where my friend was and lo and behold, my friend’s expression changed from bored to shocked in disbelief. Not believing he was with the girl plaguing his dreams every night.
Kami then approached me with a smile and said we should watch in the rooftop, having anticipated what will happen. She then signalled a friend of hers to shoot an arrow in between the two star-struck lovers to say it was a date for both of them. I could clearly see my friend’s tick marks from our location as he realized he got tricked, but knew he was grateful for it. I knew he clearly wanted this chance with this girl since I always catch him staring at her photos while on the road. The girl clearly had the same expression as my friend, but from what Kami told me, she would welcome it.
We watched silently as they tried to speak to each other. It looked awkward at first, but it looked like they were indeed having fun. My friend also made a witting comment that got the crimson spirit to relax completely. They were served a scrumptious dinner and Kami suggested we let them be for now and fulfilled our agreement to learn about each other as we had some delicious French meal. I was right in saying this Kami was one of a kind, her wit is something even I cannot match.
Once dinner was set, we watched as the two tried to say goodbye to each other. My friend obviously gave her his number so they can continue to talk to one another. I was even half convinced my friend asked the girl if he could court her given how the girl was crying at that point. We couldn’t hear what they were talking about unfortunately, but Kami said they were likely indeed making a silent agreement to continue what we started. She then smiled at me and said ‘I wonder if we will be asked to play a huge role in their future’. I just laughed at this and said I looked forward to it.
After saying my goodbye to Kami (with the promise to stay in touch), my friend came to me with a serious look as if he was indeed going to kill me. To my surprise, however, he gave me a brotherly hug and whispered ‘Thank you’ before we went back to our hotel with no additional words spoken throughout the trip.
As I went to bed that night, I looked back into how dangerous the plan was at first and with a smile as the scenes from today played and as I closed my eyes… all I thought was it was one of the best ventures I ever did in my life aside from joining my friend’s band.
I also look forward to doing more similar ventures in the future.
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Final installment. I must say this one is quite interesting to write about. Next time, I’d likely write another friend’s story. But that is in the future.
Next post will be different so watch out for that!
