are you a bad fish too?

“actually… i just miss you.” 

Nico never stopped wrapping his guitar chord up around his elbow.  The band only had fifteen minutes to get their gear off stage before the closing act, and he really didn’t want to piss off another bartender.  Rosa’s words didn’t quite register over the loud, yet thinning crowd, but he could feel her eyes on him.  If he didn’t address her soon that gaze would turn to a stony stare.  He knew her well enough to know that.  “It’s a little too late for that isn’t it?”  Nico said, lacking the courage to actually look at her.  He closed his guitar case and before he could make an exit, Jeff was taking the gear from his hands.  Nico attempted to object, but his best friend just walked off with a smile.  Why did the dude have to be such a good roadie?

From his vantage point on the stage he saw a rare sight: two free seats at the bar, and he knew Rosa wasn’t going to let up so easy.  It’s one thing he always loved about her, but being around her just hurt.  If the songs he still wrote were any clue, it was still a very open wound.  Nico swallowed all that pain along with his pride before hopping off the small stage.  

“There’s a couple seats at the bar.  Can you still keep up?”  

Pretzels and salsa sounds delicious, actually! Pretzels aren’t too unhealthy, they’re just a bit high in sodium. I’ll never say no to some good salsa.

Next time I’ll get the salt free ones to keep my big sis, happy!  Any plans for spring break?

That’s tragic, but understandable. When I was in school, I didn’t read anything that wasn’t medical related. It was draining. Dropping out was a a huge relief and I suddenly loved learning again. Just like magic. I really hope that happens for your spring break, though! Yes, actually. I’ve been reading a lot of murder mysteries. I live for the suspense. I’ve most recently been re-reading The DaVinci Code for the thousandth time, and I just finished a novel from 1974 called Helter Skelter. It was thrilling.

Medical, wow!  Sounds like you had one hell of a change of pace.  I couldn’t really get into The DaVinci Code but that’s probably because my mom was extremely religious, so every time I’d even reach for it in the library I’d hear her voice sayin’, “Sacrilege!” In the back of my head.  Helter Skelter that’s like one of of the true crime bibles right there.  I can’t ever read about that case without getting goosebumps.  

That is equal parts adorable, tragic, and delicious. Even I can make one or two decent meals. That is, when I don’t have the luxury of a personal chef. Which is almost never, but still. 

You’re the best! The only thing better than free alcohol is free food. 

I can make a few Egyptian deserts thanks to my father insisting upon all my nannies with Egyptian too.  A few of those recipes have stuck with me, but take like nine years to make.  

Oh, I know it, but it’s always nice to hear. Thanks, babe.  

ROSA: Watching people talk about their passions was always a treat for Rosa. She often felt as though she got more enjoyment out of seeing others success, more than her own. Rosa was a hype man at heart, and she wanted nothing more than to encourage Katrina to say fuck school and open her restaurant next week. Not everyone had the privilege of being able to do everything they wanted all the time.

"Alright alright, the dress will have to wait. But there will be a dress eventually, and if I end up picking it sometime within the next year? Well, I like to be prepared," Rosa teased playfully.

"My favorite meal? That's a tough one. I'd have to say Rojões à Moda do Minho is my absolute favorite. I also really love pasta, though. Feed me a ton of pasta and I'll be a happy gal," Rosa joked, pulling into the restaurant. "You ready?" She questioned, eyes sparkling with excitement. She could tell Katrina was excited to be dining at such a fine establishment, and Rosa was excited to treat a cute girl. With a reassuring smile, Rosa stepped out of her ride and tossed the keys to the valet.

"Be nice to my baby!" Rosa warned the valet, half joking as she moved around to the other side of the car, meeting Katrina. Bold as ever she wasted no time linking their arms and walking into the establishment.

Approaching the host, Rosa shot him a bright smile. "Good evening, I have a reservation. Cruz?" Rosa never wasted much time flashing her name - when it suited her, she liked the name and the fame. When the paparazzi annoyed her and her parents embarrassed her? Not so much. Rosa exchanged pleasantries before the two were whisked away to their table - one with an astounding view, of course.

"So, what do you think? Is it everything you'd hoped for?"

KATRINA: Kat logged away Rosa's favorite dish in the back of her mind. Hoping that one day, in the near future, it would come in handy. Even if she couldn't pull together the girl's favorite dish with the same authenticity, pasta was one of her specialties and she was confident she could serve Rosa a meal she wouldn't forget. Kat tried not to get too ahead of herself as she found herself already brainstorming pasta dishes, and before she knew it she was exiting the sports car and walking arm in arm towards the entrance.

AVERY: ASAP! I'm already all packed. I'm about ready to start packing for you tbh. Is that crossing some kind of line? Probably. I'll be patient.

ROSA: Rosa's passion was always obvious when she was talking about her projects. While she often lacked the motivation to complete said projects, you could tell her heart was in her work. Her eyes lit up as Kat continued past her parents, asking about what she did. It was so rare for anyone to care about her when she was dangling information about her more famous parents around.

"When you're in film you have to do a little bit of everything, but my heart lies in writing and directing. I'm sure I'll end up producing and editing and maybe even, ugh, acting...but right now I'm trying to do what my heart tells me to," Rosa laughed at herself, "It's corny, but it's true."

Rosa's eyebrow quirked at Kat's answer, "Cute. I love food. More eating it than anything else, but it works out. You're gonna have to cook for me sometime. Hit me up when you open your restaurant, I'll be there on opening night with my best premiere dress," Rosa continued driving, at ease in the San Francisco traffic. It was only a little worse than Los Angeles, and she'd been blessed with good company.

"You should probably cook for me before that. Maybe for our second date. Or am I getting ahead of myself?" Rosa laughed her own eagerness off and turned on the radio, letting some catchy top 40 song quietly fill the car.

KAT: Katrina eagerly listened as Rosa answered her question. How the other woman spoke about film reminded Kat of her own relationship with food. She believed to truly master the craft, you couldn't just focus on one style or aspect, you needed to step out of your comfort zone. "I don't think that sounds corny. I'm all about following my heart these days," she added with a smirk.

As the conversation shifted back towards food, Kat felt excitement bubble from within, and found it hard not to completely derail the conversation with random culinary facts. However, even her mouth didn't have a chance to move ahead as butterflies fluttered at the thought of cooking for Rosa. She hadn't cooked for anybody in a long time, on some level it was was act of intimacy. Cooking wasn't always taking a recipe from a page and bringing it to life, Katrina saw it as something more personal than that. "I still have three semesters left of my culinary management degree," she mentioned sign a roll of her eyes. "So, I wouldn't go breaking out the premiere dress quite yet. Not that it's not something I'd love to see," she added with smile, and a quick glance at the woman in the driver's seat.

Don’t be such a baby. Little fists don’t hurt, they’re just annoying. As cute as dogs are, four huge ones? Pass. I’ll take my job over a bunch of dogs pulling me around the city. 

Ha, genius. For now I’m just going to give out some recorders. They’re cheap and they’ll definitely annoy the parents. Even when the recorder is supposed to sound good, it doesn’t sound good. Imagine the recorder in the hands of rabid four year olds. Mini drum sets would be the ultimate goal, though. 

Okay, but like if I step on a pup’s tail I just give him an extra treat and we go about our day.  If I accidentally step on a kid I’ll have to lawyer up!  Working at a daycare sounds like working in an active landmine field... but that’s coming from me, the guy who trip getting off the bus today.

Recorders are just as awesome, er well, annoying, but in this case I think that makes them awesome!  Get a clip and we can sample in on the new EP.  

Oh, wow! Would you like to tell me about your change? I can listen just as well as I can talk, I promise! Perhaps even more so - it depends on who I’m talking to. No, I don’t think I want to. I don’t think being brilliant is worth going crazy. Not to me, at least. I still do bits of engineering, though. Most of my pieces incorporate something a little extra…they move…sometimes they breathe fire. I suppose that’s how the two intersect. Thank you! I wish you the best of luck with yours as well. I’d love to see some of your photography. That works perfectly, actually! I look forward to meeting you. I’m Bea, by the way. Bea Comaro.

Oh, sure!  Well I got an architecture degree from UC Berkeley, but the job pool didn’t really speak to me when I graduated, so I decided to come back to school this side of the way.  So, I’m working on my masters in architecture, but I’ve also picked up studying photography, and I love it.  It makes me wish I didn’t waste so much time on something I lacked passion for.  I feel you can be just as brilliant making art than wherever your engineering career would have taken you.  I hope you find that success!  I’ll bring along some shots if you’d like!  I took a day trip to Napa Valley, and want to live inside some of those photographs!  I look forward to meeting you, Bea!  You name precedes you, I’ve definitely heard of The Comaros.  My cousin seems to be good friends with your brother. 

Homework is always fucking with my vibe. Somehow the one time I’m not digging music is when it pertains to school. Something about deadlines just gets to me. Please distract me from midterms with a couple riffs. Distract me with a million riffs. I have some new lyrics I wanna show you anyway. Maybe we can make some magic happen.  

Shit, tell me about it.  This semester has been all about producing for me, so it’s been kinda cool working with other people’s music.  It was always easy to tell who just wanted to impress their instructors and who was actually confident in their work.  That’s what I like to hear, let's make some magic!

AVERY: That sounds perfect! You can always find little diners on road trips, it's a law or something. Spring break is right now! Think you can find anyone to cover your shifts for a couple days? 😇

AVERY: Four hours isn't too bad, let's do that one. You know I'm in!