i know that tune!

“Sort of. It’s more like a party than a parade,” Elena said. “And I guess it’s more about remembering loved ones that have died. That was a good analogy though.”

“Well that’s not as scary as some folks like to make it out to be. All I really know about it is the cool face paint.”

“Remembering it and pronouncing it correctly was instilled in me from a young age, believe me.” Randall replied with a shrug. “Can’t humiliate the first three Randall’s.” He nodded. “Never been to New Orlean’s.” He admitted. “San Francisco. Moved here about three and a half years ago.”

“Guess ya would need it, huh?” Louis’s eyes widened. “Really? It’s a pretty cool place to grow up, but I am a ‘lil biased I guess. But really it’s like a big party all the time. But San Francisco sounds nice, too.”

“Two pairs of shoes? You’re speaking my language,” Coco said with a laugh. She picked up a pair of loafers and a casual boot from behind the counter to show him. “Something in this range or are you looking for something else?”

“I live to impress.” Louis chuckled. “I like the loafer a lot, really shouts ‘sophisticated’, but I ain’t too sure about the boot. I don’t know if I’d be able to rock it.”

“Well, I always encourage some window shopping,” she said as she moved toward the front of the shop, bringing a box with her to place on one of the displays. “Are you looking for something in particular or just looking for fun?”

“I’m not really sure, actually... I need somethin’ for everyday but also somethin’ a ‘lil more fancy for work. Maybe I just need to go ahead and try to find two pairs? One for work and the other more casual?”

Randall remained on his phone, glaring at some last-minute office texts. He hated how the idiots he worked with seemed to wait until the last minute to try and burden him into helping them solve some of their dumb problems. He deleted the messages and looked up, trying to forget about it “Huh? Oh, right. Randall Bartholomew Boggs the fourth.” He replied, in auto pilot. He blinked a couple of times and tried to get back to the present and forget his little fit of anger, taking the other’s hand to shake it. “You been around here for long?”

Louis considered lowering his hand during the man’s silence, but was spared the embarrassment when he finally responded to the introduction. “That’s a fancy name you’ve got on ya, I wouldn’t be able to remember it all if it were mine.” He joked. “’Bout four years - I’m here for school but I’m from the great New Orleans. You?”

“It certainly doesn’t seem to be.” Randall replied, his eyes scanning the empty chair for a second. “Yes, 9 to 5 is the nightmare we all must endure.”

Louis shrugged and sat down, wiping sweat from his brow. “Amen to that.” He finally took a moment to study the man sitting across from him. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen ya around before. I’m Louis.” He held out his hand for a shake.

@randall--boggs

“Really you want to work with kids?”  Vitani didn’t mind kids.  She maybe even wanted kids one day but she didn’t know for sure yet.  Working with kids wasn’t for her especially since she remembers what she was like when she was little.  “Well if you ever want new outfits for concerts you know who to come too.”

“Well, high school kids to be exact, but I wouldn’t mind workin’ with the younger ones too if I get the chance. The earlier someone discovers their love for music the better. That’s really what it’s all about for me: sharin’ good music.” Louis nodded and smiled. “And when ya need a trumpet player to perform at a fashion show or somethin’, I’m here for ya.”

“At least you got that going for you” she said with a smile.  “Do you want to study music then?”

“Somethin’s better than nothin’.” He nodded. “Yep, music education. Wanna be a music teacher if the whole famous trumpet player thing doesn’t work out.”

Vitani smiled.  “You would really trust a stranger to pick out an outfit for you?  How do you know that I wouldn’t just pick out an outfit to make you look bad?  You perform?  What exactly do you do?”

“I ain’t so oblivious that I wouldn’t notice somebody tryna sabotage me. Oh yeah! I play trumpet, have been for pretty much my entire life. It’s kinda my thing.”

“I always keep out of trouble, thank you very much.” She said with a snort. “You’re the one who is up to no good…sometimes. But you work harder than a lot of people I know so that makes sense. What made you take a beak? Me? Because that’s corny.”

Louis held up his hands in fake surrender and chuckled. “Alright, alright, I guess we all turn over a new leaf sometime, huh?” He shrugged. “Workin’ has kept me outta trouble, so I guess that’s a good thing. Even though Sammy always seems to pull me into somethin’ whenever I’m on a good streak.” He smiled. “What if that is the reason? I cut rehearsal short just to see ya, that’s gotta mean somethin’, right?”

“Different is not a bad thing but some times blending in is not a bad thing and right now you aren’t blending in” she said with a smile.

“Then maybe one of these days ya can spread your knowledge and help me out.” He laughed. “But whenever I perform I do a much better job of makin’ sure I look good. Ya should bump into me on those days - I look real sharp.”