I was driving down the mostly empty road toward the arena. It was almost 1 a.m. already, and I was going there to pick Beatrice up, who had just called me to tell me that the concert was already over.

“I’ll be there in five, meet me at the North entrance, like usual” I told her, knowing that the arena was only a short way from my house, and that five minutes, in Bea’s language, meant fifteen at least.

Honestly, though, I wish Bea had gotten her license already. It’s not like she didn’t know how to drive, it’s more that she was never able to pursue a goal and see it through until the end. She would always lose herself amid her endless hobbies and forget to do the things she was supposed to in the first place. Thus, once more it fell on me the task of being her personal driver. I wonder if I should join one of those driving app companies, so maybe I could charge Bea to pay for all the gas money she’d made me spend in the course of the last few years.

I arrived at the North entrance in ten minutes, like predicted, and Beatrice obviously wasn’t there yet, also like what I predicted. I got out of the car and leaned against it, making it easier for Bea to see me once she came out of the building. There were many people coming outside. Fans, obviously, since most of them were wearing black or otherwise dark clothes, and several wore t-shirts with the Empty Memories logo on them.

I heard someone call me.

“Good evening, Giulia! Nice to see you again.”

“Same, Mark,” I told the security officer by the arena entrance.

“Say, a friend of yours has been looking for you. She gave us a description, so we figured that was you she was talking about. She said we were to take you to her if you showed up.”

“Did she?” Finally. Years of being Beatrice’s friend had worn down my patience for waiting for her after band concerts. At least she’d had the decency of telling other people to seek me if I arrived. But did I have to go to her? Why not the other way around?

Mark, the security officer, led me into the grand building through a smaller, service door, probably in order to avoid the crowds who were leaving through the main doors. From there he took me down a narrow corridor and into the backstage.

Oh, that was so like Bea, wasn’t it? She must have found a way to get herself into the backstage in order to meet that ZAK guy she so admired. If so, I’d have to put an end to her fun. I was coming to get her, and I really didn’t want to wait while she fawned over the guy. Either come with me now or call a cab, I’d tell her.

I didn’t see Beatrice in the backstage corridor that I knew rather well. Whom I did see, though, was Val Sunset, talking to another of the band guys (was he the bass player? I can never tell a bass from an electric guitar). Damn that all. I didn’t want to talk to Val. I didn’t want her to see me, even. I just wanted to get Bea and get out of there.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Bea that Mark approached then, and suddenly I realized my mistake. The so called “friend” who was looking for me wasn’t Beatrice. It was Valerie.

“Well, look who decided to show up,” said Val, eyeing me up and down. I wasn’t dressed for a concert. Honestly I wasn’t dressed for anything much fancier than staying at home streaming my favorite series.

“If you excuse me, ladies,” said Mark, before making his way back to the main entrance.

“So…” Val Sunset said, approaching me with airs of sensuality. “Did my proposal earlier today entice you?”

“I didn’t come here for you,” I told her.

“Playing hard to get, eh?”

Seriously, that girl got on my nerves.

“Cut the crap, Valerie!” I snapped at her. “I only came to pick up a friend. If she’s not here, I’m going back.”

I turned to walk away, and one more time that night, I felt her hand close around my wrist. Déjà vu.

“Waiwaiwait!” she said, hurriedly.

I turned around, eyebrows raised, wondering whatever that girl still wanted with me.

To my surprise, she had dropped the sensual act entirely, and was acting a little awkward.

“So… I, err…” she fumbled with her hair. “I think we got off on the wrong foot. I didn’t mean to come onto you so aggressively… well, not right away, anyway,” she blushed at that, and I had to try my best not to laugh. Once she stopped acting like a sexy temptress, Valerie Lira was actually a very silly, awkward girl. “What I meant is… I thought you were pretty, and interesting, and finding you here earlier really bugged me in a way… not that I think you’re a thief or anything, sorry about that, it’s in a good way, but it’s just that this—”

“Valerie?” I called her.

“What?” she asked me, surprised.

“Get to the point.”

She blushed again. Seriously, could that girl get any cuter?

“Right. Point is… I think I want to be your friend?”

Now, would you look at that? It really was one surprise after the other with that woman. I thought about what she had just said for a while, before coming up with a comment to sum up our situation here.

“And you figured that the best way to do that was to kiss me and invite me for sex?”

Valerie covered her face with her hands, ashamed.

“I’m sorry,” I heard her say.

I chuckled. “Don’t be. I actually enjoyed the kiss.”

She looked at me from between her fingers.

“That doesn’t mean I’m up for sex tonight,” I made sure to add.

“Right,” she said, looking like a dog who had just been scolded and was now given a second chance.

“Just… Invite me to hang out, some time. I’m free on most Mondays and Saturdays.”

“Oh, um, that would be good. How do I contact you? Messaging app? Can I get your phone number? I’m afraid I don’t have my phone or paper right now, what will we do?”

“I’ll contact you,” I told her. “I mean, you’re Val Sunset, right? My friend showed me your web channel, earlier today. I’ll just drop you a message, and we’ll take it from there. Sounds good?”

She nodded. “Sounds great.”

“Now I really need to get going,” I told her. “I did come here to pick up a friend, and she’s probably waiting for me outside.”

“Right. Drive safe.”

“Thank you,” I told her, turning and walking away again.

Before I reached the doors to the stage, Valerie shouted at me.

“Hey, Giulia!” she called. I turned around to see what she wanted. She was grinning. “I give the orders around here, you hear me?!”

I laughed, amused.

“Fuck you!” I yelled at her, smiling and giving her the finger.

“Whenever you want!” she yelled back at me.

I left the backstage area, blushing and smiling like a maniac.

That girl was going to be the end of me.