Piano Man
[This idea I've been sitting on forever]
Salim enjoyed playing the night crowds during his shifts at the lounge. Though he was personally a morning person, he found those patrons were less interested in the entertainment. The night crowds, on the other hand, were here more for the music... and the drinks, of course. There were always a few regulars at night: they came at the same time and sat at the same table. The waitstaff likely knew them by name.
"Your fans are back," he remarked to Rachel. She had just joined him on stage and was getting ready to do a mic check. She raised an eyebrow at his words. Salim pointed over to a few tables.
"You don't know they're here for me," Rachel argued.
"They only come on nights you sing," Salim pressed. "The blond and the dark-skinned man sit close to the stage."
"What about the guy in the hat?" Rachel persisted.
That made Salim frown. He knew the one she meant. The hat was a noticeable accessory in the lounge. Salim found it amusing and a little charming that the patron would wear it. It worked as an effective shield against anyone seeing the man's face.
"Maybe he's shy," Salim suggested when this thought came to him. "He does usually sit alone." And he sat farther than the others-- closer to Salim's position than Rachel's. Rachel didn't look convinced by his reasoning. "I know," Salim said. "We can have a promotion to buy flowers. Your admirers will buy them for you, then you'll see I'm right."
Rachel agreed, and the manager thought it was a great idea. A few of the other lounge singers got flowers before it was Rachel's shift again. On the next night she was to sing, Salim tried to watch her admirers. In the end, he missed if they bought her anything. That is, until the end of the night when she ended up with two bouquets.
"There's something for you, too, Salim," a waiter informed him.
"Me?" Salim wasn't expecting that. "Are you sure?"
"You're 'the guy at the piano,'" the waiter shrugged.
Salim got a single flower rather than a bouquet, and he had to think a moment before recognizing it as a gladiolus. What an unusual choice.
"But... who bought it?" he wondered. And why me? he added internally.
"No idea," the waiter admitted. "The vendor said he was really shy and awkward about it."
Salim instantly thought of the man in the hat. Though that didn't answer why. He looked for the man later, sitting alone near Salim's spot as always. Still wearing that hat, making it hard to know if he was looking Salim's way.
Salim found himself hoping the man was.
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