Times Like These

It had been about a week since we had breakfast with the guys, and I was currently in the back of the bakery decorating a birthday cake, Afterlife blaring through the speakers. “Hey Nikki,” Erin, my favorite bakery assistant said, getting my attention. I turned the music down and looked at her. “What’s up?” “Um, there are two really hot guys out here asking to see you. They say they know you.” Furrowing my brow in confusion, I took of my apron and walked out into the front of the shop, to see none other than Brian Haner Jr standing there with Zack. I smiled at them and walked around the glass counter. “Hey guys, what’s going on?” Brian pulled me in for a hug and said “Matt and I told the guys about the bakery, and ZV wanted to come pick up some sweets before we went to our meeting.” I grinned at Zack, who laughed and said “Nice shirt, by the way.” I looked down at my VU Marilyn shirt and smiled sheepishly. “Thanks. So what’d you guys want to get?” The two men stood in front of the counter and stared at all the things on the shelves. “You made all of this stuff?” Zack asked. “Not all of it, I have bakery assistants, like Erin here to help me out. But they’re all my recipes. Or my grandmother’s.” I explained, pointing to the no bake cookies. “That recipe has been in my family since my dad was a kid. It’s one of my favorite cookies. I’ve got some donuts and croissants and shit over here, if you guys want breakfast treats.” “How do you even decide?’ Brian asked with a laugh. “If any of this shit tastes like your French toast from the other day I’m gonna get fat.” I laughed and walked back around the counter. “How about I get you guys the customer favorites, y’all can always come back and get more later.” I offered. The men nodded and I got to work filling a box with no bakes, triple chocolate, white chocolate macadamia, and peanut butter cookies. I grabbed another box and put some glazed, chocolate, and powdered donuts in there, along with some regular and chocolate croissants. “Here. They’re on the house today. Tell the rest of the guys I said hey.” I said with a smile. “Come on, let us pay for them.” Zack said, pulling out his wallet. “No, it’s fine. Really. You can pay next time.” “Okay, but tonight you’re coming out to Tom’s and we’ll buy your drinks.” Brian said. “Deal. I’ll tell Dani too. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind seeing Matt again.” I chuckled. “Yeah I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t mind seeing her either.” Zack laughed. We said our goodbyes and the guys left the shop. I turned to Erin and she had a knowing smirk on her face. “Were you ever going to mention that you know rockstars?” She asked me. I laughed and explained what happened, and her eyes lit up in excitement. “This is your chance for love, Nikki!” she said excitedly. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Erin.” I laughed. “I just met the guy. I’m gonna go back to working on this cake. Hold down the fort!” She saluted and turned back to cleaning the counter, while I went back to work on my cake.

After work, Dani and I had a quick dinner and decided to get ready to go out and see the guys. I didn’t want them to think I was getting all dressed up for them, so I just put on a pair of black skinny jeans and a gray v-neck tshirt with my gray Vans. I put on a little makeup, just foundation, eyeliner, mascara, blush, and a nude lipstick, and ran the straightener through my hair. I went into Dani’s room to see if she was ready, and she was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and black long sleeved shirt with her black Converse. She too had light makeup and had pinned her bangs back so you could really see the colorful hair underneath. We grabbed our purses and headed out the door, climbing into my black Jeep Wrangler and heading for Tom’s to see our rockstars. Brian POV
After hanging out with Nikki and Dani that night, the guys teased us for hours about staying the night with them. “You mean to tell me you slept in her bed and you didn’t get laid?” Johnny laughed, “I think Syn Gates is getting soft!” “Shut up, short shit.” I grumbled. “I didn’t go over there planning to get laid. I just wanted to hang out with her. She seems different than all the others.” I explained. “Yeah, she does. She seems pretty awesome.” Zack said. “Dani does too for that matter. I think they’d get along well in our group.” Arin said, while we all agreed. “Oh so Nikki owns a bakery. How awesome is that? We can get all kinds of good shit.” Matt told the guys. “Really? Which one?” Johnny asked. He was always down to eat some cookies. “Rock N Roll bakery, over off PCH.” I told him. “Oh shit I LOVE that place. She makes some badass cookies and muffins man. If I don’t marry Lacey I might have to marry her just because she’s such a good baker.” He said with a laugh. “Now I want cookies.” He frowned. I rolled my eyes and smacked him in the back of the head. “You’re such an idiot.”

A week or so later we had a band meeting, and Zack decided that we should go grab some snacks from Nikki’s bakery before we went. I agreed, wanting to see her again. We pulled into the parking lot, and the building wasn’t very big. It had big open windows and you could see some tables inside. Once you walked into the door it was a completely different story. The floors were black, and the walls were a sparkly purple. There were tables and chairs in mostly whites and grays of all shapes and sizes scattered throughout the front area, and a long glass counter in front of the back wall. Rock was coming out of the speakers, currently Guns N Roses. “Oh shit, I think I love this girl.” Zack whispered with a laugh. I punched him in the shoulder, he had taken an interest in Nikki since we met her and I didn’t like it. We walked up to the counter and the girl standing behind it approached us. “Good morning. Welcome to Rock N Roll, is there something I can get for you?” She asked with a smile. “Actually, is Nikki here?” I asked, flashing my signature smirk. “She is, but she’s working.” “Could you get her for us please? We know her personally, and would like to see her.” Zack spoke up. “Once second.” She said, disappearing into the back. When she pushed the back door open I could hear a few notes of Afterlife coming out of the room and I chuckled to myself. That girl and her music. Soon she came out of the back, her hair pulled into a messy bun and a big smile on her face that made me weak in the knees. “Hey guys, what’s going on?” She asked as she walked up, and I didn’t hesitate to pull her into a hug, which she returned. I told her about how Zack wanted to get some stuff for the meeting, and looked over to him checking her out. I was going to punch this dude today. I gave him a look and he rolled his eyes, walking over to look at some cookies. Eventually she boxed a few things up and wouldn’t let us pay for them, so I invited her out to Tom’s tonight, just because I wanted to spend more time with her. Once she agreed we said our goodbyes and headed to my SUV. “Zack, I’m going to fucking knock you out if you hit on her one more time.” I said, getting into the car. “Come on man, she’s not yours. You can’t claim her like that.” Zack chuckled, holding the pastries in his lap. “What about Gena? I don’t think she would appreciate that shit.” “Man you know me and Gena are almost over. Besides, I wouldn’t mind getting to know her a little better.” He said, pissing me off even more. “Do you want to fucking walk to the metting, Vengeance?” I growled. “No man, jesus chill out. I was just messing with you.” He said, raising his hands beside his face. “You can have her. I’ll back off.” “Damn right you will.” I grumbled, pulling out of the parking lot and heading to the meeting.

After our meeting, I told Matt about inviting Nikki out tonight. “You think she’s gonna tell Dani?” He asked, looking hopeful. This is the happiest I’ve seen Matt since he and Val went their separate ways and she hooked up with Jason Berry. He kind of lost his shit at first, but eventually got over it and now they’re all friends again. I went home and sat around for awhile and watched some tv. I eventually got ready and headed over to Matt’s house to hang out with him. We ordered pizza and talked for a while about the upcoming tour and working on a new album with Arin, until it was time to head to the bar. “You ready dude?” He asked, standing up and grabbing his keys. “Yeah, let’s go.” We walked out the door and headed to the bar. We made it there before everyone else, so we grabbed the round table in the back and ordered a few beers. We were sitting there drinking when we saw the girls come in, looking gorgeous. They saw us and headed our way with big smiles on their faces. Hopefully this would be a good night.

Notes

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