Lauryl
The Fly
Chapter 3: The Beginning
*
"No. You HAVE to be shittin' me." Gwen glared at her friend with a disbelieving smirk.
Miranda giggled gleefully and threw off her hoodie, leaning back in the sofa. "And he wants us to go to some pub with him on Thursday!"
Gwen's jaw dropped. "US?"
"Yeah, the band's going for a drink and I told him you'd want to come too."
"That's awesome, but you know I don't care about them whether they're famous or not?"
Miranda snickered and punched Gwen's arm playfully. "I know, but this is my last chance to make you like them. Hey, tell you what- if they bore you on Thursday I'll never make you listen to their music or show you their pictures again."
"Hey! All right then." Gwen went into Planning Mode. What should I wear?"
"I dunno! You're the expert on this stuff," Miranda snorted.
Gwen grinned and pushed the cat off her lap. "I bet you have nothing to wear either. Come on, let's go shopping."
"Gah, I guess it's only fair... fine." But Miranda was smiling from ear to ear.
*
Larry choked on the orange he was picking at by the window. "You only met her yesterday!"
Bono stretched out on the sofa, his feet monopolising Edge's lap. "It's suprising how well you can get to know someone in twenty-four hours."
Adam chuckled from the smoke-hazed recesses of his chair. "By seeing how long it took her to fall asleep listening to you?"
Bono sent a cushion sailing in his direction.
The laptop that sat on Edge's knees wobbled, marking Edge's first apparent acknowledgment of the outside world. "Really, Bono, she could be some kind of evil... reporter... person, like in that one movie..."
"Just because you don't believe in love at first sight doesn't mean I don't." Bono pressed buttons on Edge's laptop with his toes.
Edge huffed, batting at the offending limbs on his lap. "If you wanted us to meet her so badly, why didn't you just bring her up?"
His grin was diabolical. "Better reason to take her drinking on Thursday."
"Would you please get your great bloody feet off of me?"
Bono toed Edge's stomach. "You know, I would have arranged a stop at 7-11 to get you some more Midol but it seems SOMEONE found my great bloody feet a little too big for our bus!"
"Shut it!" Larry cried, waving an orange slice at them like a weapon. Bono and Edge took sudden fascination in minding their own business as Larry returned to the window mouthing profanities, and the only sound was Adam giggling helplessly at them all.
*
"Give me one last chance and you'll be satisfied," sang Miranda as she blew on her shining black fingernails.
Gwen rolled her eyes and then flinched as her mascara wand hit where it wasn't supposed to. "Is that a U2 song?"
Miranda put the bottle of nail varnish back into her messenger bag. "What else?"
"Silly question. I can't believe you're going to hang out with your favourite band in the world and you're not even wearing makeup."
"I put on lip gloss!" Defended Miranda querulously. She giggled. "I still can't believe this is happening. Aren't you excited?"
"Not tremendously. They're just people, after all."
"But they're awesome people!"
"I trust you. Come on, let's get out of here."
Gwen strapped on her glamourous heels, making her almost a head taller than her friend. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"Place right around the block. Walking distance." She made sure her roomy slacks were slung as low on her hips as possible, and retied her white halter top.
"Walking distance maybe in your shoes- can't we take a bus?"
Miranda regarded her amusedly. "Put on some decent shoes then."
"Yeah, that'll look great with my skirt."
"Oh, whatever. We'll take a bus!"
*
Bono searched the crowd and pointed out to his bemused friends the two women in a corner booth. "Over there!"
As they approached, Gwen and Miranda could be heard chatting. "Why don't you just leave for good? You're a big girl..." Gwen was saying as she sipped a glass of wine.
"Hah! He'd kill me if I did. Oh, hey! Here they are!" Miranda put down her margarita and slid to sit by the wall, making room for the men.
Introductions were made, and while Gwen couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of Larry, Bono couldn't keep seem to keep his hands off of Miranda. So six people was a bit squashed for a single booth... but she recognised that hint of a sly smirk as Bono's large hand came to rest casually on her leg. She pretended to ignore it as he absorbed himself in tasting Gwen's drink.
"This stuff is brilliant. Where is everybody? Oi, lovely lady! Can you get me some of whatever she's got?" A waitress was given orders from the rest of the band and scuttled off.
Gwen stole her glass back nonchalantly and leaned back. "So... you guys are a band. Cool! The Monkees, is it? OW, Miranda!" Gwen laughed and reached down to theatrically rub a bruised shin. "Bono, you're the lead singer, right? What about the rest of you guys, what do you do?"
She missed both Larry's look of sudden adoration and Adam's delighted chuckle as Bono introduced them again along with their position in U2.
"I write some of the lyrics too," Put in Edge.
Bono nodded. "And I play guitar sometimes."
"Yeah, once every six thousand years," Edge added helpfully.
"Only because you never let me."
"Like hell I don't. You do whether or not I LET you."
Bono was wearing what could only be described as a pout. "Stop birdwalking, I KNOW you pull all sorts of tricks to keep me away from your guitars..."
Gwen leaned closer to a glum-looking Larry. "Are they always like this?"
Larry chuckled then. "Just sometimes."
"So you play the drums?" The ice was broken.
"Yeah." Larry wasn't interested in talking about drums. He was more interested in the way her blonde curls framed her bright face, and bounced as she shook her head at the two sitting across from her. "What do you do?"
They were off on an apparently scintillating conversation, suddenly not noticing anyone else. They weren't the only people at the table doing the same. Miranda was about to break up the Bono and Edge skirmish but the arrival of the band's drinks did just that. Bono turned to her with a smile, The Edge totally forgotten.
"So. How do you like my obnoxious friends?"
Miranda laughed at the irony of it all. "You guys rock."
Bono grinned and sipped his wine. "Glen and Larry seem to be getting along."
"You're right." Miranda giggled at his misuse of her friend's name and looked at the two who were chatting like old friends. She didn't notice the return of Bono's hand until it left its spot on her thigh an hour later.
*
*
"No. You HAVE to be shittin' me." Gwen glared at her friend with a disbelieving smirk.
Miranda giggled gleefully and threw off her hoodie, leaning back in the sofa. "And he wants us to go to some pub with him on Thursday!"
Gwen's jaw dropped. "US?"
"Yeah, the band's going for a drink and I told him you'd want to come too."
"That's awesome, but you know I don't care about them whether they're famous or not?"
Miranda snickered and punched Gwen's arm playfully. "I know, but this is my last chance to make you like them. Hey, tell you what- if they bore you on Thursday I'll never make you listen to their music or show you their pictures again."
"Hey! All right then." Gwen went into Planning Mode. What should I wear?"
"I dunno! You're the expert on this stuff," Miranda snorted.
Gwen grinned and pushed the cat off her lap. "I bet you have nothing to wear either. Come on, let's go shopping."
"Gah, I guess it's only fair... fine." But Miranda was smiling from ear to ear.
*
Larry choked on the orange he was picking at by the window. "You only met her yesterday!"
Bono stretched out on the sofa, his feet monopolising Edge's lap. "It's suprising how well you can get to know someone in twenty-four hours."
Adam chuckled from the smoke-hazed recesses of his chair. "By seeing how long it took her to fall asleep listening to you?"
Bono sent a cushion sailing in his direction.
The laptop that sat on Edge's knees wobbled, marking Edge's first apparent acknowledgment of the outside world. "Really, Bono, she could be some kind of evil... reporter... person, like in that one movie..."
"Just because you don't believe in love at first sight doesn't mean I don't." Bono pressed buttons on Edge's laptop with his toes.
Edge huffed, batting at the offending limbs on his lap. "If you wanted us to meet her so badly, why didn't you just bring her up?"
His grin was diabolical. "Better reason to take her drinking on Thursday."
"Would you please get your great bloody feet off of me?"
Bono toed Edge's stomach. "You know, I would have arranged a stop at 7-11 to get you some more Midol but it seems SOMEONE found my great bloody feet a little too big for our bus!"
"Shut it!" Larry cried, waving an orange slice at them like a weapon. Bono and Edge took sudden fascination in minding their own business as Larry returned to the window mouthing profanities, and the only sound was Adam giggling helplessly at them all.
*
"Give me one last chance and you'll be satisfied," sang Miranda as she blew on her shining black fingernails.
Gwen rolled her eyes and then flinched as her mascara wand hit where it wasn't supposed to. "Is that a U2 song?"
Miranda put the bottle of nail varnish back into her messenger bag. "What else?"
"Silly question. I can't believe you're going to hang out with your favourite band in the world and you're not even wearing makeup."
"I put on lip gloss!" Defended Miranda querulously. She giggled. "I still can't believe this is happening. Aren't you excited?"
"Not tremendously. They're just people, after all."
"But they're awesome people!"
"I trust you. Come on, let's get out of here."
Gwen strapped on her glamourous heels, making her almost a head taller than her friend. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"Place right around the block. Walking distance." She made sure her roomy slacks were slung as low on her hips as possible, and retied her white halter top.
"Walking distance maybe in your shoes- can't we take a bus?"
Miranda regarded her amusedly. "Put on some decent shoes then."
"Yeah, that'll look great with my skirt."
"Oh, whatever. We'll take a bus!"
*
Bono searched the crowd and pointed out to his bemused friends the two women in a corner booth. "Over there!"
As they approached, Gwen and Miranda could be heard chatting. "Why don't you just leave for good? You're a big girl..." Gwen was saying as she sipped a glass of wine.
"Hah! He'd kill me if I did. Oh, hey! Here they are!" Miranda put down her margarita and slid to sit by the wall, making room for the men.
Introductions were made, and while Gwen couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of Larry, Bono couldn't keep seem to keep his hands off of Miranda. So six people was a bit squashed for a single booth... but she recognised that hint of a sly smirk as Bono's large hand came to rest casually on her leg. She pretended to ignore it as he absorbed himself in tasting Gwen's drink.
"This stuff is brilliant. Where is everybody? Oi, lovely lady! Can you get me some of whatever she's got?" A waitress was given orders from the rest of the band and scuttled off.
Gwen stole her glass back nonchalantly and leaned back. "So... you guys are a band. Cool! The Monkees, is it? OW, Miranda!" Gwen laughed and reached down to theatrically rub a bruised shin. "Bono, you're the lead singer, right? What about the rest of you guys, what do you do?"
She missed both Larry's look of sudden adoration and Adam's delighted chuckle as Bono introduced them again along with their position in U2.
"I write some of the lyrics too," Put in Edge.
Bono nodded. "And I play guitar sometimes."
"Yeah, once every six thousand years," Edge added helpfully.
"Only because you never let me."
"Like hell I don't. You do whether or not I LET you."
Bono was wearing what could only be described as a pout. "Stop birdwalking, I KNOW you pull all sorts of tricks to keep me away from your guitars..."
Gwen leaned closer to a glum-looking Larry. "Are they always like this?"
Larry chuckled then. "Just sometimes."
"So you play the drums?" The ice was broken.
"Yeah." Larry wasn't interested in talking about drums. He was more interested in the way her blonde curls framed her bright face, and bounced as she shook her head at the two sitting across from her. "What do you do?"
They were off on an apparently scintillating conversation, suddenly not noticing anyone else. They weren't the only people at the table doing the same. Miranda was about to break up the Bono and Edge skirmish but the arrival of the band's drinks did just that. Bono turned to her with a smile, The Edge totally forgotten.
"So. How do you like my obnoxious friends?"
Miranda laughed at the irony of it all. "You guys rock."
Bono grinned and sipped his wine. "Glen and Larry seem to be getting along."
"You're right." Miranda giggled at his misuse of her friend's name and looked at the two who were chatting like old friends. She didn't notice the return of Bono's hand until it left its spot on her thigh an hour later.
*
