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“Order up,” Yelled the barista handing several steaming mugs to Joan. She took them, placing them on a large round tray to be delivered across the cafe. She was so spaced out that she nearly dropped them, though it seemed almost as if wind was keeping her up today. It was her anniversary, and she could not wait to see her boyfriend.
For what seemed like the hundredth time in the past few hours she looked up at the stage. Staring at the acoustic guitar and microphones on the stage brought her back to the past, to the day she met Meenah.
The Jester's Secret Cafe and Venue was quite the “happening place” these days, though when it started it was just a simple coffee shop. It was always host to small time musicians, cover bands, singer-songwriters and the like. Meenah’s band was no different. He played the guitar in a family band of sorts with his sister Fef. They were called For The Halibut and they played a strange mix of anarcho punk music and indie folk music, but everyone loved them.
For the Halibut had played there before, but the guitarist was different then. This one had black hair with wavy fuschia locks hanging in front- short though fashionably shaggy. It was covered in a darker hat whose brim was bent skyward with a design like shark teeth and buttons for eyes. Long thin chains hung from the back- two of them- he would later claim that they were for when he got in fights, though mostly he just liked the aesthetic.
Joan was called out of her staring at the boy when a pair of cups were shoved in her hand and she was pushed toward where the band were stepping down from the stage to take a break. She stumbled a bit, catching herself before she spilled anything and eventually made her way across the room. The look on Feferi’s face made Joan rethink her suggestive leering. The girl halted, her steps stuttering for a second before she blushed and handed the drinks over, first to Fef and then to the boy.
Feferi laughed, though Joan could hardly hear it. “This is Meenah,” She said and the boy appeared just as nervous as Joan herself. The smaller of the girls looked up at the boy flushing nervously before turning back to the other and asking as near a whisper as possible “Are you two dating?”
Fef burst out laughing followed shortly by small chuckles from Meenah. “Oh my cod,” she nearly shouted “We’re siblings!” She then continued with some story about how many people had asked if they were dating, but Joan tuned that out for the most part as she began to notice the similarities between the two. They had the same wavy hair- even the same astonishingly bright fuchsia dye job- it was nothing like the crazy curls atop her own head. They had the same tall stature, both substantially taller than Joan herself, they even had similar glasses, though Meenah’s definitely had a bit more flourish.
“--As if we can’t even tuna our own instruments!” Feferi concluded laughing at her own story, but the other two were in a world of their own. She huffed a bit, but finally left the two to converse. The pair watched her step away and turned back catching each others eye.They laughed awkwardly before Meenah finally broke the silence. “Heh, yeah. Fef is definitely something,” He said with an awkward laugh.
Joan continued staring at him, her overbite sinking into her lower lip before realizing that it was her turn to talk. “Oh, um yeah. We’re friends, but I didn’t know that she had any siblings. And besides, I thought someone else played guitar for her, Aaron or something?” She asked with just a hint of confusion.
“Oh yeah that guy’s an asshole so I’m replacing him for a while. Y’know, just until Fef finds someone to replace me.”
“Oh,” Joan tried not to sound so disappointed. She continued “Well you can always hang out here even after you leave the band.”
“I would love that,” He replied, before adding “And maybe some time we could perhaps… See a movie?”
Joan was brought out of her reverie when she spotted Meenah. It had been three years since they had first met and she was still helping out in her fathers cafe. He was now her boyfriend and they had just recently moved in with each other.
Joan looked up at her boyfriend on stage playing along to his sisters singing still, and it was almost like they had just met, except this time when he looked at her she recognised him. This time she recognised the smile he had, the one just for her, and this time she returned it.
Then something happened that she’d never seen before. Feferi stepped down and Meenah stepped up to the mic. Then he gestured to Joan to come closer. When she did he put a hand out and pulled her on the small stage with him. He gestured to her as he picked up the microphone and said “Most of you already know that this is my girlfriend, has been for a while now, and this is a song I wrote for her.”
He started strumming and singing out a song for the whole place to hear. This wasn’t the first time he had written a song for her, he’d even gone so far as to have Feferi sing one or two on stage, but this one was different. This one felt more important.
Meenah strummed the last chord and turned to her, letting it play out before removing the strap of the guitar from his shoulders and handing it off to an awaiting Feferi. He Turned to her and smiled before taking a knee before her. He pulled out a small box and Joan covered her mouth with her hand as he opened it, producing a small diamond ring.
“Joan Egbert, will you marry me?” He asked.
She removed her hand from her mouth before releasing what can only be described as a squeal before once more covering her mouth. She took a deep breath and tried again, once more removing the hand from her mouth and yelling, “Yes! Yesyesyesyesyes yes!” and all but tackling him in a hug. The crowd went wild.