A Kiss and a Cuddle by Sophie Sloane Read Free Book Online

only twelve years old
when she died, and that he was told the next morning by his father.  And at
that young age, he joined his father, uncle, and grandfather in walking behind
her funeral carriage.  It was no shock to find out that he burst into tears
during the ceremony, and that for many years after, his laughter could turn
into sobbing in an instant. 
    The
more I read about him and his family, the more I understood him.  The more I
wanted to understand him.

ELEVEN
    The
next afternoon, I found myself back at the Caribou Coffee.  I was unwittingly
becoming a regular.  This time, I was with Derek on the patio, and we were
talking business.  Derek also came from a home with a single mother, and he
knew how to work hard.  He was born and bred in Denver, and he had an
incredible talent for writing powerful rock songs as well as beautiful
ballads.  He had a large following in Denver and across the nation, and he
always knew how to use his entrepreneurial mind to increase his market share. 
We were both in the same boat in Denver.  We were transitioning from open mic
nights to performing our own sold-out shows.  I was hoping that I could get
some lyrical input from him, since he was the king of writing love songs, but
he was determined to talk marketing.
    “You
need to determine who your target audience is and write music for them,” Derek
recommended, as he drew some sort of marketing diagram on a sheet of paper to
help me understand.
    “I
don’t think I could categorize my fans into one box,” I replied.  “When I look
out into the audience, there are young people, old people, hipsters… every
category of human you could imagine.  I don’t know if I want to choose just
one.”
    “Your
target audience may be completely unexpected,” he continued and added more
arrows to the diagram.  “Middle-aged women are the target audiences for many
rappers.  Who knew, huh?”
    I
laughed and looked up to see that Babs had arrived at our table.  She asked for
our orders, and we both ordered our usual drinks, but I noticed that even when
I was talking, she still only looked and nodded at Derek, as if I didn’t even
exist.
    When
she left, I said to Derek, “What was up with that?  I gestured towards Babs and
raised my eyebrow.  “She’s totally into you.”  And even though I hated to admit
it, I continued to say, “And she is pretty cute.”
    “Do
you think so?” He looked over at her working on our drinks inside the cafe and
pursed his lips while evaluating her.
    “For
sure, like a cute little bunny,” I said, trying to sound encouraging.  I
couldn’t help but always be a bit jealous of the perfectly petite girls.  The
type that you just wanted to squeeze and put in your pocket.  Although petite
girls were probably always jealous of us tall, long-legged girls.  It was one
of the many peculiar mysteries of women.
    Derek
continued to look at Babs while he thought about it.  “I’m not sure that I want
to date a cute little bunny,” he said.  “I am more into the tall, lady-like
gazelles of the world.”
    “Okay,
before this animal analogy gets out of hand, you should think about it.  She is
definitely interested, and I don’t think she’s just after your fame and money,”
I said playfully.
    “She’d
better not be trying to steal my spotlight,” he joked, and then gave me a look
to say ‘change the subject’ as Babs started walking towards us with our drinks.
    “So,
umm,” I started to say.  I was trying to think of a conversation topic, but my
mind went blank.
    “Yea,
umm, that thing I was telling you about.  It’s great,” he said and nodded his
head at me for authenticity.
    Babs
came and put the drinks in front of us at the table and said, “Here you guys
go.  Enjoy your drink, Sergio.”
    He
thanked her and she started to walk away.  Then he surprisingly said, “My real
name is Derek, not Sergio.”
    She
turned back around and her smile was beaming across her face.