Roy looked quizzically at the smiling Natsumi. Out of curiosity she approached.

“What?” she asked cautiously.

“Whatever you’re doing tonight, cancel it,” Natsumi said excitedly. 

“What are you talking about?” replied a suspicious Roy.

“This guy I met at work, Leonard, he’s a keyboardist and he usually does parties—you know weddings and quinceañeras--with a regular backing band, but like everyone in his band got some weird chickenpox for some weird reason and now he’s out musicians for a wedding tonight.” Natsumi paused for a bit, as if to let Roy respond.

A wedding! Emil was startled. He had almost forgotten about the dream he had had after meeting Natsumi and Roy. This must just be a strange coincidence, Emil hoped.

“Who has weddings on a Friday?” asked Roy.

“Does it matter?” Natsumi smirked.

“What kind of music would we play?” asked Roy.

“Does it matter?” Natsumi smiled wider.

Roy responded with silence. Rather than push Roy's patience, Natsumi replied. “I don't know, Leonard will tell us tonight.”

“Fine,” Roy sighed, “what’s the pay?”

“A grand,” an eager Natsumi said, “split between the three of us.”

“Three?” Roy tilted her head to the side.

“You, the drummer, me, the guitarist," Natsumi then pointed their finger at Emil, "and him, the bassist.”

Emil's mind began to fold in on itself. If what he was hearing was correct, he would be sharing the stage with Natsumi and Roy just like he saw in his dream. And as he recalled, the dream of playing music was quickly shattered as the audience left the dance floor and the bride in agony. 

“Me?” Emil quickly tried to gather himself despite his scattered thoughts and replied. “How’d you know I play bass?”

“You’re famous you know, everyone at the dorm calls you the Bass Hermit," laughed Natsumi.

“Really?” Emil was embarrassed, but was able to gather his thoughts to sheepishly say, “I don’t think I'm good enough."

"It doesn’t matter. Roy knows every song ever written,” said Natsumi confidently. 

“That’s not true," Roy said. Natsumi just stared back without a word. "OK, maybe it's kind of true," Roy stated more quietly.

"Anyway," Natsumi continued, "Roy will just tell you the key and you just have to follow along with the rhythm. Easy Peasy.""

"Do we have time to practice together at least?" Emil pleaded.

"No can do. Like I said, I don't know the setlist," Natsumi shook their head. "You see, Leonard, he’s old school, he likes to read the room and decide what to play from that. You know, a lot of moving from song to song like a DJ of a live band."

Emil was suddenly buried in a deluge of panicked thoughts.

Would he be able to keep up with these geniuses? Had he built up his skill enough to not embarrass himself for a paid gig? Other than his time in high school jazz band, he'd never performed in front of an audience, and that was over twenty years ago! Moreover, if his dream was more than a coincidence, then this gig was going to end in disaster. It might be the first and last time that Emil would ever be able to play with such great musicians.

"Sounds fine. But what about our equipment?" asked Roy.

Wait wait, let me process this, Emil was screaming inside his head. 

"Leonard will have most things in his van. Roy just bring your cymbals. And you Bass Hermit, just bring your bass," stated Natsumi.

Natsumi then stood up and grabbed their backpack. "We just have to help unload and set up the drum kit, amps, speakers, and some other stuff."

Roy nodded.

Hold up, please stop. Emil kept screaming inside his head. For the sake of his future as a musician, he had to refuse, but his mouth had become so dry it could barely make a sound.

"Here’s the address of the venue." Natsumi handed a piece of paper to Emil and Roy with an address and some additional information about what to wear. "I’ll meet y’all there at 5pm. I gotta run to my next class." 

An awkward feeling hung in the air after Natsumi left.

Roy then looked at Emil and sighed. "Don’t chicken out Bass Hermit, I need that money."

Emil was left alone in the classroom. Did I even say yes? Emil thought, unable to move from the shock of what just unfolded. 

*****

While searching for a familiar face, Emil nervously fiddled with the handle of his bass case. It was ten past 5pm and no one Emil recognized was at the venue. The venue was a riverfront hotel, a common place for wedding banquets, so Emil was certain he had the right place. 

Emil was wearing a white button up, a black tie, and black slacks. Since all he had were casual clothes at the dorm, he had purchased a shirt and tie from the Meier and Frank department store right before getting to the front of the venue. As a result the white shirt still had the creases from being folded on display.

Despite being annoyed that he had to spontaneously purchase new clothes just to play a gig, he actually did feel more comfortable attired in a more professional look. After all, in the previous timeline Emil spent almost sixty hours a week in a suit and tie. Eventually it did become second nature and as a result, helped to make him feel more confident.

Suddenly a big white van screeched to a halt in front of Emil.

"Are you Natsumi’s friend?" a gruff voice growled from inside the van.

"Yeah," Emil abruptly replied.

A large man, looking in his late thirties came out of the van. He sported a simple black suit, a black tie, and a black leather beret that covered up what looked like a clean-shaven head. Emil's eyes were drawn to the man's strong chin adorned by a greying goatee.

"I'm Leonard," the man said as he grabbed and quickly shook Emil's hand, "and you are?"

"I'm Emil." Leonard's grip was frighteningly strong.

"OK, now that we got the pleasantries out of the way, quickly help me unload the equipment. Traffic got me late." Leonard curtly said.

Emil nodded and hurriedly unloaded a laundry list of musical equipment, including: drums, keyboards, amps, speakers, monitors, mixers, cables, microphones. This was done mainly by Emil, since Leonard said he had to go find the father of the bride to go over the final music setlist. After all that work, the back of Emil's new shirt was covered in sweat.

It was about 5:40 by the time Emil had finished moving everything off the van. Conveniently, that’s when Roy and Natsumi arrived. Despite their disheveled punk-style hair, they both looked sharp in their white shirts and black ties. They truly stood out, thought Emil. 

Roy carried several cases, filled with cymbals and several sets of drumsticks. Natsumi lugged several cases as well. Emil recognized a guitar case, but it also looked like Natsumi also had a violin and something else with them. Being a multi-instrumentalist genius must be amazing, but hard on the back, Emil thought to himself.

Yet looking at Roy and Natsumi's faces as they approached, something seemed peculiar to Emil. Natsumi was smiling and laughing. Roy only shrugged. 

Apparently there had been some collusion that Emil would undergo some hazing at his first gig and do most of the grunt work of unloading the equipment. That's why Roy and Natsumi were so late to arrive. As Natsumi was half-heartedly apologizing to Emil, Leonard finally returned with a setlist.

Leonard seemed bored and disappointed. There weren’t that many songs written out, but they were all familiar and cliché, mainly jazz and oldies standards, as if picked out by a baby boomer.

Leonard explained that there were just a few songs they had to play for special moments, like the first dance or cutting the cake, but overall he would just take the lead and inform them what they would be playing off the cuff.

Emil gulped at the mention of performing in front of an audience. Seeing his nervousness Natsumi only laughed and patted Emil on the back, while Roy simply put on a disappointed face.

"Let’s hurry and set up the stage," said Leonard.

"OK," Natsumi and Roy replied in unison. Emil's affirmation awkwardly trailed the others.

Upon entering the banquet hall, Emil's eyes widened and his mouth went dry at the uncanny sight. The stage and dance floor looked exactly like his dream.