(everything is coming my way) 

12:20 

I got there as he was chewing on the last bite of his sandwich. 20 minutes late. 

I’m sorry Andy, it was 11:30 and then all of a sudden it was 11:50 .Somehow there’s a black hole that appears every time I have a chance of getting somewhere on time…. 

He greets me with a warm hug. And on we go for a lunch-hour-catch-up blitz. I tell him about the good stuff, and about my desire to get more gigs.
His answer:   It’s easy for you, just walk into a venue with your face and your ukulele, sing a tune, smile and they’ll hire you.

I put the back of my hand to my forehead and sigh :  I wish life was that simple!

————— 

4:15 pm 

I’m strutting in the Byward Market after a little jam session with friends (check out Aaron Ray : goooooooood stuff) . 

E-mail break: 

Hey Sophie thanks for the response, 

I will be at my work in about 20 mins so come in anytime after 2:10pm as I am interested in booking you for the month of April. Thanks again, 

I’m the one who offered to go there in person, but now I’m hesitating because….I’m wearing….khaki sweatpants….and big chunky boots… 

I take a deep breath and walk in anyway: I’ll just smile and he’ll look at my teeth, right? 

—————— 

15 minutes and some chit-chat later, I’m plugged-in and playing because they happened to want to test-out their sound system. 

Hi Ottawa, I’m Sophie and I’ll be playing for you for the next… 

I sing shorter versions of my songs so that they can hear a wide range of songs before they’re done the test.
Who, They?
Oh! Yeah, there’s the Owner, the Manager, the Other Manager & the Operator. 

Other Manager, whose name I learn later on, comes up to me and hands me her business card: 

You know that there are jazz evenings downstairs at the Vineyards.  Get in touch with me so we can book you sometime this summer, we’d love to get a female jazz singer. 
————— 

I can imagine the spark of laughter in Andy’s eyes.
Told you so!