It was, admittedly, rough to get her to actually change her fingers on the frets to get the chords in the first place, and Mark was not really the teacher type -- he'd learned that the hard way at Manny's trying to teach it a couple of times before he gave up and returned control of the teaching to Johnny Melo who was probably better off at that job teaching than he was as a salesman, whereas Mark had a keen ability to actually sell the guitars and pick one properly for whomever came in, whether it be a mother and her son, neither of them particularly aware of the variations in guitars that existed, and looking, generally, for something to start with, to guys that wanted a prestige guitar to, his preferred class of buyer, dedicated musicians who wanted to get into the nitty gritty of strings and pickups and fretboards and other things that often wasn't as profitable as selling a whole guitar so much as getting these guys set up with parts they needed, including special order stuff. 

So of course, that period of time, which essentially covered the year before she even met Bryce and while he was between bands and looking for something to do when he wasn't working, wound up with them both lacking as much to do as they had now, and it was something of an amusing memory, and it was a way to save money on a Friday night instead of going out and getting blasted like everyone else. It was easy, of course, to phone the parents and ask for money, but that felt dirty and like failure, which was certainly why Mark avoided doing it if he could.

Lessons were the result. They didn't really work out.

But the idea that she'd been weaving that thing as of two years ago expecting him to get that call, which predated the band, was pretty touching, so he figured 'fuckit' and gave her the hug she deserved for the thought, and then strapped it on his wrist, "Well, it's probably sentimental, but it's part of the good times. 

She'd brought Bryce, Rebecca and one half of the Pucker Twins into the party, but it didn't put a dent in them at all, though Kelsey had this repulsed look on her face; everything about the party seemed to meet with prim disapproval, from the Band to the Bar to Big Hakulani himself. Sure, the bar had worn everything, but it was polished brass and dark hardwood, with a foot rail and several different beers on tap, though the tropical rum drinks were the specialty, and the laughing and whooping went up in volume as more of those were consumed. 

At least Rebecca and Ren were in an advanced stage of 'getting to know you' that involved drink refills and laughter, which made a certain sense - Ren was a pretty straightforward guy, with little of the complication that typified, say Cave, who was mercurial in his moods and could best be described as temperamental. Dalton had a girl or two keeping him occupied and Stace was trying to talk Big Hakulani into the idea of being a roadie, for some crazy reason -- the guy was huge and could carry stuff, but he didn't know wiring. It was possible that Stace just liked the huge Hawaiian, but there was no way the dude would easily fit on a tour bus if they went that route -- not that Mark had any idea what a tour bus was like. What they called tours was nothing like what Edge might well set them up with if they put out an album.

And there was Bryce, offering up half-hearted congratulations. It was easy to keep the conversation empty and without much in the way of response because he certainly didn't want to get into a deeper discussion of Mark's hopes and dreams. He was hoping the nightmare would end when he woke up.

Meanwhile Maria found her way in Mark's personal space soon after the embrace ended, and asked, "What's that on your wrist?"

Mark replied, "Just a reminder of fun times in lean times."

Soon thereafter, the group started to move out of the bar, finishing their drinks and lighting cigarettes as they staggered along the beachfront, finding the next place to hole up and drink, with a couple drinks and another stagger-movement until they ended up in the sand several bars later. Somewhere down the line, Big Hakulani got off his shift and came in a big old Hawaiian flower shirt, Mark was down a shirt that Maria was wearing, because it'd gotten slightly 'chilly' and it looked like people were a bit wobbly on their feet which was, of course, when the joints came out, far enough away from beachgoers and cops alike to be safe. In a brief moment of panic, he thought that Kelsey was going to let up a scream or Bryce was going to object, but then he saw that Kelsey was being carried over someone's shoulder, which was actually a damned decent thing to do considering how much of a bitch she was, and Bryce was holding his own, though in a sullen sort of silence that wasn't inclined to actually interrupt the proceedings. The flames flickered and joints were lit and passed around; they'd picked a spot of beach that was virtually uninhabited, well off the beaten path and started building a driftwood fire as they got well and good stoned.

Maria was passed out at this point, being a lightweight practically on par with Kelsey; he'd had to hold her up to get her to this point and she was curled up on a towel in the sand. There was a lot going on, small groups 'getting to know each other' in the firelight, stoned and drunk, having a fairly intense party night. It was ironic, because among those getting somewhere with one of the women in the entourage was Big Hakulani, and Mark couldn't help but think that was Stace setting the dude up with a piece of ass to get him to sign on with Reckless Life.

"I think I figured out what I'm going to get you tomorrow, Jules," Mark slurred over the sound of the tide crashing in. Bryce was out of hearing, probably trying to call a cab or something, or perhaps just looking for a way to sober up enough so he could drive out, which meant it was a good time to tell Jules anything he didn't want Bryce in on, "so clear your schedule, cause it's gonna happen."  

Of course, the other guys were planning on going on some sort of wild shopping spree; leather pants, outrageous jewelry, new phones...they had their plans, but Mark held off on the idea. But clearly, he had a plan of what to do with at least some of the money. But then he got up a bit and staggered off with an intoned, "Love you, sis," toward Maria; he curled up against her in the sand, and was passed out not fifteen seconds later.