The Gig

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: This story must contain the words: trumpet, fan and feather

The Gig

They were late.

Lionel remained cool under pressure. He was, after all, a professional.

Sure he was up on the stage at a jazz club owned by the mob. Yes, it was his first night with the band. And yes, half of the people in the room were heavily armed.

None of that posed a problem. He had been in tighter situations before.

They were midway through the first bit, but Lionel left his trumpet on its stand. He wouldn’t be up for another two or three minutes.

Where the hell is Fat Tony? he thought to himself. Tony was his reason for being here. He had used all of his connections to get himself on that stage on that night.

“You guys need to give Lionel a chance. He’ll blow you away with his talents. It will be a real feather in your hat when Tony hears him play.”  

It had been a convincing argument. Lionel got the gig, sight unseen.

Ten feet away, just off of the stage, was a small table with a little ‘reserved’ sign on it. That was where Tony was supposed to be. That was where he needed Tony to be within the next minute and a half.

Sweat started to form on Lionel’s brow. It was hot in the smoke filled room; the fan overhead did little more than stir the air.

It was almost time. Lionel was aware of his heart beginning to race. He was not going to get a chance to make the hit. It would have been a simple thing to take out Fat Tony and then shoot his way through the crowd of expendables.

Now he was faced with a more daunting situation. His cue was coming up and he had no idea how to play a trumpet.

Word count 300