"I-- no, I never did," Merri replied sheepishly, his eyes falling on the menu though he didn't read the list of things before him. "I'm really sorry! Things just got really busy and... well... a lot of... things were going on--" He cringed at his redundancy. "But I will soon! When do you next perform? I'll definitely make the effort to see you then, since..."
He cleared his throat and tried to focus on the menu now, instead. When the waiter came back, Merri let Ash order first, and then he put his in for a club sandwich, not having the opportunity to peruse the menu further. Once the waiter left, Merri tried again.
"But, yes, I'll... go to your next show. Make every effort to! Because--" No, that's not how he wanted to say it. "Well, I mean, I... well... I will!"