The level on Penny's drink was getting low, and quickly. Yet another talent of Penny's, if you could call it that. Magic: she could make booze disappear. In fact, her glass was at her lips again when the waitress came. She lifted her free hand with a single finger in the air as though trying to get the girl to hang on until she was done with her sip.
"Another maker's mark with a lime, please?" Stutter was conspicuously absent, the buzz of liquor taking off the nervous edge. Some people took valium. But alcohol didn't require a prescription. It was also her secret to performing. Of course, stage lights made it hard to really see individual people, and once she started playing she was usually too wrapped up in the music anyway, but booze was what got one foot in front of the other on the way up the stairs to the stage.
She'd smile to him and nod, "It's a good way to get paying gigs. At least if you can find a good one. What about you? Karaoke?"