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Gerard caught Bert's eye in the rear-view mirror. He was almost positive that Bert was spying on him. As silly as it seems, Gerard had a feeling that Bert was monitoring his behavior in the backseat. Like he was going to put "the moves" on Lily, or something.
Gerard glanced at Lily, who was singing softly under her breath, staring up at the ceiling, head tilted back. She turned her head to the side to meet his gaze. She smiled at him.
A sweet smile....the smile he used to see...he smiled back, and looked out the window, fighting off a large grin that was attempting to spread across his face. Suddenly, the car came to a stop. They were here. Gerard looked out the window to see a pink neon sign... Harvey's Lounge.
Harvey's Lounge? Gerard opened the car door and stepped out, lily scooting out after him. He offered her his hand, and she took it, surprised at his gesture.
Then she smiled the smile...again. And there it was again...that stomach pain...
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"What song are you going to sing?" Jeph asked Lily as they took a seat at a small round table.
Lily shrugged, "I don't know."
Bert took a seat next to her, grabbing the drink menu from the middle of the table. Gerard sat next to Jeph and Quinn, across from Lily.
Gerard took the menu from Bert, "Don't get TOO carried away, Mr. Designated Driver..." he said, handing it to Lily.
She gave him a smile and laid the menu in the middle of the table, "I already know what I want."
"Oh?" Gerard asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yeah." Lily said, nodding.
Jeph looked around the room, "Where's a waitress in this place?" he asked loudly, trying to drown out the loud karaoke in the adjacent room.
A frumpy women wearing a black apron over her acid wash jeans and white t-shirt came over with a small notepad in hand. She had a pen behind her ear, which nearly disappeared into her poofy, permed, bleached hair. Her wrinkled mouth was painted with a magenta lipstick. Lily thought she had traveled back in time to 1992.
"Welcome to Harvey's. I'm Reba, can I get ya'll any hot wings? Onion rings?"
Bert smiled, "Reba," he began, eyes closed with emotion, "I would LOVE some onion rings."
Bert put his hand onto the grimy, worn wooden table for emphasis.
Reba took her pen out from behind her ear and scribbled down onto her notepad, "Alright...What can I get you kids to drink? Ladies first."
"She'll have a Dr. Pepper." Jepha said with a grin, "She just graduated highschool."
Lily laughed, unamused, "I'll have a Long Island, please." she said, chucking a crumpled up napkin at Jeph's face.
"And you, honey?" she asked, turning to Quinn.
Lily was distracted by the karaoke in the next room. It was so loud..and so bad. After Quinn ordered his drink, Gerard ordered a diet coke. Lily smiled and looked at his hands. Jeph ordered a Rum and Coke. When it came Bert's time to order Lily made sure he would only be having the minimal amount of alcohol, and after that soda. Reba seemed to understand.
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"Fine, then I get to pick your song." Lily said, pen to paper.
"Fine." Bert shrugged, going through the notebook of possible karaoke songs.
"Fuck yeah..." Bert laughed, "Huey Lewis..."
Gerard peered over Bert's shoulder.
"Ok Bert...I wrote it down, but don't look yet." Lily said with a grin, clutching the paper to her chest.
"Can I look?" Gerard asked, a bit excited.
Lily nodded, hiding the small sign-up sheet from Bert.
Gerard stood next to Lily, who carefully revealed the list-
Robert McCracken- Like a Virgin-Madonnna
Gerard laughed out loud,
"That should be good."
Bert chuckled loudly,
"WELL WELL WELL, this should be a good one for you, lily..." he said and wrote down his pick, cackling to himself.
30 minutes later, Jeph, Quinn, and Lily were pleasantly drunk. Jeph was on stage singing "Pieces of You" by Jewel.
Quinn was gurgling his drink, spilling it onto his shirt and pants and laughing about it.
Then he would repeat the process.
Bert was busy throwing cocktail peanuts at him.
Lily was trying to hold a conversation with Gerard,
"So...Could you do it?" she asked, trying to fish out the cherry at the bottom of her drained glass. She mumbled under her breath and looked around her, "I need a fork...or something.."
Gerard smiled, "Yeah, I mean, if you want..."
"GOOD." Lily blurted, "I want the BAR." she said, running her hands across her eyes and over her ears.
Gerard smiled, "Yeah, We could do that."
Lily sighed as she stuck her hand into her glass, wiggling her fingers.
She caught the cherry stem between two fingers and squealed in triumph, devouring the cherry happily moments later. She was pleasantly buzzed and still retaining motor skills. Her speech was a bit off at times..but at least she could get the cherry from the bottom of her glass.
"Ok....we have a ROBERT singing next.."
Bert jumped up, "YESSSSSS" he hissed, and ran to the stage. He grabbed the mic, and seemed to grow bigger and more confident in the cheap, spotlight.
He squinted, "I just want to dedicate this song, to my friends..over there..." he said, pointing to the table, "I love you guys."
Quinn took a moment from his gargling to yell, "I love you Bert!!!"
"I wonder if he knows yet.." Lily whispered to Gerard.
Gerard smiled and shook his head, "Either way..this should be pretty damn funny."
The music started, and a look of realization came across Bert's face. He grinned widely and about 1 minute into the song, everyone was in tears.
When he was done, he took a bow, and passed the microphone off to the announcer.
"Ok, the next singer is...A beautiful flower...Lily."
Lily watched Bert laugh at his own clever ways. She made sure to punch him on the way to the stage.
"Ooooh...and she'll be singing a hard one...I Will Always Love You." the announcer said in surprise, with a bit of a laugh.
Lilys eyes widened and she spun around to face Bert, who was comfortably seated, hands behind head, grinning. He gave her a thumbs up. Lily gave him a cheeky grin and stepped into the hot spot light...and into the dust mites floating around in the stale air. All eyes were on her.
Bert was laughing.
Gerard was staring..a small smile on his face.
Jeph was drinking deeply from his mug...Quinn had stopped gurgling to pay attention.
Lily made a decision, right there and then, to give it her all. To make Bert look like a jackass. She decided this as the music started, and she watched the lyrics on the screen. When Bert realized she wasn't nervous, he sunk lower into his seat, but still watched her intently.
Lily's mother had been a big fan of "The Body Guard" ,in which Whitney Houston sang the song. As a little girl, Lily had grown up singing it. She smiled, knowing she had the upper hand.
When the first, soft, part of the chorus came, the bar went silent. Lily's voice seemed to move everyone to silence, and they dared not speak as the song went on. They all knew it was coming...
The high note. The dreaded high part. Would her voice crack? And then it came...the music started to rise, and then...
She nailed it. Cheers erupted throughout Harvey's lounge. Reba stopped taking an order. Jeph choked on his beer. Everyone was wide eyed. Lily felt proud. When the song was over, Lily bounced off the stage, grabbing Reba to order another Long Island. People hollered, whistled and clapped as she made her way to the table.
"Nice pick, Bert." Lily said with a wink and smile.
"Fuck." Bert said, still amazed at what he had seen. Noone had expected Lily's vocal range to go that high...or that she could sing like that. I mean, they knew she was good..but...Whitney Houston?
"That was..." Quinn began.
"Amazing." Gerard finished, gulping his diet soda.
Lily smiled to herself, "Thanks guys."
Reba set her drink in front of her, "You should be a singer."