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Mikey looked down at his cell phone again. He had turned off the ringer but had left it on vibrate. The phone was moving across the table. He knew it would be Alicia calling again. What was wrong with him? Why didn't he just answer the damn thing? Of course he knew the answer. He just didn't feel like talking right now. He was tired and just wanted to sleep but instead of being upstairs he was down in the hotel bar. Bob had rushed back to the room after the concert and called Kara. Mikey just didn't feel like listening to lovey-dovey conversation. So he had wandered downstairs to the bar where he now sat watching his phone vibrate towards the edge of the table.
"Better answer that before it hits the floor." The blond waitress said as she walked by the table.
Mikey looked up at her. She smiled at him. He looked away quickly.
She checked on a few of the customers at other tables then made her way back to where Mikey sat staring at the glass in front of him. "You doing okay?" she had a soft lyrical voice.
Mikey looked up "Uh, yeah. Still pretty full." He held up his glass to illustrate his comment.
She smiled at him, "I wasn't asking about your drink. I was asking about you. Are you okay?"
Immediately Mikey grew uncomfortable. "Sure, it's all good." He said looking back down.
"You know, I've learned that more often than not when people say it's all good, it's usually not."
Mikey kept his eyes down.
"My names Cathy and you're Mikey." she said softly. "And if you need to talk to someone Mikey just let me know. I'm a good listener. I'm not an advice giver, just a listener. Sometimes the things in our heads just need to be spoken out loud." She turned and moved towards the bar.
Mikey watched her walk away. She knew who he was and that bothered him. He knew it shouldn't but he always felt like people only wanted to talk to him because of the band. It had started to seem that way when the band started to gain in popularity. Those early days girls wanted to be with him because he was in the band. Well, either that or to get to his brother. There had been quite a bit of that too. He sighed as the phone started vibrating again. Shit, he was making Alicia worry. He took a sip of his drink and looked around. Cathy was talking to an older couple. She smiled and listened to the man tell a story. After they were gone he was shocked to see he was the only customer left in the bar.
Cathy was walking from table to table wiping them down. He waited until she was at the table next to his before he spoke. "Why do you work here?"
She looked surprised "You know I don't think anyone has asked me that?" She moved over to stand by his table, "I work here because I like meeting and listening to people. That probably sounds lame but I just figure life is too short to do something that's not making you happy."
"But do you like it all the time?" Mikey asked.
She laughed, "Of course not. Some days I hate it. Cranky people you can't please no matter what you do, people who skip out on their tabs."
"Oh" Mikey nodded and looked away.
"Can I sit for a minute?" she asked quietly.
Mikey looked up at her. She was blond and very pretty. He thought about Alicia. He wished so much it was her standing there.
Cathy understood his silence. "Look, I'm not trying to hit on you. Actually I have someone I'm very happy with. Pretty sure we'll grow old together. It's just my feet hurt from standing so long."
Mikey smiled, "Sure, please sit."
She sat down and smiled, "You know you have a beautiful smile Mikey. So why not share it more often?"
He shrugged, "Dunno."
"I think I do." Cathy said looking into his eyes, "You think people don't care about the real you. You think they only care about the Mikey Way of My Chem."
It was unsettling that she understood. He looked back down at his glass.
"But you are Mikey of My Chem. That's part of you. But the other part of you thinks that people won’t like It as well as Stage Mikey."
"Stage Mikey" he repeated. "I like that."
"If you gave people a chance they'd like the total Mikey."
"I don't know. I've just always been quiet. It's my brother who has all the personality."
Cathy nodded, "Your brother is a quite a showman, but I bet he's not always like that, is he?"
Mikey thought about it a minute, "No, not really. I just wish I could be a bit more like him on stage. Not afraid." He added quietly.
Cathy thought a minute, "All of us are afraid sometimes. I think the trick is just accept it and move on. Don't freak about it. Be yourself on stage. Don't try to be someone else."
Mikey smiled, "Yeah, I don't think the stage could take two Gerard's."
"Be happy Mikey Way. Make peace with yourself. Surround yourself with the things that make you happy. Like I said, life’s too short to waste precious time being unhappy."
Mikey's phone began to vibrate again. He glanced at it then at Cathy. "I'm guessing the person on the phone makes you happy?"
"She is my happiness." Mikey said truthfully.
"Then answer that phone and be happy, Mikey" She stood and walked away.
Mikey smiled, "Hey baby, I love you,” He said into the phone.

Kara was in Kelly's room arguing over the whereabouts of a certain shirt when Bob called after the concert.
"Look, Bitch. You'd better give me the shirt back. I know you took it." She slammed Kelly's door before answering the cell. She continued down the hall to her room while talking.
"Hi, Honey." Kara's voice was still filled with the agitation she felt.
"What's wrong, Kara?"
"Nothing much. That twit Kelly took my brand new shirt and won't give it back. She's pretending that she doesn't know how it disappeared out of my room. I haven't even gotten to wear it yet."
Bob didn't really understand the whole sister dynamic but he knew enough to stay out of it.
"How was school today?" Bob knew he was taking a chance with this topic and crossed his fingers.
"Not bad. I got a B on my quiz. Oh and Mrs. Warford is going to let me do a research paper for extra credit so I might actually end up with a decent grade in her class. Oh course, Mr Jameson is being a total dick about missing the mid-term. What a jerk." She paused. "So, how was your day? Didn't you have an interview or something this morning?"
"Yeah, with a radio station. It was Breakfast with My Chemical Romance. They had some fans there that had won a contest. We played a couple of songs. One guy wanted us to play something off the first album. Gerard blamed me for not doing it. Implied that I didn't know any of those songs. Shit, he just can't remember all of the words any more. He's getting too old."
"Know what you mean. You should have seen Mom at dinner. What a space cadet. Off in her own world. Kelly got one over on her. She got permission to go out with Mike on Friday. Mom just said 'yes'. She wasn't even listening. Didn't ask about the party or anything. Geez, I never got away with anything like that. That pipsqueak."
Damn, the sister thing again, but before he could change the topic again, Kara did it for him.
"Elle was over visiting today and get this... the munchkin loves my room. Figures, doesn't it?"
Bob laughed. "Yeah, that room is a little girl's dream. Is Monica watching Elle again? Kinda funny that Liv shows up again as soon as Gee leaves the country. Nothing like unresolved issues."
"Can you imagine when those two get married? Mr. and Mrs. We Need A Psychiatrist."
"Kara. I wasn't talking about Gee and Monica."
"Oh, phooey. You know it's true." She paused. "Are you still taking your vitamins?" She giggled. "Bye Honey. Call me tomorrow." She hung up, humming to herself.
Meanwhile down the hall, Kelly was modeling Kara's new shirt in front of her mirror. It looked a lot better on her anyway. Stupid cow. Maybe she's wear it to the party Friday. Mike would definitely like it. She frowned at her reflection as she thought about the party.