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- 11/23/2014
- 900 Words
- 1,194 Views
- 16 Comments
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
The Lonely Heart Club – a prompt story - 2. Martin II #373
Tag – All Alone
You and your partner have been so busy lately that you have spent nearly no time alone. You are surprised when you find yourself being taken out on rowboat to the middle of the lake. Now that you are all alone together one of you feels the need to finally spill the beans. What is this conversation and how does your time alone on the lake end?
Martin sat at the bar and listened to Jessa singing Jessie J’s ‘Nobody’s Perfect’. She threw herself into the song as always, and he had to hide his grin behind a glass when he thought about how she hated this song. There would be ranting and violent cursing as soon as she was back in her dressing room. Maybe she’d even hurl her hairbrush again. No one knew why she hated the song so much and no one dared to ask.
“Screaming Eagle, Kentucky Spirit straight up.”
“Coming right away, Alan.” The bartender poured amber liquid into a glass, then took the dishtowel from his shoulder and polished the shiny top of the bar in front of the man, before he set the bourbon down before him.
The piano player turned a little on the barstool. Dark grey suit, definitely custom made, black dress shirt, no tie, IWC Pilot's Perpetual Calendar. Martin had a thing for expensive watches.
Alan took the glass in his hand and rolled it between his palms, before he closed his eyes and took a small sip. “You’re playing after her?” He still hadn’t open his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Could I make a request?”
“Sure. Just get one of those paper slips out of the box over there and write it down. Anna will bring it over to me.”
“I want you playing ‘James’ for me.”
“The Billy Joel song?”
“That’s the one. You know it?”
“There isn’t a Billy Joel song I don’t know.”
“Good.” Alan took another sip, and then turned so he faced Martin. He stared at him with eyes of the same color as the bourbon in his glass. “Listen, do you have a little time?”
Jessa was now singing ‘La Vie En Rose’. Martin rolled his eyes and looked at his watch. “Twenty minutes.”
“That will do. I thought you might like to know why I want you to play that song for me tonight.”
Martin signaled the bartender to bring him another red wine. He loved listening to people and their stories, even if it was at a place like this; it was almost a given that they didn’t have a happily-ever-after.
“My family had planned my life almost from the day I was born. As their only son, I had to excel in school, be a star on the local baseball team, and be friends with all the right people. After finishing high school, as valedictorian of course, I had to become a lawyer like my father. Eventually I’d marry a girl from another influential family, we’d have a son, and everything would repeat itself. It’s called family tradition.”
A wry grin appeared briefly on Alan’s face. “The only problem was I wanted to be a writer, my best friend was a guy who absolutely did not belong to the right circles, and I prefer boys over girls.
“For a short time I dreamed of a life free from my family’s expectations. Creative writing instead of law, Jack who was going to be a mechanic, in my bed and in my life instead of Naomi Michaels, the business major. Everything seemed possible.
“When my parents learned about this – well, let’s say they had their ways and means to finish that dream rather quickly.
“After weeks where I saw Jack only in school, I finally managed to sneak out one day. He took me out on a rowboat, but what I thought would be a romantic trip was Jack giving me an ultimatum. He rowed us to the middle of the lake and then he told me he would start training at the same garage where his brother was already working as a mechanic. The owner planned to retire in a few years and if everything went well Jack and his brother could buy him out. There was a college there, with a great English and creative writing program. We could move into a small apartment behind the garage the owner didn’t need.”
Alan’s hand trembled when he brought the glass to his lips. “I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have the guts.” He gulped down the rest of his bourbon. “This happened exactly twenty years ago.
“I followed my family’s dream for me. Today I am the successful lawyer and soon-to-be partner in my father’s law practice. I married Naomi and I divorced Naomi. We have a son who wants to be a comic artist. He is eight. If he still wants this when he is eighteen, I will make sure he gets to pursue his dream if it is the last thing I do.” The glass landed on the top of the bar with a hard thud.
“Today I looked up Jack. I called him and he told me he and his partner of ten years own a garage for custom made cars in this very town. He invited me to visit them.”
Martin saw the single tear running down Alan’s face. Jessa was playing her last song and he had to get ready to take her place behind the bar’s baby grand soon. “I’m going to play ‘James’ for you now.” He put his hand on Alan’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly. “Maybe after twenty years it’s time to go out there and follow your own dream.”
“Thank you.” Alan’s voice cracked. He held his empty glass up towards the bartender. “Another one, please.”
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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