by S. Tamanaha
“Is Charlie going to be at that bar?”
She laughed. “Why do you keep bringing up Charlie?”
“Because he called you Susie and you didn’t like it.”
“You’re not going to cause trouble are you?” she asked, noticing a slightly dangerous look in his eyes.
He smiled then. “No, I wouldn’t do that if he’s your friend.”
“Well, he’s more a friend of my friends. Still, it’s that same group. So, karaoke bar and cheesecake or just cheesecake or something else?”
“Do you want to go and see your friends?” he asked. He didn’t like thinking it, but he wondered if she wanted to show him off as other women had wanted to do in the past.
“I don’t really care one way or the other,” she replied. “I mean, they’re always there. I can see them anytime I want. This is your vacation. We should do whatever you want to do.” She looked up at him, frowning a little. “I didn’t realize ... maybe you’re not into this nightlife stuff since you have to do it so much in L.A. Do you want to just go back to the house and relax?”
He smiled. She really was thinking only about him. “I don’t mind checking out the bar for a little while. I’d like to hear some of those singers you talked about. Can we leave early though? I want to eat some cheesecake. Love cheesecake.”
“Sure. Why don’t we just stay for about a half hour or so and then leave. I have to warn you about a few things though.”
“Warn?”
“Well, sort of. When we get there, the first thing that one of the ladies will want to do is to pull me outside because she uses me as an excuse to step out and smoke.”
“You smoke?”
“Guilty. Not as much as I used to though.”
“I do too,” he confessed, smiling.
She laughed. Had they both been sneaking cigarettes when they didn’t have to?
“Then I should warn you about Trish, Charlie’s wife. If she’s drunk—sometimes even when she’s not—she gets very familiar with attractive men so I don’t want you to get offended if she starts coming on to you or whatever.”
“What about Charlie? Doesn’t he mind?” Johnny asked.
“Not that I’ve ever noticed. And then a few other people get a little loud when they drink but they’re basically harmless. Oh, and in karaoke, the etiquette here is that you clap for the singer even if he or she is terrible. That’s why karaoke has created a few monsters. They sing, they’re terrible, they receive applause, they think they’re great.”
He laughed. “Wow, a person needs a training manual before going into a place like this.”
“Oh, and the host will probably try to get me to sing or otherwise get us to stay. That’s her job, after all. So, if that happens and I get talked into it—sometimes it’s difficult to say no and not offend someone—can you be the one who’s making the decision to leave after I’m done with the first song? Otherwise she’ll try to get me to sing another. I’ll just tell them that you’re still on Mainland time. They’ll listen to you since you’re my guest.”
The karaoke bar was a small bar located off the lobby of a medium-sized hotel at the edge of Waikiki. Johnny took off his glasses before they stepped inside. Now that he knew she wasn’t taking him there to show him off, he felt like making her proud of him. When they entered, everyone’s eyes turned on them. Her friends were seated at their usual tables and she could see the surprise on their faces. She waived and one of the ladies got up and ran over to them.
“Oh my God!” her girlfriend Gail exclaimed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She saw Gail’s eyes take Johnny in. Gail, too, was a Scorpio. “Girl, you look great.”
“You too. I love your jacket,” Susan said. “I just took my friend to see Roland’s show so we thought that we’d stop in for a few minutes and let him experience some local karaoke. We’re not going to stay though. We actually came to buy some cheesecake next door. Oh Johnny, this is Gail. Gail, Johnny.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said in that beautiful deep voice as he shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you,” Gail said. Susan could see the look in her eyes as she looked up at Johnny’s face. “Come and sit at our table. We have room.”
They went in and Susan said hello to Annie, the karaoke host, and introduced her to Johnny. Everyone was staring and some were waving at her and coming over to say hello. She made the introductions all around and Johnny greeted everyone graciously. He gave her a look when she introduced him to Charlie. Then there was Trish.
“Did anyone ever tell you that you are a very handsome man?” she asked, moving in very close to him. “I think that you’re the handsomest man I’ve ever seen.”
“Well, thank you,” he said, smiling graciously.
“And your voice. Oh my God, it’s beautiful too.”
“Hey Trish,” Susan said good naturedly, “stop hitting on my date now. You have your hubby sitting right over there.”
“Who him? In his best day he never looked this good.”
“Take it easy, girl,” Ray, Gail’s husband intervened. “Come on, now. Susan hasn’t been here in a while. Back off a little.”
“Oh, Susan, I’m so sorry.” Trish hugged her. “We missed you. I don’t mean to come on to your man, but he’s so beautiful.”
“It’s okay. I know he’s beautiful. Here, sit down there and let me buy you a drink.”
One of the regulars got up to sing and she leaned over to Johnny. “You’re in luck. He’s pretty good.”
As the singer began singing a Garth Brooks song, the waitress came around and Susan ordered a round for the two tables occupied by her friends. “Do you want a beer or soda or something?” she asked him.
“A Coke is fine,” he said to the waitress and then he leaned over and whispered in her ear, “And I’ll spank you if you don’t let me pay for this.”
She looked at him and he looked as though he was only half-kidding. She smiled and nodded okay. She understood. In an environment such as this, he had to be the man and she had to be the woman, however antiquated that idea was.
Ray offered them a sampling of some of the food that was on the table.
“Okay, the fried noodles you might like,” Susan said, “but I don’t think that you’re going to want to eat this.” She indicated some cubed raw looking meat.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Poke. Raw fish mixed with sesame oil, green onions, and other things.”
“You mean like sushi?”
“Sort of. Without the rice and not plain tasting. Have you eaten sushi?”
“Tried it once at one of those parties.”
“Did you like it?”
He smiled. “Not too much.”
“Well, you should skip this then. It has more taste but it’s still raw.”
“Let me try a piece,” he said.
She grinned. “Are you sure?”
He shrugged. “When in Rome, right?”
“Okay.” She handed him a fork and a napkin. “Just in case you want to spit it out.”
He speared a small piece and popped it in his mouth. “It’s better than sushi,” he said, swallowing. “I couldn’t make a meal of it though. What’s that?” He pointed to some green beans.
“Edamame. Soy beans boiled with salt. You just squeeze and pop the insides into your mouth.”
He did. “I like it,” he said.
She smiled. “Okay. You eat that and the noodles and I’ll eat the poke.”
“Deal.” He smiled, speared another piece of raw fish and fed it to her.
Gail was tugging at her sleeve, signaling her to go outside. Susan leaned over. “I’m not sure if I should just leave him here with Trish acting like that.”
“Ray will watch her,” Gail assured her. “Just a couple of minutes.”
Susan whispered to Johnny, “Gail wants me outside for a couple of minutes. I warned you. Are you going to be okay?”
“Who’s going to protect me from Trish?” he asked.
/> “Are you uncomfortable? Do you want me to stay?”
He smiled. “I’ll survive. But I’ll be looking at the clock.”
She smiled back. “I won’t be long.” She patted Ray on his shoulder as she left. “Don’t let anyone bother him, okay? I’ll be right back.”
Once they were outside, Gail lost all composure as she lit up a cigarette. “Who the hell is that? He is absolutely gorgeous. And that voice.”
Susan was relieved that Gail hadn’t recognized him. “A friend that I made when I was in L.A. He’s visiting for a few days.”
“Girl, I know that Trish is crude, but he really is the handsomest man I’ve ever seen.”
“He’s nice too,” Susan said.
“Are you two serious? He seems to like you.”
Susan wondered whether Gail was just being kind or whether her Scorpio instinct was at work. “No, just going out. It’s about time don’t you think?”
“Yes. And I’m so happy for you. Oh my God.”
“You’d better not let Ray hear you raving,” Susan warned. “You know how he gets. Anyway, we’re not going to stay long. His body’s still on L.A. time I think. We’re just going to pick up some cheesecake for him and then take off so that he can rest.”
“What does he do for a living?” Gail asked then.
Susan debated whether to tell Gail the whole truth but decided to stick with the general story that she and Johnny had agreed on; she would fill Gail in later. “He’s a professional model, actually. From New York. He moved to L.A. a little while ago to do some acting. But he’s not at all conceited. And I’d better get back to him. No telling what Trish is up to by now.”
“Well, you’d better let me know all the details later,” Gail said.
When they walked back inside, Johnny was sitting where she had left him, sipping on his coke, and looking relaxed as he watched another one of the “good” singers do a Frank Sinatra song. Trish was still seated but staring dreamily at him. She could see women looking at him from all over the room, some of them whispering to each other. The song was just over and everyone clapped, including Johnny. She took her seat next to him.
“So what do you think?” she asked.
“The two singers were pretty good.”
“Do you want to try?”
He smiled. “Absolutely not.”
They sat through a couple more songs and then Susan leaned over to Johnny. “Have you heard enough? Do you want to go?”
“Are you sure you want to leave?”
“Like I said, they’re here every weekend. This is about what you want to do.”
“Then I’d like to get that cheesecake.”
She smiled. “Okay, we’ll leave once this singer is done.”
When the song was over, Susan and Johnny stood up.
“We’re going to take off,” she said to Gail and Ray. “We’re going to pick up that cheesecake and he’s a little tired.”
Just then, Annie walked over. “You’re not leaving now are you?”
Susan nodded. “We just stopped in to say hello. He wants to pick up some cheesecake next door and then he needs to rest. He just got in from the Mainland not too long ago.”
“No, you can’t leave until you sing ‘Santa Baby’,” Annie said. “It’s our Christmas weekend.”
“No, no, that’s okay,” Susan declined.
“I put it on already. Here.” She thrust a microphone into Susan’s hands.
“Okay, I’ll guess I’m doing this and then we’ll leave,” she said to Johnny. “Sorry.”
“I’m not,” he smiled and sat back down.
So Susan stepped onto the small karaoke stage and sang Eartha Kitt’s version of “Santa Baby”. Her voice was so sultry that a group of men passing by the bar stopped and stood at the doorway to listen. Some of her men friends whistled and yelled, “Sing it baby!” Since Ray was wearing a Santa hat, she sang the song mainly to him and to Johnny. When the song was over, there was resounding applause from the crowd.
She blew a kiss to the audience to thank them and was about to return to the table when Annie stopped her. “No, no ... two songs, remember?”
“Annie, I promised to take him home early,” she said.
“He wants to hear you sing one more, right?” Annie asked Johnny.
Johnny smiled that dazzling smile. “I do,” he said. “We can leave after that.”
That was a big help, she thought.
“Do ‘The Boy From New York City’ song,” Annie said.
“Only if the guys do the background,” Susan replied.
Annie handed microphones to Ray and Gary, another man who was sitting at their table.
“Only if the guys stand up and do the background,” Susan said, smiling. So Ray, Gary, and two other men from the next table over stood up and joined her by the small stage.
The song started and the four men sharing two microphones did the doo wop background with some rough choreography while she sang the original Ad Libs’ version of “The Boy From New York City”. The crowd went wild, clapping in time to the music and cheering on this improvisational group. She sang the song mostly to Johnny and he enjoyed having her do that.
He stood up when she and the men returned to the table after the song was over, smiling and clapping his hands. “That was great,” he said. “Great backup singing and choreography too. I’m very impressed.”
She could tell that his compliments made her friends very happy. She picked up her purse. “Okay, now we really have to leave. But that was so much fun guys. I’ll see you all soon. I will. And Merry Christmas.”
They all wished her a Merry Christmas and kissed her goodbye.
“Nice to meet you all,” Johnny said as he shook all of their hands. “Thanks for letting us join you. I really enjoyed it. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas and thank you for the drinks,” Ray said and everyone followed suit.
She couldn’t help but smile at the look on the faces of some of the women. They were completely awestruck. She said goodbye to Annie, left her a tip, and then they left.
“So, what did you think?” she asked as they walked to the cheesecake store. “Was it interesting? Irritating?”
“I can see how doing that once in a while might be fun,” Johnny said. “But every week?”
“That’s why I don’t come very often. Sorry about Trish, but you were warned.”
He laughed. “She’s a character all right. All I know is, you are dangerous when you sing. First that ‘Fever’ song and now this Christmas one.”
“Dangerous? What does that mean?”
“It means that you can turn on every man within hearing distance when you sing like that. I saw the guys stopping by the door to hear you. Even your male friends—I see it in their eyes.”
“Stop it,” she laughed.
It amazed him. She could read him and others so well and yet she really didn’t seem to be aware of the powerful magnetism that she possessed.
They bought a couple of slices of cheesecake and caught a taxi back to the house. They changed into comfortable clothing and after Susan let Angel out to do her business and got her settled with a small treat, they sat at the dining room table with their dessert.
“You were turning all of the men’s heads tonight,” he said after a while. “At the show, at the bar.”
She smiled. “It wasn’t me they were looking at. They were trying to see what all their wives were staring at—you. At least no one came up and bothered you though, except Trish. One can always count on Trish. Does it annoy you to have people staring at you all the time or are you used to it?”
He didn’t answer. She glanced up from her cheesecake and found him studying her. She frowned slightly. “What’s the matter?”
“You don’t know, do you?” he asked then. “I mean, you really don’t know.”
“What?”
“How pretty and sexy you are.”
She looked uncomfortable.
“So y
ou don’t accept compliments either?” Johnny asked.
She sighed. “Look, I don’t suffer from low self-esteem or anything. I’m okay with who I am and what I look like, relatively speaking. But I’m also realistic. I know I’m not gorgeous. And when a guy like you who’s always surrounded by tall, leggy, drop dead gorgeous women says something like that to me ... it doesn’t feel right, you know?”
“You think I’m lying?”
She could tell that she had offended him. “Not lying, Johnny. I think you’re being gracious ... kind ... and I thank you, but you don’t have to be.”
“Did it ever occur to you that not everyone is attracted to Amazonian women?” he asked.
She smiled a little. “Actually, no. All the men I know are. They settle for less, of course, but they are.”
He was still studying her and she was growing uneasy under his gaze. “Can I ask you something?” he said then.
“Sure.”
“Why is it that you seldom look directly at me?”
She had hoped that he wouldn’t notice. “Westerners put a lot of emphasis on direct eye contact,” she said. “Easterners believe it’s a little rude to stare at a person.”
“Is that all of it?”
She blocked entry into her soul and looked at him then. “You’re an extremely attractive man,” she said. “I don’t have to tell you that. The world tells you that. And I don’t have anything against handsomeness. It’s just that with you, it sort of distracts me.”
“Distracts you?”
“It’s hard sometimes to look at your genetically blessed exterior and still be able to sense the things that I sense inside of you. The person inside is who I have an easy time talking to. Maybe that’s why it was a little easier for me to talk to you on the phone.”
“So where you’re concerned, what I look like is a detriment?” he asked.
“That’s not what I mean. It’s just that ... well ... I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who has the entire package, you know? You’re not only good looking, you’ve got a good heart and soul, a good mind, good values and work ethics, talent. It’s a wonderful thing, a very special thing, but a new thing to me. I just need to get used to it, that’s all. Right now I’m still connecting with the person inside.”