Scorpio Love

by S. Tamanaha

  As Trevor began singing the lead, he pointed to Johnny. “Who take my lady from the tropical island? Who take my lady to the Hollywood scene?” Johnny laughed and then clapped along in time with the music with the rest of crowd. Susan, Gail, and Ray moved in unison to the music and sang the backup for the song and then the entire Hawaii crowd joined in on the chorus. “Say goodbye to your coconut girl. Hey local boys say goodbye. She’s a coconut girl in a high fashion world.” When they were done, the audience cheered and applauded loudly again.

  Susan did a couple more songs with the band. Before her last number, Johnny saw Trevor talking to her and pointing to something at the back of the stage. She shook her head, as though she was declining a request, but Trevor was insistent and she gave in. Trevor went towards the back of the stage and returned with a small keytar—a keyboard worn around the neck that was shaped somewhat like a guitar. She strapped it on and stepped up to the main microphone.

  “I just want to make it clear that I’m not dedicating this song to Johnny,” she said, smiling “And since this is my last song and probably the last time I’ll ever be performing with these wonderful and talented young men, please, everyone, come up and dance.”

  A group of people got up and headed for the dance floor as the band began to play. The song was Jody Watley’s “Looking For A New Love” and, once again, Johnny was surprised. She sang and moved and played the keytar like a rock star. He had never seen her dance before and he found it almost as sexy and provocative as her “Fever”. When they were done, the audience cheered and applauded loudly.

  However, true to form, Susan wasn’t going to let anyone leave remembering her. She knew that Johnny had his swing music down pat and she was going to make them appreciate him. She spoke to the band briefly and then stepped up to the microphone again. “All right, Johnny has forced me on this stage twice tonight so now I’m going to do the same to him. I want him to come up here and show everyone who the real piano player is in our family.”

  Johnny knew what she was referring to, but he hadn’t yet played his new music in front of an audience. He hesitated a little, but the audience was applauding and he didn’t want to disappoint her. He got up on the stage as she and Jesse adjusted the keyboard stand to simulate the height of a regular piano. While Jesse went to get a chair for him to sit on, she set the keyboard to the sound of a concert piano and turned up the volume a little. “Okay, Johnny, show them,” she said, smiling. “And play it so that we can dance. Alex and David will play along to keep the beat.”

  He began by playing a few bars of a classical piece and then he broke into his swing music. As a classical pianist, Johnny had easily mastered the difficult fingering of the right hand. The audience went wild and started clapping along. Alex on drums and David on bass kept the beat as Johnny played.

  “I love swing music!” Damien exclaimed. He grabbed Susan’s hand and began swing dancing with her. She was stunned. He was a great dancer and so animated that she looked at Richard with surprise on her face and then laughed with delight and tried to follow him. Soon many of the audience members, including Isabel and Richard and Johnny’s agent and his wife, were dancing to Johnny’s music. At the end, he received a standing ovation and she was applauding and looking up at him, out of breath and smiling happily.

  The rest of the night went wonderfully. The band never sounded better and received numerous compliments; they were ecstatic. Susan made sure that she included everyone in the celebration. She asked the band to play a few Hawaiian songs that she knew her karaoke friends could sing so that they could appear on stage, which she knew that they wanted to do. When the band played the “Molokai Slide”, she got her nieces to dance the hula to the song and even persuaded some of the L.A. group to learn the dance as well. Every so often, Susan would go to the table where all of the leis had been laid out and change the lei that she was wearing so as to acknowledge each person’s gift. Before the end of the evening, she asked permission of her friends and family to allow her to present some of the leis to her new L.A. friends in order to “share the aloha”.

  “Thank you darling,” Isabel said as Susan presented her with a beautifully made flat ginger lei. “It’s beautiful and smells so wonderful. I have to say that you Hawaii people certainly know how to party. I must have been to dozens of parties this year and I’ve had the most fun at this one than all the rest combined. You were absolutely wonderful on that stage. And John—I never knew that he could play the piano like that. I nearly fell off my chair.”

  Susan beamed with pride. “Isn’t he great? I love when he plays his boogie-woogie music.”

  “I have definitely got to talk to Roy about showcasing that talent,” Isabel said, and Susan smiled happily.

  She presented matching Maunaloa style orchid leis to Richard and Damien, white orchid leis to Roy Avery and his wife, a miniature carnation lei and a tuberose lei to Sammy Taylor and his guest, and a spiral orchid lei in alternating colors of purple and white to Daniel Stevens.

  “This is beautiful,” Daniel said. “Thank you. And you were just terrific tonight. I should have known that anyone who could teach her dog how to dance must have a lot of other talents, but I was surprised nevertheless.”

  She laughed and thanked him.

  “Do you miss it?” Daniel asked then. “The life you left behind? It seems as though it was a good life.”

  “Maybe a little sometimes,” she admitted. “But being with Johnny ... it’s where I belong, so I have no regrets.”

  Daniel smiled slightly. “John’s a lucky man,” he said.

  The tone of his voice and something in his eyes made Susan feel just a little uncomfortable. At the same time, she sensed a kind of sadness in the man. She thanked him again for taking the time to be there and returned to her other guests.

  Johnny had partially paid for tickets to Disneyland or the Universal Studios tour for her family and friends. She decided to join the group that was going to tour Universal Studios since she had never been there and then made arrangements to meet all of her Hawaii friends and family again for dinner the following night after their sightseeing was done and for brunch on Sunday before they flew back to Hawaii.

  Later that evening, as they lay together in bed, she hugged Johnny tightly. “Thank you again,” she said emotionally. “I don’t think anyone has ever done anything this wonderful for me in my life. But the cost—”

  “Shh. First, what I spent tonight was a lot less than I would have had to spend if you had insisted on a big wedding and a diamond ring and all that stuff and a large part of it came from that settlement that I never expected anyway. And second, I know I have a reputation of being cheap, but when it comes to you, I don’t care what it costs if it makes you happy. You’ve given so much to me, made me so happy. I want to do things to make you happy too.”

  She kissed him. “You make me happy every time you walk through the door at night,” she said. “You really were terrific on the piano, you know? Everyone was dancing. It was great. Did you see Damien? I didn’t know that he could dance like that. And Isabel was just raving about you afterwards. She said that she was going to talk to Roy about showcasing your talent.”

  “You didn’t have to put me in the spotlight tonight,” Johnny said. “This was your night.”

  “You’re the one who belongs in the spotlight,” she said happily. “And I wanted your business associates to see what you can do.”

  He held her tightly. “Do you know how unusual you are? People in this town step all over each other trying to get noticed and there you are—I’m married to you and I didn’t even know that you played keyboards that well. You’re smart and you’re talented and still it’s okay with you to stay in the background and put me first.”

  “People in this town came to this place to be noticed. I came here just to be with you and to help you if I can, not to be in any spotlight.”

  He wrapped his arms around her, feeling so much love for her.

  “Listen,
” he said after a little while, “if I ask you something, will you tell me the absolute truth?”

  She frowned. “Of course.”

  “That version of ‘Fever’ that you sang tonight, when you walked off the stage and over to me, have you ever done it before?”

  “No. That was just for you. Why?”

  “Because that was the sexiest, most provocative thing I’ve ever seen and I think I’d be a little upset if I knew that you’d done it for someone else.”

  “Johnny, I’m not—”

  “Don’t say you’re not sexy, okay? When a gay guy says it’s the sexiest version he’s ever seen and heard, you can be pretty sure that it’s sexy.”

  She smiled and shook her head slightly.

  “What?” he asked, annoyed that she seemed to find his concerns amusing.

  “Every week I have to watch you kiss or lust after some really beautiful women and you’re upset because you think I might have sung a song to someone else.”

  “Not just a song. That song. In that way. And I told you before, all that stuff on TV is complete make believe. What you do on that stage ... you’re singing to real people and evoking some real emotion.”

  “What kind of emotion?”

  “What kind do you think?” He sounded almost angry. “The way you sang that song tonight, it was like ... a sexual invitation.”

  “To you, Johnny. If I was making any kind of invitation, I was making it to you. And please don’t keep telling me how what you do is just make believe. What you do evokes emotion too. So much so that I have to walk in and find some crazed and naked fan with her arms around you.”

  “Don’t bring that up. We settled that.”

  “I’m bringing it up because that woman was real, and as hurt as I was I finally believed you when you said it was all innocent on your part. Now you’re upset because you think I might have sang that song in that way to someone else which, if it occurred at all and it didn’t, would have taken place long before I even met you.”

  He sighed. “All right. I know. I just ... I don’t think you have any idea how powerful your magnetism is when you turn it on.”

  “My magnetism!”

  “Please don’t deny that you have it, okay? That’s just going to make me really upset because I’ve seen it. It’s like Damien said—it’s enough to make a gay guy wish that he was straight.”

  She could have kept arguing but she knew that if she did, this discussion would escalate into a full blown argument over something that she felt was ridiculous and unfair. Instead, she snuggled close to him and kissed his chest gently.

  “Johnny,” she said softly, “it was such a beautiful night. You did such a beautiful thing for me. Please don’t ruin it over something like this. I swear that I have never sung that song in that way to anyone except you. And if you don’t want me to ever sing that song again, I won’t. I don’t care. Just please don’t be angry at me. You sound as though you’re accusing me of doing something wrong.”

  He wrapped her in his arms then and held her tightly once more. “I’m not angry at you. It’s just that when I thought of you singing that way to someone else, maybe when you performed with the band in some bar, and turning on some guy in the audience and sounding as though you were inviting him ... it just upset me. And I worry sometimes because you don’t seem to know this effect that you have on men. I mean men will always look at one of those women who walk in showing off their cleavage and all and then they’re forgotten. But with you, it’s different. First they notice you, then they get more attracted when they find out how nice you are, how smart, and then they see that you also have that side of you ... that sexiness ... and they don’t forget you like they would that woman showing off her cleavage.”

  She frowned. She was beginning to understand. “Did someone say something to you? Is that why you’re so upset?”

  Johnny sighed. “Daniel. He said that he always liked you and knew that you were smart and charming but that he was totally blown away by the side of you that you showed tonight, and it was lucky that you were married to me because if you were single, he’d be pursuing you himself. He said it as though it was a joke, but he wasn’t just joking or being complimentary. I could tell that he was serious.”

  She recalled that uncomfortable feeling that she had while talking to Daniel, but it would only make things worse to mention it to Johnny in light of how he was already feeling. Besides, it was just a feeling on her part. Daniel hadn’t done or said anything wrong and he was working with Johnny on the new made-for-television movie which she did not want to jeopardize in any way.

  “Johnny, I’ve seen Daniel Stevens three times and each time he’s been without a date. I think he’s just lonely and maybe a little envious of what we have. Don’t let something he said interfere with you having to work with him or interfere with us. Even if he’s a little infatuated or thinks he is, he won’t act on it and it’ll pass eventually.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because he’s a professional and he knows it would interfere with his business with you and because he knows that it would be useless to do anything since everyone knows that my heart belongs to only one man—you.”

  He pulled her to him and kissed her then. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t accusing you of doing anything wrong. And it’s not like I never want you to sing that song. Just, when you do, stay on the stage, okay?”

  She smiled. “I promise.”

  He kissed her again. “Were you?” he asked softly.

  She frowned a little, not understanding.

  “Were you giving me an invitation?” he asked.

  She smiled and leaned forward and sang softly into his ear. “I’ll give you fever and together we’ll burn.”

  He kissed her then, passionately, and soon they were entwined together, caressing each other’s bodies. He concentrated solely on her—kissing her, touching her secret spots—until she was moaning. She wanted to reciprocate. She began touching him, caressing him. At first he didn’t want her to. He wanted just to give.

  “Let me, Johnny.” she whispered. “Let me give to you too.” She wanted him to know how much she loved him.

  So he laid back and let her caress and kiss him until he ached. He pulled her up to him then but instead of joining with her as he usually would have, he began kissing her again—her lips, her neck, her breasts—while he stroked the rest of her body lovingly with his strong hands.

  “Do you love me?” he asked, his voice husky and low. “Do you want me?” Tonight he needed to hear her say it.

  She understood. “I love you Johnny,” she said in that breathless voice, “and yes, I want you. I’ll always want you.” He joined with her then and she gasped and then moaned as he moved in and out of her.

  “I love you,” he whispered. “No man is ever going to love you more.”

  “I’ll never love or want any man but you,” she whispered back. “Not ever.”

  These were the words that his heart and soul needed to hear. He brought them both to their peak then and the pleasure that they felt was so great it was almost painful. He stayed in her for awhile, holding her, caressing her, kissing her gently and wiping away her tears of love before withdrawing. Then he held her in his arms and caressed her shoulder lovingly as she lay against his shoulder stroking his chest gently.

  After a while she said, “Thank you for tonight, Johnny, for going through all that trouble to give me the kind of reception that I really wanted. And I’m sorry if I did anything to upset you.” Like him, it wasn’t in her nature to apologize for something when she didn’t think that she was wrong, but she loved him so much and she felt that he had to hear it.

  He pulled her closer. “I’m glad it made you happy,” he said quietly, “and you don’t have anything to be sorry about. I’m sorry ... about my jealousy. I know it’s unfair. You have to put up with so much crap because of the tabloids and from the fans and you never complain, even after that incident with that stupid woman. It’s just t
hat to me, all that stuff really isn’t real, you know? But you are. You’re the only real thing in my life and the people here, they see it too. They’re all so used to dealing with fakes, with insincere people who only act nice because they want something. Then they meet you and they realize that you aren’t one of those people and they’re drawn to you because whether they know it or not, most people in this town are missing that in their lives and they want it. That’s why I feel so lucky to have you in my life. And I get upset when I think that I could lose you.”

  She kissed him then. “You’ll never lose me,” she said softly. “As long as you keep on loving me, you’ll never lose me.”

  He looked into her eyes and saw the love that she felt for him and he kissed her again.

  “You know,” she said then, “it’s lucky we met when we did seeing how the way that I do songs seems to bother you.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because the next song that I was planning to do with the band was Objection.”

  He frowned slightly trying to recall the song.

  “You know, the one by Chakira.”

  His reaction was immediate. “Chakira!” He got up on his elbow, about to get angry.

  She smiled mischievously. “Kidding,” she said.

  “Come here,” he said laughing and grabbed her and put her across his lap. He raised his hand as though he was about to spank her.

  “No! I was kidding! Honest!” she said, half-laughing, half-pleading.

  He turned her around then and cradled her in his arms. “You’d better be.”

  “I wish I could move my hips like that,” she said. “Now that’s sexy.”

  “Your hips move just right for me,” Johnny said, then kissed her again passionately.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  After the night of her surprise reception, Damien asked Susan if she would help him with a small revue that he was putting on for the gay community. He had noticed that her band had played some not-so-usual rock and blues music and he asked her if she was willing to help him find some good music for his dance numbers.