For Us

Part 2

Lisa hated parallel parking, but on the corner of Couch and 8th there was no other option. It was enough to almost make her change her mind and go home. The same driving force that brought her here kept her from turning around. She had spent three weeks now thinking about the singer from Dalton's. Regular life was starting to get incredibly boring compared to the fantasies in her head about meeting and talking to her. She finally decided the best course of action was to try and meet her, be incredibly disappointed in her personality, and get over it.

There was a group of people waiting by the door. Lisa positioned herself behind them, waiting to get in. She stuck out like a sore thumb, dressed in her pea coat and what she now considered a silly knit hat. She hadn't believed that when she put it on but her nerves and the feeling of being slightly over dressed for this venue made her question everything. The Top had more of a ripped jeans and leather vibe to it.

"Hey guys! Guys!" a loud male voice shouted over the excited babbling of the crowd waiting in front of her, "This lady wants to get in get your asses out of her way." The group went silent and the crowd parted revealing the owner of the voice. He was a tall, thin man with a scruffy dark beard and a floppy red stocking cap that hardly concealed a head of curly dark hair. "Sorry about that. Just holler at us next time. We'll move."

"No it's ok," Lisa responded, "Thank you." She stepped gently through the crowd, slightly mortified at having all of their eyes on her.

"Can I help you find someone?" he asked.

"I uh," she started, but then trailed off, unsure what to say.

"I just can't imagine you're here on your own," he said, "The beer here is warm and the wine comes from a box." Lisa attempted to laugh at his joke but she was clearly still stiff with nerves. "You looked a little freaked out is all. Just thought I would help," he continued.

"Thank you, again..." she managed to say, "No I just heard there was some good live music here sometimes."

"Oh you mean Kenny," he said, beaming, "You're at the right place."

Lisa tried to keep her face from falling. It seems once again she would miss out on the person who'd plagued her mind for nearly a month. "Great!" she faked excitement, "Do you know if there is a Jason who bartends here?"

"The handsome devil is behind the bar as we speak," he answered, "Tell him Josh said to give you the finest boxed wine we have, on the house."

"Thank you Josh," Lisa said with a laugh, "I'll see you around I suppose."

"I suppose!" he responded.

Lisa made her way into the small crowded bar. For the booze being as bad as Josh said it was there were sure a lot of people packed in such a small space. The crowd was so thick, she was sure she wouldn't be able to actually make it to the bar. Lisa spotted a make shift stage in the corner with a slightly brighter light illuminating it from directly above. It was empty except for a microphone and a guitar. Jason was behind the bar. His appearance was jarringly different from the white shirt, black tie uniforms at Dalton's. His hair was gelled in every direction possible. The dark eyeliner was obvious even from where Lisa was standing, and she couldn't help but be jealous of the fact that he seemed better at applying it than she was.

"Lisa!" Jason yelled as he suddenly caught sight of her. She waved back at him. She was too nervous to shout above the crowd. "You're lost gorgeous! This is The Top! Not Dalton's!"

"I missed you!" she said, hardly above the normal volume of her speaking voice.

To her relief Jason, having been a bartender most of his adult life, was fairly adept at reading lips. He held up his fingers in a heart shape and replied, "I missed you too! Take the open table in the corner! I'll send you your wine!" Lisa gave him a nervous thumbs up, then turned to shuffle her way through the crowd. She found it very odd that with the entire crowd in this place this table in the corner was left alone, but she didn't question it and sat down.

"Hey guys, I'm back," a raspy female voice suddenly blaring over the microphone startled Lisa, "Had to have a smoke break." Lisa looked up towards the stage and could not contain the smile that spread across her cheeks. There she was. Lisa's mystery singer was slung carelessly on top of a stool on the stage. Her tailored suit was gone and replaced with fitted jeans and a leather jacket she was currently shedding to reveal a tight fighting baseball style tee. Her hair was styled exactly the same as it had been in Dalton's and could still only be described as a shock of blond. "Brady," she called into the microphone, "Get your drunk ass up here. I can't play guitar. I'm too pretty to work that hard."

Her joke was met with a round of loud cheers from the crowd. A clearly drunk man with long hair was then pushed through the crowd towards the stage. He took the stool next to the singer and picked up the guitar. Lisa wasn't sure how well this was going to go. He seemed so intoxicated to her. To her surprise, he plucked out a few perfect riffs on the guitar, almost losing all of his drunken clumsiness as he did so. "I don't know guys," the blond joked, "He doesn't seem to be his brilliant self yet. I think he needs another drink."

The laugh from the crowd suggested to Lisa that somehow this entire group of people knew each other. She felt less nervous as she began to view the atmosphere with more of a family of drunken cousin vibes, and less of a wrong side of the tracks hole in the wall. Almost at her command, a waitress came to the stage with two drinks. She handed one carelessly to the guitar player, and then turned to the singer, clearly with the intent of paying her some attention.

"Thank you sweetheart," the microphone hardly caught the singer's words.

"You're welcome," the brunette waitress replied. Then she leaned over slowly and placed an obscene kiss on the blond's lips. Lisa's mouth dropped open as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. Every part of her wanted to look away, but by the time she got over the shock of watching this brunette literally chew on her mystery girl's bottom lip it was over. The crowd hollered and wolf whistled as the waitress exited the stage.

"Shut up!" the blond demanded into the microphone, with a smirk firmly in place.

"Don't leave." Jason had appeared out of nowhere with her wine. Lisa jumped at his sudden presence.

"Why would I leave?" she asked him, "I'm here to see you"

"Sure you are," he replied with a smile, "She's good. It'll be worth staying here and watching."

If she left now, Jason would know she only came to see the girl. It was an embarrassing thought to her, even though she had a feeling he already knew. So she settled in as the guitar began to play. Lisa sat through her entire set. She took in every bit of the girl's multitude of talents. Clearly she could sing, as well as deliver a decent amount of stage presence. She could also portray feelings through her voice, making a song fun when it was appropriate, sexual, or even sad as Lisa learned with the second song in her set. The crowd objected loudly to the sadness, even though it still felt to Lisa as if they enjoyed it.

As Lisa finished her second wine, the set seemed to have ended. The blond excused herself from the stage, the crowd clearly disappointed by her departure. "What?" she called to them, "Ya'll think you're the only ones that get to have fun? Someone better buy me a drink!" They cheered for her as she walked to the bar. Lisa stayed where she was and just watched. She realized she might be coming off as slightly creepy, but she couldn't look away. Lisa watched as she spoke to several people around her, never once looking towards the corner where she sat.

As she stared, the brunette waitress sat down another wine in front of her. "Oh," Lisa objected, "Thank you, but I didn't order this."
"I know," the waitress replied, clear displeasure in her tone, "She did." The waitress threw a thumb over her shoulder towards the blond singer, who now stood leaning against the bar, staring right towards Lisa with a smirk. she returned her smile, with a four finger wave as the waitress left her side and melted into the crowd. The singer raised her glass in cheers to her, and she returned it. Tipping back the last of her drink, the blond winked at her, slammed her glass down on the bar, and began making her way towards the exit.