Moon Tower

20.

Eventually the time came to Harry ask Mark about the karaoke machine that had gone untouched all night.

"Are you gonna sing us a song, then, Harry?" Sandra, one half of the couple Harry had spoken with tonight, asked.

Sandra's question was followed by affirmations and a couple song suggestions from the rest of the bar. Harry suddenly became a little bashful at all the attention directed at him, and turned to look at me, a question in his green eyes.

"You better get up there," I tell him, giving his hand a firm and reassuring squeeze.

Smiling, Harry stood up from his barstool, leaning down quickly to give me a kiss on the cheek. "You gonna come up with me?"

"Absolutely not, but have fun." Harry chuckled at my answer, like he expected it. Ordering shots for the two of us, he asked if I'd be okay on my own.

"Don't worry, dear, we'll keep an eye on your sweetheart. Now go up there and give us a show." I blushed at Sandra's words, something about the way she called me Harry's "sweetheart" made butterflies stir in my stomach. Either way, Harry gave my cheek one last kiss before heading over to Mark, who had been trying to set up the karaoke machine. Sandra called me over to sit with her and her partner Jill, who had called out for Harry to "sing us some Johnny Cash" earlier.

Giving them a small smile, I grabbed my gin and tonic and moved to their table. The three of us talked quietly while Harry and Mark looked through a big binder of songs. I half expected Sandra and Jill to talk about themselves and their lives, the way older people tended to do, but surprisingly they asked about me. So I told them about my family and how we'd come up here for years, and a little about how Harry and I met.

"You saw that boy for the first time and just walked away? With no expectations to ever see him again?" Jill sounded genuinely shocked, and Sandra swatted her arm, but I just chuckled at the woman's bluntness.

Jill reminded me a lot of my grandmother, the way they both seemed to be sharp as a tack despite their old age. Jill, like my lita Sofia, also held themselves regally. She sat in her little chair at Marnie's straight-backed, like she was holding court and not talking to a stranger about her love life in a tiny bar.

"I did, yeah," I replied. "But then we ran into each other a few hours later, and I guess the rest is history." There was definitely more to Harry and I getting together than that, but I would've sat there explaining for a while, so I settled for the shorter version.

"Was an act of God was what it was," Jill muttered, but there was a smirk etching her slightly wrinkled face. It did get another swat on the arm from her partner, though. Jill opened her mouth like she wanted to protest the hitting from Sandra, but then Harry's voice was amplified across the bar.

"Erm, hello, I'm Harry, and I love karaoke, so I thought I'd sing a couple songs for you all," Harry announced, standing at the back of the bar with a microphone in his hand.

Anyone else would've looked awkward, maybe even Harry himself under different circumstances. But the slight twinkle in his eye that came from the drinks mixed with the warm and receptive atmosphere of Marnie's made him look like he didn't want to be anywhere else. The people scattered throughout the bar applauded Harry, eager for entertainment.

Sandra cheered the loudest, and when he looked over at our table, his eyes lit up upon seeing me with her. Jill shouted for Johnny Cash again, which brought about a slew of requests for "Sweet Caroline" and Billy Joel and Elton John.

"I'm, uh, actually here with someone tonight," Harry said, his smile turning a little devious, and suddenly I was slightly worried about the next words to leave his troublesome mouth. "She refused to come up here with me. So until she does, I will be dedicating each song to her. "Darling, this one is for you."