The Higher We Soar

2. Too many sandwiches

Okay, enough of this Cinderella nonsense.

But then suddenly, as if a light bulb had switched on in his mind, Maddox slapped his forehead and exclaimed "Oh! How are you? How is your life? How is it going? Are you still dreaming and making big plans?"

Perplexed, I replied, "Am I drea-- Are you alright?"

I couldn't have been that drunk, could I? Or was he high or on something else? It felt off, but I couldn't quite place it.

"Uh... Um," he shut his eyes close for a second, as if concentrating very hard, then uttered, "I'm doing good, I'm on some new shit..."

He sighed deeply, teetering dangerously close to spilling his drink on himself, because somebody had accidentally bumped into him.

After a prolonged pause during which I somehow failed to respond due to his quite strange confesssion, he met my gaze once more, his eyes brimming with curiosity and some kind of anticipation.

At that moment, as if the DJ - or whoever was in charge of music that evening - was watching us from a distance, the opening chords of 'Mr. Brightside' by the Killers reached my ears, and Maddox's eyes bore into me even more. It was then that I recognized a familiar line he had uttered just moments before, and suddenly everything clicked.

"Wait, wait, wait... are you– are you speaking in song lyrics? You do, don't you?" I couldn't help but chuckle. "Damn Mr. Brightside! I swear, I've heard that song like, what, five times today? I can't believe I didn't catch it right away!"

Maddox threw his hands out dramatically, gasping in mock astonishment, before tapping me on the shoulder with exaggerated enthusiasm as his face lit up, "Yes! Hallelujah! Thank you!"

"Wait, what else did you say... let me think... that one with dreaming, the Kinks? And just now... oh shit, I know this one..."

"It was Taylor freaking Swift, who else!" he laughed loudly, "And would you believe that no one figured it out for a solid three hours?! I'm absolutely drained and out of lyrics... Ordering drinks was a nightmare, too! Although, I must admit, the 'One bourbon, one scotch, one beer' line came in handy... Same as 'I'll take my whiskey neat.' The only problem is I'm not a fan of whiskey."

I chuckled once more, a little surprised by his sudden flow of words, "Yeah?"

"Uh-huh! To be perfectly honest, the bartender figured me out... because he asked if I also take my coffee black and my bed at three. And I do believe I caught his eye! Shame I didn't come here alone..."

I really couldn't help but laugh even more, a sense of relief washing over me as I finally understood the mystery behind his odd behavior (and that he probably wasn't high at all).

Yet, I still regarded him skeptically. "Wait, you mean to tell me you've been speaking only in song lyrics for three damn hours? No way..."

He nodded enthusiastically, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he could now speak freely once more.

I scoffed playfully, feigning disbelief, "But why?"

"I haven't the faintest idea. Why not, I suppose? Well, it was quite fun..." He admitted before leaning in closer, subtly nodding towards a petite, scantily clad brunette at the opposite end of the room, "See her?" he muttered. "That's the girl I came with. Violet. She didn't notice a thing. Even when I blurted out some real nonsense..."

"Like what?"

"Let me think... Oh! 'Starships are meant to fly?' he grinned with a hint of awkwardness, "It was a close call, I almost blew it! But hey, I couldn't come up with anything better on the spot! You know, it was like those times when you have this earworm and can't think of anything but that one song..."