Still

iv.

int. gemini pub - night

Sure enough, there is a pail of Pale Pilsen on the table when I return. Darylle is in the middle of opening one as I slip back into my seat. Already drinking hers, Mara sends Emilio an annoyed look as the latter smells his drink and seems as though he has no plan of drinking it. On the other couch, next to Emilio, Pamela munches on a plate of nachos.

"Still giving it a go?" Darylle asks, offering me the bottle she just opened.

I nod, earning a satisfied smile from Darylle as she hands me the cold bottle. As I take my first sip, wincing at the taste despite this being my nth time drinking it, someone does a mic test on stage.

"Check, check, 1, 2, 3. Check. Okay! How are you tonight, my brothers and sisters in Christ?"

The person on stage earns scattered laughter from the audience.

"Don't worry, I'm not a pastor or religious figure. And I'm definitely not a standup comedian. You see, I prefer sitting."

Mara nearly snorts her drink through her nose. She points her beer bottle at the stage, and all four of us turn to watch. I recognize the girl on stage as the one from the bathroom. Her tattoos are made more visible by the warm light trained on her body. On a stool at the center of the stage, she sits, cradling a black guitar that complements her silk red top and black jeans.

"Looks like a rockstar," Emilio observes, voicing out the thoughts of our group.

The girl chuckles lightly, fixing the guitar on her lap. "When I applied here, I made a knock-knock joke. The manager back then immediately asked me, 'you're applying as a performer? so singer, right?'"

The laughter grows, and I can't help but grin despite being unable to forget the small fiasco that happened minutes earlier in the bathroom.

"Edi eto*. Singer."

A few customers and staff members start howling and whistling.

"Go, Al!" a male voice cheers.

"By the way, I'm Al. For those new here at Gemini, enjoy your night. I hope you enjoy my performance as well. Sing along if you know the song."

With her first strum, the lights inside the pub grow dimmer. The only bright lights are the ones on the stage, highlighting the performer at the heart of the place. When she starts singing, I can hear the gasps coming from my friends' mouths. For someone who looks like a rockstar, Al has an unusually soothing voice.

"So I heard you found somebody else,

and at first I thought it was a lie."

The whole pub is silent for the first verse, and I thought this will ensue for the rest of the performance. But right before the chorus, Al waves her fingers in the air in an attempt to make us sing along. The beat grows faster, the performance more engaging for a sing-along session. It works among the younger members of the audience, my friends included. Though some lines of the song are familiar, I opt to sit back and observe her singing, oblivious to my right hand growing numb from the temperature of the beer bottle I'm holding.

At the end of her performance, she is met by lots of clapping and howling. Emilio howls as though he's trying to win in a competition against wolves.

"I don't even have an ex but that shit hurt," Darylle tells us, wiping invisible tears from her eyes.

The lights return to their brighter level, and the girl gets up. "Thank you, thank you. Enjoy your food, drink your asses off, and don't let this be your last night in Gemini. If there's anyone who wants to perform, the floor is yours."

Jazz starts playing in the background once more, the stage becoming empty. I finally take a sip of my beer, expecting to share stories with my friends, but when I look at them it looks like they have other plans for the night.

Darylle chugs down the rest of her beer, standing up hastily. "I'm doing it."

-

author's note

i'm uploading the next chapter when this reaches 50 reads!

edi eto: so this/here ("so here i am, a singer")