Her head turned toward the bar, and I noticed them waiting for drinks. Sitting, I pulled my chair closer to hers, hoping we could talk. But as I did, Maryellen made sure to keep her attention on the stage, not on me.
This was getting harder to navigate.
“What’s bothering you most right now, Mare?” I leaned in as close as I could without touching her.
She kept her gaze on the singer as she answered me. “Nothing should be bothering me.” Then she turned and gave me a sideways glance. “But I hate that it is.”
I wanted to reach out and take her hand in mine, but I knew she wouldn’t want that. Instead, I focused on her eyes, letting her know as best I could that I was there for her.
“Talk to me, Mare.”
“Hey you two, a little help?” Evie’s loud request tore us from each other.
We turned to see her and Mitch balancing multiple bottles and drinks in their hands. I ran to their side, taking a few of the beers from Evie’s hands to lighten her load. Mitch handed me one of the bourbons he held. Tipping it toward my buddy, I took a sip.
“Thanks,” I said.
Maryellen grabbed a bottle and chugged the entire thing. I guess she was getting drunk. She slammed the bottle down, which got our group’s attention.
“Alright, you two.” She pointed at Mitch and Evie. “Get yourselves ready, because we’re heading up there soon,allof us. We owe it to this guy.” Her thumb pointed my way.
She was trying to move on from what had happened, and I gave her credit. As she rallied the troops, I searched the bar to see if Amanda was making her ascent any time soon. There was no sign of her, thank God. Maybe she wouldn’t find us. After we sang on stage, we could head out of here.
Turning back to our crew, I noticed Maryellen got Evie on board. She was jumping with excitement.
“Oh my God, I can’t wait,” Evie cried. “What are we singing? The group songs look like so much fun.”
I turned toward Mitch. He was still sitting comfortably in his seat as he waved us off and chugged from his beer. I knew he’d be the wildcard, which was fine. I’d have fun with the girls. But Evie pulled on his arm, forcing him to his feet. She threw her arms around his neck and whispered something in his ear. He blushed at whatever she said to him, nodding against the side of her head.
“What have we done?” Maryellen mumbled in my ear.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” I said.
We both watched as Evie worked some magic on him and got him to agree. Our group wasn’t up for a few more songs, so we sat back and finished our drinks. Maryellen was relaxing the more beers she drank, but I think she was already on number four.
I leaned close to her, my mouth next to her ear.
“You OK?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. We can talk about it later. I’m fine.” Her smile was tight, but it was a smile.
“Oh my God, we’re next!” Evie screamed. She pulled Maryellen from her seat, away from me, and they weaved through the crowd to the host.
Mitch and I made our way there a bit slower.
“So, she got you to say yes,” I said, jabbing him with my elbow and bellowing a laugh at him.
“Shut up,” he said. “She can be a bit persuasive, and I’m drunk.”
We made it to the host stand, and the girls were busy talking to Jerry. He’d been doing this at Iggy’s for years now, and we’ve gotten to know each other with the number of times I’ve come to sing.
“You guys ready?” Jerry asked.
“Yes!” both Evie and Maryellen yelled simultaneously as they jumped on stage.
Mitch and I moved to the steps, but Jerry stopped me and pulled me to the side.
“Can you hang out later, once this is done tonight? I’ve got something to ask you.”
