[RiddleRose]: 298.Gold Dust - NaNoWriMo '07.Chapter nine

Chapter nine.

Wren was slightly impressed by this girl. She was keeping her cool remarkable well, considering what he had announced to her prior to taking her out to dinner. He thought that had been a nice touch. But now... well, now he would see how she did in the red light district. He half expected her
to leave soon after going in, but, on the contrary, she just stuck a little closer to him. And not a lot closer either. Just enough so that an observer might think they were together. 

She did get catcalls, and a few people made some lewd suggestions. She just ignored them. It was a good act, but Wren could see that she had pulled her coat a little closer around her, and she had also put on a hat. Her scarf was also pulled up a little higher, obscuring her chin. 

Wren held the door for her as he entered the bar where his first deal was taking place. Luckily, his client was already there, sporting an entirely gold suit. He looked a bit like Elvis, and was, in fact, dancing on the bar, singing, “You ain't nothing but a hound dog... cryin' all the time, you ain't never caught a rabbit and y'ain't no friend o' mine!”

Wren laughed and applauded with all the rest, and helped the fellow down from the bar. He was a bit drunk, though not as much as he could have been. Wren made a mental note not to give this guy a bar as a place to meet ever again. He preferred it when his clients were sober. Wren made a show of helping the guy catch his balance as he stumbled back to his table, saying, “whoa man, careful there! Careful!” and palming a bottle of Dust into one of the pockets of the guy's jacket as he did so.

The fellow was a cheerful drunk, and not a stupid one, so he caught on to what Wren was doing fairly quickly. He pretended to be a lot more drunk than he was, pretending to squint at him, recognize him, and then realize something. “Hey man,” he slurred, “I think I owe y'money. H'much wasit ag'n? 'fraid 'm not thinkin' qui'right.”

Wren named the standard price for a single bottle, and the guy pretended to grumble, but paid up anyway. “There y'go. An' you shoul' warn a fellow when yer playin' poker. Warn 'm. warn'm you's a champ'ion player. Cruel. Takin' a fellow's money like tha'.”

There was a general laugh at this, and a few packs of cards were produced. Wren laughed and joked, but declined to play. He had just come in to collect his money, he said, and he had to go meet a friend elsewhere. This was actually true, as his next deal was much later, and he had to go meet Neil for his karaoke night.

Livia left before him, and he caught up with her after they were out of the bar. She looked a little shaken, but okay. He wended his way between the people on the street, and made his way to the karaoke place he and Neil went to occasionally. Neil was already there, talking to the DJ. He beckoned urgently to Wren, who said quickly to Livia, “Find yourself a table or something. I'm off to have fun!” and jumped up on stage with Neil.

They had decided to totally ham this up, so not only did they sing, but they also acted it out like pros. At the end, the audience clapped, laughed, and applauded them mightily. They got off the stage, and Wren explained the situation with Livia to Neil in a low voice, talking so fast it would be hard to understand if you were standing more than four feet away.

Neil raised his eyebrows, and went to sit with her. He did not tell her who he was. He called himself Daniel Mathers, and pretended to be twenty nine. After a few more songs, he and Wren got up again, to sing the reprise to 'Agony'. The audience thought this was just hilarious, and applauded mightily. 

When they were done, Neil was laughing, Wren was laughing, the audience was laughing, and they were proclaimed the princes of the stage. Wren loudly protested this, saying that he was the King of Karaoke, and anyone who wanted to contest that had better prove himself right now. Immediately about five people jumped up, and declared that they would have a tournament. 

They all spoke to the DJ, who announced that they would sing Beatles songs, and that whoever did the best rendition of Help! would qualify for a second round.

The first guy who got up was awful. He was laughed and clapped down from the stage after the first verse. The second guy was very good, and he was clapped all the way through. Wren went up third, and got a standing ovation, and the other three all did okay. Two were disqualified, and the four in the second round sang Yellow Submarine. Once again, Wren got a standing ovation. Two more were disqualified, and Wren went up against his final challenger, a tall, thin, blonde guy, who was singing very well.

As challenger, Blondie went first. He sang a heartrending version of Eleanor Rigby. No one made a noise when he was done. Everyone was waiting to see if Wren could top him. And did he ever! Wren sang like Paul McCartney himself, he sang Eleanor Rigby, and he sang Blondie right off the stage. When he was done there were a few sniffles, and then the karaoke place erupted. Wren was pounded on the back, and someone actually made him a lopsided paper crown. Flushed with victory he sang a victory song, We are the Champions, by Queen.

He ran back to his table to the cheering of the crowd, laughing and pumping a fist in the air. When he got there he slapped Neil on the back, causing him to spit a mouthful of whiskey back into his glass, and said breathlessly, “Ha! Told you I was the King of Karaoke! And who didn't believe me, eh? Ha!”

Neil coughed, regarding his whiskey glass regretfully, “Yes, you are amazing, and made of all that is wonderful,” he said wryly, “But look, now you have to get me a new drink, this one's got backwash in it.”

“My boy,” said Wren solemnly, “you are not enjoying yourself nearly enough. This is YOUR party! Stop choking and be happy!”

Neil had to laugh at that, “Fine. But you know what I want? I want this lovely lady of yours to get up there and sing. I bet she has... hmm.. a charming mezzo soprano voice. Am I right Livia?”

She jumped at being addressed all of a sudden, she had been glaring at Wren because of the smirk that had appeared on his face when Neil had called her Wren's lovely lady. She smiled at Neil, and said, “Yes, you're right. And since this is your party, I will sing for you.” she put a little extra emphasis on the 'you', and was enraged to see the smirk on Wren's face get even wider. She flounced up to the DJ, and spoke to him for a moment. He raised his eyebrows, but nodded and said, “Now ladies and gentlemen, a very special act. Miss Livia is going to perform for us... All that Jazz, from the musical Chicago.”

Livia flounced up on stage, and suddenly was no longer flouncing. She was a professional dancer after all, and that meant that aside from ballet, she knew jazz, modern, and even some hip hop dancing. Suddenly she walked like she was wearing three inch heels, and moved like a snake. She shed her outer layers as she went up the stairs to the stage. Under her coat, she was wearing a tight shirt, and all of a sudden her jeans seemed even more form fitting than they already were.

Livia had taken singing lessons since she was ten, and she had a very nice mezzo voice, in the low range. The music came on, and Livia began to dance. She danced as only a professional can dance, to the audience and for herself, all at once. She was really dancing to Wren of course, trying to wipe that smirk right off his face.

And it worked too. By the time she started singing, he and about half the males in the room were just sitting there with their mouths open. Rather a lot of them had their legs crossed. Livia could really move. She noticed that Wren's friend Daniel was just sitting there with a small grin on his face, sipping his whiskey, and apparently unaffected. Well, that was okay. It was Wren she was dancing to. 

By the end of the song, much more than half the males in the room had their legs crossed, and were definitely salivating a little. Wren was definitely among them. Livia had added a few moves that the lead at her ballet had taught all the girls.

When she was done, Livia blew a kiss to the crowd, and descended the steps off the stage. She walked back to her table amid showers of offers to buy her drinks, and escort her home, and occasionally, when the guy was a direct one, offers to show her a good time. To all of them she gracefully declined, and slid between them, plumping herself down in her seat with Wren and Neil, and ordering herself a glass of water with a lemon slice in it.

She was gratified to see that Wren still had a slightly glazed look in his eyes, and that Neil was laughing heartily. He appeared to have completely understood what she was doing, so she grinned and winked at him. He laughed even harder, and pounded Wren on the back, saying, “She showed you who's Queen of Karaoke, eh boy? Not so cocky now!” and then he collapsed laughing again.

Wren just shook his head in defeat. He removed the crown, knelt before her, and offered it. With great aplomb, she took the crown, and adjusted it on her head. The people around them laughed and applauded, so she grinned and gave them a queenly wave.