Marcie and Leo

The weeks went on almost like clockwork. I would go to work, then come home to Marcie. Sometimes, she would be in a chatty mood. Sometimes, it would be more somber. Then there were the hot times. As much as folks would think the third type was my favorite, in fact I loved every night I got to come home to my sweet girl.

One night, I made it home and she was in a chatty mood. It turns out her sisters (June and Monica) were going on a double date that night. The thought of that made me happy. June started dating a repairman which was a more honorable profession than her ex who was currently serving time for various criminal enterprises. Monica was going out with a boat repair guy. He had less political minded thoughts than her ex.

It was while we were talking about them that I almost missed what Marcie was saying. I gave her that look that normally happens when I get distracted by her. She gave me that look with her hazel eyes.

"You know what we haven't done in a while, Leo?"

I gave her that cheesy grin that told her what my other head was thinking.

"We did that last night, Romeo," she said although she smiled while saying it.

I then was trying to read her mind like she always did to mine until the song "She Had Me At Heads Carolina" came on. I started absent-mindedly singing along when Marcie looked at me.

"That's it!"

"Huh?"

"Leo, you haven't done karaoke in a while."

"Sweetheart, I sing for you all the time."

"But Leo, I know you miss the microphone, the stage. We should go tonight."

There comes a time in a man's life when it's good to go with your gut. The thing is, I love Marcie too much to do that sometimes. Truth be told, as much as I can defend my friends in situations, it's usually because I am forced to by circumstances. I protect those I care about. When it comes to other types of situations, I am too introverted. I don't come out well unless I need to. It's been easy being in social situations with Marcie because she is my focus. If Marcie wasn't there, I'd stay home and keep to myself.

The thing is I love singing. I have always been able to perform musically. Most of the time, it's because I can hide a bit when I do. Behind the microphone, behind the music, behind the song I sing I ironically feel protected. I can express my emotions depending on the song.

To be fair, when I took Marcie to the fair soon after we started seeing each other, I was too desiring to play with Marcie to do that. So, I muffed up on purpose to get her to laugh. Since then, Marcie has seen me sing and always tried to encourage me to do it more often. I'm not going on the road like Bon Jovi or Aerosmith, but for her I'll move mountains.

We dressed up in casual clothes to go out. We then slid into my car, since I knew there was a margarita with Marcie's name on it and drove to the karaoke place in the next town. It was a slow night at that moment only because it was early. There was an older gentleman singing "Chances Are" as we found a seat. With Marcie's prodding, I went up to the books and looked for a few songs to sign up with. I took my time, knowing full well I could while the bar was still slow. It was then one song popped into my field of vision. I wrote the track on the paper and gave it to the DJ before walking back to the table. Marcie had a look in her eye.

"Did you find one?"

I nodded my head.

"Are you going to tell me which one?"

I shook my head and smiled. Marcie looked at me skeptically.

"Give me a moment."

She went up to where the books were and wrote down something on a piece of paper. Then she handed it to the DJ. She then sauntered back in my direction. It was when she sat down that she smiled.

"You're doing my selection first, Romeo."

It was a few moments before my name was called. I walked forward, grabbed the microphone and was ready before I saw the song title on the screen. It was 'I'm Every Woman" by Whitney Houston. I looked at Marcie who was smiling a bit bigger. It was at that moment that folks started walking in. I went ahead and started singing anyway, showing Marcie that I wouldn't back down. Everyone was getting into it before the DJ looked at me and smiled. Once that song was over, he motioned for me to stay up there before the song I selected appeared on the screen.

As I started singing the start of "Because You Love Me", I looked at Marcie and smiled. She knew I was going to milk every line to aim it at her. The rest of the crowd knew it also but egged me on because they knew I had the best of intentions. At the end, I put the microphone back on the stand and walked straight towards her to kiss her. It was the deep kind, the kind where the world around you disappears. There was some cheering and applause before we sat down to watch some others perform.

After a little while, we slipped out of the bar and into the car to head home. It was when we were partially home that Marcie said something.

"You poured it on thick, didn't you?"

I looked at her before I saw that beautiful smile.

"I just wanted the world to know how awesome my girl is."

I could feel her squish against me as I drove. It sometimes takes a slow night to get me to relax. The best part is she's right there to relax with me.