Karaoke. No matter how stressful things got at work or at home, she always had karaoke. It was the one time a week she could go and pour out everything she was feeling. Some nights she sang upbeat, fun songs like Hey Mickey or Life is a Highway. Some nights she felt soulful and belted out Bonnie Tyler and Meat Loaf. Billy Joel, Elton John, Journey, and Bon Jovi were frequently included in her lineup. She was even known to get downright silly and sing Weird Al songs all night. She wasn't a great singer, but karaoke always made her feel better.
She wasn't much of a drinker and preferred to sing sober, forgoing the liquid courage most people needed to sing in front of a room full of strangers, but tonight she was feeling a little off and decided a Captain and Coke was in order. She sipped her drink and browsed through the KJ's song catalog trying to find just the right songs to compliment her mood tonight. She started out with Torn by Natalie Imbruglia; her first song was usually just for warm-up and was never very good, but it came out pretty well and she was feeling a little more confident.
On the next rotation, she got up to the mic to sing a little Def Leppard, Two Steps Behind, when she looked towards the door and saw the most handsome man in the room. Very tall, taller than her own five-foot-three, with brown hair a shade lighter than hers and the most beautiful blue eyes she'd ever seen, eyes that were watching her every move on stage. She'd never seen him here before, and he made her a little nervous. After a rough start, she smoothed out and sang the song better than she expected. After her song, the man followed her to her table and asked if he could join her.
"Feel free. Are you going to sing tonight?" she asked him.
"I'm not much of a singer," he replied. "This is my first time doing karaoke. I never thought I'd ever do something like this."