(It will be apparent when you start reading this that I skipped ahead a bit. When looking at the timing of when this story would be published, it synced up to two years since I started this spinoff of the Good Neighbors story. The series started with Leo and Marcie saying their vows. The woman who inspires me has still been in my life as one of my best friends regardless of the distance between us. Without her, I would have never started typing again. To the readers who read through my short chapters as well as the longer ones, I thank you as well.)
"Bay...bay, is someone else calling you Baybay?" we heard from the stage.
Sadly, it wasn't the country artist who originally wrote it, but a slightly intoxicated bar patron singing the song at full voice. I looked over at my wonderful wife whose idea was to bring me there in the first place. She showed me her bashful smile as Aubrey was cheering the guy on. Wes, her husband, was next to her, his head buried in his hands with embarrassment. As I pondered my next move, the waitress brought another round of drinks. Aubrey and Marcie were drinking rum and coke while Wes and I both drank water. Obviously, it was apparent who the designated drivers were. After our singer hobbled off the stage, the person running the karaoke announced a break before it went to normal country music for a bit. Wes looked at me and shook his head.
"Tell me again what the motive behind this was?" Wes asked his wife of almost a year.
She looked at him and smiled before she threw her arms around him to smoosh her lips against his cheek.
"Marcie and I thought that we would do something as a group tonight before we do our own things for the anniversaries coming up. We thought since Leo hasn't had much fun outside the house lately that we do something up his alley."
Wes looked at me.
"I never pegged you as a bar guy."
"I'm not normally. But karaoke is something I do enjoy doing normally."
"So did you sign up for some songs?"
"Marcie said she'd pick."
Marcie's smile widened when the deejay walked towards her.
"So, which one of these two gentlemen is your husband?" she asked.
Marcie kissed my cheek blatantly. I blushed even though it wasn't that much light in the room.
"So, this is Leo," the DJ whispered. "Nikki has told me about him. You think he can handle the song you picked out for him?"
"I am so sure," Marcie said triumphantly.
My curiosity was piqued.
"Leo, you'll be up when I get back to my station. Hope you are warmed up," the deejay said with a sly grin.
I felt a little set up before Marcie turned my head towards her and kissed me deeply.
"You remember our song, right?" she asked.
I smiled. Then I heard my name called. As I headed towards the stage, I started feeling the flutter I was used to back in my school days. One reason I liked being in the background was the feeling of nervousness. It was always easier to have Matt handle the showy stuff and be there to back him up. At that moment, I took a deep breath and stepped onto stage.
"His wonderful wife of two years chose a song for him," the deejay announced.
I then heard the beginning. I loved the drum beats along with the guitar riff.
"Used to spend my nights at the bar room...." I started.
I heard Marcie and Aubrey whooping it up from our seats. As I went into the chorus, I could feel the power I had as I leaned into the lyrics. I'm not going to tell you that I rocked it. No one could rock the song like the original singer. Let's just say I didn't disappoint my target audience. At the end, the deejay smiled at me before I stepped off stage and into the arms of my wife. She leaned in and kissed me deeply until she looked into my eyes.
"Leo, could you take me home?" she asked.
I looked at our table and saw Wes escorting Aubrey towards the door. I escorted my wife after them towards the exit, not feeling any pain even though I drank nothing but water all night. After making sure that Wes and Aubrey were secured in their car and watching them driving off, I walked towards our car. Marcie was already in her seat with the seat belt on when I reached it. I slipped into the car and belted in before leaning over and giving her a chaste kiss on the cheek.
"You're being such a gentleman, Leo. I hope you are thinking about letting someone out of the cage when we get home."
I smiled knowing that she meant that beast inside me. It had been a while since we had one of those types of sessions. As we drove back to the sleepy area we call home, we saw that our neighbors made it home. As I parked the car, we both watched as Aubrey and Wes leaned against her car, kissing like there was no one watching. I heard a rustling next to me as Marcie almost quietly undid the button on her jeans and was slipping her finger inside.
"What are you doing, naughty girl?" I growled quietly.
"I love seeing that," she whispered. "You can see the passion these two have. Aubrey needed him so much because of all the guys she went through. Wes had that right amount of ignorance about her past and that strong desire for her. Just seeing them make out is driving me crazy."