Page 47 of Clichés & Curses

‘Now that’s what I call a duet!’ I heard the DJ say, once we finally got ourselves back into our seats. ‘Everyone, give it up for my nephew and his date for their performance of ABBA’s “Waterloo”!’

The crowd erupted in cheers and thunderous claps once again.

‘Nephew? The DJ is your uncle?’ I asked Colton once the crowd settled down and the next person was walking to the stage.

‘Yup,’ he nodded. ‘It was his idea to have the themed karaoke.’

I thought about pointing out how his uncle might have mistaken this little hang-out with Colton for a date. But it seemed like an honest mistake, considering it was a Saturday night, and we were the only two people at our table, so I just let it slide.

And okay, maybe there was a tiny part of me that liked the fact that it looked like a date to someone else.

‘Are you okay? You look a bit flushed.’ I heard Colton ask, a slightly worried look on his face.

I put my hands up to my cheek, and he was right: it did feel warm.

‘I’m okay. It might have been the adrenaline rush from singing just now,’ I told him. ‘It might have been the margarita as well.’

‘Hold on, let me get you some water.’

I was about to stop him, but he was already out of his seat.

The heat was catching up to me, so I decided to take off my cardigan. Placing it on my lap, I let the air from the AC cool down my skin.

Colton came back just a few minutes later, a glass of water in each of his hand. ‘Here you go.’ He set down the glasses on the table, pushing one to me.

‘Thank you.’ I picked up the glass and took a long gulp.

‘Karaoke wore you out, huh?’

‘I did just give my best performance,’ I said, setting the glass—now only half full—back on the table.

Colton chuckled. ‘You looked like you had fun up there.’

‘I did. But it wouldn’t have been as much fun if you weren’t up there with me,’ I told him, grateful that he had been willing to sing with me onstage. ‘Thank you for being my karaoke partner,partner.’ I emphasized the second partner with a soft nudge to his stomach.

‘You’re welcome, partner,’ he answered, giving me a soft nudge back.

As other patrons were taking their turns going up on stage, Colton and I were stuck in our own little world: just catching up with each other, as if we hadn’t seen one another in a long time, when in truth, we had just met last Wednesday for our ASL practice session. But this was the first time we had ever hung out together, not out of necessity for practicing ASL or bumping into each other at a party, but because we wanted to be with each other. There was also a certain feeling to it, a sense of assurance that we chose to spend our time with the other person.

Our conversation paused whenever someone just finished a song. We would either clap along with the rest of the crowd or just take in what the person on stage had been singing. Just like our turn, Colton’s uncle didn’t announce the song they had picked out. The next songs after us were also equally upbeat as ours. But it seemed the lively music of night had slowly started to simmer down, when Colton’s uncle decided to get up on stage.

‘Is everyone having a good time?’ he announced on the mic.

The answer came in the form of a very enthusiastic ‘yes,’ in unison from the crowd.

‘As much as I love the upbeat music, I think it’s time we slow it down a bit. For my turn, I would like to invite everyone along with their partner for a little slow dance.’ Colton’s uncle signalled to Aunt Edna, who was now behind the DJ booth.

The first notes of the song played, and I recognized it instantly.

It was Eric Clapton’s ‘Wonderful Tonight’.

The tables began to empty one by one as people started taking their partners by the hand, leading them to the floor in front of the stage, slowly filling up the open space.

A smile appeared on my face, when I noticed half the bar was on the dance floor, leisurely swaying to the music, and Colton’s uncle’s melodious voice.

I heard a scrape of a chair moving next to me. Looking over, I saw Colton was out of his seat.

‘May I have this dance, milady?’ he asked, one hand offered out to me, the other behind his back. He had a slight bow to him, as if he was asking me for a dance at a ball.

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