Canary Sue"s was opened a few years ago and capitalized upon a cross between eastern and western style karaoke. There were individual rooms that people could rent out, some rooms large enough for giant parties. All the rooms were on the second floor, while the first floor hosted a giant room with tables strewn in front of a stage. People would sign up at the front counter with Sue, taking turns as they came in the rotation to go on stage.Chang would always rent a small room for two hours and would sing and drink her heart out solo. She would usually come once a week to every two weeks, on some weeks, twice a week, as such sue recognized her when she entered.
"Ah Miss Dumont! welcome back! Unfortunately I"m booked full on rooms right now, care to take the stage?"
Chang paused for a moment and ended up saying, "uh, i think were just gonna hit the bar first and watch."
"Well I"m here if you change your mind. I always look forward to when you come and always secretly listen at the door when you come."
Chang was embarra.s.sed hearing that and scurried into the bar room with Justin. He ordered them a few shots of rum to start with then a couple of mai tais2 for them to sip while watching. He clinked his gla.s.s against her "cheers, hun!" Within a few minutes she felt her cheeks warming and herself loosening up. As soon as she finished her first mai tai, Justin brought another another. He clinked his gla.s.s against her stating.
" So how was your first day besides the whole drama before you got there"
"Mm I like it," Chang elaborated more on the various aspects including the coworkers, but frowned to herself a little when Brandy came up. "Uh she"s really friendly, really friendly"
He laughed at her response, " careful with her, I think she might be in love with you, those jeans just about sealed the deal."
"The last thing I need is someone else chasing after me..." Chang grumbled to herself, but Justin still heard.
"Hey, hey, hey! Tonight"s a good night, were gonna have fun. What happened earlier is nothing a few drinks can"t fix!" He finally gets her to cheers, and they enjoyed the entertainment.
Chang sipped on her mai tai, watching others, including Justin perform, she hadn"t performed in front of others since that day. Since then she tied singing in front of others to him, and felt like somehow it might make him appear again like last time. As she continued to sip her drink her nervousness gradually started to wear away as she continued to sit and drink, her friend keeping her drinks like an everreplenishing spring, the alcohol fully worked into her system until she felt free and uninhibited.
Chang was moved by a a couple of love songs and the alcohol and eventually got up to sign up for a song. She chose "Be without you,"1one of her favorites, that she always found herself humming to herself when thinking of him.
She returned to her seat beside Justin immersed in the emotions of the song until it was her turn. Even with all the alcohol she still felt a little jittery, and took a few sips, but when the giant screen displayed her name and she stood on stage before the microphone she felt herself fall into her element.
Since they had entered both Justin and Chang had been unaware of a man who had been discretely eyeing them since they had came in. He leaned against the side wall hurriedly messaging his boss of his success. As soon as Chang stepped onto the stage the man wiped out his video recording in his phone and started recording it to send to him.
Chang"s eyes were closed as the intro came in with a long violin note, then the tinkling of a piano and a ba.s.s drum.
She opened her eyes as she sang the first words.
"I wanna be with you
gotta be with you,
need to be with you
I wanna be with you,
gotta be with you,
need to be with you
Ooh (oh, oh, oh, oh) ooh
Chemistry was crazy from the get-go
Neither one of us knew why..."
Justin at that moment felt like he was finally getting a peek more into her hidden romance. The crowd were shocked by this woman who suddenly came on stage. Her song touched everyone"s heart with the emotion of longing. Her velvety strong voice captured everyone"s ears and attention, leaving them riveted to the woman on the stage. The man holding the phone was blown away, he wondered how his boss, Mr. Liang would react when he saw this.