Disclaimer/Author's Note
I unfortunately don't own any of the CSI characters, only one of which you'll be reading about in this chapter. However, I do sometimes wonder if its Greg that leaves little mints on my pillow before I go to sleep... ::sighs wistfully::
And please, people, comment! I need to know if this story is worthwhile to put off more important stuff for. )
Danni POV
Danni took a deep breath, ignoring the excitement in her stomach. She hummed a few pitches under her breath and buzzed her lips. She didn't remember why she bothered to do these funny singing exercises or the meditation ones for relaxation, especially since she had done hundreds of shows identical to the one she was about to perform. Besides that, it wasn't even a high and mighty audience; barely anybody visited this area of the casino on weeknights and she rarely was given a chance to wow the weekend crowd.
"Honey, why do you even bother? Nobody cares whether you sing a flat pitch or not." A tall woman with a girlish voice and equally girlish glittery makeup sauntered up to stand beside Danni, who was standing by stage left. "Most of those horn dogs are just gonna be staring at your ta-tas wishing you were a little bit closer so they could grope you."
The harsh words didn't faze Danni, nor did the sneer on the face of the woman. "You're ever so eloquent, Wendy."
Wendy sniffed. "I don't need to be good at speaking. Just writing and playing that god damn wreck we call a piano. Plus adding up those wonderful hours you been working and multiplying them by ten." Wendy flashed a smug smile at her employee and sashayed onto the stage and down the stairs on the left to sit at the small organ that rested there.
Danni closed her eyes and made herself physically relax. She added a reason to practice those meditation techniques to the nonexistent list in her mind. To forget that scum like you exist, she thought fiercely. Then, glumly, And that you sign my paychecks.
There was no way that Danni would forget this particular tyrant. Wendy was the assistant to the assistant to the owner of the bar and that gave her notions that she would one day rule the small shack (or the world – Danni wasn't sure). When Danni finally lined up a job at the Las Vegas Crime Lab to pursue her dream of being a CSI, she had asked for one night off, a Tuesday in March and the night before her First Day on the Job (it was actually the night before her first night, since she would be working the night shift). Wendy "forgot" and then proceeded to tell Danni how they neededher and that she couldn't taking vacation days all the time.
When's the last time I took a day off? Danni wondered, massaging her jaw, achy from clenching. Christmas? No…mid-November. I had the flu but Wendy made me come in anyway only to yell at me when I vomited all over the tech guy. Danni suppressed a grin. The man-slut had never hit on her again after that. It was almost worth the embarrassment and lecture from Wendy.
"And now, singing the song Someone To Die For, our very own local Danni Ricci!"
Danni put her fears aside and stepped onto the dark stage as the music began to swell. When the last note of the introduction was struck, the ever so familiar spotlight came upon her and she closed her eyes. She began to sing.
Greg's POV
"Could I have a Shirley Temple, please?"
The man behind the bar raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Greg stared blankly at the tattooed, leather-swathed bartender. "You know, the thing with cherry syrup and soda water? And one of those little plastic swords that skewers the cherry? You know what that is, don't you?"
The burly dude bristled. "Of course I—"
"'Cause, like, that's one of the first things they teach you in bartending schools or whatever, right? Right before gin and tonic? Or maybe after, because at least gin and tonic speaks for itself…do you want me to come around there and show you how to make a Shirley Temple?"
The man glowered at the young CSI and slammed a glass onto the table. In moments, the delicious, sparkling cherry beverage sat before him. Then a cherry was thrown in.
"Thanks…what, no plastic sword?"
The bartender walked away without a word.
Greg smirked slightly. Just because he was a MAN didn't mean it would rule his tastes. He had once dated a girl that used cherry lip balm and ever since he coveted that sweet cherry taste.
Picking up his drink, he sipped it and glanced around. He had never come to this bar on the weeknights, and now he saw why. It was completely barren save a few guys who had just walked in to sit in front of the dark, curtained stage. Not even one female. On the weekends that stage had the coolest local underground bands and artists up there and gorgeous women wearing less clothing than Greg wore to bed—and he was prone to sleeping nude some nights.
While Greg was thinking about what a bore this particular "club" was on a Tuesday night, the door opened and a group of hip looking early-twenty-somethings entered, laughing and seeming to have a grand old time. Finally, he thought as a petite redhead looked him up and down before taking her seat at a table in front of the stage.
Just then, the curtain opened and a tall, leggy blond with way too much makeup on nearly tripped down the stairs to the left of the stage. Greg snorted into his drink in an attempt not to giggle. She sat at a small piano and a tall lanky man who seemed to appear out of nowhere stood next to her to pick up a ratty guitar.
"And now, singing the song Someone To Die For, our very own local Danni Ricci!"
The music began and Greg had a moment to be surprised at the level of talent the two musicians had. But then the curtain opened and he heard the singer and all thought went out of his head.
The woman seemed average height and looked very Italian, with long, dark brown waves cascading over her shoulders. Her eyes were closed as she began to sing. When the first note came pouring out of her soft lips, Greg forgot to breathe.
Before you landed
I had a will but didn't know what it could do
You were abandoned
And still you're handing out what you don't want to lose
You make me drop things
Like all the plans I had for a life without you…
Her voice melted into him and Greg could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stick up as goosebumps covered his body. As the chorus began, she opened her eyes and the deepest brown Greg had ever seen seemed to pierce through his very soul.
Someone to Die For
Someone to fall into when the world goes dark
Someone to Die For
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone…
Like you.
Don't forget to comment )