A/N: Hello again! First, sorry for the lack of updates here - had a lot on. Second, I apologise for any mistakes here - I've been cooped up with defective lunatics all day planning my uncle's funeral and am extremely tired. And lastly, thank you for all the amazing reviews!
Oh, and the first song is "What Kinda Girl?" by Rosanne Cash and the second is "She's In Love With The Boy" by Trisha Yearwood :)
Sarah x
"I want a rest," Elliot insisted despite everyone's protests. "One drunken accident is enough for me, I think."
Jac didn't want Elliot to sit down and watch; if anyone deserved a good time it was him. "Stop him," she hissed at Jonny. He looked at her helplessly so she snatched the guitar from him. "Elliot, you play guitar, right?"
"Yes," he replied.
"Jonny's fingers are getting sore," she lied easily. "Swapsies?"
Elliot gave a resigned yet enthusiastic smile as Jonny stood up. "I will warn you," said Elliot as he took the guitar. "My taste in music will outdate yours."
"We'll find something," she waved his concerns away. "Jonny's taught me some old songs anyway," she added, bringing another, this time relieved, smile to Elliot's face. They sat and discussed it until they found a song they both knew. "I don't suppose you'd know...oh, I don't know...The Script?" she asked. By the blank look on his face she was force to sigh, "Yeah, didn't think so."
It took a good ten minutes but they managed to find a couple of songs Elliot and Jac both knew.
"So we're going to do 'What Kinda Girl?' next," she told everyone, mainly telling Jonny more than anyone else.
"Good choice," Serena said.
"Hmm," Jac grinned evilly. "You can help Come on. Up here."
"No!" Serena protested. "No, no, no, no!"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes!" Jac smiled, having fun seeing Serena the one squirming for a change.
"No."
"Yes. Get your arse up here!"
"No!"
However, she was left no choice – Henrik Hanssen took her by one arm, Sacha Levy by the other, and steered her up to the front while Michael Spence thrust a microphone into her hand. "You'll pay for this, Hanssen. Mark my words," she threatened, noting that he had forced her hand first.
Jac nodded to Elliot once the men had vacated the area. He played the upbeat tune seamlessly and flawlessly. "What kinda girl am I really am?" sang Jac happily. "I like some turkey but I don't eat lamb."
"No sweet potato but I do like ham," Serena sang, and the evil smile on her lips worrying Jac.
"What kinda girl am I really am?" they finished the first verse together.
"What kinda girl am I really I?" Jac continued.
Serena stepped forward and sang, "I kept my jacket but I lost my tie," as she took Hanssen by his tie and pulled it off him with an odd playful and yet evil grin. As she unbuttoned the top button she sang, "I'll tell you true and then I sometimes lie."
Jac had to force back giggles while she was was singing, "What kinda girl am I really I?"
It was official: the drink had finally gone to Serena Campbell's head. Elliot played the guitar while Jonny became increasingly embarrassing with his bad dancing. It was all Jac could do to roll her eyes when he started what he liked to call the 'chicken dance,' which involved him moving his neck in and out like a hen and pretending his arms were wings.
"What kinda girl am I really who?" Serena sang, prompting Jac to come back to Earth.
"Don't wear pyjamas and I don't sniff glue," she sang with a fond and hopeless smirk at Jonny's childish behaviour. "I'm Mississippi, got the New York blues."
"What kinda girl am I really who?" Serena finished that little verse.
"What kinda girl am I really what?" they sang together. Serena was enjoying herself. It was obvious. She was just too embarrassed and proud to admit it.
Jac added, "I might be leavin' but the door ain't shut."
"I'm here for lovin' but I ain't no slut," Serena grinned. She was completely out of her box now. Jac noticed that, yet again, she was prancing around holding a microphone. She didn't feel so bad this time though. She had reduced the mighty Serena to the same.
"What kinda girl am I really what?" they concluded together, leaving Elliot to play on his own for a little while while Jonny's dancing became erratic and Michael joined his wild...whatever they called it. It was embarrassing. Lovable, but embarrassing all the same. Hanssen was clearly thinking the same thing as he let Malick and Chantelle attempt to teach him and Digby to dance. Boy, was he seeing his colleagues' true colours tonight. That was what tended to happen when people convened in a pub, after all.
"What kinda girl am I really am?" they started to repeat the first verse together. "I like some turkey but I don't eat lamb; no sweet potato but I do like ham; what kinda girl am I really am?"
"What kinda girl am I?" Jac sang alone.
"Who am I really am?" Serena finished the song off. Despite her protests Jac knew the older woman was thoroughly enjoying herself; she didn't look like an idiot either when she stood tapping to the beat as Elliot played the outro, because she actually could sing and hadn't made a fool of herself.
Jonny, on the other hand had made a marvellous job of looking like a moron; he could probably have created a career out of that alone, Jac decided as he danced around with Michael and Sacha, much to Chrissie's dismay. When Elliot finished, Serena turned to him. "Do you know 'She's In Love With The Boy,' Elliot? Could you play it a tiny bit slower?"
"Of course," he smiled. "Another one you picked in the States?" he guessed cheerily.
"You. Dancefloor," Jac found herself being ordered. She stared back defiantly at Serena but the older woman only raised her eyebrow and drawled, "Now." Realising she wasn't getting off as lightly as she had hoped, Jac obliged and went to stand, glaring at him, next to Jonny. "Right. Everybody grab a partner."
Jonny immediately took Jac so nobody else could. Sacha and Chrissie. Somehow Chantelle and Hanssen ended up together as Jac looked over Jonny's shoulder.
"Katie's sitting on her old front porch watching the chickens peck the ground," Serena sang, Elliot playing the guitar more gently this time. The sound of her voice still astounded Jac as Jonny danced her lightly around. "There ain't a whole lot goin' on tonight in this one horse town; over yonder, comin' up the road in a beat-up Chevy truck, her boyfriend Tommy is laying on the horn, splashin' through the mud and the muck."
"Bloody hell, she can't half sing," Jonny said to Jac, drawing her back from Serena's voice. "Who'd have thought it, eh?"
"You'll never let her hear the end of that, will you?" Jac guessed, trying to get over the fact she was slow dancing in public with Jonny Maconie.
"Nope."
"Her Daddy says he ain't worth a lick; when it comes to brains he got the short end of the stick; but Katie's young and, man, she just don't care; she'd follow Tommy anywhere," sang Serena gracefully. "She's in love with the boy; she's in love with the boy; she's in love with the boy; and even if they have to run away, she's gonna marry that boy some day."
Jac breathed deeply and let her head fall on Jonny's chest, for the first time truly letting her guard fall to him and to the whole pub. It would be raised again by morning but for now she was just Jac. Not Jac Naylor the machine. Just Jac.
"Katie and Tommy at the drive-in movie, parked in the very last row; they're too busy holdin' onto one another to even care about the show; later on outside the Tastee Freeze, Tommy slips something on her hand; he says, "My high school ring'll have to do, 'til I can buy a wedding band,"" Serena sang loudly, owning the whole area effortlessly.
"I love you, you know," Jonny reminded her into her ear. "I'll always love you."
Jac smiled, and she probably looked like a lunatic, as she replied, "I love you too."
"Her Daddy says he ain't worth a lick; when it comes to brains he got the short end of the stick; but Katie's young and, man, she just don't care; she'd follow Tommy anywhere," she belted out.
Jac looked over to see Hanssen and Chantelle. "Daddy-daughter dance?" she asked Jonny's opinion on the pair as they danced slowly and awkwardly together. It was almost cute, but Hanssen was involved so it couldn't be cute. No, actually, for the first time ever, Jac was forced to admit Henrik Hanssen was capable of being adorable.
He looked over. "Definitely. Though I think maybe he'd prefer Mummy." Jac laughed into his chest at his comment, in no doubt that he was right. They'd wound each other up all night and now couldn't keep their eyes off each other.
"She's in love with the boy; she's in love with the boy; she's in love with the boy; and even if they have to run away, she's gonna marry that boy some day." Serena's voice was no longer a distraction but the perfect backing for what was, in Jac's opinion, the most perfect moment she had shared with Jonny. And Serena had set her up. She knew it.
"Her Daddy's waitin' up 'til half-past twelve when they come sneakin' up the walk; he says, "Young lady, get on up to your room while me and Junior have a talk,"" Serena went on. "Mama breaks in, says, "Don't lose your temper; it wasn't very long ago, when you yourself was just a hay-seed ploughboy who didn't have a row to hoe,"" she changed the pre-chorus. ""My Daddy said you wasn't worth a lick; when it came to brains you got the short end of the stick; but he was wrong and, honey, you are too. Katie looks at Tommy like I still look at you!"" her voice soared through the pub. How could the woman think for over forty years that she couldn't sing?!
"Think she's making a point?" Jac asked Jonny quietly as she cottoned on to the meaning of the song.
"The only way she could make it more obvious would be to change Katie and Tommy to Jac and Jonny," he laughed. "She's some character once she's got a drink down her."
"She's in love with the boy; she's in love with the boy; she's in love with the boy; what's meant to be will always find a way; she's in love with the boy; she's in love with the boy; she's in love with the boy; what's meant to be will always find a way; she's gonna marry that boy some day..." she trailed away, leaving Elliot to finish playing the guitar.
"Who doesn't love a love story?" Elliot sighed happily. Jac looked at Jonny with a grin, and kissed him gently.
Hope this is OK!
Please feel free to review and tell me what you think!
Sarah x
