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Alex winked and signaled the machine operator. Jake and the others stared at Alex. SHE was going to sing too??

Frank had turned to go, but when the hush hit the crowd, he turned back around... and nearly died of a heart attack.

The music started, the response of the crowd varying between cheers and groans. Alex just laughed and Amanda shook her head.

'At first I was afraid, I was petrified
Kept thinkin' I could never live without you by my side;'

"You're insane Lexie!!" she said as she started to bust out laughing. Alex winked and kept singing the first verse...

'But then I spent so many nights
Thinkin' how you did me wrong
And I grew strong
And I learned how to get along'

Jake and Cody started whooping and cheering, Sasche and Monica singing along. Alex had a damned good voice too!

Frank just stared at the stage from the back of the bar. They... they could be twins!

Amanda joined in, harmonizing easily with her sister as one arm wrapped around Lexie's waist.

'And so you're back, from outta space
I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face
I should have changed that stupid lock
I should have made you leave your key
If I had known for just one second you'd be back to bother me'

Both of them moved apart, in tandem, like they'd performed this routine before. They already had the crowd there on their feet and whooping along with Jake and Cody. This was the definition of 'bringing down the house'.

'Go now go, walk out the door
Just turn around now
Cause you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye
Think I'd crumble?
Think I'd lay down and die?

Every woman in the bar was standing on their chairs and singing along at the top of their voices. They all had been in that place and woman-to-woman it was a place they all hated to be.

'Oh no, not I! I will survive!
Oh as long as I know how to love I know I'll be alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my love to give and I'll survive
I will survive. Hey, hey!'

Amanda took over singing, both of them grooving along the stage in a well choreographed routine. They'd performed this many many times before, mostly in high school when the song was first popular.

In the back of the bar, Frank was feeling dizzy. His Starlet was here in Chicago. He leaned against the bar, the thundering cheers and music overwhelming him. Maybe he'd succeeded in his efforts to get her to forget about him. It sure sounded like it from the intensity in her voice. But the real question was Alex. What was the story?

'It took all the strength I had not to fall apart
Kept tryin' hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart
And I spent oh so many nights
Just feelin' sorry for myself
I used to cry
But now I hold my head up high
And you see me, somebody new
I'm not that chained up little person still in love with you
And so you feel like droppin' in
And just expect me to be free
Now I'm savin' all my love for someone who's lovin' me!'

Alex and Amanda turned to one another, belting out the last chorus to the song as if they were making a statement to the world. Amanda was forgetting about the heartache of Frank's leaving her in St. Croix and what life had been like. There was a whole world out there for her to get on with and she knew it. Now it was a matter of just believing in herself to do it. She felt more alive and free in the last few minutes than she had been in the last year.

'Go now go, walk out the door
Just turn around now
Cause you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye
Think I'd crumble?
Think I'd lay down and die?
Oh no, not I! I will survive!
Oh as long as I know how to love I know I'll be alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my love to give and I'll survive
I will survive. Hey, hey!'

Frank watched the two women on the stage as the song ended. They were smiling as they hugged each other. Every woman in the bar was either on her chair or on the tabletop cheering. He looked one more time at his Starlet. She had moved on as he wanted her to.

Quietly he turned around and left her to the crowd.

--

- song titled "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor

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