Shadowing Ivy
By A Shot of Amber
* ~ * Session 16: Jet Black Sings the Blues * ~ *
I lit up another cigarette and took a puff, inhaling the gray smoke. Rain fell from the gray sky but I was hidden under the awnings so I stayed dry. Like it really mattered, the gray sky and the rain falling softly seemed to match my bleak mood. The cigarette glowed slightly and a bit of ash fell off. Falling to the ground where exploded with a shower of sparks then died out because of the wet pavement. I got up off the wall, shoving my hands into my pockets and looked up at the sky.
"Damn I wish I had an umbrella."
* * * * * * *
Later on when the night had settled in and the rain quit for a few hours. I found myself walking into the same old place I visited every night. It was this little bar, kind of ragged and run down, but hell, they served the best damn cowboy I had ever had. So every night around this time I found myself walking in and going to sit at a table near the back. It was small wooden thing, round, covered with scars, and burnt marks from past patrons. The wooden chair was pushed away a bit so I could easily slip in and sit down without even making a sound.
All the other tables sat under a red light that glowed from the ceiling but mine was hidden away in shadows so no one could see me. I was completely alone and able to watch everything going on in the bar without everyone watching me.
"Here's your drink Jet, Tom made it up when you he saw you walk in." The waitress set a napkin and a glass of amber colored liquid on the table.
"Thanks Rita," I replied smiling up at her.
She was a pretty thing, shoulder length brown hair, pale spice colored eyes. Thin but not to thin and dressed in her normal waitress outfit. Tight black top and a little black skirt over fishnets and heels. I didn't admire her for too long though; she was married to Tom, the bartender and owner of this place. I had respect for the man so I just thanked her and turned my eyes back to the stage.
One of the things I liked best about this place was that it had a little stage set up with a microphone and a piano so anyone who wanted to could get up there and sing. Some people when they were drunk enough would go up there and favor us with some tunes. Some were good and some were just to drunk to speak. I myself had never gone up there, no matter how drunk I got. I preferred to stay in my seat and watch the others make fools of themselves.
Tonight was no different, some guy sat up there crooning into the mike in a kind of off key tone about his womyn leaving him and his dog running off with his car. At least that's what I thought he was singing about, I didn't really listen to him but instead worked my way through my drink and raised my glass to signal that I wanted another. Rita came and took the glass from my hand, her fingers just brushing over mine. I knew her touch was nothing but an accident but I avoided her eyes anyway when she brought me a fresh drink.
On the stage, the drunken man had finally stumbled off and another person was walking on. It was another guy but he had the clean smooth appearance of being sober. I half expected him to walk up the mike but he sat down at the piano and played a few keys. The quiet mummers of the audience died down to silence. I took another sip of my drink while waiting for the man to start playing but he didn't. Instead, he waited for something or someone, a womyn walking out from behind the curtains. She was tall and slender dressed in a straight black dress with a lacey blue shawl draped over her arms. I took another gulp of my drink as the womyn walked up to the microphone and turned to her pianist. With the slightest nod of her head, he begun to play and she begin to sing.
Her voice was good, sort of husky and filled with emotion. She sang softly caressing the microphone while the man behind her played. Once in awhile I caught her eyes watching me but I dismissed it and lit up another cigarette. The rest of the bar was filled with smoke already, cigarettes glowing in the dim light. She sang one song then sang another while we listened. Dimly I remember Rita bringing me another drink. She just sat it next to empty glass and walked off. The whole rest of the time I listened to lady on the stage singing. When she had finished her second song she stepped back and bowed before walking back into the wings. The audience and I clapped politely then went back to their small chatter.
I on the other hand stood up and drained away the rest of my drink for the walking towards the door.
"Put it on my bar tab." I called to Tom standing behind the bar.
He nodded and watched me walk out into the night. It was raining again and this time harder then before, but I ignored it and pulled my hat farther down on my head. There was something I wanted to see and the rain wasn't going to keep me away from it. Outside the side entrance, I waited near a couple cans of garbage and some cats hissing at me to leave. The pianist left first, he never even noticed me standing there. A few minutes later she stepped out, pulling her coat tightly around her and closing the door. I made my move stepping out of the shadows into the light from the single naked bulb above the door.
"Excuse me ma'am?"
"What! Who is it?" She whirled around shocked to see someone standing behind her but when she saw me she calmed down and smiled. "You sure did give me a fright appearing like that you know. I at least expected you to be waiting for me in the front."
I guess the shocked look on my face was more evident then I thought because later we found ourselves sitting in a coffee shop in a booth by a window.
"My name is Alisa Harbor. I don't really sing for a living, it's just something I like to do."
"I didn't think so or you wouldn't be singing in a classy place like that," I replied setting my coffee cup down.
She got a confused look on her face then smiled at me and laughed. " I would barely call it classy but it's where I feel most comfortable."
"You mean being on the stage?"
"Yea," she rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window. " Anywhere else I choke up and lose my voice but when I'm there I feel, I don't know, peaceful and relaxed."
"Tom's place always was like that."
"Tom's place, have you been going there a long time?" She turned her eyes to me waiting for an answer.
"Yea, about three years now ever since I moved here. At first, it was just once in a while but soon it became a nightly ritual. I would go there after work, have a few drinks, listen to the singing, and then go home."
"It sounds like a fun life. Doesn't your wife worry about you though?"
"I don't have one, I'm not married." I picked up the cup and took another sip of coffee.
"Oh." She noticed the tense look on my face and shut up. For awhile there was silence between us while Alisa stared into her own cup of coffee and I drank mine. Finally, she spoke again.
"Jet do you want to know something?"
"Like what?" I looked over the rim of my cup at her.
"Well there's a dream I've had for, gosh knows how long. It's kind of a silly dream but to me it's something special."
"What is it?" I put the cup down ready to listen.
"Well someday I was hoping to open my own bar, when I get enough money of course." Alisa's eyes shone in such a way that I was almost blinded by their brilliance.
"How far to your dream do you have to go?"
"Not very much longer, and I know it sounds silly but that is what I dream about." Her hands interlaced themselves around her coffee cup while she stared into the thick black liquid.
"I don't thinks it a silly dream." She looked up at me. "No dream is silly if you really want it to come true."
A smile lit up her face. "I guess your right."
Once again, silence reigned while we finished off our coffee. The rest of the place was quiet with only a few other customers. Underneath harsh neon lights, Formica tables glowed with a stark white color.
"Jet?" Her voice again, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Yea?"
"I know this sounds really odd and everything but, would you stay with me tonight?"
I didn't expect to here that one, especially from her but she seemed to be serious. Her blue eyes had an almost pleading look to them.
"What about your pianist? Isn't he your boy..." My voice trailed of
near the end.
"Brian? No he's just a friend and he has a girlfriend already. I just don't want to go to my apartment alone especially on a night like tonight." She looked out the window at the rain hitting the pavement.
Inside my head a million different thoughts were fighting with themselves. The waitress brought over our bill leaving it on the tabletop while she shuffled away. I took it before Lisa could and dropped a few coins on the table before standing up and picking up my hat.
"Jet I really shouldn't of asked you so I understand if you-"Alisa begin standing up also.
"Come on lets get going, before the rain gets worse."
Her blue eyes widened slightly then crinkled at the corners has she smiled at me and led the way out of the coffee shop.
I did end up spending the night with her and the next night and the next until I was spending all my time with her. After a long day with the ISSP, I would come home to find Alisa waiting for me. She would always smile and open her arms for a hug.
On some nights, we would go to the bar and she would sing while I sat near the front and listened. My old table gathered dust in the back, I wanted to be near Alisa all the time. I could say I wasn't in love with her but the truth was that I was. It happened slowly at first but soon I realized I was in love with her. And when I realized that everything took a turn for the worst.
Alisa never did get her bar. She never made her dream come true after all. If you are thinking she died then you are wrong. Alisa didn't die and she wasn't killed. She just disappeared, leaving one night while I was sleeping in our bed. When I awoke she was gone and without a trace. I didn't cry and I didn't search for her. I just forgot she ever existed and went back to my old life. I worked with the ISSP in the daytime and went to Tom's place every night.
My old table was brushed off and given it's old place again. Rita brought me the same old drink and welcomed me back. On stage, people sang the same old songs, talking about love and pain. How their girlfriends left them and the car broke down. I still never got up there and sang. It wasn't my place. My place was back here sitting at a small wooden table marked up with scars and burns from past customers drinking a cowboy and looking up a the stage through a smoke filled room.
* * * * * * *
Jet groaned and opened his eyes. The fan above circled around and around in a lazy circle while he lay in bed the blanket half falling off his body.
"What a dream." Jet groaned turning onto his side and falling back to sleep but before he did he opened his eyes once and sighed. It seemed like his real life was entering his dreams now.
See you space cowboy...
Antonio: Well, well looks like were doing the promo today since everyone seems to be sleeping.
Carlos: So, what's happening in the next episode?
Jobim: I don't know, something having to do with dreams. What do you think Antonio?
Antonio: What are you asking me for? Were not even going to be in this next episode!
Carlos: We haven't even been in the whole story.
Jobim: The next episode is "Sympathy for a Rose."
Well did you like it? Did you hate it? Did you understand it? For a written explanation please and review your questions or send all comments, questions, suggestions, and flames to Saphrians_Water_Reflection@hotmail.com. Thank you!
By A Shot of Amber
* ~ * Session 16: Jet Black Sings the Blues * ~ *
I lit up another cigarette and took a puff, inhaling the gray smoke. Rain fell from the gray sky but I was hidden under the awnings so I stayed dry. Like it really mattered, the gray sky and the rain falling softly seemed to match my bleak mood. The cigarette glowed slightly and a bit of ash fell off. Falling to the ground where exploded with a shower of sparks then died out because of the wet pavement. I got up off the wall, shoving my hands into my pockets and looked up at the sky.
"Damn I wish I had an umbrella."
* * * * * * *
Later on when the night had settled in and the rain quit for a few hours. I found myself walking into the same old place I visited every night. It was this little bar, kind of ragged and run down, but hell, they served the best damn cowboy I had ever had. So every night around this time I found myself walking in and going to sit at a table near the back. It was small wooden thing, round, covered with scars, and burnt marks from past patrons. The wooden chair was pushed away a bit so I could easily slip in and sit down without even making a sound.
All the other tables sat under a red light that glowed from the ceiling but mine was hidden away in shadows so no one could see me. I was completely alone and able to watch everything going on in the bar without everyone watching me.
"Here's your drink Jet, Tom made it up when you he saw you walk in." The waitress set a napkin and a glass of amber colored liquid on the table.
"Thanks Rita," I replied smiling up at her.
She was a pretty thing, shoulder length brown hair, pale spice colored eyes. Thin but not to thin and dressed in her normal waitress outfit. Tight black top and a little black skirt over fishnets and heels. I didn't admire her for too long though; she was married to Tom, the bartender and owner of this place. I had respect for the man so I just thanked her and turned my eyes back to the stage.
One of the things I liked best about this place was that it had a little stage set up with a microphone and a piano so anyone who wanted to could get up there and sing. Some people when they were drunk enough would go up there and favor us with some tunes. Some were good and some were just to drunk to speak. I myself had never gone up there, no matter how drunk I got. I preferred to stay in my seat and watch the others make fools of themselves.
Tonight was no different, some guy sat up there crooning into the mike in a kind of off key tone about his womyn leaving him and his dog running off with his car. At least that's what I thought he was singing about, I didn't really listen to him but instead worked my way through my drink and raised my glass to signal that I wanted another. Rita came and took the glass from my hand, her fingers just brushing over mine. I knew her touch was nothing but an accident but I avoided her eyes anyway when she brought me a fresh drink.
On the stage, the drunken man had finally stumbled off and another person was walking on. It was another guy but he had the clean smooth appearance of being sober. I half expected him to walk up the mike but he sat down at the piano and played a few keys. The quiet mummers of the audience died down to silence. I took another sip of my drink while waiting for the man to start playing but he didn't. Instead, he waited for something or someone, a womyn walking out from behind the curtains. She was tall and slender dressed in a straight black dress with a lacey blue shawl draped over her arms. I took another gulp of my drink as the womyn walked up to the microphone and turned to her pianist. With the slightest nod of her head, he begun to play and she begin to sing.
Her voice was good, sort of husky and filled with emotion. She sang softly caressing the microphone while the man behind her played. Once in awhile I caught her eyes watching me but I dismissed it and lit up another cigarette. The rest of the bar was filled with smoke already, cigarettes glowing in the dim light. She sang one song then sang another while we listened. Dimly I remember Rita bringing me another drink. She just sat it next to empty glass and walked off. The whole rest of the time I listened to lady on the stage singing. When she had finished her second song she stepped back and bowed before walking back into the wings. The audience and I clapped politely then went back to their small chatter.
I on the other hand stood up and drained away the rest of my drink for the walking towards the door.
"Put it on my bar tab." I called to Tom standing behind the bar.
He nodded and watched me walk out into the night. It was raining again and this time harder then before, but I ignored it and pulled my hat farther down on my head. There was something I wanted to see and the rain wasn't going to keep me away from it. Outside the side entrance, I waited near a couple cans of garbage and some cats hissing at me to leave. The pianist left first, he never even noticed me standing there. A few minutes later she stepped out, pulling her coat tightly around her and closing the door. I made my move stepping out of the shadows into the light from the single naked bulb above the door.
"Excuse me ma'am?"
"What! Who is it?" She whirled around shocked to see someone standing behind her but when she saw me she calmed down and smiled. "You sure did give me a fright appearing like that you know. I at least expected you to be waiting for me in the front."
I guess the shocked look on my face was more evident then I thought because later we found ourselves sitting in a coffee shop in a booth by a window.
"My name is Alisa Harbor. I don't really sing for a living, it's just something I like to do."
"I didn't think so or you wouldn't be singing in a classy place like that," I replied setting my coffee cup down.
She got a confused look on her face then smiled at me and laughed. " I would barely call it classy but it's where I feel most comfortable."
"You mean being on the stage?"
"Yea," she rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window. " Anywhere else I choke up and lose my voice but when I'm there I feel, I don't know, peaceful and relaxed."
"Tom's place always was like that."
"Tom's place, have you been going there a long time?" She turned her eyes to me waiting for an answer.
"Yea, about three years now ever since I moved here. At first, it was just once in a while but soon it became a nightly ritual. I would go there after work, have a few drinks, listen to the singing, and then go home."
"It sounds like a fun life. Doesn't your wife worry about you though?"
"I don't have one, I'm not married." I picked up the cup and took another sip of coffee.
"Oh." She noticed the tense look on my face and shut up. For awhile there was silence between us while Alisa stared into her own cup of coffee and I drank mine. Finally, she spoke again.
"Jet do you want to know something?"
"Like what?" I looked over the rim of my cup at her.
"Well there's a dream I've had for, gosh knows how long. It's kind of a silly dream but to me it's something special."
"What is it?" I put the cup down ready to listen.
"Well someday I was hoping to open my own bar, when I get enough money of course." Alisa's eyes shone in such a way that I was almost blinded by their brilliance.
"How far to your dream do you have to go?"
"Not very much longer, and I know it sounds silly but that is what I dream about." Her hands interlaced themselves around her coffee cup while she stared into the thick black liquid.
"I don't thinks it a silly dream." She looked up at me. "No dream is silly if you really want it to come true."
A smile lit up her face. "I guess your right."
Once again, silence reigned while we finished off our coffee. The rest of the place was quiet with only a few other customers. Underneath harsh neon lights, Formica tables glowed with a stark white color.
"Jet?" Her voice again, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Yea?"
"I know this sounds really odd and everything but, would you stay with me tonight?"
I didn't expect to here that one, especially from her but she seemed to be serious. Her blue eyes had an almost pleading look to them.
"What about your pianist? Isn't he your boy..." My voice trailed of
near the end.
"Brian? No he's just a friend and he has a girlfriend already. I just don't want to go to my apartment alone especially on a night like tonight." She looked out the window at the rain hitting the pavement.
Inside my head a million different thoughts were fighting with themselves. The waitress brought over our bill leaving it on the tabletop while she shuffled away. I took it before Lisa could and dropped a few coins on the table before standing up and picking up my hat.
"Jet I really shouldn't of asked you so I understand if you-"Alisa begin standing up also.
"Come on lets get going, before the rain gets worse."
Her blue eyes widened slightly then crinkled at the corners has she smiled at me and led the way out of the coffee shop.
I did end up spending the night with her and the next night and the next until I was spending all my time with her. After a long day with the ISSP, I would come home to find Alisa waiting for me. She would always smile and open her arms for a hug.
On some nights, we would go to the bar and she would sing while I sat near the front and listened. My old table gathered dust in the back, I wanted to be near Alisa all the time. I could say I wasn't in love with her but the truth was that I was. It happened slowly at first but soon I realized I was in love with her. And when I realized that everything took a turn for the worst.
Alisa never did get her bar. She never made her dream come true after all. If you are thinking she died then you are wrong. Alisa didn't die and she wasn't killed. She just disappeared, leaving one night while I was sleeping in our bed. When I awoke she was gone and without a trace. I didn't cry and I didn't search for her. I just forgot she ever existed and went back to my old life. I worked with the ISSP in the daytime and went to Tom's place every night.
My old table was brushed off and given it's old place again. Rita brought me the same old drink and welcomed me back. On stage, people sang the same old songs, talking about love and pain. How their girlfriends left them and the car broke down. I still never got up there and sang. It wasn't my place. My place was back here sitting at a small wooden table marked up with scars and burns from past customers drinking a cowboy and looking up a the stage through a smoke filled room.
* * * * * * *
Jet groaned and opened his eyes. The fan above circled around and around in a lazy circle while he lay in bed the blanket half falling off his body.
"What a dream." Jet groaned turning onto his side and falling back to sleep but before he did he opened his eyes once and sighed. It seemed like his real life was entering his dreams now.
See you space cowboy...
Antonio: Well, well looks like were doing the promo today since everyone seems to be sleeping.
Carlos: So, what's happening in the next episode?
Jobim: I don't know, something having to do with dreams. What do you think Antonio?
Antonio: What are you asking me for? Were not even going to be in this next episode!
Carlos: We haven't even been in the whole story.
Jobim: The next episode is "Sympathy for a Rose."
Well did you like it? Did you hate it? Did you understand it? For a written explanation please and review your questions or send all comments, questions, suggestions, and flames to Saphrians_Water_Reflection@hotmail.com. Thank you!