"I'm glad you could make it in today," Natasha said with a smile. "So, what do you need? A backtrack? An instrument?"
"If you have a guitar that would help," Keith said to which Natasha nodded.
"I have an acoustic one in my office, give me a moment."
Natasha returned a moment later, a dark brown acoustic guitar in her hands, a red and white bandana tied around the neck of the guitar at the top.
"Now, I know you can get a little shy so I'm gonna be behind the bar cleaning glasses and organizing, to make you a little more comfortable," Natasha said heading to the bar, her heels clicking against the dark wooden floor. "The mic is on so whenever you're ready," she called before pulling out glasses and started cleaning.
"Right," Keith muttered under his breath. He took a deep breath before strumming the first few notes on the guitar and stepping up to the mic.
"Summer after high school, when we first met
We'd make out in your Mustang to Radiohead
And on my 18th birthday, we got matching rings
Used to steal your parents' liquor and climb to the roof
Talk about our future like we had a clue
Never planned that one day I'd be losing you"
As Keith sang, Natasha listened. She didn't hear much about what happened before Keith moved back to Millcreek but she knew that he and his boyfriend broke up.
"In another life, I would be your guy
We'd keep all our promises, be us against the world
In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away
The one that got away"
As Keith sang, memories of him and Lance flashed through his mind. The happy moments of their relationship, until the day they broke up.
"I was June, and you were my Johnny Cash
Never one without the other, we made a pact
Sometimes when I miss you, I put those records on, whoa
Someone said your ring was gone
Saw you downtown, singing the blues
It's time to face the music, I'm no longer your muse"
As he was lost in the song, Keith failed to notice a woman standing by the doorway which led to the hallway Natasha's office was down. She watched Keith sing, her eyes watching his every move.
"But in another life, I would be your guy
We'd keep all our promises, be us against the world
In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away
The one that got away
The one
The one
The one
The one that got away"
Natasha had stopped cleaning and was leaning against the bar on her elbows, watching Keith and listening as he sang.
"All this money can't buy me a time machine, no
Can't replace you with a million rings, no
I should've told you what you meant to me, whoa
'Cause now I pay the price"
His emotions making her heart clench. She to had her fair share of heartbreaks. Now, she may not have gotten pregnant and found out after she and her boyfriend broke up, but she knew what Keith was going through.
"In another life, I would be your guy
We'd keep all our promises, be us against the world
In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away
The one that got away"
The music from the guitar slowed down as the song came to a close.
"The one
The one
The one
In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away
The one that got away"
As the song ended, Natasha clapped a smile on her face. Keith smiled back, his cheeks flushing red as Natasha walked up to the stage.
"Your mother wasn't joking when she said you have a gift," Natasha said as Keith leaned the guitar against the microphone stand. "Did you take lessons as a kid?"
"No, never did," Keith said with a shake of his head. "I only really sang at home."
"Seriously!?"
"My music teacher in high school did "force" me to take her choir classes though after she heard me sing once," Keith pointed out with a shrug of his shoulders. "That's about it."
"Wow, and here it took me 3 or 4 years to learn how to sing," Natasha said with a chuckle. "Well now," Natasha said with a smile and heading to the bar, pulling out a black apron with the club's name on it. It was just a simple black apron that wrapped around the waist. "You'll be needing this."
"Really? Just like that?" Keith asked down at the black apron that was tossed at him.
"Why do you want a formal boring interview with non-essential questions?"
"Well, I-"
"Are you a legal drinking age?"
"Yes, I'm 23."
"Do you have your Serving It Right certification?"
"Yes?"
"Then you're good," Natasha said with a smile. "You can start on Monday."
"I-" Keith was interrupted by Natasha's cell phone ringing from her pocket.
"Sorry hun, I have to take this, you can just leave the guitar there I'll grab it," Natasha said turning around and heading to her office. "I'll see you on Monday! I'll text you your schedule this weekend!"
Keith sighed as the door to Natasha's office closed. From the corner of his eye, he swore he saw someone head down the hallway around the corner but when he turned, he found no one there.
"Strange," Keith muttered before heading out of the club and heading to the bus stop, just as the bus was pulling up.
"There you are, how did it go?" Krolia asked as Keith entered the house.
"Well, considering Natasha gave me the job," Keith said pulling the black apron out of the inside pocket of his jacket.
"That's wonderful sweetheart," Krolia said with a smile. "I told you it would go well."
"Let me guess, mother's intuition?"
"No," Krolia said with a shake of her head."
"Then how?"
"I just knew," Krolia said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Now, you hungry?"
"Always."
"Welcome home love," Lance's mother, Rosa, said with a smile on her face as she walked out of the kitchen. "How was it today?"
"Alright I guess, we spent like three hours figuring out a date, we still haven't picked one," Lance said with a sigh. There was still a month until Nyma was supposed to come down but they had video chats until then while Lance worked with a wedding planner who was based in the city.
"I see Nyma is getting specific," Rosa said as she wiped her hands with the towel in her hands.
"More like her mother," Lance said with a roll of his eyes as he hung his jacket up.
"Yes, her mother can be specific," Rosa said tossing the towel on her shoulder. "Dinner will be soon, why don't you go and relax?" Lance nodded and headed upstairs.
As Lance entered his bedroom, he noticed the picture on his dresser. It was a picture of him and Keith from last summer. The group was having a picnic for Allura's birthday and Lance ended up giving Keith a piggyback, Shiro snapping the photo for them. Letting a sad smile cross his face, Lance collapsed on his bed.
(Word=Lance
Word=Keith)
"They pass me by
All of those great romances
It's as if you're robbing me
Of my rightful chances
My picture clear
Everything seemed so easy"
Sure, Nyma and Lance were childhood friends but that's all they were, Lance viewed Nyma as a sister. However, he was trying to push away his feelings for Keith and try to love Nyma because he knew it's what his parents wanted.
"And so I dealt you the blow
One of us had to go
Now it's different
I want you to know..."
Lance could still picture the hurt and torn look on Keith's face the day he told him he was breaking up with him. It still haunted him to this day and every time he thought of it, he wanted to find Keith and beg for him to forgive him and go back to dating.
"One of us is crying
One of us is lying in his lonely bed
Staring at the ceiling
Wishing he was somewhere else instead"
Keith sighed as he lay on his bed, a hand softly rubbing his stomach. He could still remember the bright smiles that Lance would give him. Sometimes, he wished that life was different. That Lance never gave in to his parents and they would continue to date and raise this child together.
"One of us is lonely
One of us is only waiting for a call
Sorry for himself
Feeling stupid, feeling small
Wishing he had never left at all"
Keith sat up and figured he would start to get ready for the day. Natasha didn't want him there until after dinner, so he had time to spare.
"I saw myself
As a concealed attraction
I felt you kept me away
From the heat and the action
Just like a child
Stubborn and misconceiving"
Keith often wondered if Lance was still the same as he was when he left. Keith himself had changed since he moved away. Like he was pregnant for one. But how was Lance? How was his relationship with Nyma going?
"That's how I started the show
One of us had to go
Now I've changed
And I want you to know"
Lance opened his eyes and stared at his ceiling at the glow-in-the-dark stars. Laugh as you may, he still loved them. He and Keith would often just lie in his bed and wonder out loud what it was like to be in space. His mother walks in on one of their conversations and smiled at their curiosity. Now, they were nothing more than a reminder of those solemn memories. However, he didn't have the heart to take them down.
"One of us is crying
One of us is lying in his lonely bed
Staring at the ceiling
Wishing he was somewhere else instead"
Keith slipped out of his bedroom and headed to the kitchen. A note from his mother sitting on the counter saying how she left for work and would be back for dinner.
"One of us is lonely
One of us is only waiting for a call
Sorry for himself, feeling stupid, feeling small
Wishing he had never left at all
Never left at all"
An hour later, Keith showed up at the bar after it opened. Right away, he put on his apron and headed behind the bar. He was working with Nadia, she was on one side of the bar and Keith was on the other. Keith looked up as a man sat down on one of the red leather stools in front of the bar.
"It's busier than it usually is, considering it's a Wednesday night," the man said with a smile.
"You would think people would be at home," Keith joked back with a small smile. "Can I get you anything?"
"I'll just have a rum and coke," the man answered sliding the sleeves of his blue shirt to his elbows. "I've never seen you here before, you new?"
"Yeah," Keith answered as he got started on the man's order. "Natasha hired me a week ago."
"Let me guess, family friend?" the man asked as Keith placed a coaster on the counter and placed the glass on top of it.
"Mom's colleague's friend," Keith answered wiping his hands with one of the towels. "I'm guessing you know Nat?"
"Yeah, she's my mom's cousin," the man answered with a nod as he took a sip of his drink. "I never introduced myself, I'm James, James Griffin," the man said sticking his hand out.
"I'm Keith, Keith Kogane," Keith answered shaking James' hand.
"Krolia's youngest son right?" James asked as he recognized the last name.
"Yeah," Keith answered with a nod.
"Didn't you live in Cranston?" James asked taking another sip of his drink as Keith took someone else's order.
"I did," Keith said handing the woman her two drinks with a smile. "I just moved back."
"Back to our small town? Why?" James asked tilting his head.
"It's…complicated," Keith said with a sigh, a frown on his face.
"Hey, James!" Nat's voice called out from behind. Nat walked up and sat on the stood beside James. She was dressed in a pair of black high-waisted jeans, a mauve long-sleeved shirt, a brown belt, black heels, and her signature golden necklace and hoop earrings.
"Hey Nat," James said giving the woman a side hug.
"I see you've met Keith already," Nat said with a smile. "Speaking of, you're up."
"Gotcha," Keith said with a nod. His nerves coming back like they did the day of his audition.
"Turn?" James asked turning to Nat as Keith unwrapped his apron and headed to the stage, nodding to the DJ who nodded back.
"You'll see," Nat responded with a grin turning James around to watch the stage as a song started.
"I caught you watching me under the light
Can I realign?
They say it's easy to leave you behind
I don't wanna try"
As Keith started to sing, the crowd started to head to the dance floor and started dancing along.
"Cut cover, take that test
Hold courage to your chest
Don't wanna wait for you
Don't wanna have to lose all that I've compromised
To feel another high
I've got to keep it down tonight"
"You didn't just hire him to mix drinks did you?" James asked turning to Nat who shrugged her shoulders.
"That's a secret I'll never tell," Nat responded with a wink.
"And, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I was a king under your control
And, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I wanna feel like you've let me go
So let me go"
"Nadia I'll take a shot if you have time!" Nat called back to Nadia.
"You got it!" Nadia called back.
"Don't you remember how I used to like being on the line?
I dreamed you dreamed of me calling out my name
Is it worth the price?
Cut cover, take that test
Hold courage to your chest
Don't wanna wait for you
Don't wanna have to lose all that I've compromised
To feel another high
I've got to keep it down tonight"
As he sang and watched the crowd dance, Keith managed to take his mind off his anxiety and his nervousness and just sink into the feeling of the song.
"And, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I was a king under your control
And, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I wanna feel like you've let me go
I had to break myself to carry on
No love and no admission
Take this from me tonight
Oh-oh, let's fight
Oh-oh-oh, let's fight
Oh-oh, let's fight
Oh-oh-oh"
"I can see why you hired him," James whispered to Nat who smiled and nodded.
"His mother told me he could sing but when I brought him in to audition, I couldn't believe the talent he had."
"And, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I was a king under your control
And, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I wanna feel like you've let me go
So let me go"
"Do you know why he moved back to Millcreek?" James asked.
"That's not my story to tell love," Nat responded with a frown.
"Let go, let go, let go of everything
Let go, let go, let go of everything
Let go, let go, let go of everything
Let go, let go, let go of everything"
Song(s) Used:
The One That Got Away (Acoustic Version)
Sung by Katy Perry, 2012
One Of Us
Sung Originally by ABBA, 1981
Covered by Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, 2018
King
Sung By Years and Years, 2015
