The second chapter, here it is!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Budweiser, or "American Pie". I refer to the song, not the movie. I don't own that, either.
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Kairi awoke to the sound of music playing, courtesy of her CD player. She always played music when she slept. It helped her relax. She was listening to a mix CD she had made a few years ago. It was a collection of several different genres, including soft classical, blues, and rock. She was a sucker for rock.
As her drowsiness began to fade, Kairi remembered what was happening today. She felt… well, terrible. She hated being forced to do this to herself, Namine, and especially Alex. Hopefully it wouldn't be for long, but if this interview didn't work out, it could be a while. She asked herself again if she was doing the right thing.
She got undressed and headed into the shower, the music still playing. The sound of the water hitting her skin, the feel of it, was incredibly relaxing. She started to reason with herself that right or wrong, sending Alex to Namine's was the only choice she had. As much as she hated it, and hated herself for it, Alex would be better off at Namine's, for the moment, anyway. Besides, she might enjoy it, like a little vacation.
Still, Kairi couldn't help but think of the time her mom had done something like this. When Kairi was a little girl, she had desperately wanted to learn to sail. Her mom took notice, and went looking to see if she could find something that might help. Finally, Kairi's mom found a Girl Scout's sleep away camp that offered sailing lessons, along with the other Girl Scout activities. So Kairi's mom saved every penny she could, hoping beyond hope that she could afford it before that summer. When she finally was able to tell Kairi that she was going, guess what Kairi had said? "Why are you sending me away?"
Well, needless to say, there were many tears shed, hugs given, and things explained. But Kairi remembered how bad she had felt when she thought her mom didn't want her. She had been devastated. The last thing she wanted to do was make Alex feel that way. Jesus, this was hard.
Suddenly, her skin felt cold. The water wasn't flowing. That was weird. She stepped out of the shower and put on a robe. She picked up the phone and called the water company. As the phone rang, she heard Alex say, "Mom, the water isn't working."
"I know, honey," she said, "I'm checking on it now."
Someone at the water company finally picked up and said, "Hello, how may I help you?"
"Yes, my name is Kairi Rodgers, my water just shut off and I want to know if I should be worried."
"Ok, please give me your address and your account number and I'll see if I can help."
Kairi gave the woman on the line the information, and a few moments later, the woman said, "I'm sorry, Ms. Rodgers, but your service was canceled due to too many missed payments. We're sorry for the inconvenience."
Kairi slowly and shakily put the phone down, missing the cradle completely. This was horrible. Now she couldn't even afford water for her own family? She was a terrible mother. Well, that settled it. She had to send Alex to Namine's. Forget a vacation; she needed to send her there so she didn't have to live in a place that didn't even have any fucking water.
Kairi heard a car pull up in front of the house. She pulled herself together and got dressed. As she started to walk towards the door, Alex walked up to her. "Mom, Is everything all right?"
Kairi looked at her, and felt herself tearing up. She knelt down and hugged her daughter, hard. After everything that Kairi had put her through, and after this fresh hell of no water, Alex was still more concerned with Kairi. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry that I have to do this to you, that I can't give you what I know you deserve. This is all my fault, that we live in a hovel, that our water was shut off, that I have to ask your aunt to take care of you for any amount of time because… because I can't. But I promise that I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure that you get everything you deserve. I love you, Alex, and don't you doubt that for a second."
"I love you too Mom. And I don't think it's your fault."
Kairi laughed at this. At least one of them had confidence in her. She straitened, took Alex's hand and walked her to the door.
As Kairi watch Alex leave with Namine, she sighed lightly. She turned back to the house, and realized she couldn't face the emptiness. So, instead, she decided to take the car and drive until the interview. She needed a distraction.
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Kairi looked at the clock on her radio. 2:45. .She decided that it was time to head toward the address she wrote down. She wondered what kind of house the man on the phone lived in.
When she got to the address, however, it wasn't a house at all. It was a tiny looking bar called "The Keybearer Bar and Lounge". She double checked the address, to make sure it was right. It was. Kairi shrugged her shoulders and went in.
The bar was pretty small, as it appeared on the outside, but for some reason it felt rather cozy. Acrid cigarette smoke permeated the air, giving the bar a somewhat sharp smell. There were plaques on the wall, some awards, and a large picture of Stephen King, who apparently visited the bar once. She sat at the bar, and the man behind it, a rather tall, lanky man with long, spiky red hair asked her, "Hey, Ma'am, what'll ya have?"
"Uh, just water, please," said Kairi. "Comin' up," said the bar tender. As the man went to the tap with a glass, he said, "I haven't seen you in here before, and I'm here every day. Name's Axel, A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"
"Um, I think so. I'm Kairi," she said, holding out her hand.
"Nice to meet you," he said, shaking her hand. "You came on a good day, Kairi. Sora Matthew's playing piano today."
"Sora, huh? So, he's good?"
"Good ain't the word. Most of the awards on the wall are his."
Suddenly a voice cut through the smoke-filled air: "Hello, everyone, This is Sora on piano, bringing you all your favorite songs. But first, I want to bring you one of my favorites."
Kairi turned quickly. She knew that voice. It was the voice on the phone that scheduled the interview. She looked at the guy sitting at the piano. He looked to be about 6 feet, with spiky brown hair, though less spiky than Axel's. He had on a black suit, with a matching black tie. His eyes, though, were the most fascinating thing about him. They were blue, piercing blue, but there was something strange about them, something distant. There was a white furred German Sheppard sitting next to him with a harness on. Kairi looked in front of him to take a look at his sheet music. To her surprise, there was none. Suddenly, it hit her: he was blind. She wondered how well a blind man could play piano. Then she heard some very familiar lyrics…
A long, long time ago,
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance,
And maybe they'd be happy for a while.
But February made me shiver,
With every paper I'd deliverer.
Bad news on the door step,
I couldn't take one more step.
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride.
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.
So bye- bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin' whisky and rye,
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die,
This'll be the day that I die."
It was incredible. He played better than most people who had their sight. Also, the dog next to him was howling in time with the music, adding to it. It was very talented. The two of them made the song better than the original. As the song progressed, the rest of the band broke in, but as far as Kairi was concerned, the pianist and dog were the only ones playing.
As the song began winding down, it occurred to her that Sora may have bought the ad in the paper. He began to sing the last few lines…
And the three men I admire most,
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast,
The day the music died.
And they were singing,
Bye-bye Miss American Pie,
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
And good old boys were drinkin' whisky and rye
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die."
"This'll be the day that I die."
Bye-bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
And good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singing "This'll be the day that I die,"
Both the piano and the dog drew out the last note as far as they could. As the note faded, applause and cheers spread through the crowd. Kairi decided that now would be as good a time as any to talk to Sora, and she supposed she would have to talk to him. He wouldn't do it, that's for sure.
Slowly, nervously, she walked up to the stage and looked across to the pianist. Great. Now what? I guess I should just… "Mr. Williams?" she called. "Mr. Williams, may I speak with you?"
Sora's head wiped around in the direction of Kairi's voice. "Hm? Who's there?"
"My name is Kairi. Are you the one who put the ad in the paper?"
"Oh! You're here about the job! Hold on, give me a second," he said, turning back to the microphone. "Bare with me, folks, Riku and I have some business to attend to. I'm going to leave you in the very capable hands of Demyx and the Water Tones for a little bit. We'll be right back."
The bar-goers groaned somewhat at the announcement, but cheered heartily for the other band. Sora grabbed his dog's harness and stood up slowly, and with no visible command, the dog led his master towards Kairi. "Come to my table. We'll talk there. Riku, table."
The dog (who Kairi supposed was called Riku) led Sora to a table that had a sign reading "Reserved". Sora felt around for the seat, and seemed to have trouble finding it. Kairi quickly moved forward and pulled out the chair he was reaching for, and then helped him lower himself into it. "Thank you." he said. "That's the seating part of the job, But what about the other parts?" he joked.
"All right," he continued, "let's get down to it. I'm Sora," he said, holding out his hand. Kairi took it, shaking heartily. She let go, but he held on for little longer than normal. He let go, smiled, and said, "Well, that was informative."
Kairi looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean, what was informative?"
"The handshake. I can tell a lot about a person just from a handshake. It's one of the only ways I can find out about a person. Which brings me to my next question: may I touch your face?"
"E-excuse me? What did you say?"
"Every one says that. Trust me: I just want to find out what you look like."
"Oh, well, that's ok, I guess."
Sora reached forward, and placed his hands softly on her face. They moved slowly across her skin, studying the contours of her face. His palms were soft, gentle, a contrast to his fingertips, somewhat rougher than his palms, probably from the instruments he played. However, she felt like she could trust these hands. A strange thing to say to about hands, but yes, she could trust them.
When the hands finally left her face, she felt somewhat… alone. Like she had lost something. The voice of the man across from her brought her out of her contemplations.
"You have a lot of stress lines for someone in her twenties. Why is that?"
Kairi flushed, embarrassed. She was glad Sora couldn't see it. "I have a daughter," replied Kairi hesitantly.
"Ah, so that's it! How old is she? Four? Five?"
"Ten, actually."
Sora opened his mouth to say something, but then he stopped. Kairi knew exactly what he was doing: running the numbers through his head. "Before you ask," Kairi said to him, "I'm twenty six"
"Oh, jeeze," muttered Sora, "I'm real sorry, I must have sounded like an ass."
"It's alright. You didn't know. It's not your fault"
"If you don't mind me asking," said Sora, "Where's her father?"
Kairi blushed again. Not because of the question, she had been asked it about a hundred times, in different ways. She was blushing because she had never been asked so politely.
"It's pretty simple, really. I made a mistake. The father wasn't the responsible type. Who could blame him, he was only seventeen. No-one that young should be in that position. Well, when my Mom found out I was pregnant, she was less than accepting. So she kicked me out and I went to live with my sister, Namine. She's a saint. Not only was she willing to support Alex and I until we got a place of our own, but she was willing to board Alex when I lost my job. We owe her a lot." As Kairi finished, she was a bit surprised. She hadn't meant to reveal that much of herself.
"So you really need this job, huh?"
She avoided his eyes (a pointless gesture) and said, "Yeah, I guess I do."
"Well, then, you got it"
Kairi looked up suddenly (again a pointless gesture), and said, "What?"
"You got it, the job is yours."
"Just like that? Can you do that?"
"It's my position, isn't it? I can do what I want with it."
"What about other applicants?"
"What about 'em? I don't think I'll find a better person for the position. When can you start?"
"Uh, soon. Immediately. What does the job entail?"
"Oh, just cooking, cleaning, driving, basically all the things I can't do myself. Your daughter- Alex, was it? –is more than welcome to come too. Why don't you go home, collect your stuff, and come over tomorrow. If you'll excuse me, I need to get back up to the piano. Riku, stage."
Kairi just sat there, stunned, as Sora's dog led him to the piano. When she finally got her senses back, her face split into a huge grin. She skipped- literally skipped –over to the bar and called Axel over. "Hey, Axel, can I get a Bud over here?"
"Hey, a minute ago you were just getting water. What changed in the last ten minutes?" asked the spiky-haired bar tender.
Kairi flashed him a smile. "Ten minutes ago I was unemployed."
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Ok, can we say "sappy"? Lol, but seriously, last time I forgot to mention it, but I really appreciate reviews and constructive criticisms, but please, no flames. Next chap soon, keep looking!