It’s Monday night at The One Trick Pony, and it’s like I never left home.

Tonight’s theme is the Fourth of July in December. I really hope they find someone other than Harry to choose the themed nights eventually.

Some of the crew came along with me to the bar, a lot more than I thought, so it was a wild surprise when a bunch of out-of-towners suddenly appeared. Harry makes a dash towards us, suspicious until he sets his eyes on me.

“Good Lord is that you Annabelle Lee,” Harry asks. “You’re so different.”

“Thank you, Harry,” I reply.

“What made you think that was a compliment?”

“What made you think I wasn’t sarcastic?”

We tease each other and Harry tells the bartender that me and my entire group get drinks on the house. Afterwards, he takes the stage and brings in the mic too close, as he usually does.

“Guess WHO IS HERE,” Harry spits into the mic. “ANNABELLE!”

Drunk cheers reverberate through the bar and Harry makes another announcement.

“It’s so wonderful to have both Annabelle and Charlie BACK,” Harry shouts aggressively. “Guess this town just DRAGGED YA BACK IN LIKE A BLACK HOLE!!!”

My heart sinks once I hear Charlie’s name. How is here? I never told him where the shoot was gonna be. I’ve been upstaged again.

From the drunken crowd comes Charlie pushing through. He somehow looks bigger and prettier than when I last saw him. He’s wearing only a cowboy hat, star-spangled banner denim shorts and cowboy boots.

Lilah comes up from behind and takes my hand.

“Surprise! I met Charlie at a film festival, and he mentioned you! I kept it a surprise,” Lilah exclaims. “He even recommended you for the movie!”

“How wonderful,” I say through grit teeth. “I am definitely surprised that Charlie helped me get this role.”

“It’s all about friends lifting each other up, ain’t that right Anne,” Charlie says with a smile. “Maybe you’ll catch up to me with enough hard work.”

My heart is beating so fast from anger that I’m losing breath. Here I thought I made it on my own and Charlie did it all. Why can’t I be grateful? This can’t really still be about Nicholas, can it?

“Nick and Evangeline are waiting for you,” Charlie says. “Come with me!”

I take this chance to wiggle free of Lilah and have a happy reunion. When I get to the table, I see Nick and Evangeline holding hands and sitting close.

“Oh goodness, you never told me that y’all got together,” I say.

“It was really recent,” Evangeline replies.

She’s in her own crazy outfit with a flag-themed hat, a white dress, and bedazzled red, white and blue boots. Nick is wearing a matching outfit with her. They look cute together, with the honeymoon phase in full swing.

I feel weird.

“I need some air, I’ll be right back,” I say quickly.

I go out the side exit and into the alleyway. I squat in the dark and ask myself hard questions.

“What did I expect,” I say to myself softly. “You never even asked him to wait.”

So much changed and stayed the same while I was gone.

While sulking in the dark, Lilah opens the side exit and sits down next to me. She rubs my back and I wonder if bad choices will repeat in the same alley but with Lilah instead of Nick.

“Are you drunk,” Lilah asks.

“No, just got my own feelings hurt,” I reply. “In Austere I felt like nobody, and I thought coming back here I’d be somebody. Guess I ain’t.”

“I thought the same thing too when I came back to my hometown. It was just like this,” Lilah says.

“You. You’re from a town like Edelweiss?”

“Yeah,” she laughed. “My hometown inspired me to make this movie. I had to leave there eventually, but it always calls back to me.”

“Why’d ya have to leave?”

“Girls like us don’t last long in places like this. You know what I mean?”

I nod and she gets a funny look in her eyes. Lilah is feeling something that I am not feeling and leans in for a kiss. Just as I feel her hot breath on mine, I move away.

“Not out here,” I tell her. “Later.”

“Of course. Later.”

Lilah takes my hand, pulls me up, and without words convinces me to come back inside.

Inside I remember my Monday night routine. I sign up for the performance of the night and belt out Here You Come Again.

Here you come again
Just when I've begun to get myself together
You waltz right in the door
Just like you've done before
And wrap my heart 'round your little finger

The sprout of hatred grows quite big as I sing my number. I dance along to it; with the new moves I’ve been practicing alone. Whistles and cheers come from the crowd whenever I twist and shake my hips. My dreams leave my heart and leap into the crowd when people sing along.

I glance into the crowd in Nick’s direction for a split second and I see what I wanted.

The hungry look that I can only satisfy. That I am to be devoured, whole, and it’s all he can think about. His eyes swallow me when mine meet his, and I put more soul into my performance.

You look into my eyes
And lie those pretty lies
And pretty soon I'm wonderin' how I came to doubt you

In this moment he is the only one in the audience, the bar, the entire world.

All you got to do is smile that smile
And there go all my defenses

I take one last breath and give the final chorus my all.

And here I go~

I hold out the last note as long as possible and I get roaring applause.  I take a bow and bask in the limelight of my first group of fans. People in the crowd complain that professionals should be banned from karaoke night.

They might be wrong but they ain’t right neither.

Cashmere is in a state of shock and awe. I told her I could sing but she never seen me sing like this before. When I get off the stage she runs up to me and gives me a giant hug.

“You better tell me that you sing like that all your auditions,” she tells me.

“I think I do. I probably do.”

She gives me a skeptical side eye and I start to wonder. Have I been holding myself back this entire time? Is that why Charlie’s ahead of me?

He won’t be for long.

I drank half my weight in beer that night until my mind sloshes around like fruits in a blender. When it was time to go home, I looked for my keys, not understanding that I had gone there without a car.

I feel dizzy and sit on the pavement, put my head between my knees and try not to throw up in front of half the town and my coworkers. I’m seeing double and I don’t know which side is up.

A nice man with a familiar voice offers to take me home.

I said yes and I got into his truck.

I wake up in Charlie’s bed.

He’s right next to me, still asleep, breathing softly. I don’t remember how I got here. The sun is rising, and I can hear the chickens and roosters screaming their heads off in the distance.

The blanket only goes up to waist, and he’s shirtless, so I assume the worst. I’m not wearing my skirt, but a pair of his old basketball shorts and more confusion sinks into my skull.

“Oh, Sweet Lord,” I say breathlessly. “I finally had sex and didn’t even remember it.”