by C. T. Sloan
I play my five songs and proceed to cover tunes by other artists. As I continue to play these songs, I notice that Liam has not moved from his chair. Many people in the crowd have long since started dancing and milling about. Liam’s eyes are locked on me. And I am locked on his gaze. It is perhaps as close to sex as one can experience without touching each other’s bodies.
After ninety minutes, I finish my final song. I stand up from the piano and get ready to leave when I hear a couple of people yell for an encore. That shocks the life out of me. My first encore! What the heck do I play?! I nervously walk back to the piano and launch into an improvised jam. I continue to play for another half an hour. The somewhat casual get together has turned into a really uninhibited throw down.
I finish my set. The crowd gives me a nice, warm applause. I walk over to the stairs of the elevated stage platform. Liam welcomes me with open arms. We embrace and kiss. “They love you,” Liam says to me. I’m so happy! I did my job. Liam appears to be really proud of me. He grabs my hand and begins to walk with me towards the cliff overlooking the ocean. We walk further and further away from the party. We don’t say much to each other. We just stare at the stars and the moon. We listen to the waves crash onto the Malibu sand.
“The night is a complete success!” I tell Liam.
“Well, the night is not over,” my lover tells me.
“How could it get any better?” I ask.
Liam looks at me nervously. He puts his arms on my shoulders. “I wanted to do this on stage,” Liam says as he reaches into his pocket. Oh my God. What is he doing?! Liam falls down to one knee. He opens the box and shows me a ring. I start to cry. “But this is about the two of us. And I would like to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Yes,” I say as my lower lip quivers. My knees weaken. Liam catches me as he rises to his feet.
He places the ring on my finger. We hug and kiss under the moonlight. Lovers forever. Strangers no more.
