A night out on the town

The Server

Raucous laughter sounded through the thin crevices of the suctioned door.

“Supposedly soundproof,” thought the server ironically.

One door he passed by while heading back to the kitchen was strangely quiet. He looked through the tiny window on the door onto the amateur singers. They had their eyes closed and were pressing buttons on the iPad.

“How can someone pick songs that way?” he wondered. They all opened their eyes and drunkenly cheered. A couple was sent up to the screen and machine, to no one’s chagrin.

A song’s instrumental intro sounded, and they cheered again.

Most people thought they were the next Mariah Carey and had to be in control of the song queue. Not them though. He thought he really should get back to the kitchen but hesitated, intrigued by this group’s choice to have a lack of choice. Generally, no one at this karaoke bar wanted to spend more time with the serving staff than was needed.

Little did he know, someone had spotted him peeking through the little door window and invited him in. Enthusiastically and without giving him the chance to decline politely or rudely, he was dragged by his arms—someone even grabbed his front pocket—to hurry his confused legs inside the room. The door shut with a sturdy thud.

“Do you know the guy who sings…” the name they jumbled–like their tongue was moving around a sack of marbles in their mouth–didn’t sound like English to him, so he shook his head. He thought he probably wouldn’t know who they were talking about anyways.

The couple finished a ballad of Disney-channel proportions and sat in a sweaty heap on the long-cushioned booth, laughing and glowing from their recreational exertion. He shifted his head back and forth to see who went next. Someone shouted a name, and she scurried toward the microphone haphazardly placed on top of a speaker. She had to steady herself before grabbing it.

“Probably realizing she’s clearly more drunk than she thought,” the server observed.

He felt... real with this group.

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TOM

I had the brilliant idea of playing ‘karaoke roulette’ as an ice breaker. Who said you shouldn’t get drunk during a work party? Who said they couldn’t bring along their boss who was laying down more than sitting up? Who said this wouldn’t be the perfect night to confess his feelings?

I looked up to see my current crush singing a duet of that cringe-y live-action Beauty and the Beast song they added that wasn’t in the cartoon original.

“I wonder if they’re together,” I pushed the jealous feelings down. I would’ve been told by someone else or would’ve picked up on a vibe between them. Before tonight, that is. They were singing and sweating in each other’s faces, so close they could kiss.

“If they wanted to,” I amended internally. The song ended and they had to drag themselves back to the red seats.

“Olivia!” Brock shouted, “it’s your turn!” Olivia bounced up like a rabbit.

“She looks like a rabbit. A cute rabbit,” catching myself, I shook my head, wondering if I’d drank more than I meant to.

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EMILY

I wobbled up to the karaoke screen and grabbed the microphone determinedly. Luca was right beside me, ready to steady me physically and emotionally. Tonight, I was going to share my feelings—romantic feelings—to Tom. I could sense him, his eyes following my every move. I liked how protective he was, without being overbearing.

Luca pretended to count us off, jokingly tapping his feet to a beat none of us would be able to follow in our drunken haze.

“Who the hell picked this song?” I rolled my eyes as Luca held his side laughing until he was nearly crying.

“Who knows!” Luca shouted and everyone laughed in agreement. We had closed our eyes before choosing all the songs. Ergo, no one chose, and no one saw what would be up next. Tom had that fun idea. He was fun—fun to work with, fun to talk to, fun to look at…” I was startled once the words slid on the screen.

If I focus on Luca, I won’t do anything crazy like let my voice crack in an unattractive way or worry about showing my sweaty armpits or…” I cut my thoughts off right where they were and got in Luca’s face like we were in a rap battle. The laughing ruined the effect, but the intention was there.

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Mr. JOHNSON (i.e. The Boss)

“Where are we...?” I didn’t know how I got here, but I’m tired. I hadn’t stayed up this late since… well, I don’t remember since when. I fell back asleep, despite my employees scream-singing in this very confined and echo-y area.

_____________________________________________________

OLIVIA

The group had somehow collected another person; someone they did not leave the trivia bar with. Mr. Johnson was falling over himself. Olivia wasn’t sure how he’d stayed with the group in his sleepy and drunk stupor. Emily and Luca held the last note in a comedic but beautiful way. They were joking around but you could tell they must’ve, at least, been in high school choir.

Olivia tried not to clap and cheer the loudest, but thought she failed after seeing Brock shoot an amused look at her. Brock shouted Olivia’s name to the group and inadvertently right next to her ear, and she stood up before she could convince herself otherwise. She’d never been to karaoke. Everyone was watching her.

She did tiny half jumps over to the screen to show excitement to her coworkers, and picked up the microphone. She was woozy and unsteady, but converted that into what people called liquid courage. She didn’t know who or where to look. She’d developed something like a crush on, not one but, two people, “in my workplace!” she internally blushed. Statistically, workplace romances didn't end well, but crushes made her feel more human, more alive. She wanted to connect with her coworkers in all sorts of ways.

She decided to look at Brock. Might lessen the likelihood of passing out from inebriation if she was singularly focused on one thing. He was her closest work friend, always the encourage-r, the best ‘gay best friend’ someone could ask for.

When she’d started her employment with Nimble Numbers financial firm, observing the others was her priority. She wanted to understand the company culture, not appear abnormal to her new coworkers. Knowing people engaged with and admired intelligence and a helping hand was her prep before her first day.

Joining the new hires meeting, she raised her hand to answer questions in what she thought was an adequate amount, but her coworkers turned to her with facial expressions she couldn’t quite pick up on. Hopefully amazement? Her goal was to find a middle ground between being a stellar employee and a ‘woman of the people.’

After the meeting, other employees clapped a hand on her back in what appeared as camaraderie and a paraverbal "great job" for her eagerness. Company culture here was positive and person-centered.

A man named Brock, in particular, took a liking to her. She wondered if he was romantically interested in her, but he quickly dissuaded her of that when he spoke about a crush he had on another male employee. Someone who was part of the creative marketing team. She could appreciate Brock’s extroverted personality.

One day, after several weeks working quickly through numbers and excel sheets on the accounting team, Brock asked her “how are you real?” He was amazed. She had succeeded being both an excellent worker and a likeable person to the staff members. She presented with humble pleasure but also knew she had an advantage over everyone else. She just… knew more than them.

“Hey Olivia, do you like trivia?” Tom was very enthusiastic about planning icebreaker parties so departments could meet in a more casual environment. He said get-togethers boosted employee morale. She thought about the question and answered in the affirmative. Tom smiled at her and she unequivocally decided to like him. She appreciated when her other coworker, Emily, smiled at her too. She liked being liked.