I think my heart just stopped beating.
Shit! What was Blaze planning? These people already didn’t like me just for the fact that I showed up in Nick’s arm when all of them had high hopes that he and Margot would get back together. Now, Blaze wanted me to get up on stage. For what?
I shook my head, glaring at Blaze, though I doubted he could see me from the stage. I looked at Nick. He didn’t look happy. He, too, was looking murderously at his brother.
“Come on, bro. My surprise performance will only work if you let go of your girl for just fifteen minutes. I promise I will return her to you, unspoiled and unscathed,” Blaze said.
The people were quiet now, and they were all staring at us, wondering what Blaze was planning to do.
“Vince, please escort our lovely Mackenzie to the stage, please.”
A tall blond guy was beside me in an instant, holding his hand out. Nick stood up and started pushing the guy away.
“Take a step back or I swear I will punch all your teeth down your throat right here,” Nick said to him gravely. “After that, I’ll kill your boss.”
Shit! This was going to be a disaster!
I stood up and put my hand against Nick’s chest.
“Nick, it’s fine. I’ll go. We’re all just having fun here. Let’s humor Blaze for a while. We can both kill him later.” I smiled at him sweetly, hiding the fact that I was nervous as hell. I did not fully trust Blaze yet. What if he was planning to embarrass me in front of everyone all along? All that talk he did last night and this afternoon was just setting up the stage for my ultimate humiliation?
Nick stared at me for a long moment, studying my expression. “Are you sure?”
I nodded, giving him a wide smile.
Nick stared at Vince. “Something bad happens to her, tell Blaze he’s a dead man walking, you understand?”
Vince nodded nervously. Nick could be scary when he wanted to.
Nick looked at me and said, “Don’t worry. I won’t let him do anything to you.”
Vince took my arm and guided me down the steps toward the stage. We passed by Margot and Beatrice’s table. They were looking at me with an annoyed expression on their faces. Margot raised an antagonizing brow at me. She was no longer hiding the fact that she hated me, no longer pretending to be nice to me for appearances’ sake. In return, I simply gave her a wide smile that was meant to tell her that she could not do anything to faze me.
When I stepped on stage, I heard some sharp intakes of breaths and silent ”Wow.” Some guys even whistled and again, I was thankful that Blaze made me change into this outfit. Unless of course, he was preparing to embarrass me in front of all these people and the dress was meant to make my undoing just a little bit grander.
When I was face to face with Blaze, I straight out glared at him.
“I’m going to kill you!” I whispered to him.
“No, you’re going to thank me later,” he said away from the mic. “It’s payback time, Ken Clarke.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“Trust me, okay?” he said. He turned to the microphone and said, “Nick, we’re going to play some of your favorite songs. Yeah, it doesn’t look like it, but you’ll be surprised how much I know about you, big brother. You can’t say I wasn’t paying attention to you. And your girl is going to jam with us.”
There was applause from the audience. But I could tell some of them were worried that this was heading toward a major disaster. Some, like Margot, were probably praying that it would be a disaster, that I would be so damn embarrassed I’d book the next flight back to the States. But no matter what Blaze was planning to do, I wasn’t going to let it annihilate me. I’d find a way to bounce back and win this game.
“You want me to sing?” I asked, slowly getting relieved. Yeah, no problem. I could sing.
Blaze smiled at me mischievously. “No. You’re going to do what Ken Clarke does best,” he said and then he took my hand and handed me two black drumsticks.
I stared back at him. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “It’s time to show these people that you’re more than just a pretty face.” Then he turned to the mic to speak to the audience again. “Our guest drummer, ladies and gentlemen!”
Again, there was applause. I heard Margot’s table cheered the loudest. I looked over at Margot. She was raising a brow with an evil grin on her face, obviously waiting for my big embarrassment. She was exchanging knowing glances with Beatrice while they were clapping and cheering. Apparently, they were so sure I would be embarrassed.
Of course! How many girls could play drums on the spot, right?
“Love you, Blaze!” Beatrice shouted but Blaze pretended not to hear his sister.
“Come on, sugar,” Blaze said to me. “Take your place. Rock this house upside down. Show them what an extraordinary creature you really are. Especially those ladies.” He cocked his head toward Margot’s table. “They have no idea what is about to hit them.”
He was right. I could do this. I have done this a thousand times before. Why would the crowd here be any different? Blaze handed me a headset microphone.
“You sing, too, right?”
I nodded. “I hope I don’t fuck this up. We didn’t even practice.”
“You didn’t. But we did,” Blaze said. “We practiced with your YouTube videos. So, play the songs as you played them before; we’ll keep up with you,” he said, giving me a wink.
I wound the microphone’s body pack transmitter around my waist and put the headset on. As I took my place behind the drums, I realized that I was wearing heels and it would be a challenge for me to hit the base drums while on them.
I reached down and took off my sandals before sitting down. I saw that Blaze placed a post-it in front of me with four songs written on it. I read them quickly and realized that I knew them all—perfectly well. I’ve played them regularly when I replaced Brett at Rhythemes. I could play them again—even with my eyes closed. And I felt more confident that I could do this without making a complete fool of myself.
“Ready, Ken?” Blaze asked. I nodded at him. He turned to the crowd and said, “Nick, one of your timeless favorites.” Then he started singing, “If you want space…”
I started out with the base first, keeping up with his tempo. In fairness to him, he didn’t change a thing from the original song and his voice sounded much like the original, too. So when it was time for me to hit the snare and the tom-tom, I was in perfect sync with him and the rest of the band.
There was a small pause before the first chorus. As I have always done in the past, I twirled the sticks between my fingers before hitting the tom-tom with the full force drum works. Blaze slightly turned sideways, and I could see the smile on his face, looking pleased that his plan was working. I heard cheers and claps. The crowd was getting into the beat, singing along with Blaze.
When we finished the first song, the crowd was on its feet, cheering for us. I looked over at Nick’s table and saw that his eyes were focused on me. He had a proud grin on his face. I gave him a small salute and a bright smile.
Blaze introduced our next song. “This song is another one of Nick’s favorites. Mine too. Right now, this seems so fitting for the occasion. I couldn’t resist. Here we go!”
Blaze played the first notes on the guitar. After five chords, I hit the hi-hat and started the difficult drum work for the song “Mr. Brightside.” Fortunately, it was one of my favorite pieces to play. I’ve played it plenty of times at Rhythemes. I got lost in the beat, I even forgot that I was wearing a skirt. Now I realized why Blaze asked the saleslady to give me a pair of shorts to wear under the dress. He did have this all planned out down to the smallest detail.
We were playing in perfect harmony, as though we practiced these pieces for a very long time. During the bridge, Blaze walked over to my side and played the lead guitar instrumental part, while I played the sixteen-beat drum works. When we finished the song, the crowd was up on its feet, jumping and dancing to our music. There was an encore, asking for more.
Blaze was clapping his hands, too, but he was looking at me as if he was applauding me alone. When I smiled at him, he gave me a small bow.
“You’re amazing!” he shouted at me. Then he turned to the microphone and said, “Our next song is actually for you, Mackenzie.” He turned to me and I raised a questioning brow at him. “Nick said that this was the song you were playing when he first laid eyes on you. It’s funny he remembered that because he couldn’t even remember my birthday and I’m pretty sure I celebrate it every year.” There was laughter in the crowd and some actually agreed with Blaze. Then the guy on the keyboards hit the intro and Blaze started singing, “She’s watching the taxi driver, he pulls away…”
I knew this song and yes, I have played this at Rhythemes plenty of times. Back then, I was a tomboy bent on besting any boy in playing the drums. I was clueless and naïve. I knew what I wanted, but I have no freaking idea what I needed.
I was in denial that I was sad. I needed somebody to pick me up, show me how to love, show me how to be happy. I didn’t know that in one of those times I played this song, my own Superman had just walked into the bar and was about to turn my world and my heart upside down.