A Night Out

“Okay, Kelli, I get you want to stay in. I really do,” Jamie was saying pacing in front of her. “But I’m telling you, this will be far more fun for your birthday than ordering Chinese take out and sitting in front of the television watching Netflix.”

She pretended to ignore him and kept flipping through movies to find something to watch. He stood in front of the television, blocking her view. She glared up at him.

“I know you heard me,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah, I heard you.” She put the remote down. “But I’m not so sure. I just got comfortable.”

He glanced at what she was wearing: one of his old Boston Red Sox tees and sweats. “Yeah comfortable in my clothes.”

“Well, you shouldn’t leave them lying around,” she smiled up at him. “Plus I missed you and they smelled like you.”

He grinned. “I missed you too, that’s why I want to go out. Spend your birthday together.”

She was about to come up with another excuse when he gave her the puppy dog eyes. She hated those eyes, she could never resist them.

She gave a heavy sigh. “Okay, okay, I’m getting up.”

“Yes!!”

“You don’t play fair, giving me the puppy dog eyes.”

“I play to win, Kelli!” Jamie told her following her to her room.

Kelli rolled her eyes but she began to get excited. It would be fun to go out for her birthday.

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Kelli was walking arm in arm with Jamie, past a bunch of restaurants and bars. They had stopped to get some dinner first and had a few drinks with that; and she felt the alcohol starting to affect her and she was giggling as they walked along, chatting about nothing. She felt Jamie place his hand on her back and steer her into the first bar.

This place was a bit upscale. Kelli figured they catered to a slightly older crowd. There was music playing, but it wasn’t loud; it lent a certain sophisticated atmosphere to the place. Here, with his arm around her waist, Jamie led her to a booth.

“Okay, what are we doing here?”

“I heard this place has great cocktails,” he said, scooting in next to her and putting his arm around her. “I think it’s a good way to start the night.”

A waitress came over with a menu of their special mixed drinks. They all sounded pretty good. Kelli decided to order something called a Moscow Mule to start with. She and Jamie sat back and chatted a bit, drinking a few more cocktails as time went on.

It was nice and peaceful and she looked around as she sipped her drink, comfortable with his arm around her.

“See this wasn’t so bad,” Jamie told her, picking up his second drink: a martini.

“Nah, it’s pretty cool.”

Jamie leaned over and placed a kiss on her temple.

Kelli smiled, but she was soon distracted by a noise coming from outside. She turned to look out the window, as did the other patrons. She couldn’t help but laugh when she saw a group of what she assumed were college students walking down the sidewalk, cheering and yelling at each other.

“Looks like they’re having fun,” she said, turning to Jamie.

“Yeah they do.” He watched them thoughtfully.

He then grabbed her hand and helped her out of her seat. Placing a few bills on the table and then leading her to the door.

“Where are we going?” Kelli asked.

“We’re following the fun,” he told her as he followed the students into a bar down the street with her in tow.

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It was considerably more loud in this place than the last one and it was considerably more packed. College students were crammed in at the bar, at tables, and around the walls. There was some space, however, in the middle of the floor where they were all dancing.

“What’s going on?” Kelli shouted to the bartender once she fought her way over through the crowd.

“Finals are over,” she shouted back. “They’re celebrating.”

She chuckled as she watched them drinking and dancing around, happy that their tests were finished.

Jamie looked at a group of them for a minute before grabbing her hand and leading her over.

“Hey!” He called to them.”Mind if we join you?”

“Jamie what are you…?” she started to ask him before she heard what he said next.

“It’s her birthday!”

“Oh my god really?!?” One girl shouted then turned to her friends. “Hey, guys it’s her birthday!”

Her friends, clearly drunk, all cheered.

The girl handed Kelli a shot glass.

“You gotta drink!” She said. “You can celebrate with us!”

“Uh, okay,” Kelli took the small glass in her hand.

“One... two… three… DRINK!”

They all cheered when she turned the glass up and swallowed; then laughed at the face she made as the liquor burned her throat.

“Awesome!” Another one of the students said. “Here’s another one!”

She did a few more shots, then giggling like crazy, grabbed Jamie by the hand, and joined the students out on the dance floor. He had taken a couple of shots with her too and they danced and sang along badly to the music.

After about an hour of dancing and singing, Kelli said goodbye to the new college friends she made, giving them hugs. Jamie grabbed her hand and led her out and up the street. She was still singing one of the songs when they reached a different place.

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Karaoke.

Jamie had really taken her to a karaoke bar. At first she thought they were going to sit in the audience and watch people get up and sing while they drank, and she was fine with that. She loved watching people. But when Jamie disappeared and came back smiling, she got suspicious. She had thought he had ran to the bathroom, but it turns out that he was signing them both up to perform.

“Alright, sweetheart,” he looked over at her. “Ready?”

“Ready for what?”

“And next up we have Jamie and Kelli singing ‘Dancing Queen’ by ABBA!” The MC was saying. “Let’s give them a round of applause!”

Normally she wouldn’t have been up for it, getting in front of crowds wasn’t one of her favorite things, but with all the drinks she had consumed in her, she was feeling considerably braver. So she downed the rest of her drink and led the way up to the stage, Jamie close behind.

Once they had their mics, the music started and they both belted out the song with gusto.

Ooh you can dance

You can jiiiivee

Having the time of your liiiiffee

OOOooh, see that girl

Watch that scene

Dig in the dancing queeeen!!!

Soon they had the audience singing along and laughing with them.

They left after the song was over and they had taken their bows. They walked down the street hand in hand, arms swinging, laughing, and still humming their karaoke song.

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Their final stop for the night was a little hole in the wall place; small but nice. She had had enough of hard liquor for the night, knowing she’d have a wicked hangover in the morning. Jamie, feeling the same way, got her both beers and her sat back and relaxed.

“So, did you enjoy yourself?” he asked.

“Yeah, I did,” she answered nodding. “I’m glad I came out. Thank you, babe.”

“Anytime.” He kissed her hand.

Looking around Kelli saw a jukebox standing in the corner.

“Hey, give me some change.”

“Why?”

She nodded towards the machine. “I wanna see what songs they have.”

Jamie dug in his pocket and pulled out a few coins. She grabbed them and walked over. Flipping through, she landed on one of the old songs her mom used to play. An Otis Redding song, her favorite, “Cigarettes and Coffee.”

When the music started she walked back over to Jamie and held out her hand.

“May I have this dance?”

He smiled up at her and took her hand. She led him out to the middle of the floor and he put his free hand on her waist while she put hers on his shoulder. They began to sway to the music, her head resting on his chest. With the people in the bar looking on and smiling, she heard him whisper “Happy Birthday” to her before pulling her closer.

All in all it had been one of the best birthdays Kelli had ever had.