Sweet Harmonies (14 page)

“
I wanted to find out how the try-outs
went,” Sam bubbled, pulling her customary water bottle out of
Karina's refrigerator.

“
You realize that you continually
dropping by my house at this time every morning is only going to
make me stop stocking water,” she told Sam as she plopped herself
down into a kitchen table chair.

Sam shrugged nonchalantly.

“
Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but threatening to withhold water will only make me bring my own,”
she rhymed.

Karina laughed.

Sam whirled towards Karina and cried, “Yes! I
made you laugh! I did it! I am getting better!”

“
It's early, my defenses are down,”
Karina protested, but then conceded, “Although, that one was pretty
cute. I will admit to improvement.”

“
So...tell me about the try outs,” Sam
pushed.

“
What do you want to know?” Karina
teased.

“
How did things shape up with your...”
at this point, Sam lowered the timbre of her voice, affecting a Mae
West, va-va-va-voom inflection, “committee co-chair?”

Karina laughed again, “Sammi, only you could
make the phrase 'committee co-chair' sound naughty.”

“
I think you're avoiding the question,”
Sam stated matter of factly.

Karina sighed, “Maybe I am, a little, but not
because there's anything I don't want to tell you, Sam. Only
because I'm not quite sure what to make of things myself. I'm
confused. And I'm never confused! Not about guys! Guys are the
simplest creatures in the world. Feed them, let them play video
games, and manipulate their joystick every so often? They're happy
as clams. Simple.”

“
Maybe Ryan is a better class of guy
than you usually deal with,” Sam suggested.

Karina conceded the point glumly, “He'd have
to be. But that still doesn't account for why his presence
completely throws my system out of whack. I breathe funny, my heart
races, my skin gets flushed, and my brain stops working!”

“
You're allergic to him,” Sam
concluded.

“
Don't think I haven't considered that,
my dear little budding smart ass!” Karina said miserably, “And the
worst part is, all of this happens around the ONE person in the
world that I'd actually like to impress. I could give a crap what
anyone else on the planet thinks of me. The one and only person
that I want to think I am cool? He's the one and only person I seem
to have a biological imperative to act like a moron
around.”

Sam sighed dreamily, “Aaaahhhhh,
love....”

But Karina had built up a head of steam, and
did not even stop to acknowledge Sam's comment. She continued,
“And, you know what? I lied. That's not even the worst part. The
ACTUAL worst part is that, while on one hand all of my idiot antics
around Ryan over the past few weeks collectively form the single
most humiliating series of events in my life, I actually actively
look FORWARD to the opportunity to throw myself on that fire again!
I can't WAIT to see him. Any time we're apart, I start counting the
minutes until I see him again, and am therefore afforded yet
another chance to make a total fool of myself. Am I crazy?”

Sam took her hand, “Crazy in love.”

Karina shook her head. “That was Beyonce. Not
me.”

Sam shrugged, “It's you now. Plus, I don't
know why this is upsetting you so much. This sounds to me like what
everybody in the world wants to have happen to them. This sounds
like the fairy tale.”

Karina waved her hand dismissively, and more
than a little irritation tinged her voice as she snapped, “You just
don't understand because you've never had a boyfriend. Once you get
a little experience...”

Even as the words were escaping her mouth,
she heard her own condescending tone and saw the hurt in Sam's
demeanor as she suddenly sat straighter. Karina looked up, meeting
Sam's stricken gaze, and said, “Oh, no, Sammi, I didn't mean it!
Seriously. I didn't mean it at all.”

“
No,” said Sam in a small, hurt voice,
“You're right. I don't have any experience. What do I
know?”

“
You know plenty,” Karina assured her,
“Why do you think I keep pouring my heart out to you morning after
morning?”

Sam smiled, “I guess it must be because I do
have good insights.”

“
No,” Karina joked, “It's because you
show up at my door at an ungodly hour and press me for gossip
before my senses have had a chance to kick in. But, hey, you're
insightful enough to do that, right?”

Sam laughed, “My motto has always been, why
mess with a winning system?”

Karina smiled and took both of Sam's hands in
hers, looking into her eyes sincerely, “In all seriousness, though,
I'm sorry. That was a super bitchy thing to say.”

Then Karina got up and walked around to Sam's
side of the table. “See? To show you how sorry I truly am, I'm even
going to hug your sweatiness, exposing myself to the dangers of
second-hand sweat.”

Sam laughed, “Well, to make you pay for it,
I'm not going to turn that offer down, which is what I know you
were secretly hoping for.”

She wrapped her arms around Sam and they
shared a hug.

“
Good, I deserve it,” Karina shot back
with a crooked grin. She padded back to her chair and flopped back
down in it.

“
I don't know, Sam,” she sighed, “I'm
starting to think maybe what I'm going through is really just pent
up lust. Maybe it's just that our relationship isn't consummated
yet. Maybe if I just had sex with him, it would get him out of my
system, so to speak.”

“
Is that how that works?” Sam asked
with a faux-innocent tone as she cocked her head to the side,
“because, like you pointed out, I don't have a ton of real-world
experience, but from my observations, it's pretty much the
opposite. Sleeping with a guy generally makes you quite a bit MORE
wrapped up in him than you were before, not less.”

Karina considered Sam's words, “Hmmm. Maybe.
For other girls. But not for me,” she shrugged, “I've never really
been all that emotional about sex. I mean, it is what it is. A
physical urge, a biological imperative.”

Sam, in turn, considered Karina's words,
“Maybe. But, then again, maybe that comes back to my original
assertion – that Ryan is a higher class of guy than you usually
deal with.”

Karina made a show of thinking about this,
but it was clear that she had already latched firmly onto her new
theory. She shook her head, “No, I'm pretty sure, now that I think
of it, that this whole mind-body-soul
discombobulation-twitterpation-obsession thing I have going on
here? Is entirely the result of an unhealthy buildup of sexytime
hormones in my brain.”

Sam looked skeptical, “I'm no doctor, but I
don't think that's how it works.”

Karina would not be dissuaded, “Well, like
you said, you're not a doctor.”

“
Well, be that as it may, I have enough
of a medical background to know that 'sexytime hormones' is not a
valid scientific designation. And by 'enough of a medical
background' I mean none at all. Because everyone actually knows
that's not a thing.”

Karina shook her head, “Look, think of it
this way. It's like pressure building up inside a balloon. The
balloon gets stretched thinner and thinner the more air that gets
squeezed inside it, creating an untenable and unsustainable
situation. What I really need to do is...”

“
Pop the balloon?” Sam interjected,
“Metaphorically speaking, of course.”

“
Exactly!” said Karina, pointing at
her.

Sam sighed, “So, if your brain is the balloon
in this story, you do realize that after it gets popped, it ends up
spread across the room in tiny little pieces, right?”

Karina shrugged, “It's not a perfect
metaphor.”

Sam parried, “It's not a perfect
situation.”

Karina flashed Sam her pearly whites and
asserted, “Nope, but it's about to be vastly improved.”

Sam looked unconvinced, but conceded, “OK.
You know yourself better than anyone. Whatever you say.”

Karina laughed, “That, right there? Has
always been my motto!”

--- ~ ---

“
Curtain in 45 minutes!” called Amanda
into the crowded backstage area where Karina and Ryan were
attempting to corral the contestants who had made the final cut and
comprised the lineup of the Town Follies, “You only have 45 minutes
to be completely costumed, made up, and ready to take the
stage!”

Karina turned to Ryan, her eyes shining.
“This is exciting, isn't it? I know I was a little hesitant to take
it on at first, but I'm actually really into it now.”

Ryan smiled, his excitement matching hers, “I
know, me too! I mean, I know it doesn't make sense, but I feel a
sense of pride. I feel like the Follies was our baby.”

Karina put her arms out expansively and
donned a faux-TV-announcer voice, “Ryan and Karina,
congratulations! You are the proud parents of a bouncing baby
talent show!”

Ryan laughed, “I think the nervous energy
back here is infectious. Do you feel that? It's like the air is
crackling or something.”

Karina nodded, “Oh, yeah. This is one of the
best parts of performing. It's like when you kiss someone, that
delicious instant before your lips meet.”

Ryan shook his head, “It's crazy. I mean, it
actually feels like something amazing is about to happen.
Like...anything could happen, and probably will. Nothing feels out
of the realm of possibility.”

Karina nodded, “Yes, that's it exactly. I've
never thought to phrase it precisely like that, but you're
completely right. The sense of boundless possibility is the crucial
element that separates pre-show excitement from other kinds of
excitement.”

Ryan exhaled happily and exclaimed, “Man!
It's intoxicating! Why would anyone do drugs when you could have
this?”

Karina looked at him, slightly puzzled,
“Wait, you mean you're not just making idle chit chat, this is
actually the first time you've felt this?”

Ryan nodded, like it was obvious, “Sure it
is. Of course.”

Karina was taken aback, “So...you've really
never performed before?”

He shrugged, “I mean, at the cafe. You've
seen it. Nothing even remotely like this.”

She stepped closer to him, unsure of how to
proceed. She touched his arm and spoke slowly, carefully,
“Okaaayyy...so, here's the thing. I've done something. In
retrospect now? Maybe it was slightly insensitive. Maybe not the
smartest move. But after I tell you what I've done, please try to
remember that my heart was in the right place.”

He eyed her suspiciously, “What exactly did
you do?”

She laughed, “We are SO going to look back on
this and laugh one day.”

His gaze was still suspicious, “Look back on
what?”

She smiled uncertainly, “Well...when I was
putting together the absolute final list order of acts to send to
the printer, I...uh...put your name on the list.”

He looked as if he didn't understand, “The
list?”

“
Yes. Of acts. Who are performing
tonight.”

He shook his head, not comprehending, “But
I'm not performing.”

She laughed, trying to make light, “Well,
that's the thing. You actually are.”

He started to look a little freaked out.
“What?!”

Karina tried a different tactic. She threw
her arms wide, weakly, and gave a little halfhearted jump. In a
weak, high voice, she cried, “Surprise!”

Ryan laughed, but the slight edge of panic
showing through at the edges of the laugh let her know that it
wasn't an entirely lighthearted chuckle.

“
So...tonight...literally, in just a
little over an hour...I'm supposed to go out in front of a couple
thousand people and play. No warning. No rehearsal. No time to wrap
my mind around it and get my head on straight. Just walk out there
and play.”

She smiled overly-brightly. “Yep! You just
about nailed it!”

His eyes widened, “I don't know if I can do
that.”

She nodded gravely, taking his shoulders in
her hands.

“
Ryan,” she said intensely, looking
straight into his eyes, “you absolutely can. This is what it means
to be an entertainer. If there's a crowd and an opportunity to
perform, you jump at it. This is what it is to live and breathe the
stage. You talked about wanting to make music your life. Now's your
chance. You have a repertoire. You're prepared. You can do this.
More than that, you can kill it dead. I've seen you, I know what
you can do. The world deserves to see it, too.”

He nodded, warming to the idea more and more
as he let her words sink in.

“
I need to go get my guitar from home,”
he said, searching his pockets for his keys.

“
No need, Sue Ann brought it.
Everything's ready,” she assured him.

“
When do I go on?”

“
Right after Noah. You're closing the
show!”

He laughed, “Talk about a tough act to
follow. Not to mention, now I feel under-dressed. That kid's
wearing a miniature tux!”

Karina laughed, “I don't know what movie or
show he's seen that made him think that's what you have to wear
when you perform on stage, but it is literally all he would
consider wearing. Don't worry about your own clothes, though. No
one expects a WG-squared to be dressed in anything but jeans and
vintage tee.”

He furrowed his brow in puzzlement,
“WG-squared?”

She laughed, “You've never heard that? It's
the whole John Mayer-Jason Mraz-James Morrison thing. It stands for
White Guy With Guitar.”

“
Ha! Maybe they should have called it
the JM phenomenon.”