Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
For the next week, Ethan left Sammie in charge of changing Matty as the two worked day and night together. She would often remind him when he was acting too girly and he would be frustrated each time it happened. One night when the bar was closed and the crew was cleaning up, Lauren suggested to see how Ethan was doing.
Sammie widened her eyes at her friend “He’ll be fine.” She knew Matty was still very sensitive with that subject and knew better than to make him ‘perform’ in front of everyone.
Lauren shrugged it off “Nonsense! Ethan left me in charge here and I say we see how well he’s taking the lessons from Sammie.” She said firmly, putting Matty on the spot.
Sammie was about to reject when Matty put up his hand dramatically “No, it’s okay Sammie…I can do this.” He straightened his shirt carefully and stood in the middle of the room “I’m a professional…I can do anything.” He said confidently.
Lauren smiled, obviously enjoying it way too much. She motioned for everyone to step away to give Matty room “Okay, let’s see the walk.” She crossed her arms.
Matty straightened his back and placed on hand in his pocket as well as put a serious face on, he began strutting casually along when suddenly he burst into giggles “Oh…no, I can’t, it feels funny.” He waved his hand in the air with a laugh.
“That’s all?” Lauren asked incredulously, she turned to Sammie with a stern look “All that work for the past 6 days and just a walk that he can’t even get?” she mimicked Matty’s walk and laugh “Oh dear Lord, Ethan’s going to have a heart attack.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” Sammie scolded her friend “I haven’t taught him the walk, he did that himself.”
Lauren nodded understandingly “Fine…what did you teach him?”
“How to talk like a straight guy?” it was a more a question than an answer as Sammie turned up to Matty with raised brows.
He let out a laugh “Yeah, that was fun…” he sighed then suddenly returned to reality when Lauren nodded at him “Fine. I’ll show you.” He waved her over to the bar while everyone else followed. Matty got behind the bar as he filled a cup with water pretending it was a drink. He smiled coolly and placed the glass on the counter in front of Lauren “This one’s on the house.” He said with a wink. He did well up until he suddenly turned back and made gagging sounds. Lauren’s smile disappeared while the others began laughing.
Sammie only shook her head “Matty, that’s not funny.” She warned.
He looked up with his hand over his mouth “I’m sorry…but it’s just…ew…yuck…her face. It makes me …sick.” He blurted out.
Lauren stood up and pounded her fist on the counter “What did you say, she-man?!”
Sammie pulled her friend back “Hey…okay…stop it guys. Come on Matty, we only have one week left. You keep messing around, how are we going to convince Sean?”
He crossed his arms and shifted his head opposite from hers “Whatever…I don’t have a problem when I practice with Sammie. It’s really just HER face.”
Lauren glared at him with a vengeance “Fine, then prove it.” She dared him.
It seemed to work since he turned to face her “Fine!” he widened his eyes and motioned for Sammie to take a seat. She let out a sigh and did as he told. He cleared his throat and picked up the glass as he placed it in front of her “You from around here?” he asked casually.
Sammie played along “No, just visiting a few friends.” She smiled and took a sip of the glass water.
He nodded coolly “Lucky friends.” He flirted with a small smile. Matty crossed his arms with a look of interest “What are the chances that I can be one of them?”
She smiled shyly “If you play your cards right. How much do I owe you for the drink?” she began to take out her pretend wallet when Matty reached out and touched her hand.
“It’s on the house.” He said it in a whisper with a twinkle in his eyes. He retrieved his hand carefully and tilted his head “So what card am I at now?”
Sammie giggled “King of spades.”
Matty raised his brows and nodded calmly “Wow…isn’t that the second to the highest card? Ace of Spades?”
“Actually, in my game, the highest card is a King of Spades.” By this time the two were obviously flirting openly.
He leaned over the counter closer to her “How would you like to go out with me?”
“Hold up!” Lauren put up her hand while everyone booed and hushed her. They wanted to see what else would happen.
Matty crossed his arms and pouted at her “What?”
She shook her head at the two “That’s all very convincing and everything but it’s not natural since he will not be bartending. He’ll be singing. Shouldn’t you two be practicing your act on stage and not at the bar?”
He placed his arms on his hips and barked at her “Why you little witch! You just wanted me to put on that act. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Huh? Tell me!!” Sammie rolled her eyes at his dramatic outburst. Lauren opened her mouth and he instantly put up a hand “No, I don’t want to hear any excuses. Sorry, but I am not interested in this little game. Sammie, thanks for everything but you can tell Ethan that I will not be performing that day.” With that he walked out of the lounge leaving everyone flabbergasted.
Sammie turned to Lauren in horror “Look what you did! Ethan said that Matty has to perform that night. He’s the best we’ve got. Sean will never go for it…it’s all your fault!”
Lauren looked apologetically at her “I didn’t know he would react like that…I was just kidding.”
“Kidding…” Sammie snickered “You know what your problem is? You kid around too much, can’t you think of other people before yourself for once in your life? This is very important to Ethan.”
“Well, what do you want me to do? Apologize?” Lauren laughed at the ridiculous thought and Sammie began nodding vehemently “No…” Lauren shook her head “NO way! I’m not saying sorry to that she-man!”
Sammie gave her friend a stern expression “Do you want Ethan to come back and start freaking out when he finds out what happened? Come on…I’ll even go with you. Matty might seem a bit stubborn but he will forgive you.” She urged.
When everyone began to chime in, Lauren eventually gave in as she nodded “Fine. But I’m only saying it once. If he doesn’t accept it, then too bad. I’m not groveling.”
Sammie smiled “That’s a deal!” she pulled at Lauren’s hand as the two chased after Matty outside. They turned right where Matty was going. They found him at a little open shop/restaurant eating fried tofu, fried kung pao chicken and other friend stuff. Sammie instantly looked at him with concern “Matty!” she reached over and took his chopsticks “You can’t eat fried stuff, it’ll ruin your voice.”
He rolled his eyes and reached for another pair of chopsticks “Who cares? Not everyone appreciates a good voice.” He eyed Lauren sharply as he took another big bite of tofu. Again Sammie reached over and took it from his hands but this time he yanked it back. Soon the two were in a battle of tug and war with the chopsticks.
Lauren let out a sigh as she took the chopsticks from the two and put it to the side. She sat down on one of the seats “Look…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pick on you. You have an amazing voice and probably the best one that the lounge has ever had. If its because of me that you are going to quit singing, it’s not worth it. Now would you please come back and finish this session?”
Sammie smiled as she and Matty exchanged looks “Did you get all of it?” she asked.
Matty nodded “Yup.” He pulled out a tape recorder and stopped the tape “Awww…” he sighed while Lauren’s face looked like she just saw a ghost “This will rock me to sleep for the next week. Well…until I hurl from listening to her voice too much.” He made a disgusted face as the two giggled together.
Lauren stood up slowly as she glared at Sammie “Traitor.” She said in a dark voice.
Sammie shook her head at her friend “You picked on him as much, so don’t give me a guilt trip.”
“And you!” Lauren turned to Matty “You’ll be sorry.” She looked up to the sky and suddenly smiled “Full moon…hmm…perfect.” She purred slowly. She reached a hand into the sky and mumbled some incoherent words then whipped her head and arm out to Matty. He was startled back and she quickly laughed “It’s your worst nightmare, she-man.” Her smile grew more evil.
Matty rolled his eyes not showing his true fear “What? Did you put a spell on me? Next thing you say and I’ll turn into a frog right?”
Lauren shook her head “No…worse. That night when you pretend to act straight…the spell will begin to work. You will never want to be gay again. Which means…no shopping. No yoga. No shoes…” with each word, Matty shook his head and let out a gasp while his hand covered his mouth.
“No…” he breathed softly “You evil…”
“Witch?” Lauren finished for him. It only made her laugh harder.
Sammie was listening the whole time, her head shaking at the whole thing “No officer, they made me do it. I had to kill them you see…because she was a witch and he was a psychotic homosexual.” She was speaking to the air and turned back when Lauren and Matty gave her a strange look “You two are going to cause me to go postal. The first two people that I will kill…hmm mm…yup you guessed it, you two!” She began walking back to the bar with Lauren and Matty staring after her with surprise.
“And they say I’m a witch.” Lauren snickered.
“Yeah, and I’M suppose to be the dramatic homo.” Matty shook his head as the two followed her back. They found her still cleaning the bar but she would not look up to them. He leaned over the counter “What cha doin’?” he said adorably.
Sammie continued to ignore him as he shrugged at Lauren “Hey, Sammie…let’s continue the session.” She urged. But again, she would not respond to them. Matty suddenly snapped his fingers as he reached over and was about to whisper something to Lauren but she backed away “What are you doing?” she asked hastily.
He tilted his head “I’m going to kiss you, what else?!” he rolled his eyes carefully and again reached over to whisper something to Lauren.
She nodded at what he said as the two smiled and he rushed to the back room while Lauren announced at the stage “Okay everyone, Opposite is proud to present the highlight of the evening, the best singer in town and the straightest guy you’ll find in all of Hong Kong. Here’s Matthew!!” she clapped her hands and some of the other employees even blew whistles.
Sammie got up as her attention moved to the stage. She saw Matty sitting on a bar stool, one hand on the microphone and one hand laying casually on his thigh. One of his foot rested on a stepper on the stool. The pianist began to play a soft melody and Matty began to sing a warm, deep rhythmic song. He even closed his eyes to give it more feeling. The song drew her over as she watched with interest. She’s never heard him hit such a deep note before. A smile grew on her face as she nodded along with the song. He finished it while pushing the stool from under him making it slide to the side. He walked down the steps to the floor towards Sammie, a cool expression he had on while he finished the song. He reached out and touched her chin ever so gently.
Her heart was thumping yet she had no idea why. She wanted to say that it was because he looked so cool. After he finished, the small crowd applauded loudly as he reached down and took her hand up to his lips while his eyes never left hers. He kissed her hand gently. She could feel the blood rushing to her face until he put on a smile and began prancing around and clapping his hands “How was that?” he asked Lauren with a special perkiness.
She nodded “Very good.” She smiled firmly.
Matty turned to Sammie who seemed to be in shock “What’s wrong, hun?” he asked her.
Sammie shook her head “Nothing. That was very good.” She smiled confirming her compliment.
Matty nodded with a feminine hand flicking at her “I know.” He let out a short sigh “I am, the best….”
Lauren pretended to hurl on him with exaggeration “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Matty quickly pushed her away with disgust “Ew! Get off me! I can’t have a scent of a woman, it’ll scare the men away.”
“Well, you kissed Sammie’s hand earlier, does that mean you have to wash your mouth out with soap?” Lauren said a matter of factly “Come on, I’ll even help you.”
Matty rolled his eyes “Whatever, Sammie is not just any girl…she’s my girlfriend.”
“Hey, you’re taking this straight thing too far.” Sammie quickly intervened with a laugh “But anyways, you did good. You sing like that and we’ll probably get more girls in here.”
Lauren wrinkled her brows “Wait…you sang to Sammie…but you said you can’t sing in front of girls.”
Matty nodded sweetly with a smile so deep that it showed off his dimples “I closed my eyes through most of the song earlier, but when they opened, I only fixated it on Sammie. I don’t have a problem singing in front of Sammie.”
Lauren nodded with understanding “I get it…hey, so we just have to make sure that Sammie is around when you sing next weekend.” She was confirming to herself while everyone else nodded in agreement. But she didn't notice how quiet Sammie was after she made the comment.