Two Different Worlds Collide

“No,” I shook my head, but she stuck her lip out at me. Brett looked at me in confusion before turning to Liza for an explanation.

“She sings,” was her quick explanation, and Brett’s expression lit up.

“You’ve gotta sing! Come on, please?” he begged, but I continued to refuse. I was here to just have fun with my best friend, and while karaoke was fun I wasn’t huge on it.

“Come on – the Checkers even won the hockey game tonight, you’ve gotta go up there,” Brett pouted, and I laughed at his childlike expression. The music so far had been kind of slow, which I thought was weird considering that their hometown team had won.

“You girls want to come sit down? The guys have a table back here,” Brett suggested, and after a shared look Liza and I nodded. Brett put an arm around my shoulders and his other arm around Liza’s waist as he led us through the crowd. I noticed more than a few girls giving us slightly dirty looks, but didn’t give it much thought. We cleared the other side of the dance floor and soon heard some hollering. Brett laughed, which let me know that it was his friends making all of the noise.

All of a sudden it started making sense. The looks, the comment about the Checkers, hell even him being from Alberta.

This was Brett Sutter.

I almost couldn’t even raise my eyes as we approached the rowdy table. Nash, Boychuk, Faulk, Dalpe, Jordan and Staal were all there, looking to already be on their second or third round of drinks.

“Hello,” Boychuk immediately greeted the two of us, and I managed a shy nod as Staal and Dalpe immediately offered their chairs before rounding up some from the next table for themselves.

“Thanks,” I nodded and took the seat that Dalpe offered me, which put me between him and Staal. Brett made sure to seat himself beside Liza, an arm casually over the back of her chair. He made it quite clear that the interest was there, and Boychuk turned his attention to me to introduce me to everyone. I just nodded and smiled politely at everyone, as if I didn’t know who they were. Brett got up to get another beer, and Liza seemed to be the center of attention, keeping Nash, Boychuk and Faulk busy as they talked. I kept basically to myself, until I felt a hand on my arm. I jumped, and looked up to see Brett standing behind me, a smirk on his face.

“Just thought I’d give you a heads up – your fifth,” he said, and I felt my jaw drop as I resisted the urge to smack him.

“You jerk!” I finally burst, and saw the general looks of confusion go around the table. Then my face began to heat up.

“Come on – if you’re that bad we’ll get up and save your ass,” he winked, sitting beside Liza and putting his arm around her again. I heard the first person go up, singing a slow song, and then the second.

“She’s doing karaoke,” Brett explained to the guys, and there was some laughter and a bit of light teasing.

“Do you sing?” I turned to see Staal was the one who had asked the question. I nodded, before shrugging.

“I do some; I play guitar too,” I answered, and he gave me a cute, one-sided grin.

“That’s cool – you’ll do good. Brett’s just kind of a tool. You should sign him up when you go up there,” he told me as the idea hit him, making me laugh.

“That would be fantastic revenge,” I allowed, making him chuckle a bit as he took a drink of his beer.

“I like the way you think. You better get up there – you’ll be up before you know it,” he advised, and after a moment I got up, making sure to down my beer before leaving. Most of the guys laughed at that, and I was surprised Liza left Brett’s side to come with me.

“So, have a song in mind?” she asked, and I shook my head. I had no freaking clue what to sing. Liza leafed through the books that had the songs, and gave me a knowing look. One I’d began to fear because it usually ended up with me doing something I didn’t want to.

“Some Jo Dee Messina?” she suggested, and I just shrugged. I wanted to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. The DJ took a brief pause after the fellow in front of me, congratulating the Checkers on a win over the Wolves. He then introduced me, and I made my way up onto the stage as Liza told him the song. “Heads Carolina, Tails California” started playing, and I had to grin. At least she’d picked a song that I knew.

“Baby, what do you say we just get lost?
Leave this one horse town, like two rebels without a cause.
I got people in Boston.
Ain't your daddy still in Des Moines?
We can pack up tomorrow.
Tonight, let's flip a coin

Heads, Carolina Tails, California.
Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.
Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.
Where? It don't matter, as long as we're goin'
Somewhere together. I've got a quarter.
Heads, Carolina Tails, California.”

It didn’t take long for me to feel natural on the stage, moving around, playing to the crowd. Entertaining I could do – granted I usually had my guitar with me, but nonetheless I could do this, it just took a while for me to relax enough to do it. At the end of the song the bar erupted in some cheers, and I took a tiny bow before booking it off the stage, only getting partway before a cheer of ‘One more song!’ came up, undoubtedly from the back corner table, but the whole bar had taken up the chant. I looked to Liza, who merely shrugged before telling the DJ another song. I walked back to the microphone, and heard some cheers. I laughed when the song started, and heard a couple cheers from the back table. Brett stood up and let out a whistle, along with Boychuk and Nash as well – the three of them from Alberta where Terri Clark was from.

The bar was quieter as I sang the verse, but as soon as I got to the chorus drinks were raised up and people began to sing along. It made a smile spread across my face as I got into the performance.

“Too much tension between miss liberty and The Eiffel tower
It's about time we all made up at some big Happy hour

I think the world needs a drink
I think enough’s enough
She's been spinnin’ around so long I'd say She's pretty wound up
Calm down, Sit back, Relax
Tear up the contracts and save the ink
Yeah I think the world needs a drink”

Another cheer went up and the bar was enthusiastic as I finished the song. When it was done I gave a small wave before leaving the stage, positive I would NOT be returning at any costs. Liza gave me a thumbs up before we started the trek to the back of the bar and the guy’s table. More than a few people congratulated me on a job well done, and each time I stopped and took a moment to chat with whoever it was. One person even knew of my music, and I couldn’t keep the stupid grin off of my face as they asked for a picture to post on their Instagram. I was more than happy to oblige, and asked for them to tag me in it so I could have it on my Twitter and Instagram as well.

I jumped slightly at a hand on my arm, and turned to find some huge, and I’ll admit intimidating, guy giving me a sleazy grin.

“Hey there – you did some fine singing,” he told me, and I nodded, thanking him before going to move away. His grip on my arm didn’t change, and I immediately felt a little frightened. He continued making suggestions at me, and while I tried to get away I was having no success. Liza had continued on her way to the table when the last person had stopped me for the picture, so I was totally alone in this.

I tried to pull my arm from his grip, but nearly cried out when he jerked me back and closer to him. Nobody was noticing that I was obviously in distress, and so far I had no clue as to how to get away from him.

“There you are babe – I was starting to worry about you,” I could’ve fainted from relief when I looked to my right and saw Jared Staal just steps away from me. I felt a smile spread across my face and felt the guy’s hand on me drop as I met Jared halfway – his long arm wrapping around me as I fit into his side.

“Just got… caught up,” I replied, and saw that the man’s demeanor had completely changed. Rather than being huge and intimidating he was smiling, trying to be friendly as he took in Jared. Jared was taller, and obviously more muscular, even if the other man was heavier.

“Well, the guys are going to be looking for us – see you later buddy,” Jared nodded gruffly, and began to gently steer me in the direction of their table. I stayed tucked into his side, feeling myself start to shake.

“Thank you so much,” Jared stopped by the bar, signaling for drinks. He turned to me and I put my arms around him without a second thought. Jared embraced me back, noticing how shaken up I was.

“No problem – Liza said you’d got caught up talking to someone, but when you were taking so long we thought you’d maybe got lost or something. I, uh, needed another beer anyway so I went looking for you,” he explained, and I nodded, noticing that while he pulled away from our hug he kept an arm around me. I was glad, because I definitely felt safer that way.

“Still, thanks so much Jared – I had no clue how the hell I was going to get out of there,” I insisted, thanking the bartender for the beer that she placed in front of us. She didn’t hide the look on her face as she eyed up Jared, who was completely oblivious to her flirting. After noticing his arm around me, however, she gave me a once over and a dirty look before continuing down the bar.

“Don’t worry about it. Anyhow, we better get back to the guys before they start saying things,” he rolled his eyes, grabbing his beer and starting to gently steer me toward the table. When we got there Liza stood up and rushed over, pulling me into a hug.

“You okay? What took you so long?” she asked. She was obviously concerned, because even though some of the guys – mainly Zach - were making some crude jokes at mine and Jared’s expense, she knew that wouldn’t have been the case.

“Some creep, but it’s okay – I’m fine, Jared came to my rescue,” I assured her, and she pulled a surprised Jared in for a quick hug too.

“Thank God – I was starting to get worried when Jared left to go look for you,” she answered, and soon was back at Brett’s side. The alcohol had been flowing, and soon she was closer to being on his lap than in her own chair, her hand on his chest and his arm had migrated from the back of the chair to being around her shoulders. Jared and I shared a knowing look, knowing exactly where our friends were headed.