Sing!

What About Now?

Mark's POV

If only you put your own photo on your profile, I would search the entire world to look for you. If only you indicated in which part of the globe you live, I would travel distance and time just to see you. Others may call me crazy, but I had never thought that falling in love with just a voice would ever be possible. Her voice might be not really as heavenly as someone who fell in love might have expected, but the thinness of her voice and the rawness of her emotions just suck me up into her own world without the need to touch me. Oh, who are you, and where are you?
I lay in bed as I selected one more song which she seemed to have recorded last night. There were a pile from that time, and I drown myself with her voice one more time before I sleep. Does she listen to mine, too?
I try to close my eyes to finally get some sleep but the thought of her just kept circling in my mind. Then Lyka. I suddenly felt sorry for myself for being a sucker at love, picking a voice over a real person. Well, that Ginger girl is also real, but, what kind of illusion did she put me into to make me fall in love with her?
I got up and opened the door. I could not take this anymore. I need to do something about the things that eat my head up. Maybe a bottle of beer would help.
I went to the resto and chose the seat nearest to the beach, farthest from the bar. I called a waiter and asked for a bottle of beer. When he laid it onto my table, I let it rest for a while. I turned my head toward the sea, then I heard someone call my name. It was Lacey, one of Lyka's bestfriends. I smiled back at her cheerful aura. I wonder what she is still doing outside. She should be sleeping with her friend, since we still have to go to some, or maybe one more tourist spot tomorrow.
'Mind if I join you?' She asked me.
'No. Have a seat.' I replied casually. She called the waiter and when one came, she asked me if she could have some drinks with me tonight. I didn't want to decline because she was just so charimatic so I said yes.
'Great! Well mister, a bucket of beer please.' Lacey told the waiter. When he left, a band different from the previous night started preparing at the small stage.
'So how are you so far? Did you enjoy today?' Lacey asked, taking out the phone from the pocket of her square pants. She wore a white shirt for a top. 'Selfie?' I smiled at her question and smiled at the camera. When it clicked, I got blind for a moment because of the flash. I blinked my eyes for a number of times and even rubbed them a little.
'Oh I'm sorry. I forgot to remove the flash.' Lacey said as she turned it off. 'Well, I noticed that you got fond of our Lyka fast. Anyone who see you together could consider right away that you are a couple.' She blinked. I felt a tinge of guilt in my chest, but it was undeniable that I have gained some special feelings for Lyka, so my heart felt both pain and happiness at the same time at this moment.
'I like her,' I said casually. 'I dunno but--' I wasn't able to continue speaking since the vocalist of the band had started talking and the speakers were loud and all that, and Lacey seemed to be surprised with the sudden noise, which just made us laugh.
'I know you'll make her happy. Why don't you, you know, court her? I believe she'll say yes.' Lacey smiled as she said those words to me. I don't know Lace, and I don't know with myself, I just don't wanna talk about this now. It makes me feel sick about myself, my feelings, my decisions, my life; I said in my head. I kind of reprimanded myself for not making  decisions at the right time.
Lacey might have noticed the long gaze I made toward my bottle, so she said that if I'm not comfortable talking about my private life then she would just let me be and smiled. We both agreed to listen to the music.
After about three songs, the vocalist spoke in the mic once again. He tried to invite a guest over to the stage who could sing along with them. He kind of had a hard time coaxing people, so he tried harder when he said they will be performing 'What About Now' and that it's an easy song to sing.
'You can sing, Mark. Right? I heard you a little while ago. But you know, it was too soft. I am wondering how you would sound on the mic.' Lacey started insisting. I smile and sighed. Then I stood up. The other guests cheered on when they saw me walk up the stage.
'Let's all give it up for our volunteer! What's your name, Sir?' The vocalist asked.
'My name's Mark.' I said on the mic.
'Okay, let's give it up for Sir Mark!' There were only a number of guests in the resto plus Lacey but they all cheered for me with interested eyes.
The vocalist whispered about the parts that we sing. He told me he will begin the song up until the first chorus, then I'll do the second verse until the second chorus. Ok, agreed. I said.

Lacey's POV

I cheered for my new friend. It's the first time I'm ever gonna hear him sing in the mic. Well, it's actually like going to be the first time I will ever hear him sing, since I've only heard a line from Selena Gomez's Love You Like A Love Song. Plus, it's a girl's song and I'd like to see who between that Soultoucher and this Marky guy has a more powerful voice. With Lyka's full blasted volume in her headset while she listened to Soultoucher earlier, I believe I had heard enough. I'm guessing they'll be hard opponents to each other.
The vocalist then started singing. I had my gulp of the beer that was sitting in front of me while I sang along in my head. Fast forward to the second verse, please! I pleaded in my head.
A number of lines later I finally felt 100x more excited, as Mark will be singing his part soon. Please don't disappoint me, please don't disappoint me! I'm rooting for you! I started becoming restless on my seat.

As soon as he opened his mouth, I got goosebumps all over my body, not only because his voice was very powerful and soulful, but also because of another reason.
While he closed his eyes and felt the emotions of the song, I quickly stood from my seat and headed towards our room. I need to wake Lyka up. She needs to hear him. And she no longer has to feel confused.