Our Romantic Horror Story

XVI

Alex

Jake and Jenny were up on the tiny wooden stage that Ray had built in the hopes of hosting live music events. It was now being used for karaoke purposes, long after Ray had closed up for the night and any customers had gone. Amelia had been put to bed upstairs, which was awfully nice of Ray to offer to look after her tonight so Angelica could let loose. He said she seemed like she needed it. That was exactly the kind of man Ray was: welcoming.

Jake and Jenny were performing the most ridiculous duet I had witnessed in quite some time and it had Angelica and I doubled over in laughter, holding our sides. Jenny was absolutely tone deaf in her drunken state and Jake could hardly stand but was attempting to dance, regardless. His dancing more looked like somebody had sprayed a spider with bug spray and it was in the process of dying, but was still twitching while half alive.

We had all taken a lot of shots until eventually Ray had to intervene and take our phones from us.

He had gone on a spiel about how all of young people were addicted to our phones and that if we needed to make it into a drinking game to not look at a phone then we were truly helpless. That had made Angelica applaud him.

The two idiots on stage finally came to an end and began to bow, Jenny trying to curtsy, despite wearing trousers. She realised this and it just made her laugh even harder.

Stumbling off of the stage in hysterics, the pair collapsed into the booth giggling and landed practically on top of each other. Jake had to hold onto Jenny so that she didn't fall to the floor and hit her head in the process. Angelica met my eyes and waggled her eyebrows, obviously seeing the attraction between them that I had been witness to.

Ray and his wife, Teresa, took to the stage next and began to sing a duet. My heart melted as I realised it was their wedding song, one that they used to sing together on every anniversary. Well, they probably still do, but it had been a while since we had been present for that. Ray held his wife's hand as he sung to her, holding eye contact and meaning every word he said as he serenaded her.

The four of us sobered up enough to watch in awe, emotional at the raw display of love and affection.

Ray and Teresa were everything I had ever looked for in life.

That caring, gentle kind of relationship where it was clear to everyone around you that you both adored each other so much. Even after all of the years together, when they were grey and old, it was like they were still teenagers in love. Their love made them youthful and it made them happy.

By the time they had finished their duet, they had left the four of us in a blubbering state of tears. Jenny didn't even know them, or the significance of that song, but it was so clear that their love for each other ran deep so it had moved even her.

It truly was a touching sight to behold.

"We're going to head to bed, okay, lovelies?" Teresa shuffled over, kissing each of us goodnight on the forehead.

"We'll see you in the morning." Ray nodded to each of us, dropping a stack of blankets on the service counter for us to help ourselves to.

It wouldn't be the first time we had slept in the restaurant. Or the second.

Fetching each of us a cup of coffee, Jake returned to the booth where we had all returned to sit around. He picked up another slice of pizza, tearing into it . He had finished his XXL pizza earlier that evening and was now making light work of the leftovers from Amelia's; he couldn't say shit to me about my diet tomorrow.

"Remember when we first met Ray?" Jake reminisced, looking around the restaurant.

It was a bittersweet memory. The three of us had not had the best childhood and on a particularly bad night, we had stumbled into this place trying to buy a slice of pizza between the three of us. Jake had even offered to wash the dishes for a slice.