Sway

Bixby

I know what you're thinking. How could I claim to love New York City so much, yet absolutely hate bars?! Well if you could be inside of Sidewalk with me right now, you wouldn't be asking me that question. You'd hear the loud trash music thumping through the low quality speaks, you'd smell the stench of drunkenness, you'd probably even see some exposed asses grinding on the dance floor. Then you'd understand.

"Oh c'mon Tal," Phineas noticed the disdain on my face as we stepped foot into the bar. "I need to get you drunk! You're just so unhappy!"

His skinny arms were strangely strong as he pulled me through the crowd of smelly drunk adults. Seriously, it wasn't even midnight and tomorrow was the start of the weekend! I would expect them to have better things to do.

Eventually we had forged our way through the crowd and located the massive bar. Not many seats were taken, considering majority of the male patrons were playing darts or pool while the females danced in front of an empty stage. The music changed from one EDM beat to the next while we settled into two bar stools. A young man behind the bar that must've been in his early twenties came up to us, he was using a towel to wipe a glass. He didn't look at me, just directly at Phineous.

"What can I get for you?" He placed the glass down on the counter and leaned forward. The white tank top he was wearing revealed his muscular frame, Phineous found all of this quite appealing.

"Tristen! Are you really going to pretend like you don't know what I want to drink?" My best friend sent the muscular bar tender a teasing look, "you sure seemed to know what I wanted to drink last night."

I almost gagged, "Okay, why do I suddenly feel like you were lying to me when you said we came here so that I could get drunk."

The two finally broke eye contact, "Who are you?" This so called 'Tristen' asked.

"She's my best friend, the one from Indiana that I told you about." This seemed to ring a bell for the bartender and he wiped his hands on his jeans before reaching one out to me, I shook it and gave Phineous a weird look. "Talia meet Tristen. Tristen pour is some fucking shots, I need some bloody tequila!"

Tristen laughed but fixed up two shots and pushed them our way, "So is there actually an open mic night tonight?" I questioned before downing the burning liquid and pushing my glass for another.

"Yeah, it should be starting pretty soon actually," Tristen spoke before excusing himself to assist other customers.

I downed the other shot while Phineous watched in sheer satisfaction. "I knew you wanted this!" He shouted above the new song that was playing.

"Nooo, I'm just downing these because you've got me depressed!" Even dressed in such a tiny dress, my body was overheating from the tiny atmosphere and huge crowd. It seemed like more people had come into the bar since we'd arrived, a new looking group though. It was less rugged middle aged drunkards and more young hippie types.

Phineous wasn't paying much attention to the increase of people, "What do you mean? How do I have you depressed, I'm buying you drinks!"

Somehow more shots kept coming, "Why didn't you tell me you were banging a hot bartender?!" 

He spit out a bit of his drink and opened his mouth to respond when the previously flashing lights went dark and the ones on the stage began to shine. The dancers left the floor and the guys that had been playing pool settled into a spot at the bar or left the building. Most of the new crowd were lingering around, seemingly waiting for open mic night to begin.

I could feel the shots getting to me, but Phineous was right, I needed to relax. So I kept the alcohol coming, trading in the shot glasses for a can of beer. Just as I cracked it open, an older women with slightly gray hair walked up onto the stage, she took hold of the mic and a dim spotlight shined above her. "Good night... or should I say, good morning everyone," as this woman spoke onstage, some of the workers filled the dance floor with chairs for customers to sit in. Phineous quickly hopped off of the bar stool and motioned for me to follow. We found seats on the dance floor along with everyone else, and continued listening to the woman onstage.

"I'm so glad you all decided to join us for our midnight open mic. A place where artist can gather to hear, voice, and connect with talent. We have a very special line up today, and an even more special surprise talent that I'm sure you all are familiar with. So without further ado, let's give it up for our first performer, James Palmer."

James Palmers performance was alright, he read a poem. It was something odd, something about being alive but not living. He did these weird theatrics as he spoke, moving his arms in different directions and stomping his feet when the poem intensified. Considering I was quite buzzed by this point, everything seemed over the top.

The crowd gave their applause and waited anxiously for the next performer, everyone seemed to be anticipating someone in particular. I turned my head to look at how big the audience had gotten, then I whispered to Phineous in my slurred speech, "Is someone... famous performing tonight?"

He shrugged, "I highly doubt it."

Then we watched as the older lady came back into the stage and introduced the next performance. "I think this next performer is someone you've all been waiting for, Charlotte hasn't performed in awhile, but she's here tonight with a new original. Please give it up for Charlotte Bixby." Then she left the stage, the crowd went ballistic, and the lights went completely dark. I wasn't sure why, but my skin shivered a little. Possibly a side effect of all the alcohol, or maybe just because the vibe in this bar had completely changed.

When the light on the stage returned, I was taken aback. Sitting on a stool with a Martin D-28 resting on her lap, was the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on. I knew it wasn't possible, but I suddenly felt sober. She had the biggest, bluest eyes I'd ever seen. Her hair was a platinum blonde, cut just above her shoulders. Her face in a shape of a heart and her demeanor... well that was something breathtaking. Then she spoke, "Hi, everyone." Again, the audience went ballistic, whistling and screaming her name. She laughed at the response and I almost fainted, "Like miss Patty said, I'll be singing an original tonight. It's called, Keeping Gold."

I sat up straighter, watching as her unpolished fingers began to play chords. She closed her eyes and let the sounds surround her, one after another, the strumming began to sound like magic. The tune was subtle, but I could feel every moment of it. Then she parted her lips and her voice took me to another land, to a fairytale. It was soft and a bit raspy, high but not over the top. Phineas turned to look at me as I sat on the edge of my seat, he just smirked like he knew exactly what was going through my head. He had no idea though, and I knew he had no idea, because I had no idea. I was just here, in a bar, completely and unexpectedly mesmerized. I couldn't even make out the words to the song, they didn't even seem to matter because, whatever left her lips was golden. Maybe that's what the song was about... Keeping Gold, maybe it was about Charlotte Bixby.