Stomping out her cigarette on the ground with the heel of her stiletto, Meghan fitted in an elegant satin baby blue gown, sipped some red champagne out of the flute that she carted in her right hand. Alone in the back alley of a Jazz nightclub, her back is to the wall as she basks in her own thoughts underneath the stars and the moon glowing in the sky. Down the far end of the alley in the streets, cars honk their horns and headlights shine bright as traffic moves slowly due to the nights congested traffic. The weather outside is frigid and a wisp of cold air and a mixture of smoke passes through her lips of red as she lights up another cigarette.
Next to her are a stack of wooden wine crates where a white fur coat made of sheep skin lies ontop of them. Meghan's to be exact. She takes another drag of her smoke at the same time warming her insides as faint chatter floats from the front of the club around to the back alley. Meghan turns her head to the left, the direction of where the voices were coming from. In the distance, the sidewalks were filled with men and women moving about as they exited their vehicles with the help of valet services, entering inside the club, all anxious for the night's lounge performer.
Cutting around the corner of the building, infront, a red carpet is laid out on the ground as men and women of wealth and a small portion of middle class society file their way inside the double doors of the front entrance. Women link their arms with their male counter parts and some opt to carry on on their lonesomes, smiling curty, though a few a bit snobbish, being graciosuly escorted inside. The street ahead is filled with cars manuvering their way from lane to lane and the sidewalk where benches and light posts are lined, newspapers and other miscellaneous trash, scatter the ground, blowing softly along in the wind. Light's illuminating from the club spark brightly, lighting up a general part of the city. Above the club holds a sign that reads: Meghan ' One Night Only ' in black with dozens of tiny yellow lightbulbs cascading in a square.
A newspaper being harshly pushed against the wind across the ground, stops before the opening of the alley and lays perfectly on the ground face up. Panning closer, in black print the top reads New York Times and centered below the headline is a black and white photo of the lounge singer covered in a white sheet from head to toe, being wheeled into the back of an ambulance.
' Lounge Singer Takes Final Bow '
" Hey doll, it's time. The crowd's starting to get restless." One of her band members opened the door and peeped his head outside. He was fitted in a black pinstriped suit complete with a matching hat.
Meghan nodded but her gaze kept transfixed on the brick wall ahead. " Give me five more minutes, Joe."
Stepping out, Joe glanced over his shoulder as voices inside began to rise. " Doll, you don't have five minutes. They're waiting for you in there. Don't you hear them?"
" I hear them Joe," She somewhat snapped. " But can't you see that I'm a bit busy? Jeez, just give me five minutes and then I'll be ready. Tell the band to start playing a song or something. That should hold them over in there." She murmured with another sip of her champagne.
Their dialouge was spoken with somewhat of a Manhattan twang laced in between.
Joe stepped off the small step and over to her. He snatched the cigarette, stained with red lipstick from her mouth. Meghan glared up at him as he brought it to his own lips.
" What if that doesn't work? What if they start asking for their money back, and you know they will. You know how demanding and uptight these bougiere folks can be."
Meghan took hold of her cig from his fingers and rolled her eyes. Purposefully blowing the smoke into his face, Joe slightly coughed and waved his hand infront of his nose.
She smirked with a shrug. " I don't care. Give them their money back, I certainly don't need it. I have millions remember. They can keep their little dollars for all I care. Bunch of worthless fucks anyhow." She grumbled. " As a matter of fact, go back in there and tell them that I said they can all go fuck themselves." She bit.
Joe chuckled at her but she remained serious opting to rest her back against the wall behind her. Stealing her cig once more, he took a drag then this time instead of giving it back to her, he flicked it on the ground and stomped it out.
Meghan glared at him with irritance. " What did you go and do that for? That was my last one." She then began to search through her clutch that lied atop her coat but he snatched it from her. She snatched it back and again, he chuckled.
" You really have changed haven't you, doll?" He commented, caching his hands into his pockets.
Failing in finding another smoke, Meghan huffed and flung the clutch on the ground in a puddle of left over rain water. " What the hell are you flapping about? Changed how?"
His fingers toyed with a strand of her perftecly styled hair that rested on one side of her shoulder. " Well, ever since you left what's his face, you've become so bitter and.....one of them in there. I mean, it's not like he was the only one at fault you know."
Meghan eyed him as he took a step closer to her and bowed his head as he took a whiff of her hair. He then skimmed his finger along her jawline and cupped her chin with his index finger and thumb. " I vaguely remember you partaking in your own little affair also." He smiled and ran his thumb over her bottom lip. " I bet he doesn't know about that one, does he?" He spoke lowly before crashing his lips onto hers.
Meghan recoiled and pushed him back. He stumbled but quickly caught himself. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, her red lipstick smeared, now ruined and she eyed him with distate.
" Fuck you, Joe. That was a long time ago and a big mistake at that. I would have never slept with you if I would have known back then what I know now. You're a sleaze Joe. A good for nothing sleaze. And the only reason why I even let you touch me was because I was vulnerable. Desperate and vulnerable...."
" Oh really," He cocked a brow. " What about all those times that you snuck into my hotel room before you even found out that Mr. Man of yours was skating around on you?"
" I never-"
Meghan fixed her mouth to refute whatever it was that he was going to say but clamped her mouth shut. Glaring into his eyes, Joe gave her an arrogant smirk as he awaited her response. When she gave him none, he gave her a soft kiss on the cheek and smoothed his knuckles where his lips had been.
" Maybe you should reconsider who those lyrics that you seem to write so well are really about, huh?" He told her, moving past her toward the door. " Now c'mon, they're waiting."
He held the door open and held his hand out for her.
Tossing her champagne flute aside, it shattered on the ground as she slipped on her fur coat and shot him with an ice cold glare before rejecting his hand and brushing past him inside.
As the door came to a slow close, Meghan walked in the direction of where her vanity table was located and sat herself in the high chair provided. Harshly rummaging the cosmetics scattered on the table, she swiped a napkin lying in a crumpled heap and wiped away her lipstick while reapplying a fresh coat. In the background, a small tinkering noise what sounded like the high notes of a child's music box came into play.
Soon after, her movements began to slow down. Staring straight into the mirror, her appearance began to transform into that of a lounge singer of the 20's era with her hair now styled in the likes of Marilyn Monroe. Her outfit remained the same but everything around her had morphed also. Removing herself from the table, Meghan slipped off her coat and dropped it on a couch in her dressing area before stepping out and making her way toward the front of the small private stage.
Passing by Joe who held the deep purple curtain open for her, she relunctanly accepted the kiss upon the cheek as she emerged on the stage and he moved over to the black grand piano positioned on the side of the stage.
Staring out into the audience, round tables were set up with glasses of champagne set for each of the persons eagerly awaiting the singers prescene. It was all silent as Meghan situated herself in the lone stool behind the mic stand. A member from her band appeared from the side and removed the stand leaving her with the mic before he disappeared behind the curtains again. Crossing her leg over the other, her thigh exposed from the long slit cut in her dress and she fixed her posture so that she were sitting up straight.
Panning over her form as she stared out into the distance as well as panning over the entire room and it's guests, the lights in the room then dimmed to a lower stance and without a single word or introduction, she began to sing as all eyes in the room stayed glued on her silouhette.
Everyday, I'm in a daze
Looking for that someone
And everyday, I sit and kneel and pray
Oh, sweet love, can I get some
The songs beat had a very mellow kind of bluesy tone to it. Joe sat behind the piano and played the simple keys that went along with melody that he and Meghan were producing and as this continued, the screen pans over to the left of the stage and into a different setting.
Opening up to a boudoir located in a pent house on the top floor, Meghan in a rose garter panty and bra set, her sheer robe hangs open as she emerges from the double doors into the living quarters. Headed toward the sofa area, she looks ahead as Joe enters the door of her hotel room. He shrugs off his coat and gives it a light shake from the rain water and tosses it aside. Going for the glass of alcohol set on a platter on a table in the middle of the room, Meghan drinks from the rim and ignores his prescence with a roll of her orbs as Joe comes up from behind and skims his fingers down her arm before securing his arms around her waist, toying with the material of her panties connected to her hips.
So why do you desert me, baby boy
I need your love right now
Wordlessly removing herself from his grasp, he lets her wander away from him as he tips off his hat and sets in on the back of the couch. Undoing his tie, he slid the article across his neck and placed it next to his hat while he undid the buttons to his dress shirt, leaving them open to reveal his well defined chest hidden underneath a wife beater.
Headed for the bathroom, Joe passes a look her way as she sits on the side of the bed staring down a telephone. With a shake of his head, he enters inside the bathroom and Meghan turned her head in time to see him close the door shut.
And if you desert me, baby boy
Don't you leave me in your crowd
Unh, yea, yea, yea
Now with the phone pressed against her ear, she patiently waits until the other end picks up. When it's clear that she is speaking with said person, the melody in the background remains but is lowered considerably so that the conversation could be heard. Mainly her side, but it's evident by her sour mood that the conversation does not seem to be going well.
" Hey baby, what time are you gonna get home?.......oh, really?" With a frown and a sigh, she fiddles with the buttons on the base of the phone before sniffling and staring off ahead with her head tilted to the sky as she glances upward momentarily.
" Alright, well, I'll......see you later, then." Her back is to the bathroom door as Joe steps out and is staring at her form. " Oh wait, would you mind getting me some um......" She pauses with her head bowed as he already knows what she asks of him. " Yeah, when you come home. Yeah, that's it."
With sad eyes, she tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear as she prepares to end the short lived conversation. " Ok, I love you too, bye."
Hanging up the phone, Meghan pulls away from Joe as he crawls onto the bed behind her and caresses her neck with his lips. Stepping out onto the small balcony, she over looks the city and the tall buildings all around. Letting the night wind blow past her face, she moves closer to the railing and grips the bar lightly.
" You know," A voice appeared at her side. " I don't even know why you take the time to bother with him. It's obvious that you know just exactly where he is and what he's doing. It's like, he's not even attempting to hide it from you anymore."
She stared at the side of his smooth but stubbled face as he gazed upon the city down below.
" You don't know what you are talking about. I know him, ok. He would never do that to me. He loves me." She spoke, though it seemed that she was saying it more to herself.
" Does he love you?" Joe inquired.
Meghan kept her tone calm and soft. " Yes, Joe he does. He loves me and I very much him."
She heard him sigh then chuckle lowly to himself. A small table with two chairs on either side, Joe made his way over to it and seated himself in the chair farthest from where she stood. " Don't be so naive, doll. You know just as well as I do that you're not even sure of it yourself. Why kid yourself? Why are you so wanting to believe and hold on to something or someone that is not even there?"
She smiled, refusing to give him her attention. " You don't know what you're talking about so just, leave it all alone Joe." She repeated.
Licking his lips, he crossed his ankle over his knee and interlocked his fingers in his lap. " He doesn't love you doll. I'm telling you, he doesn't want you anymore."
Meghan blocked out his words and his entire prescene as she studied a single star that she seen glimmering in the sky. Occasional loud honking of vehicles from down below floated high above to where she stood.
" Why do you think that he's out with her right now instead of coming home to be with you?"
Meghan chewed her inner lip and willed her eyes closed as she exhaled a silent breath, " You don't know that."
" I do. I do know that, and so do you. It's time to stop fooling yourself, doll."
Meghan heard him rustle in the back and felt his warm heat radiate from his body as he stood behind her and placed his hands onto her shoulders with a gentle squeeze. " Face it doll, it's over. He doesn't love you anymore. There is no use in hanging on anymore when the thread is already broken."
Meghan was fed up with him at this point and whipped around to face him. Her eyes bore into his. " Stop saying that! Are you trying to convince me of it? You're not around when he's around Joe. You're never there when he tells me he loves me, ok. You're not. And that's why I'm damn sure that he does loves me because he let's me know that he does everyday."
" Is that right, doll?" He was unconvinced
" Yeah, that's right." She quickly retorted.
Joe was quiet, then took a step back, folding his arms across his chest. " Then why exactly are you here with me, instead of with him?"
His question had defeated her. She had no answer to that. Why was she here with him and not her actual lover? There was only one reason to that and even though she knew what exactly that reason was, she wasn't strong enough to voice it. She didn't want to believe, but sooner or later, she was going to have to.
" You need to stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong and mind your business, Joe." She spoke lowly.
On her way past him, she felt a grip on her wrist and pivoted on her heels as he moved closer to her. His eyes darted back and forth into her's and he shook his head.
" Doll, you are my business."
His words were left to linger in the air as she wordlessly removed her wrist from his embrace and entered into her bedroom.
Oh, oh, ohhhh, ohhhh, ohhh, oh, oh
Finding herself alone in her dressing area at one of her many shows, her performance had come to an end minutes before. Seated at her vanity table, she began to remove the pins that kept her hair in place as she smiled in the mirror at her makeup artist who momentarily stepped from the room. Massaging her scalp with her fingers, Meghan let out a pleasured sigh as she stood and slipped on the gray silk robe provided for her on the sofa. Spending a few minutes in making herself a bit more comfortable, she crossed the room to close her door fully and lock it. Moments later, she found herself at her vanity once more staring down a line of white powder. A mini shot glass of alcohol, Jack to be more specific at her side, she glowers longingly at the magical dust before plugging one of her nostrils with her finger, bending her head down, and it's only from the mirror that she is seen with her head bowed but it's all too obvious that she has partaken in an illegal activity.
Ohhh, oh, oh
Harmonizing into the mic, the camera captures the audience who seem captivated by the starlet before switching back to the dressing room where a very intoxicated Meghan, wipes at her nose with a constant sniff before gulping another shot of Jack. She looks a bedraggled mess as she stares at her reflection in the mirror, mascara staining her cheeks black, and her eyes puffy and pink. A small photo that clung on the side of the mirror, Meghan gently takes the picture in between her fingers. A lone tear that slid from her cheek landed on the paper, instantly dampening it. Deciding to trash the photo, the cig that she had lit earlier found it's way ontop of the photo burning a hole into it before it becomes devoured in flames and formed into a black ashes.
Oh, oh, ohhhh, ohhhh, ohhh, oh, oh
Ohhh, oh, oh, ohhhh
A single light shining on only one part of the stage, Meghan is highlighted as she holds the mic with a firm grip and moves into the next verse with a slow passion. From afar, Joe looked up from his skilled playing and directed his eyes onto her form. His head bobbed slowly to the sound that she set and from his own perspective, he could visibl see all of the heartache emanate from her insides and into the mic.
Someday, when you see my face
You will think that you have won
Inebriated, and highly likely to cause a danger to herself, Joe and Meghan seem to be in a heated battle as he chucks the bottle that she had been feening from all night against the wall and it breaks to her dismay. Tired of her irresponsible actions it seems, her bloody nose is a result of him accidentally striking her with his hand after she and him engaged in a brief scuffle when she threatened with an attempt to throw him out of her room.
"This ends right here, doll. I'm not going to sit around and watch you drink yourself into oblivion. You're killing yourself doll." He shouted roughly.
Meghan carried over to the bar set up in the corner of the room." If you don't want to watch me ' kill ' myself," She spat fierce venom, reaching over the bar counter for another alcoholic beverage. She held the glass in her hand with a firm grip and faced him, wisps of her bangs fallen over her eyes. " Then why don't you go and gather all of your shit, and hit the road. Leave me the hell alone." She spoke that last part to herself.
Joe approached her and reached for the drink but she turned away so he wasn't able to. " No, get away from me."
" Give me the glass, doll." He reprimanded with another attempt.
This time she shoved him back with her hand to his chest and stumbled her way across the room. " I said No, Joe. Get out of my room."
Thinking she was a safe distance away from him, standing behind a large porcelin Siberian tiger artifact, she swayed uncontrollably to and fro.
Joe was on the brink of becoming irate. He was concerned for her safety at the moment and concerned of the person, the alcoholic, that she had turned into in the matter of a few short months.
" Meg, this is enough." He demanded, now using her full name. " Don't you see what is happening to you? How you're letting all of this nonsense affect you like this?"
She snarled a low chuckle. " You call my husband sleeping around with some two bit street whore ' nonsense'?" She greedily slurped her alcohol then smiled viciously at him. " You want to know something Joe?" She didn't wait for his response. " Fuck you." She coiled slowly.
Down to his boiling point, he stomped across the room before she could even blink and the two began a tug of war over the glass in her hand.
" Let it go!" She hollered in his face, her breath nearly cindering his brows from his face.
Refusing to let go, she and Joe stumbled around the room and nearly tripped over the rug that lay on the ground.
" Doll, stop it! You're going to end up hurting yourself! Just give me the glass!"
" No!"
Edging closer and closer to a small glass coffee table located at the end of the sofa, Meghan had her back faced towards it as Joe advanced closer to her, struggling to release the glass from her hand. Finally, her fingers slipped and she lost grip, sending her crashing into the table, shattering the glass.
" Oh my god, doll, are you alright?" Joe rushed to her side and was about to kneel down when her bare foot collided with his chest and she kicked him away.
" No, get away from me, don't touch me!"
" But doll, you're bleeding. Let me just see where-"
Lifting the 1 pound figurine lying next to her on the carpet among shards of glass, Joe ducked his head out of the way when she threw it and it went crashing into the wall. " Get out of here!" She wailed.
Joe stood to his feet and peered down at her with dismay. " If this is how you want things to be then, fine! Drown in your sorrows all alone then. Better yet, why don't you just do like all of those other ones out there and pick up the blade."
His words did nothing to sting her as the slam of the door echoed off the walls and he was gone.
Now, alone on the floor in only a robe, hot tears stream down her face and chin as she ran her hand through her hair. A bloody mess with pieces of glass stuck to her skin and blood dripping from her nose onto her clothing, Meghan eventually rose from the ground unstable and unable to see through her blurred vision, she ambled into the bathroom, falling against the door on her way in, and bumbled toward the sink. Switching on the faucet, leaving blood stains everywhere, she observed herself in the mirror. Sliding open the drawer on her left side, she reached for a pair of sharp scissors. Taking a lock of her hair into her fingers, she snipped away a few strands and watched them flutter to the ground. Soon, more and more hair fluttered onto the ground until she surveyed herself in the mirror once more and her shoulder length perfect blonde hair was now a short, messy, uneven bob that barely reached her collarbone.
And someday, when It's all away
Our love just begun
Her eyes closed, Meghan blocked out all persons in the room as she delved into her own piece of mind, away from all reality, though she still sang her words in a manner in which all who were there felt her pain and also all who hadn't known, know now. From the audience view, the starlet was just a lit candle as her beauty glowed throughout the night.
A women who looked to be twice the age of Meghan's quietly leaned toward her male partner and whispered something to which he nodded and surely passed the word along. Not long were all of the tables buzzing with whispers and praises all complimenting the incredible display she was currently putting on. The camera then panned back over to the stage before delving into another scene.
So why did you desert me, baby boy
I thought that you, you were the one
Trails of hair and blood led to the oval shaped tub in which Meghan, still in her robe lay with her head rested against the back of the marble, surrounded by water that had turned pink from the mixture of blood seeping from her cuts and bruises all over. She peacefully closes her eyes as the effects begin to take over. Her arms dangling from either side of the tub, drops of blood fall to the floor in a pattern. Her right fist clenched tightly, soon her body begins to relax and her fist loosen up to the point that a single silver razor blade tumbles onto the cold tile floor. Sinking into the water, Meghan is completely submerged under the water as bubbles rise to the surface.
Returning from the elevator, Joe takes slow steps down the hall until he ends up at her door. Unlocked, he pushes it open and advances into the room of pure chaos. Broken glass, items flipped over, vases shattered, the scent of alcohol, he shakes his head sadly and looks to the ground where Meghan had been only to find the broken remains of the table and a deep spot of red.
" Doll?" He called out tenderly. " Doll, where are you?"
He traveled and checked every room in the lavish penthouse but found no sight of her. He had yet to check the bathroom and was on his way there.
" Doll? Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean all of those things that I said earlier." Outside of the door, he dropped his head and leaned against it. " I really didn't. Can we just try and work things out? I don't want us to end this way. It's not right. All I want is for you to hear me out for just a couple of minutes. Doll?"
He gently rapped on the door with his knuckles when he heard no movement or response. His brow furrowed when the door creaked open at the contact and then horror set through his body at the sight.
" Doll!!" Quickly tearing off his jacket, Joe jumped into the tub and switched off the water over flowing the tub. Reaching into the water, he grabbed hold of her by her arms then cradled his hand around her head as he positioned her limp body in the best sitting position that he could.
Blue lips, and her skin white as snow, he gripped her jaw with his hand tightly and shook her roughly. " Shit, no! How could I let this happen? No! Doll, wake up! Wake up for me doll, wake up!!"
His attempts proved futile and his cries went unheard. Holding her body against his chest with all his might, her head lolled back as he cried into her shoulder. " Doll, no, come back to me. Come back to me baby, come back."
It was then as he wailed hysterically did his eyes catch a glimmer of silver and he located the bloody razor blade on the floor. Snapping his eyes shut, he fell into the tub and laid her body against his, holding her tight never wanting to let go as his words from earlier then came back to him full force.
Joe stood to his feet and peered down at her with dismay. " If this is how you want things to be then, fine! Drown in your sorrows all alone then. Better yet, why don't you just do like all of those other ones out there and pick up the blade."
Joe smiled at Meghan with pure tenderness from behind his piano as she sat there underneath the stage light beaming like an angel from above. Gently peeping her eyes open, Meghan observed her surroundings and even opted to smile at the faces calmed by her soothing voice. Lowering the mic slightly, her eyes drew shut once more as she sung the last of the lyrics and she and Joe brought the song and performance to a heart felt close. Inhaling a silent breath, Meghan then stood as the colorful audience stood to their feet gratefully with generous applause. Meghan took a bow and fixed her eyes on Joe who sat back and marveled at her. Winking in his direction, she them smiled shyly at the crowd and remained standing.
So if you preferred the, other one
She won't bring you the sun
Fading from the lounge, outside, a newspaper being pushed against the wind lands face up on the sidewalk. Below the headline is a photo of the lounge singer covered in a white sheet from head to toe, being wheeled into the back of an ambulance. Photogs, ambulance and on lookers stand just outside of the lavish hotel as medical travel away with the body while police calm the yellow caution taped scene. The headline read:
' Lounge Singer Takes Final Bow '
Song Credit: ' Unknown' Britney Spears
Author's Chapter Notes:
I created this chapter so spur of the moment. After I heard the song used in it, I couldn't help but create what I think would be a proper video for it. Well, in other words, enjoy. And another thing, reviews have been sooooooooooooo great. I truly appreciate them all. Next chapter following the last should be in the next few days. Kay, I'm done. :)
Story Tags: cheaterj soloj marriedj
