After Sienna’s brief time as the lead singer of No Worries, people always though she looked familiar. Five years ago the band had a number one hit, then broke up due to fighting between the members, before a follow up album could be released to cement their fame. Apparently the guitarist was sleeping with the drummer’s wife and they couldn’t get passed it. Unfortunately, the group became somewhat of a one hit wonder, but people still vaguely remembered Sienna’s face. She really wasn’t the type of woman that people easily could forget.
Sienna and I played together in an all girl band in Boston for five years. We did a lot of local shows and had a pretty good following. It didn’t earn us enough money to survive, but we loved doing it and it worked for us for a while. By the time we decided to go our separate ways, I had already met Michael and started pursing a degree in music and began to grow content with my life. Sienna hadn’t given up on our dream of being a rock star, so we parted friends when she took off for New York at 21 to join No Worries as the lead singer.
After that, we talked on the phone twice a week and I went to New York to visit her on most of my breaks from school.
There was definitely no love loss between her and Michael, and he made it clear that he disapproved of her partying lifestyle and didn’t like my frequent trips to New York. I sacrificed a lot for Michael over the years, giving up a lot of who I was, but never let him come between Sienna and me. She was supposed to have been my maid of honor at our wedding last weekend.
Sienna watched as the boys club sauntered out of the restaurant and then turned to me. “Syd, I think you need to pick one of those boys and get a rebound screw under your belt. What better place to do it then in Hawaii?”
“I told you, I don’t feel ready to start dating yet.” We had already had that conversation on the plane on the way to Hawaii, and I suspected Sienna had given up much too easily to have put the subject behind us.
“Who said anything about dating?” She smiled at me. “Just pick one out, and have a great time. Don’t think about it and don’t over analyze it. Fuck it, don’t even find out his name. Just have fun Syd. That Michael sucked the life out of my partner in crime and we are resurrecting her this week!”
I may not have been ready for a new guy, but I was definitely ready to go back to living my life and having fun. I responded to her speech with the only word that I knew would make her happy, other than agreeing with her. “Shots?” Sienna squealed in delight and hugged me as she called the waiter over to order our tequila shots.
***
We were halfway between tipsy and drunk as we made our way down to the bonfire. It was a beautiful night and torches lit a path through the sand down to the water’s edge. A huge bonfire was burning and a Caribbean calypso band played a song on steel drums with an older gentleman singing. Waiters floated around delivering fruity cocktails and women wearing bikini tops and hoola skirts offered fresh flower leis.
I looked around and wasn’t surprised to see that most of the partygoers were couples, after all the resort was a favored honeymoon destination. It made me sad to think I was supposed to be there with Michael, relaxing after my wedding. Sienna picked up on the change in my mood and guided us to the large bar set up under the lights on the beach. “Two tequila shots please.” Sienna’s answer to every problem was always the same, tequila and a party.
We drank back our shots, licked the salt off of the back of our hands and sucked our limes in unison.
“Another round for the ladies and all my friends, please.” The deep velvety voice immediately sent a shiver up my spine. I turned to trace the voice to the face and was met with the most startling green eyes I had ever seen. I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the man, but I gasped and felt goose bumps break out on my arms. The eyes smiled down at me and I was momentarily unable to break the gaze. I blinked, forcing my eyes to escape the hold, and slowly looked down and realized that the captivating green eyes were attached to the most magnificent man I had ever seen, who was staring at me, watching me take him in. The corner of his perfect mouth turned up in a sexy half smile, and I knew he had just watched my body react to him. But he wasn’t going to be a gentleman and pretend he didn’t see it. Instead, he took a step closer into my personal space and I felt the heat radiate between us.
I turned back to the bartender to escape the intenseness of his glare and the bartender held out my next tequila shot. I twisted back around to thank the green-eyed god, and nearly slammed right into his chest. He had not moved out of my personal space. Instead he stood his ground and looked down at me, slightly amused. I held up my shot. “Are you joining me?”
“I’d love to.” He smiled, but had no shot in his hand. He arched an eyebrow with a sexy grin on his face and I got the feeling that he wasn’t accepting an offer to have a shot together. I laughed and shook my head before throwing back yet another shot, salt and lime. My head buzzed, and I knew I should probably stop drinking at that point, but I was thousands of miles from home with Sienna and that surely wouldn’t be happening.
Sienna grabbed my hand and pulled me from the bar, oblivious to the beautiful creature standing behind me me.
“Come on, let’s do one for old times sake.” Only Sienna could talk a middle aged Calypso band singer into letting us sing at the resort’s welcome bonfire, without knowing if we could even carry a tune. The last tequila shot went straight to my head and I was feeling no pain as I followed her to where the band was set up, anxious to sing with her. It had been years since we played together and I really did miss it.
Sienna spoke to the band and we sang one of our all time favorites, Shake Your Body, by the Jackson 5. It was a 70’s boogie disco beat that people usually couldn’t help but start to dance to. When we were done, people were applauding and dancing and the band asked us to do another song.
What else can follow up a classic Jackson song but the Wild Cherry 70s hit, Play That Funky Music? Of course, we did our own version of the song, but people danced and sang along nonetheless. Even though it had been years since we performed together, no one would have guessed it. We worked together effortless, and it had been that way since that very first time in third grade. By the time we were done, the tequila had hit us with its full effect and we both laughed our way back to the bar, stumbling just a slight bit.
The bartender stopped pouring drinks as we approached and clapped his hands slowly for us, to which we responded with overzealous bows and a curtsy.