“How glad the many millions of Timothys and Williams
Would Be…
To capture me…”
She was an active girl. She was full of joy and full of dreams. Despite her financial problems, she managed to register for couple of courses at the community college, and practice her daily Yoga lessons. She shouldn’t be called careless; rather, you should be calling her optimistic. Her name was Nancy, and she was in her early twenties. She left her home town when she was nineteen in order to seek out a new life. What kind of life she was seeking out? Even she couldn’t answer this question. All she cared about was to look for joy, love and laugh.
When she realized that her saved up money were running out, she decided to look for a job. Because she had a voice as beautiful as her tanned face, she was able to find a job as a singer in one of the jazz clubs in town. Jazz wasn’t something new for her. Her mother used to be an alto saxophone player; the Jazz beat was very common in the house.
Neither the Jazz club wasn’t quit big, nor was it busy. There were few tables in the hall, a small bar at the corner and of course the band’s stage. Every night, people from around the town used to come over to the jazz club in order to listen to some music and have couple of drinks. There were some familiar faces, and other new faces. The workers at the club weren’t many. The band was made out of a saxophonist, a pianist and a drummer. A bar tenders, a cook, and two waitresses were the other staff.
The club’s band used to play plain Jazz music, therefore; the owner of the club realized that he may spice up the club by adding a female singer to the band; maybe more costumers would show up. So, after three days of interviews, Bob, the owner of the club, chose Nancy to be the singer. He paid her an acceptable salary that covers most of her expenses. Plus, she shared the tip with the other employees.
As Bob figured out, more costumers started to show up as Nancy started to sing some Jazz favorites such as “At Last”, “Mad about the boy”, and more. Bob was very happy, that after one month, he decided to give Nancy a raise and hired a third waitress.
Nancy started her work at eight o’clock in the Evening, and finished by one in the morning. First two hours is taken for preparing what to sing and rehearsing some tones. Then, the live music starts at ten o’clock.
It was a rainy night in September, when Nancy got off the bus covering her head with her black rain coat. The noise of her high heals were loud as she entered the jazz club. She noticed a new face among the waitresses, so she walked to her with a smile saying: “Good evening, I am Nancy and I am the lousy singer here at this club.” The waitress chuckled and commented, “I do not think you are lousy. I heard from co-workers that your voice is as beautiful as you are. Nice to meet you! I am Veronica.” Nancy smiled while saying, “Oh, Thank you! This is so sweet of you. Nice to meet you too Veronica! I have to go now to start preparing for the night. However, I’ll see you around.”
Nancy rushed to the backstage and greeted the band with a loud voice, “Hello, Are you guys ready? I think tonight we are going to practice the same songs that we sang last week. Since many costumers were happy with them, especially those senior citizens.” The saxophonists replied, “Yes, those senior citizens know what jazz really is. They lived the golden age.” Nancy said with a smile, “Let’s make this night another golden age night. Let the music begin!”
On the stage, Nancy was wearing a short black dress that exposes her shoulders. It was tight enough to express her slender body. A golden heart pendant was around her neck. The music started with the famous song by Etta James, “At Last”. The rhythm was so good that made Nancy closes her eyes and let her memories take her back to her home town, where her mother used to play this melody on her saxophone. Nancy opened her eyes to glance at the end of the hall, where there was a small table at the corner with one chair. There was a tall middle aged man sitting there. He was wearing a long black coat and a black hat. He was holding a cane in his hand. He had deep blue eyes. His eyes were so blue that Nancy could see the reflection of the light in them. His overall look reminded Nancy of the 1950s movies.
This charming man was staring at Nancy with love and peace. His eyes were full of hope. They were full of joy and Nancy could see the future between them. She sang her second, third and fourth song, and he was still looking at her without even blinking. Nancy tried to move her gaze away, but each time she looked back at him, he was staring right back at her. She felt shy, and she felt weird. She has never had anybody staring at her like that. It is true that she is pretty and she gets occasional looks from guys. However, this man was different. He spent the whole night looking at her, while he didn’t order anything to drink or to eat. All what Veronica was serving him was water. Even when he was drinking his water, he was staring at Nancy.
The Next day Nancy woke up around 11 o’clock in the morning, practicing her daily Yoga and running around the park. She passed by the bank to pay some bills and went to the Library to borrow some books. She has totally forgotten about the man with black hat. She considered him just like any other costumer who wanted to waste his time.
In the evening, Nancy came to work wearing her little black dress and her high heels shoes. She greeted Veronica saying, “How’s work?” Veronica smiled and replied, “Very good, Bob is a good boss. Last night was my first night in the club and he did me a huge favor.” Nancy commented while she was heading to the backstage, “Oh yeah, he is a kind heart man.” Nancy went to the backstage and started her rehearsal with the rest of the band.
At ten o’clock, Nancy was on stage. The music started and she was ready to sing “Whatever Lola wants” when she saw the same man with the black hat and blue eyes sitting in the same spot looking at her. Every thing was the same, same looks, same corner, and same clothes. Nancy was singing as she was staring back at him. At first, she felt weird, but after a while, the man smiled while he was looking at her. The smile was very innocent and very peaceful that made Nancy smile back at him. As she was singing, she felt her heart was beating quickly. He is still looking at her without a blink. Is it possible that this man has a crush on her? Many thoughts came to Nancy’s mind as she was singing. She didn’t know what she was saying anymore, all she knew was these deep blue eyes are looking at her.
Nancy finished her last song around quarter to one in the morning, and she went to the backstage, as she is required by her boss. Bob always wanted to be protective about Nancy, so; he didn’t want any conversations between her and the costumers after the show. Most likely, he was avoiding business offers from competitors. So, as she went backstage and grabbed her purse, the man left the Jazz club. Nancy came out to see if the man with the black hat was still there, but he left already.
Nancy woke up in the next morning. She was tired and feeling dizzy because she spent the whole night thinking of this man with the black hat who entered her heart with his peaceful smile and his deep blue eyes. As she was meditating in her bachelor apartment, an idea popped up in her mind. What if she tells him in a song that she starts feeling the same way that he does? Maybe, she is to sing a meaningful song with few actions, such as pointing at him. Nancy thought of herself as a genius because this is the only way to start a small conversation on the stage since Bob doesn’t allow interaction with costumers during the show.
Nancy jumped off the floor and ran to one of the boxes on the shelves. She grabbed it and pulled out some records that used to belong to her mother. As she was looking through them, she found a record with “I’ve got a crush on you” title. Nancy jumped and put the record on. She heard the song to the end and thought that this is the song that will express her feelings toward the black hat man.
At seven thirty, Nancy was at the Jazz club. She rushed to the back stage and stood up in front of the band with a big smile. She was wearing a grey dress with a wide belt around the waist. Nancy opened her mouth widely saying, “I’ve got a crush on you!” the band members started to look at each other in wonder. Nancy smiled and said, “What do you guys think of this song?” The pianist mumbled, “My wife used to sing this song for me all the time. I have good memories with this song.” Nancy commented, “Perfect! Then let’s make it our last song of tonight’s show. I mean, since tonight is going to be the last show night for this week, we should make it special.” The saxophonist said, “I agree!” Nancy said, “Ok! Let’s begin!”
Nancy was on the stage, Singing and performing with eyes full of joy. The man with the black hat was giving her this deep look. Without a single blink he used to look at her. Some occasional smiles were coming from his side, and Nancy used to smile back. She was singing and each song made her heart full of a ticklish feeling that she used to feel for the first time.
It was around twelve thirty when Nancy signaled the rest of the band to start the special song. The piano started with a soft melody followed by Nancy’s voice singing:
“How glad the many millions
Of Timothys and Williams
Would be
To capture me
But you had such persistence
You wore down my resistance
I fell
And it was swell
You're my big and brave and handsome Romeo
How I won you I will never never know
It's not that you're attractive
But oh my heart grew active
When you came into view”
Nancy pointed at the black hat man and sang in a loud voice, “I’ve got a crush on you…” She was rocking her body while opening and closing her eyes. The man with the black hat kept smiling as he was watching her. His deep blue eyes were shinning along with the stage lightings. They were filling Nancy’s heart with this ticklish feeling, and were making her full of joy.
As soon as the song finished, Nancy ran to the backstage and grabbed her purse and wore her coat in a hurry. She met Bob in her way, so he asked her in wonder, “where are you going, Nancy?” Nancy said as she was exiting the backstage, “I’ll be back Bob, Ok?” Nancy ran to the hall, but she did not find the black hat man on the table. So, she decided to go out and look for him since it hasn’t been a long time since she left the stage. She felt crazy for a moment, but she thought that she would at least ask him why he keeps looking at her.
Nancy went out to the sidewalk. She was looking right and left for the black hat man, but she couldn’t find him. Suddenly, she noticed Veronica across the street, it was Veronica’s back and she was holding the black hat man. They were both walking fast. Nancy felt her head is full of questions, When, where who, why, what, and how, were all over her mind. Therefore, she decided to yell Veronica’s name in the street. Veronica did not hear her. Nancy yelled two more times, but Veronica was walking along with the black hat man. Nancy was inpatient to wait for next week and ask Veronica about the black hat man, so she decided to run after her. Nancy yelled Veronica’s name for the third time.
This time Veronica turned around when she heard the sound of the slamming breaks. Veronica saw a black Jeep stopping in the middle of the street while Nancy was lying down in the middle of the street, around 3 meters away from the Jeep. Veronica was shocked, so she left the black hat man and ran toward the accident. At this time, many people gathered around Nancy. Bob also showed up in the scene. He grabbed Nancy’s head and put on his thigh. Veronica asked in fear, “What happened?” Nancy’s face was covered with blood and her eyes were blinking continuously as her body was shaking. Bob answered in a horrified voice, “I do not know. She said she will be back…Veronica, I called 911, will you be with her?” Veronica looked at him with sorrow while saying, “My father is with me. You know, he can’t see or hear. I really should be with him since I have no place to keep him. However, as soon as I find someone who can take care of him, I’ll go to the hospital.”
At this moment, Nancy looked at Veronica with eyes wide open; then, she moved her gaze to the black hat man in the background. She looked up in the air and smiled while she was closing her eyes slowly…
