"A guy and a girl can be just friends, but at one point or another, they will fall for each other...Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, or maybe forever." Dave Matthews Band

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VIII. It Started Out as a Feeling

Sophie nervously tucked her loose hair behind her ears as she approached the stage. She didn't know why she was so nervous. It wasn't as though this was the first time that she was singing in the pub.

Although, this was the first time in a very long while that she was singing with a piano man, and not just as CD playing the music in the background for her.

Noah caught her eye as she climbed up on stage, and he offered her a reassuring smile. Sophie smiled back at him, before she turned her back to him and adjusted the microphone, switching it on.

She cleared her throat, and the attention of all the patrons turned to her. It was very much a full house, and she deliberately avoided looking over to Beck and his mates.

"Good evening, everyone, and thank you so much for joining us here tonight at the West End Piano Bar," Sophie welcomed, her voice surprisingly steady considering how her heart was hammering. "My name is Sophie, and the talented musician behind me is Noah, our new piano man. We hope that you enjoy the music." She turned her head and gave Noah the cue, and Elaine Paige's signature tune began to play.

"Midnight not a sound from the pavement. Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. In the lamplight, the withered leaves collect at my feet. And the wind begins to moan."

Sophie sang as clearly, and as beautifully as she could muster, and the room was silent as they listened to her. When she started to sing, the nerves melted away, and she felt the loudest, and the most powerful that she ever could be.

It was hard to think of a professional actress in a theatre only a few doors down was performing the same song in Cats and being lauded for it, while Sophie sang in a pub for minimum wage. She put in as much passion and effort to the song as any other Grizabella would.

"Touch me!" she cried. "It's so easy to leave me. All alone with the memory, of my days in the sun. If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is. Look, a new day has begun."

As Noah played the final note, Sophie opened her eyes, and remerged from her mind as the sounds of applause and cheers sounded from around the pub.

Sophie looked back to Noah and he was beaming at her, clapping as well while he shook his head, almost in disbelief. Sophie grinned, laughing, as she bowed.

"Do you know 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina"?" she asked him.

"Yes, ma'am." Noah chuckled and he turned back to the piano.

***

Sophie sang her favourite from Evita before finishing up, and making Noah take a bow as well. She then hurried off stage, thanking the customers for their compliments as she passed them, and quickly claiming her note pad and pen again.

"You sound so good every week, Soph," Beck said slightly slurred as he came up behind her.

Beck placed an arm around her, and Sophie quickly shrugged him off. "Thank you," she said tensely. "Keep your hands to yourself. You're sloshed."

Beck rolled his eyes. "Why can't you be nice to me?" he whined, beer on his breath.

Sophie hatedthe smell of beer on a man's breath. "Letting you touch me is being nice, is it?" she challenged, raising her eyebrows. "Bugger off, or I'll have Tony toss you out."

Sophie honestly had no idea why Beck insisted on trying his luck with her every other week. He had not succeeded since they were a couple for five minutes all those years ago. He had a casual girlfriend every so often, and whenever he mucked things up, he liked to try and get attention from Sophie.

He was a child, really, and he needed ego-stroking attention. Perhaps Sophie had been a child as well when she had been interested in him, but parenthood had made her grow up. It was a shame that it had not done the same for him.

"I like you even more when you're mean, Soph," Beck purred in Sophie's ear, and Sophie pushed him away.

She immediately caught the eye of Tony, who was on the door, and she waved him over. Tony made his way through the crowd and took Beck immediately by the upper arm.

"Hey!" he cried. "Hands off, mate! I'm just talking to her." Beck's thrashing about was no good for Tony's hulking frame, and he was promptly removed from the pub. His mates quickly followed after him, no doubt off to continue their night at another establishment.  

Sophie had the sudden need to wash her hands, and she darted around Pete's side of the bar and pumped some liquid soap into her hands.

"Gorgeous, as always, Sophie," Pete complimented as he added tonic and a lemon wedge to a glass of gin. "That painter I was talking to before is not gay unfortunately, so if you still wanted a quick shag, I could definitely arrange that. You probably need it."

"Do you know, Pete? Discussing my sex life in any other work environment would probably be classed as sexual harassment," Sophie informed him casually, quietly praying that nobody had overheard him.

Pete laughed. "I look out for my girls, don't I?" He elbowed her playfully.

"You listen here, Peter," Sophie said firmly. "I do not want a shag, quick or otherwise." She tapped the side of his face in a playful slap, and Pete grinned. "What you can do for me, however, is let me work weekends."

Pete frowned. "Weekends? You want to work seven days a week? You're not struggling are you, Sophie?"

Struggling? Always. "Maddie's got to have some appointments which are going to cost me a bit, so I need some extra hours. Do you think you could manage?" she asked hopefully.

"For you, anything." He nodded. "I can only give you the nights, though. You know Holly and Amy work the extra day shifts on weekends."

"That's perfect," Sophie replied gratefully. "You're an angel, thank you."

At least that was a weight off of her shoulders. Stressing about finding an extra eighty quid a week would hurt a little less now.

***

Though Sophie usually worked until ten, as it was a Friday night, and they were indeed very busy, Pete begged her to stay. Sophie settled Maddie in the backroom, and she was fast asleep on the sofa, and so Sophie was able to work until midnight.

Although still technically open, the customers had thinned, and those who had been to the theatre had had their after-show drink and had gone home.

There were still a few men at the bar, and Pete was seeing to them as Sophie, Holly and Amy cleaned the floor.

With a cloth and spray in hand, Sophie was wiping down all the tables free from sticky alcohol and food crumbs. Holly was sweeping, and Amy was coming along behind them with the mop.

"I'm going to shoot my shot," Amy decided, her eyes on Noah.

Sophie looked up at Noah, and he was slouched over his phone at the piano, texting someone. She did want to speak to him before she went home, but it seemed Amy was going to get there first.

"What are you going to do?" Holly asked. "If you're bringing him home, can you please be quiet. Babes, I need some sleep."

Amy grinned and winked at her friend. "I'm just going to give him my Snapchat and grab his," she said innocently. Amy began to sashay her way over to Noah, taking her phone out of her back pocket.

Sophie and Holly stood together as they watched the exchange, though they were standing too far away to hear what they were saying.

"Quite cute though, right?" Holly asked Sophie. "An American and an Australian coming together in our city."

Sophie frowned and rolled her eyes with a smirk. "It's Snapchat, Holly, not a marriage proposal."

"But it's modern dating, innit?" Holly continued. "I'll more likely meet my future husband on Tinder than I will at a coffee shop."

"How are you going at meeting husbands on Tinder, Holly?" Sophie asked rhetorically.

Holly poked her tongue out. "Pretty, but dumb, seems to be my type." She laughed.

Amy turned away from Noah, and by the look on her face, she was disappointed. Amy came back over to Sophie and Holly and sighed in an annoyed tone.

"Babes, what happened?" Holly asked, concerned.

"Well, he is really nice, and really good looking, but I think he's a bit of a dinosaur," Amy complained.

"What?" both Sophie and Holly asked at the same time.

"I asked for his Snapchat, and he just looked at me, dumbfounded, and replied, "I'm twenty-nine"," Amy continued.

A snort escaped Sophie as she burst into a fit of giggles. Holly was no far behind as she clutched her sides laughing.

"It's not funny!" hissed Amy as she blushed a deep red.

Sophie and Holly tried their best to contain their amusement, but they still couldn't help but take the mickey our of poor Amy.

***

As the clock hit half-past twelve, Sophie was well and truly done and exhausted.

Holly and Amy said their goodbyes, and Sophie remained behind to speak to Noah. As soon as he saw her approaching, he smiled. He had such a nice smile, too.

"Thank you for tonight," she said gratefully. "I didn't have a chance to speak to you earlier."

"No need to thank me. You were doing all the heavy lifting," he complimented. "Can I ask you a question, though?"

Sophie nodded.

Shaking his head, Noah asked, "What the hell are you doing in a place like this when you could be singing in a theatre just down the street?"

Sophie bashfully looked away. "That's awfully sweet of you to say," she said tentatively.

"Sophie, trust me when I say that I know what I'm talking about. I work with a lot of talented people, and you are talented."

"Well, I could say the same to you," she countered. "You are equally, if not more talented than me, and are performing here as well."

"My baggage is a whole other story. Seriously though, how are you this good, and singing here? Don't get me wrong, Pete is a nice guy, but ..."

"Well, she's about this tall," Sophie held her hand up to her rib cage, "strawberry blonde hair, brown eyes, answers to 'Maddie' ..."

"Oh," realised Noah.

Sophie shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a mum, and that means that some of my once upon a dreams are put up on the shelf. Of course, I wanted to be a stage actress when I was younger. I even studied it for a little while, but Maddie became my priority, and I don't regret it. Besides, thanks to you, I still get to sing my favourite theatre songs."

Noah grinned. "Well, I'll do my best for you. I mean it, though, Sophie. You are very talented."

"So are you."

"You aren't very good at taking compliments, are you?" Noah observed.

Sophie flushed once more. "I suppose not. I'd better get Maddie home, though. Trains are fewer at this time of night."

"Train?" repeated Noah. "You're still taking the train at this time of night?"

"It's fine," promised Sophie. "I only have to change once from the Piccadilly to the District Line. Takes us to Gunnersbury where we live."

Noah blinked. "I'll pretend I know what that means. Will you let me pay for a cab?"

Sophie vehemently shook her head. "Goodnight, Noah. I'll see you tomorrow."

Just as Sophie turned away, Noah stopped her, jumping off of the stage and placing his hand on her shoulder. "

"What about your number?" he asked. "Would you at least text me when you get home? I know we don't really know each other that well, but ... I make my sister do the same thing whenever she goes anywhere," he explained.

Sophie considered it for a moment before she nodded. She could see the genuine concern for her safety, and she did sincerely appreciate it. "Alright," she agreed. "Are you sure you don't want my Snapchat?"

Noah practically choked on the air that he sucked in as he laughed, shaking his head. Sophie grinned as well. "Oh, I felt really bad," he replied. "My sister's a middle school teacher, and all her kids are on Snapchat, so I just think it's weird for a guy my age to be on that sort of thing. Tally thinks I should be on Instagram, but I have never even taken a selfie in my life."

Amy was right. Poor Noah was a dinosaur, and Sophie found that really endearing.

"Give me your phone," Sophie instructed. "We'll take your first one."

Noah pulled his phone out and gave it to Sophie. A split-second look at the photo on his background showed her three similar looking women, all beautiful and smiling.

"Are they your sisters?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah," Noah confirmed. "All older, though Tally is only older by three minutes. She claims it though," he chuckled. "That's Tally," he pointed to the woman in the middle. Tally's hair was short, and bleached, and she had the same sort of smile Noah did; one that reached her eyes. "Casey is the middle child," he pointed to the sister on the left, with long, brown hair. "And Haley is the oldest." He pointed to the sister on the right. Like Tally, her hair was bleached, but she wore it longer, to her collar bones, and styled in beachy waves.

"I'm an only child. I always wanted sisters," Sophie said wistfully.

"Meet mine and you'll change your mind," he said decidedly, though with a humorous smile on his face.

Sophie giggled and tapped on his camera app, switching it to front camera. She almost changed her mind as she got a view of her face, but she was doing it for Noah. "Alright, smile!" she instructed, holding out her arms to the highest she could reach so that Noah could crouch into the photo.

Noah ducked into frame, and they both smiled, Sophie tapping on the screen to capture the picture. Sophie brought the picture back up and frowned as she looked at herself.

Her mother's comments rung in her mind as she looked at her uneven skin, and shadows, and untidy hair.

"Well, you look nice. I look dreadful. Delete it," she instructed.

Noah snatched his phone away. "Nope," he teased. "That's my first selfie. I'll treasure it. Might just make an Instagram now for the specific purpose of posting it."

Sophie's eyes flared. "You do that and I will hurt you!" she exclaimed, reaching for his phone. All Noah had to do was hold his arm up in the air for Sophie to be jumping for it like an idiot.

Noah laughed teasingly. "I won't post it, don't worry. Can I still have your number? I want to make this your contact picture."

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Hope you enjoyed it!

If you're at all curious about what Memory sounds like on the piano, check out the video above!

It literally feels SO strange to even type the word 'phone' in my stories because I'm so used to historical. Even though I live on my phone 24/7 hahaha

Memory and Don't Cry for Me Argentina are my car theatre songs. Those come on in my car and I am freakin belting them out like the drama queen I am hahaha

I meant to take the night off last night but ended up staying up until two planning this story out. I already had my overview planned on how the plot will go, but I like planning each of my chapters, like I will have:

8.

*insert summary of what will happen*

9.

*insert summary of what will happen*

etc. And then as I write the chapters I delete the summaries. I got up to chapter 28 and I needed to sleep haha. Spoiler, there will be at least 28 chapters.

A little insight. Probably extremely boring lol.

Vote and comment!! I should got to bed but I'll probably spend the next hour on TikTok because I'm not like Noah and I shamelessly use all the social media apps the kids do oops