Second Best
Sep. 8th, 2006 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zarahemlatitle: second best
author: zara hemla
fandom: the office (us)
summary: Kevin/Meredith, for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
office_romances. appx. 1200 words.
[note: I made up names for Kevin's bandmates since I don't know what they are at this point. Also, John Bonham (of course) was Led Zeppelin's drummer until his death in 1980.]
second best
Pam's wedding goes off without a hitch, and Kevin is sure that she looked very nice, but he'd been too worried about his own performance to really notice what she'd worn. After she spent four months planning the wedding, it stands to reason that she'd look nice. What does it take, after all? A white dress and some crepe paper and cake. What makes or breaks a wedding is the quality of the band, and lucky for her, Scrantonicity is a quality band.
He'd lost count of how many times he thanked Roy for letting them play. It was enough times that Roy finally told him to stop. But Kevin is sure that this will be the steppingstone to greatness. He'd watched "The Wedding Singer" about a hundred times, memorizing the charming lines of Robbie Hart, just in case. One never knows when one might run into a cute caterer. Of course, Kevin prefers the slutty sister to the sweetly innocent heroine of that movie. Innocence has its place, but innocents are not where the action's at.
But unfortunately, at Pam's wedding it seemed like most of the caterers were guys. Guess there won't be any post-wedding hotel room booked, which makes Kevin sad, like he'd had a fantasy built up in his head about what playing a wedding would be like. Oh, well. At least he'd drummed like a maniac, laying down beats that would have made John Bonham cry like a little girl. And when they'd done the cover of "Hey Ya," even Angela had gotten up and danced a little. Michael, of course, had been whirling around the floor like a madman, and everyone had given him a wide berth. In Michael's case, open bar is never a good idea. You'd think Pam would have learned from the Dundies.
Roy had picked the bride & groom's song, and he'd chosen a Tim McGraw song called "It's Your Love." Kevin had tried to talk him out of it diplomatically, but Roy wouldn't be budged. "We danced to it on our second date," he'd said stubbornly. "Pam'll love it." And so Kevin found himself, for the first time, learning to play country music. It had turned out okay, even if Pam had not seemed to know why they were playing it. She'd looked confused when Roy pulled her out on the floor, but as the song continued, she'd put her arms around Roy's neck and her head on his shoulder, so that was okay.
And the cake had been all right, not vanilla or chocolate but some kind of weird raspberry-strawberry thing, but whatever, it was cake, and Kevin had about five pieces, with a pile of the home-made chocolates that sat daintily on little glass plates on each table. Kevin had eaten about three tables-worth before Ricky, his bassist, had come over and pointed out that the band wasn't supposed to eat until after the event.
"We get what's left, you know," Ricky'd said, and then grinned and stolen a piece of chocolate. "Mmmm, nice," and then another.
"Dude, go get your own," Kevin'd said without heat, and shooed him away. Later, after the set was over and the happy couple was about to go get in their car for their glamorous Philly honeymoon, Pam had come over and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you so much," she'd said. Her face was flushed and her eyes sparkled happily, and Kevin had had the unwelcome thought that maybe innocence wasn't so bad after all. He'd smiled and patted her hand. "Tell all your friends," he'd said, and she'd nodded.
Then Scrantonicity played for a little longer, but people left mostly after that, and the cleanup folks started coming and picking up after the tables. They're taking the food into the kitchen in back, so Kevin's bandmates make their way back to see if they can score some ham rolls or champagne. Kevin goes back too, but he can only eat a couple rolls before he's full. He just can't eat like he used to be able to, when he was seventeen and could pack away three and a half pizzas.
"I'm gonna go pack up my set," he says to Martin, and Martin nods with a mouthful of cake. Martin's a real peach of a guy, and it was so lucky that he'd taken over after that stupid kid from Dupont stopped coming to rehearsal.
He makes his way out to the ballroom again, but when he gets to the doorway, he stops short, because Meredith is sitting at Martin's precious Wurlitzer digital piano, and she's playing jazz. Well, the Maple Leaf Rag, to be precise, so it's actually ragtime, but she's not missing a note. Her face is half-shadowed by a misplaced spotlight, and her pale green dress glitters with beading. Kevin hadn't even known she was at the wedding, and if he'd known, he'd have assumed she was at the bar. In fact, he can see the outline of a bottle sitting on the Wurlitzer. Martin would have kittens if he saw it.
Kevin starts forward to tell her to get away from the piano, but he can't make himself do it. She's stopped playing Joplin and started something else, and when she starts singing "Always On My Mind," it's so full of hurt and unhappiness that he has to hold the doorframe because his knees go weak. She has the voice of a torch singer, and it's almost a cliché, given how much she drinks. She blows Scrantonicity's lead singer, Maryanne, out of the water. She sounds like Joan Baez. How did he not know about this? How did he not know?
The caterers clean up quietly and don't seem to bother her, as she finishes the song and then sits perfectly still, her head bowed, her left hand picking at the bass clef. The ballroom has such good acoustics that Kevin can hear her crying softly onto the keys. He stands there, absolutely unable to speak, and then her son materializes out of the kitchen. The kid gives Kevin a look and says, "You perv," and then he goes up to his mother.
"Come on, mom, you're making an idiot out of yourself," he says with the typical bluntness of a child, and easily gets her up and off the bench. As she stands, she sees Kevin standing in the doorway with his mouth open, and she swipes at her face and gives him a horrified look.
"I'm -- I'm sorry," he says lamely, unable to fathom what Robbie Hart would have said in the situation. "You play so beautifully, Meredith."
She mumbles something, still swiping at her eyes, and the kid looks at him balefully. "Don't worry," he says. "She won't remember any of this tomorrow. So just keep your cakehole shut about it."
"Yeah sure, of course, yeah," he says, feeling like he's in an alternate universe or something. Meredith and the boy leave, and he hurries up to make sure there isn't a bottle ring on the Wurlitzer. He grabs a fancy napkin and swipes away at the keys too, because he doesn't want Martin to find them wet. There are tears on his fingers, but he tries not to think about it.
--end--
author: zara hemla
fandom: the office (us)
summary: Kevin/Meredith, for
office_romances. appx. 1200 words.[note: I made up names for Kevin's bandmates since I don't know what they are at this point. Also, John Bonham (of course) was Led Zeppelin's drummer until his death in 1980.]
second best
Pam's wedding goes off without a hitch, and Kevin is sure that she looked very nice, but he'd been too worried about his own performance to really notice what she'd worn. After she spent four months planning the wedding, it stands to reason that she'd look nice. What does it take, after all? A white dress and some crepe paper and cake. What makes or breaks a wedding is the quality of the band, and lucky for her, Scrantonicity is a quality band.
He'd lost count of how many times he thanked Roy for letting them play. It was enough times that Roy finally told him to stop. But Kevin is sure that this will be the steppingstone to greatness. He'd watched "The Wedding Singer" about a hundred times, memorizing the charming lines of Robbie Hart, just in case. One never knows when one might run into a cute caterer. Of course, Kevin prefers the slutty sister to the sweetly innocent heroine of that movie. Innocence has its place, but innocents are not where the action's at.
But unfortunately, at Pam's wedding it seemed like most of the caterers were guys. Guess there won't be any post-wedding hotel room booked, which makes Kevin sad, like he'd had a fantasy built up in his head about what playing a wedding would be like. Oh, well. At least he'd drummed like a maniac, laying down beats that would have made John Bonham cry like a little girl. And when they'd done the cover of "Hey Ya," even Angela had gotten up and danced a little. Michael, of course, had been whirling around the floor like a madman, and everyone had given him a wide berth. In Michael's case, open bar is never a good idea. You'd think Pam would have learned from the Dundies.
Roy had picked the bride & groom's song, and he'd chosen a Tim McGraw song called "It's Your Love." Kevin had tried to talk him out of it diplomatically, but Roy wouldn't be budged. "We danced to it on our second date," he'd said stubbornly. "Pam'll love it." And so Kevin found himself, for the first time, learning to play country music. It had turned out okay, even if Pam had not seemed to know why they were playing it. She'd looked confused when Roy pulled her out on the floor, but as the song continued, she'd put her arms around Roy's neck and her head on his shoulder, so that was okay.
And the cake had been all right, not vanilla or chocolate but some kind of weird raspberry-strawberry thing, but whatever, it was cake, and Kevin had about five pieces, with a pile of the home-made chocolates that sat daintily on little glass plates on each table. Kevin had eaten about three tables-worth before Ricky, his bassist, had come over and pointed out that the band wasn't supposed to eat until after the event.
"We get what's left, you know," Ricky'd said, and then grinned and stolen a piece of chocolate. "Mmmm, nice," and then another.
"Dude, go get your own," Kevin'd said without heat, and shooed him away. Later, after the set was over and the happy couple was about to go get in their car for their glamorous Philly honeymoon, Pam had come over and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you so much," she'd said. Her face was flushed and her eyes sparkled happily, and Kevin had had the unwelcome thought that maybe innocence wasn't so bad after all. He'd smiled and patted her hand. "Tell all your friends," he'd said, and she'd nodded.
Then Scrantonicity played for a little longer, but people left mostly after that, and the cleanup folks started coming and picking up after the tables. They're taking the food into the kitchen in back, so Kevin's bandmates make their way back to see if they can score some ham rolls or champagne. Kevin goes back too, but he can only eat a couple rolls before he's full. He just can't eat like he used to be able to, when he was seventeen and could pack away three and a half pizzas.
"I'm gonna go pack up my set," he says to Martin, and Martin nods with a mouthful of cake. Martin's a real peach of a guy, and it was so lucky that he'd taken over after that stupid kid from Dupont stopped coming to rehearsal.
He makes his way out to the ballroom again, but when he gets to the doorway, he stops short, because Meredith is sitting at Martin's precious Wurlitzer digital piano, and she's playing jazz. Well, the Maple Leaf Rag, to be precise, so it's actually ragtime, but she's not missing a note. Her face is half-shadowed by a misplaced spotlight, and her pale green dress glitters with beading. Kevin hadn't even known she was at the wedding, and if he'd known, he'd have assumed she was at the bar. In fact, he can see the outline of a bottle sitting on the Wurlitzer. Martin would have kittens if he saw it.
Kevin starts forward to tell her to get away from the piano, but he can't make himself do it. She's stopped playing Joplin and started something else, and when she starts singing "Always On My Mind," it's so full of hurt and unhappiness that he has to hold the doorframe because his knees go weak. She has the voice of a torch singer, and it's almost a cliché, given how much she drinks. She blows Scrantonicity's lead singer, Maryanne, out of the water. She sounds like Joan Baez. How did he not know about this? How did he not know?
The caterers clean up quietly and don't seem to bother her, as she finishes the song and then sits perfectly still, her head bowed, her left hand picking at the bass clef. The ballroom has such good acoustics that Kevin can hear her crying softly onto the keys. He stands there, absolutely unable to speak, and then her son materializes out of the kitchen. The kid gives Kevin a look and says, "You perv," and then he goes up to his mother.
"Come on, mom, you're making an idiot out of yourself," he says with the typical bluntness of a child, and easily gets her up and off the bench. As she stands, she sees Kevin standing in the doorway with his mouth open, and she swipes at her face and gives him a horrified look.
"I'm -- I'm sorry," he says lamely, unable to fathom what Robbie Hart would have said in the situation. "You play so beautifully, Meredith."
She mumbles something, still swiping at her eyes, and the kid looks at him balefully. "Don't worry," he says. "She won't remember any of this tomorrow. So just keep your cakehole shut about it."
"Yeah sure, of course, yeah," he says, feeling like he's in an alternate universe or something. Meredith and the boy leave, and he hurries up to make sure there isn't a bottle ring on the Wurlitzer. He grabs a fancy napkin and swipes away at the keys too, because he doesn't want Martin to find them wet. There are tears on his fingers, but he tries not to think about it.
--end--
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Date: 2006-09-09 05:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-09 05:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-09 06:13 pm (UTC)Loved this.
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Date: 2006-09-09 06:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-09 06:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-10 02:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-10 04:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-10 03:17 pm (UTC)