As they drove to the bar, they discussed possible songs they might sing when Katie had a thought. "You know, we might actually run into some people we know tonight. They definitely won't recognize you..."
"I hope," Joan interrupted.
"Oh, no chance of that. Trust me," Katie reassured him. "But if we run into someone we know, let's get our stories straight. We can say we went to college together. Should we give you a different last name?"
"Yeah. If people hear my last name and see the resemblance, they might think I'm my sister and wonder why I was never mentioned or something like that. It would be easier to just say I'm a totally different person. Let's use my grandmother's last name. I'll be Joan Miller."
Katie nodded. "Joan Miller. That sounds nice. Okay. So when I'm talking about you, I should probably use 'she/her' pronouns, right?"
"Yeah," Joan confirmed. "Although I still personally feel like a guy, despite my outward appearance, and feel like 'he/him' is who I am on the inside. At least using 'she' and 'her' to others in public won't raise any suspicions."
Katie and Joan pulled up outside Murphy's Pub. It was your stereotypical Irish pub located on the main street of town just beyond the downtown area. After parking, they walked in the front door. As they entered, a couple guys at the bar glanced over at them and went back to their drinks. Karaoke had already started and a man in his mid-forties was belting out Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run"...poorly. They decided to head to the bar and take two stools around the corner at the end which gave them a clear view of the rest of the bar and allowed them to turn and see the people singing without having to turn around 180 degrees.
Barely a moment had passed before the bartender came over. "Hey Katie, nice haircut. Who's your friend?"
"Thanks, Danny. This is my friend Joan. He's...uh, she's a friend from college." Katie eyed Joan with a grin.
Danny held out his hand. "Any friend of Katie is a friend of mine. Pleasure to meet you, Joan." They shook hands. "What can I get you two?"
"I'd like a Long Island iced tea," requested Joan.
Katie added, "And I'll have a Midori sour."
Danny looked at Joan. "Great, I'll need to see your ID."
Joan's mouth hung open and she looked at Katie. Katie looked at Joan. Joan looked down and reached for her purse. "Uh..."
Danny slapped the bar. "Just kidding! If you were in college with Katie, then I know you're over 21. Long Isle and Midori comin' right up." He walked off to start mixing the drinks.
Joan breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, man... I wasn't sure what I was going to do if he really wanted to see my ID."
"I guess you could have said you forgot it and order a Coke? I was about to give Danny a hard time," Katie admitted with a smile.
"So you ordered a Long Island iced tea? I know that's your usual mixed drink, but don't you think it might be a bit potent for you now?"
Joan shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. I'll pace myself." He looked at Danny. "I don't think Danny recognized me at all."
"No, definitely not. Why would he? Worst case, he might believe you're your own sister or something. See? I told you that you had nothing to worry about. Have fun! Enjoy seeing what life is like from the other side."
Joan nodded her head toward the two guys halfway down the bar who looked at them when they walked in. "Speaking of 'the other side', those two guys over there won't stop looking at us." Joan tried not to make eye contact.
Katie turned and looked. Spotting the guys looking back at her, she smiled and gave a small wave before looking back at Joan. "Yep, they're watching us."
"Why did you wave?" Joan was exasperated. "You're just giving them an invitation to come over here! You promised to keep guys away from me."
Katie corrected them. "I actually promised to help you fend off any guys. I didn't promise to ignore them or be rude to them."
Joan rolled her eyes back and looked up at the ceiling. "Ugh!" She she looked back at Katie, she had a big smile on her face and chuckled. This made Joan smile and chuckle too. "Oh well."
Katie noticed how Joan was sitting on the stool. She slapped his legs with the back of her hand. "Hey! Keep your legs together!"
Joan looked down and quickly put his legs together. "Oops! Thanks! Not used to wearing a skirt."
Danny came back with their drinks and they started sipping. Katie reached over to the corner of the bar and grabbed one of the notebooks filled with the songs available at Karaoke. "So what do you feel like singing?"
They flipped through the book as a few other people went up to sing. Eventually, Katie settled on Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone". Joan, going for irony, picked Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!". Katie turned in their slips to get in the singer queue. Luckily for them, this karaoke DJ prioritized new singers over any repeat performers, so they hoped they wouldn't have to wait too long.
A couple minutes after Katie got back to the bar, Joan noticed the guys who were looking at them earlier get up and start walking in their direction. Joan looked down at her lap. "Oh, shit. Here come those guys who were looking at us."
The two men walked up. They were dressed in polo shirts and casual khaki pants as if they had come to the bar straight from work. "Hi, we couldn't help notice you from across the bar and thought we'd come introduce ourselves. I'm Stan."
"...and I'm Jason," spoke the other guy.
"Hey guys, I'm Katie and this is my friend Joan."
Joan gave a small wave, but said nothing. He wasn't interested and was wondering how fast they could get rid of these guys.
"So, you girls gonna sing tonight?" asked Jason.
Katie nodded. "Yeah, that's why we came. Not going to spoil the surprise and tell you what we're singing though."
"Oh, of course," said Stan with a chuckle. "I don't suppose either of you would want to do a duet with me?"
Joan replied with a curt "No thanks."
Katie decided to be a little more tactful. "Yeah, I think we're going to stick with solo songs for now. Thanks though."
"Well, can we at least get you a refill on your drinks?" asked Jason.
Joan looked at her Long Island iced tea which she had hardly touched yet. "I already have a drink."
"I'll get you another," offered Jason. "You'll need another eventually."
Joan tried to object, but Jason was already trying to flag down Danny when Stan changed the topic. "So are you two from around here?"
"Yes," replied Katie. "I'm actually here fairly often."
"Yeah," Joan added. "She comes here with her boyfriend!"
Stan nodded. "Oh. Cool. He's not here tonight though, is he?"
Joan was staring daggers at Stan. "Yeah. He is." Joan really hoped Stan would take a hint. Katie glanced over at Joan and winked. Joan flashed a smile in return.
Jason put his arm on the edge of the bar beside Joan. "How about you? Is your boyfriend here?"
"Oh, don't worry about that, I don't have a boyfriend," revealed Joan. "I'm into girls." He winked at Katie and blew her a kiss.
Jason grinned. "Nice. I'm a big LGBTQ supporter myself...especially the 'B' part if you catch my meaning. How about you?"
"I think the only 'B' you'll find here is short for 'Barking-up-the-wrong-tree'," Joan retorted.
Danny walked up to their end of the bar and looked at Jason. "Yeah? What can I get ya?"
"Uh..." He glanced at Katie and Joan before looking back at Danny. "Get these two another drink and put it on our tab." He looked at Katie and Joan. "Ladies. It's been a pleasure to make your acquaintance. We look forward to hearing your songs." With that, he walked back to his seat across the bar and Stan followed.
"So is that what it's like to be hit on as a woman?" asked Joan.
Katie nodded slowly. "Every time is different, but yeah. Usually something pathetic like that."
"Well then, I'm glad we've known each other since high school because I don't think I'd ever be successful picking someone up at a bar."
"I'm glad we bumped into each other after college and decided to catch up over dinner." Katie reached over and touched Joan's hand. "If you hadn't gone to the grocery store that day, who knows how things would have played out."
Joan recalled "We wouldn't have gone to dinner. We wouldn't have decided to meet up again to go hiking that weekend. I'd probably be a sad sack sitting across the bar having just hit on a girl who has a boyfriend or her lesbian friend."
Katie laughed. "...but we did meet up. Yadda yadda yadda... Now you're a smokin' hot woman wearing a skirt at that bar getting hit on by sad sacks."
It wasn't long before Katie's name was called for karaoke. Joan had seen Katie sing "Since U Been Gone" before. It was her go-to song which she'd usually do first as a warm-up. As always, it was well received by the crowd. Joan noticed that Jason and Stan cheered for her as well.
Joan was up next. He took a big drink of his Long Island iced tea before walking up to the microphone. He high-fived Katie on his way up as she returned to her seat. Joan's performance of "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and started off somewhat reserved, but slowly got into it. By the end of the song, he was not only singing but doing a whole dance with lots of body movement. As the song ended and he sang the final line, the bar applauded. Katie jumped off her stool and clapped while jumping up and down and cheering. From the karaoke area, Joan could see Stan and Jason applauding as well. Joan returned to his seat.
Katie wasted no time in complimenting him. "Wow, that was great! You really got into it too! I liked how you used your free hand to emphasize parts of your body mentioned in the song."
"Thanks, yeah. I dunno. Maybe the drink lowered my inhibitions. I had fun with it. Yours was great too, as always. I love it when you sing that song. I think of you whenever I hear it."
Katie smiled. "I guess it's kind of my signature song now, huh?" Katie slid over the song book. "Want to do another song? We should have plenty of time before we need to go."