Jennifer and Kim walked into a club in downtown Melbourne. There was a band playing country music. Being from Tennessee, they were both a bit excited to hear something to remind them of home after a week of sightseeing. Kim immediately noticed the guy singing in the band and pointed him out as being “cute” to Jennifer before heading out on the dance floor to try to catch his attention. Jennifer just laughed and made her way to the bar to get a drink. There was no such thing as a drinking age in Melbourne. Jennifer asked the bartender for something “sweet and fruity.” He smiled and made her a drink. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she knew she liked it. It tasted a lot like lemonade, but with a little kick. She had seen him put some rum into the glass. She made a mental note that rum was sweet. She made her way to a table near the stage and made sure Kim could see her.
Kim was right. The singer was cute. He had a really great smile. And he kept smiling at Jennifer. He introduced himself as Keith Urban at the end of his set. During the break, Kim found her way to their table and let Jenn know that she was going to the bar to get a drink.
Keith watched the two of them for a few minutes. They were obviously good friends, but completely different. Especially the way they looked. The one who had been dancing was a pretty bleached blonde with brown eyes and lots of makeup. She was wearing jeans, boots and a tank top. No bra. Kinda sleazy for Keith’s tastes.
But the brown haired, blue eyed girl that had been at the table the whole time, she was more his type. She was wearing blue jeans, brown boots and a tank top . . . with a bra apparently and a white button down shirt over it like a jacket. He thought it amusing that they were dressed so similarly but put out two entirely different vibes. And the blonde was too thin for him. He liked his women to have curves and softness. The brunette didn’t really appear to have on much makeup. Perhaps a little blush? He couldn’t really tell. She had that peaches and cream complexion that people talked about when referring to girls from the States.
True, Keith had a girlfriend, but he didn’t think there would be any harm in flirting a bit with the brunette. He made his way to the table, pausing when she ran her fingers through the nearly waist length long hair. It was just slightly wavy, the way his mom’s would look after she left it braided overnight. He continued to walk up to her and whisper in her ear.
“So, are you enjoying my show tonight?”
She didn’t even jump. She didn’t even turn to look at him. She just smiled. “Actually, I really am.” She turned, then, to look at him. “You have a really great voice and you play that guitar amazingly. Do you write your own material?”
Keith smiled again and sat down next to her. “Yes, I do. And thanks. I’m Keith by the way.”
“I’m Jennifer. Nice to meet you,” she said, offering her hand to shake his.
He took her hand and smiled yet again. Did he know what that smile did to women? “Here we greet new friends with a kiss . . . ” he leaned over and touched his lips to her cheek. He could tell she was too shocked to respond. “On the cheek.”
She looked into his eyes and licked her lips before leaning over to lightly kiss his cheek in return.
“Do you play?” he asked.
“Guitar,” at his nod, she answered. “No, not yet. I’ve played piano for years. This fall I’ve got plans to take Beginning Guitar at school.”
“Maybe I could give you a few pointers to help you out a bit?”
She laughed. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not exactly from around here. It might be hard for you to give me lessons when I’m back home in the States.”
“My guess is that you’re from Tennessee actually.”
Her eyes got wide. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Well, people from Tennessee have a pretty distinct accent. And I was in Nashville last year working on getting a record deal. I’m planning to go back as soon as I can.”
“I’m from Franklin, Tennessee. That’s just a bit south of Nashville. If you come back to Nashville you should look me up. I hope you do well.”
“Thanks. So what’s got you so far from home?”
“Me and my friend, Kim, decided to take a summer vacation before we start college this fall.”
“So you’re 17 or 18?”
“18. You?”
“22.” He paused and tossed his head a bit to get his bangs from out of his eyes. “So why Australia?”
“I’m not sure if we did it just to be different or what. But so far it’s been great. The people are so friendly!” she said laughing.
Keith noticed someone had started the jukebox. “So can I get you to dance with me, Jennifer?”
She actually blushed. He couldn’t believe it. “I would, but I’m afraid I don’t really know how to dance.”
He wasn’t about to let her off that easily. “I’ll teach you,” he said as he pulled her by the hand out onto the dance floor. He showed her a few simple steps and then started a two step with her. She smiled when she saw Kim back at the table with a beer, toasting her. She had a great time. She was laughing at Keith and herself. They were both having so much fun. He danced one slow dance with her and he knew that there was no way he could just let her leave that night. He really liked her. Even if he could only be friends, he wanted at least that much from her.
He finally reluctantly headed back to the stage to do his second set. Jennifer got the third degree from Kim upon returning to their table. Kim convinced Jenn to get out on the dance floor and dance to a couple of Keith’s songs.
By the end of the night, Jenn had had a great time. Kim was a bit on the drunk side. Their hotel was about six blocks away, so they were walking back. Some jerk at the bar was following them. He kept yelling for Kim to come home with him. She kept telling him to go away and leave her alone, but like a typical drunk, he wasn’t listening to her. By the time he caught up with them, Jenn was pissed. Kim was too drunk to be scared. The guy came up and grabbed Kim by the arm. Before she or Jenn could do anything, Keith was there and had shoved the guy away from her and up against a nearby wall, stunning him.
“Leave these girls alone,” Keith told the guy firmly. The guy made no move to come after him, so Keith started walking away with Kim and Jennifer.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Well, we are going to our hotel room to get some sleep. I’m not sure where you’re going. But thanks for getting rid of that creep,” Jenn said.
“He was just drunk and not thinking clearly. . .and you’re welcome. I couldn’t let anything happen to my newest friends could I?” he said smiling at her again.
Just then, the drunk came running up from behind them and shoved Keith. He nearly fell but caught himself just in time. As he turned around to face his attacker, he stepped on a rock and fell, hitting his elbow on the pavement. The drunk was eyeballing Kim.
“You want some of that?” Jenn asked the guy. He nodded drunkenly. “Well, I tell you what big boy. You get through me and you can have that. Have we got a deal?” The guy agreed to the deal and moved to grab Jenn. She appeared to let him grab her and then proceeded to flip him over her shoulder and throw him back over to the wall. He was lying on the ground moaning while Jenn helped Keith up and they all quickly walked back to the hotel.