@kingdonmicrofic day 6: laughter | 500 words
Mel has a stupid, loud, obnoxious laugh.
She knows this. Her family knows, her friends know, and now, much to her chagrin, so does the crowd at The Punchline.
She was practiced in the art of hiding her real laugh. She’d perfected huffing it through her nose, pressing her lips together tightly, letting it out as a quiet little snort.
And yet, as she sat watching the dark-haired man on stage, she couldn’t seem to keep herself together. One particularly hilarious quip made a laugh burst straight from her belly, and Mel slapped her hand over her mouth a second too late.
Frank stopped mid-step, turned toward her and squinted into the lights. “Okay,” he said. “I need to know who that was, like immediately.”
Mel froze. Trinity, traitor that she was, turned her entire body toward her. Frank followed the movement and pointed. “Cutie in the glasses, second row. Was that you?”
She stared, wide-eyed, hand still covering her mouth. That was answer enough for him.
“I like that.” He grinned. Mel couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. “That was honest. Everyone else here is doing polite little hostage laughs.”
A laugh rolled through the room, and Frank nodded like it proved his point. “But not you,” he said, his eyes impossibly blue as they met hers. “You meant that shit.”
Mel felt a flush creep up her neck.
“And hey, I appreciate that,” he said. “I am up here for purely narcissistic reasons, and making a pretty girl laugh like that is one of them.”
Mel smiled before she could stop herself, bright and stupid and completely involuntary, and Frank’s grin tugged wider.
“Anyway,” he said, turning back to the room. “We were talking about my divorce, I think. Right?”
The crowd laughed, and Mel did too, but this time she caught it before it could fully escape.
Frank stopped again. “Oh, now we have a problem.” He looked at her, pouting. “You’re holding it in - that’s mean. That’s like taking a tip back out of the jar.”
Mel sank into her chair, her face burning. Frank paced a few steps, shaking his head.
“No, it’s fine. I like a challenge. This is good for me.” He glanced back at her, his grin turning sharper. “Now I’m going to work for it.”
Trinity made a strangled sound beside her, enjoying this far too much.
“That’s my goal for the rest of the night,” Frank said. “I don’t care what happens to the rest of you. I hope you all have a medium time. But her?” He pointed at Mel again. “I’m getting that laugh back.”
Mel dropped her face into her hands as the room erupted.
After the show, Trinity bullied her into having one more drink. Mel had barely taken the first sip when a folded napkin slid beside her glass - she looked up just in time to see Frank pass behind her chair.
Written on it, underneath his number:
Next time, no crowd ;)
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