Kevin didn’t seem surprised that I knew who he was. Who could blame him? I was surprised he wasn’t being swarmed by eight year olds and obsessed teens even as he uttered his name.
But just as he didn’t seem surprised, it wasn’t as it he was gloating. Or as if an ego surrounded him.
“You did a very good job playing.”
I couldn’t help but smile ear to ear. When a compliment like that came from someone like him, it made it even more special. “Um... thanks.” Then another question came to my mind. “How come you weren’t up there performing? This crowd is probably nothing to you.”
“I’m not here as a musician. More as... a businessman.”
“Oh,” I smiled and nodded slightly, not that I had any clue as to what he was talking about.
“So, I guess I’ll get right down to it.” He seemed like the kind of person that would cut to the chase. “We’re going on tour in a few months. We need an opening act.”
I nodded still.
Kevin smiled, as if he was laughing at me. As if I didn’t get something. “Would you be interested?”
My breath got caught in my throat. I felt exactly like I had when I found out I’d be doing an on the spot performance.
“What? Opening act? Just like that?”
Kevin laughed. “No, not just like that. This isn’t the fantasy realm or anything. I’ve only seen you perform for two minutes. That doesn’t give me nearly enough information to know if you could handle a tour. Or if you’d even be interested. But, we are having auditions. I’ve been scouting around clubs in the area. The record company has picked some choices, but I wanted to add in other people. I feel blessed that I got the opportunity to become a musician, to do this for a living. And I wanted to give someone else that opportunity. Not just those who may or may not be talented that have the money to get Jive’s attention or people who seek fame... I wanted someone who’d play for the sake of playing,” he said, eloquently. Maybe it was his Kentucky roots, but he took his time getting out what he wanted to say. Assuming that he could hold someone’s attention no matter how slowly he spoke.
I didn’t know about the rest of the time, but I was sure hanging on every word. Not believing this.
“So you’ve just been going to places like this as like a talent search?”
“Yeah... anyway... here’s all the information you need for the audition. If you’re interested, show up.” He extended his hand.
I shook it.
“It was nice meeting you,” he smiled again.
“... you, too,” I managed a smile back.
Carmen came back as he let go of my hand. He nodded at her and then headed for the door.
“Who was that?” she raised her eyebrows.
I looked at her incredulously. “Ever heard of the Backstreet Boys?”
“Oh, yeah. Justin Timberlake and those other four guys...”
I laughed. “Yeah, that’s it." I rolled my eyes. "Let’s go.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“So I’m not sure...” I sighed.
“What do you mean you’re not sure? This is such a huge opportunity! If you didn’t go, you’d regret it!” Carmen said. We were sitting in the living room of her family’s house in Orlando. The place was ours for the summer. Sunlight was streaming through the window.
“How do you know? Even if I went, it’s not like I’d get the spot... and I was freaking out about playing in front of thirty people at that place we were last night. How do you think I’d deal with the kind of audiences the Backstreet Boys play for?”
Carmen shrugged. “You’d adapt.”
“You just want me to go, so you can come with me and you can see Kevin again because you thought he was hot!”
“What can I say? That boy is fine.”
“And also a little old for you. The man’s pushing thirty I believe. And I’m not sure I could bring you anyway, you might embarrass me.”
“How?” Carmen demanded, hands on her hips.
“You’d go in singing ‘Bye Bye Bye’ and wanting to know where Justin was.”
“It was an honest mistake... who can tell the difference?”
“Everyone but you.”
“Look, hot guys aside, not everyone gets this opportunity. Do you really want to pass that up?”
I didn’t answer. I just sat on the couch. She was right. I hated to admit that. I was supposed to be the smart one.
She walked into the kitchen. I walked up the spiral staircase to the loft. Two twin beds were there, on opposite ends of the room. A huge window was between them with a comfy chair in front of it. I sat down, and stared at the small lake outside. It was beautiful here.
I tried to concentrate on that. But my mind kept wandering back to the audition. My stomach hurt just thinking about it.
‘It’s tomorrow,’ I thought. What was I going to play? I hadn’t practiced anything to the point that it was worthy of auditioning.
Well, what were the chances I’d make it? So why try out. Just to be able to say that I had an audition to play opening act for the Backstreet Boys. How many people could brag about that?
I walked back downstairs and found Carmen. “Got a piano?”
She smiled. “Yeah, yeah... but first, we’ve gotta pick out what you’re going to wear!”
“What? Shouldn’t it be more important that I don’t screw up and make a fool outta myself? That would be so embarrassing!”
“What would be embarrassing is if you did that wearing something that didn’t match... I mean, they’re going to want someone who can be presentable, right? Who’ll be good publicity. You said Kevin was a businessman. He wants someone that they can invest in. I mean, they want to know that you’ll look nice on your CD cover.”
“Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself?”
Carmen shook her head. “You have to plan for the future, after all.”
In the end, I agreed that I would at least listen to her wardrobe ideas after she helped me pick out what song to do.
“I’m not sure I should do something they’ve heard of... I mean ‘Thousand Miles’ is a good piano song, but lot’s of people can play that. The actual music isn’t too hard, either. It’s good for pleasing regular people, but whoever is listening to me tomorrow is going to be listening to the music itself, not the popularity...” I rambled on.
“What else can you play?” she asked, and I went through the songs I had learned by memory.
It took a little while. And we went through the pros and cons of everything.
“Any other options?”
“No... well,” I started playing the intro and the chorus.
“That’s it.”
“Huh? Why?”
“I just have a good feeling about it.”
“They’ve probably heard it,” I pointed out.
“So? Maybe not. And if so, not much. And besides, the range in that song is varied enough that they’ll be able to tell you’ve got skill. And it changes keys several times, that’ll get you bonus points. Not to mention the fact that I just like that song.”
“It is a somewhat difficult piece to play at certain points...”
“You know what this means?”
“Yeah, I finally know what I’ll play.”
“No... it means, we need to take a trip to closet a la Carmen!” she flashed a grin.
Chapter One
Chapter Three
Dreaming of Destiny
Frick's Fairytales