Page 43 of See Her

"Jack, calm down. What happened?" She steps sideways and I breeze inside, shucking my jacket like I can’t stand to have it on me anymore.

I swiftly turn and then falter, trying to settle my frenzied movements, lightly tossing my jacket on a chair as she sets the bat down by the door. "We met a guy after the show. He's from a music label, and he wants to have a meeting with us.”

"Oh my God,” Mayzie gasps, bringing a hand to her mouth. "Jack, are you serious?"

"I'm completely serious, although I'm not entirely sure I haven't lost my fucking mind. Maybe it was a dream, or maybe I'm insane.” I wave my hand as I start pacing. I’m so overwhelmed by this particular cocktail of excitement and nerves I don’t know what the fuck to do with myself. I stop and yank off my shirt, sending it to join my jacket.

Yeah, I’m staying the night.

"Wait a minute, some guy came up to me during your set,” Mayzie says, relaxing her stance, popping her knee out as her brow scrunches in thought.

I look up at her again. "Really?"

"Yeah, he asked me if you guys had a demo. I told him you did, and then he disappeared."

"That had to have been him, he asked for it almost immediately. Maybe this really did happen.” I shake my head, still in disbelief.

“Oh my God, Jack,” Mayzie starts adorably bouncing on her toes, unable to contain her smile.

“We probably shouldn’t get too excited,” I blink, trying to get my head on straight. “We could have this meeting with him and it could just end there.”

“Oh, baby, I doubt that.But even if you’re right, so what? This is a serious thing happening for you guys.A record label heard about you, liked you, and sought you out. That’s a big deal.”

My girl is forever the voice of reason, not to mention optimism.

“I just don’t want to get too high on hope and then be let down,” I admit on a heavy sigh, resting my hands on my hips.

A playful smile quirks her lips before she replies. “Well… that’s how we both felt aboutus… at one point,” she reminds me.

Well, if that doesn’t gut-check me with a humbling reality.

“You’re right.” I strut across the room to cradle her face in my hands. “And that was a way bigger deal than this is.”

She stares up at me from in between my hands, neither arguing nor agreeing. I know what that means. She disagrees, but knows it’s futile to bring it up.

“Don’t you dare,” I whisper down at her.

“Don’tyoudare,” she returns, raising a challenging eyebrow, and it makes me chuckle.

“It is pretty amazing,” I concede, placing a kiss on her nose.

“It is really fucking amazing.” Her eyes light up and start to dazzle me again. “Come on, tell me more about it.” She leads me to the couch and settles down on it.

“It’s the middle of the night,” I grumble, feeling bad now for waking her.

“Like you’re going to get any sleep until you suss out your feelings.”

“Alright.” I sit and pull her smooth, bare legs across my lap. “Apparently, we’ve been blowing up on YouTube.I don’t get it. We’ve posted stuff before, but he said the last couple of weeks we’ve been popping up on threads a lot. There’s been more links, more posts, more views.”

“A couple of weeks ago was the show at Black Fire,” she recalls, soothingly playing with the hair at the back of my neck. “That’s a bigger place, a bigger crowd; it’s a more prominent venue,not to mention a much better stage. The show looked really good there. Smart phones were up all around me. It makes sense.”

“You’re right, it does.” I lean into her touch, staring at the ceiling. “And he said it’s gotten the label's attention, so he came out to see us play, like a talent scout or something. He asked for the demo so Matt gave it to him, and then he told us to meet with him Monday morning at the Westin. That was it, and then he left.”

I take a moment and so does she. The silence is easy with her; comforting, even as we both process this.

“What are you feeling right now?” She tilts her head to regard me thoughtfully.

“I’m sure some other feelings will set in later, but right now, I’m just stunned.” I close my eyes, shaking my head.

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