Page 42 of See Her

“What do you mean?” she asks, tilting her head to look at me.

“Well, some songs we don’t play at our shows. We save them strictly for the demo.No label wants to buy a song you’ve already shared with everyone.They want to be the ones to introduce you and your music.”

She blows out a breath. “Well, that sucks,” she conveys, and I let out an endearing laugh. “You really need to hide that one away?” She tilts her head up in a playful plea. “People need to hear it.”

“Sorry, baby,” I tell her regretfully. “The best ones are the ones that get saved for the right moment,” I kiss her knuckles, “and that is by far the best one,” I say in closing, just as the oven dings.

Mayzie raises a smart eyebrow at me in return before sighing. “Saved by the brownies,” she chides, and I give her a love tap on the ass as she turns away.

21

MAYZIE

I’m settled in for another Turn it Up show at The Cedar. The guys are half-way into their set, totally in the throes.Ever since their show at The Black Fire, they’ve really taken their performance up a few notches, and I can tell the crowd appreciates it.

Annie is here with me too, though she’s been spending a lot of time warding off advances from Tyler.As I’m swaying with my drink to the music, my eyes glued to the stage, I see a figure approach in my peripheral. I tear my eyes away to acknowledge a man that's tall, somewhat stocky, looks to be late forties to early fifties, with kind, puppy dog eyes.

"These guys sound alright. Do you know them?" he asks, leaning slightly my way without taking his gaze off the guys.

"Yeah,” I say, nodding, unable to help my smile. The raging crowd speaks for itself, but it still wakes up a few butterflies when I hear someone appreciate the guys verbally.

"They got a demo?" he asks, turning my way this time, and I return the acknowledgement.

"Yeah," I finally say. "They do."

He nods, turning back to the stage. "Alright then. Thanks."

I smile and go back to mooning over my man as he shreds on his Gibson. When there's a break between songs, I turn back to find the curious man gone.

Jack

One of ourbest shows yet, and it feels so good to finally be playing in front of Mayzie and having her there in the crowd. I feel like I'm letting loose more than ever before. The guys and I are sitting at the bar, recovering with some beers while we wait for the crowd to clear out. Tonight, a lot of patron cars are jamming up the back lot, making it hard to get our vehicles close to the door. Once the place is empty, we'll go pack up.

Maze has been a champ, and an unfaltering rock of support, and though she tries to hide it, she is by far not the night owl I am. I sent her home a while ago to get some sleep, since we'll be here a while taking down equipment.As we’re talking and unwinding, I look up to see a guy leaning over the other end of the bar, talking to Tyler, and showing him a card. Tyler’s eyebrows go up and he glances down at us, before looking back and nodding to him. The guy makes his way over to us, holding out his hand to me.

"Fellas, nice show,” he says.

"Thanks,” I say, returning his grip. Once he's done shaking hands with Matt, Chris, and Josh, he straightens and introduces himself.

"I'm Ron Samuels, and I'm a music manager. Have you guys ever heard of ECHO records?" We all freeze, a couple of us with drinks halfway to our mouths. "I'll take that as a 'yes'.Anyway, I'm from a special division we have at the label geared towards acts that are just starting out. Your band has a lot of threads and links on YouTube that have been showing up on our radar in the last couple of weeks. I came to check you guys out.”

"You're shitting me," Matt says, with his hands on his head.

"I don't have time for shitting people," Ron continues. "The division I'm from does things differently than most labels. I'll explain more if you guys have a meeting with me. I understand you guys have a demo?”

"Yeah," I answer, as Matt hauls ass over to his guitar case by the side of the stage to retrieve the disc for him. He comes back, handing it to Ron.

"I'm at the Westin. Nine o’clock, Monday morning. I'll tell the front desk to expect you. Have a good night." And with that, he walks away from us and out of the bar. Once he's gone, the four of us erupt into a chaotic conversation full of 'what the fucks’ and 'did that just fucking happens’ and other colorful exclamations. I sit back on my stool, my head spinning. Ten fucking years. This can't be real, can it?

Thump,thump, thump!

"Maze, it's me," I call through Mayzie’s front door at who the fuck knows o’clock. So much for me being chivalrous and wanting my tired girl to get some sleep. I’m just too amped up. My nerves are combusting, and I need her.

I hear Penny let out a couple of lazy woofs as if she’s trying to half–ass do her job as a watchdog, before the door swings open to reveal a vision in white flowery sleep shorts, a black tank top, and brown hair mussed from sleep. The bat dangling at her side is the part that scares me.

"Jack, you scared the shit out of me! What's going on? Why didn’t you use your key?"

"Shit! Sorry, baby, I forgot I had it on me. Something unbelievable happened tonight after we finished playing,” I hurry to tell her, like the words will torture my insides every second I keep them in.

---