Page 149 of Unspoken Words
“Yes, we will.” She planted a quick kiss on my nose then stood up, swaying a little.
“Whoa, you all right?” I reached out to steady her, and she latched onto my arms.
“Yeah, just stood up a bit too fast, I think.”
“Baby, don’t take this wrong, but you don’t look too good.”
“I’m fine. I just need something to eat.” She leaned over and grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl that was a gift from Sony. “Come on,” she said, tugging my wrist. “You don’t want to be late for your first show.”
I halted her steps and doubled back for my guitar, taking her hand in mine once again as we walked the corridors from the dressing room to backstage.
Many people stopped to say ‘hi’ and to wish me luck. I had no idea who they were so just nodded, smiled, and tried to quiet the doubt, fear, and all the things that could possibly go wrong that were swirling inside my head like a tornado.
A crewmember slapped me on the back, breaking my thoughts. “Saxon Reed, you’re up, mate.”
I nodded, and we climbed the steps onto the edge of the stage. A large, black velvet curtain separated us from the audience, the echo of voices chanting ‘Saxon’ completely surreal.
“They’re calling for you,” Ellie said, her eyes wide. She let go of one of my hands and tried to peek through the curtain.
I shook my head and cricked my neck. “They’re not. They’re calling for Saxon.”
“Then go be Saxon!” She playfully shoved me toward the curtain but then pulled me back and kissed me hard and fast. “Be Saxon for them and Connor for me.”
Blowing out a sharp breath, I sucked in a new one and stepped into the spotlight, the roar of applause and screaming near deafening.
Mike was behind the drums, Darren on base, and Eliza was mucking around with some chords on the electric, teasing the crowd while they waited for my arrival. I raised my hand and acknowledged them before stopping at the microphone and shaking my head in awe.
“Hello, Melbourne,” I shouted, smiling as they screamed even louder. “I’m Saxon Reed, and I have a few songs to sing for you before Alanis comes out and brings the roof down.”
Mike counted us in to my opening song “Always”, and Eliza, Darren, and I started strumming, my voice filtering out of me just like Ellie said it would.
I flicked my gaze to the side of the stage and saw her bouncing up and down, clapping, and singing along, and it was the greatest feeling in the world. The stage, my music, our songs … Ellie by my side; it didn’t get any better than that.
*
Five songs later,and afterhaving a little fun covering one of Alanis’s tracks, I had only one more song to play, “Ever After”. Adrenaline was pumping through my body. The crowd was swaying. A lot of them were even singing along, which blew my mind.
Bending down, I picked up my water bottle and took a quick swig, placing it down again in front of Mike’s drum kit. He thumped his foot on the bass drum pedal as a joke, and I chuckled A woman from the crowd shouted, “I love you, Saxon Reed”, so I chuckled and told her I loved her back. I glanced over at Ellie, noticing all colour had drained from her face, and that’s when I realised what I’d said, despite Ellie knowing those words three words meant nothing to me. If anything, what had just happened was proof they were thrown around like trash.
Wanting to make her feel special, an ingenious idea popped into my mind, and I started walking toward her.
“If you all don’t mind,” I said to the crowd, “I’d like to invite someone very special to the stage for this next song.”
Her eyes widened as I clasped her hand, and she went stiff as a board.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
I didn’t answer. I just smiled and led her to the stage, her hand sweaty, her body shuffling like a penguin.
“Say hi to Ellie, everyone.”
They all said, “Hi, Ellie”, so she gave them a little wave and then turned to me and mouthed, “I’m gonna kill you”.
I chuckled and then dobbed her in. “She just said she’s gonna kill me. We can’t have that now, can we?”
Ellie nodded frantically at the crowd, but no matter how adorable she was, they were definitely on my side. So I shrugged, unapologetically, and dragged my stool across the stage, helping her to climb on top and get comfortable.
I wanted her here, right next to me, where she belonged, not behind some curtain. She was the reason I was on this stage in the first place, and having her share this moment with me was everything.
