Mark grabbed the mic letting everyone know they had a very special guest joining them tonight. Keira tried to be as nonchalant as possible, as she slid away from the conversation going on around her, to get a prime spot right at the front of the stage. Eric stood up on stage, fiddling with his sound equipment before swinging his guitar across his back and grabbing the mic. She was finally going to see him up close and personal.

“Hi Everyone, I’m Eric Newcastle.” A wave of cheers and whistles came up from the crowd behind her. She licked her lips, stuck two of her fingers in her mouth and blew out a high-pitched whistle. Eric startled, smiled, and winked at her. Her heart fluttered and goosebumps broke out all over her arms. Her legs bounced as she stared up at him wide eyed. It was finally happening. She couldn’t believe after every time she missed him, he was right there in front of her. The urge to reach out and touch him was nearly overwhelming. She fisted her hands in her lap, so she didn’t make an absolute fool of herself.

“I’m glad I could be here for Mark and his lovely girlfriend Jen’s last party before they leave town. I hear they will be moving to NYC.” A round of boos ripped through the crowd. He nodded in agreement and motioned for everyone to settle down. “I know. I know, but here’s the thing. Mark told me when I got here that all his friends will now have two locations for free drinks, one on each coast,” he said with a big smile and cheers erupted from the crowd.

“I never said that!” shouted Mark from the back of the bar and everyone laughed.

“Maybe not free, but at least a discount?”

“Only if you perform,” Mark shouted again.

“Fair enough,” he called out to Mark. “Tonight, I’m going to play a few songs, maybe take a few requests and we’re going to have some fun. And if you happen to like Uncharted,” a few whoos came from the crowd. “I’ll be back on tour with them for the rest of the summer, so if you’re in town where we are playing, be sure to grab some tickets I’ve heard there are plenty left.” Everyone clapped and he finished arranging everything on stage. He stepped on the foot pedals to check his sound levels, tested the mics.

“You guys ready?” he said, looking out over the crowd before his eyes settled on Keira. She gripped the seat of her chair, feeling a little woozy.

“Yeah!” Keira screamed loudly, maybe a little too loudly as the people around her shot her a glance and Eric chuckled on stage. She ducked her head and curled her shoulders in a bit. Okay, maybe she should tone it down a bit.

“Okay, this first song is called Take My Love.” A smattering of applause came from the audience, since most of his songs were unknown until the album release. Even without the lights and a huge sound system, the pulsing and pounding of his music coursed through her. She sang along and rocked in her seat, pushing back the temptation to get up and dance. Everyone else in the room started to get into it too. When a chorus would repeat, people would join in and soon she wasn’t the only one singing along. Five songs into the set and Keira couldn’t stay still. Sweat rolled off her as the room seemed to be getting hotter and hotter with each song.

The music ran through her, the rhythm had her swaying in her seat, her arms moving to the beat and his voice touched her deep down. The lyrics spoke to her, the struggle of his family, growing up with nothing, but having a mom who wanted nothing but the best for you and was willing to sacrifice to make it happen. Then there more upbeat ones that belied the betrayal of love lost and friendships left behind. The ache hit her so keenly, it was like a window into his soul. She peered up at him in even more awe than she’d had before. She couldn’t imagine being able to make someone else feel this way with her art. She hadn’t touched her camera for months, not since she pulled out of the gallery opening.

When he performed at the festival she went to, she’d been hundreds of people back from the stage. Now she got to see him up close, working the foot petals to change between music processors and loop the music to create a full band sound. He was a one-man band, playing the melody, rhythm and singing all at once. His level of concentration alone was awe inspiring. And his lyrics blew her away. Whether it was a dance beat or an acoustic song, he painted a picture of his life at the time of his music so vividly, she kept forgetting the only conversation she’d ever had with him was about twenty minutes ago.

He hit an off note and the looped music continued to play. A commotion broke out back near the kitchen and he jumped down off the stage, whipped his guitar off and thrust it at her. She grabbed it from him and turned in her seat and tried to get a look at what was going on. People crowded around toward the back and a few people parted and her stomach dropped. Rox was sitting in a chair with blood pouring down her face. What the hell happened? She jumped up, set the guitar down on the stage and ran over pushing her way through the crowd that formed around Rox.

Jen and Mark crouched down next to her and kept asking her questions. Someone got them the first aid kit and they dug through it, pulling out different things. Keira had a sinking feeling in her stomach about this. Things had been going wrong in the bar lately, they’d thought it was Mark’s ex-wife exacting her revenge after the divorce, but maybe this was something different. Maybe they weren’t targeting Mark, but Rox. Liam came bursting through the kitchen door cradling his hand. What happened to him? Keira dashed over to the bar to try and be useful.

“Charlie, can you get me some ice in a towel? It looks like Liam hurt his hand and something happened to Rox, I don’t know what.” Charlie peered over the bar and come around, handing over the towel filled with ice and she tapped Liam on the shoulder and held it out to him. He gave her a grateful smile before covering his bloodied hand in the towel.

The commotion died down when they got Rox’s head wound cleaned and it was only a small cut. She still didn’t know what happened, but at least it didn’t look serious. Breathing a sigh of relief, the tight ball that had formed in her chest at seeing Rox covered in blood loosened so she could breathe normally again. Someone turned on some low music and everyone started to head back to their own conversations when Rox, Jen and Mark headed into his office upstairs and Liam followed them up a little later. Eric sat awkwardly on the edge of the stage.

“I hope she’s okay,” he said, absently strumming his guitar.

“I’m glad once they cleaned up the blood on her head the cut didn’t look too bad. I still have no idea what happened, but it looks like Jen and Mark are taking care of her,” she said, following his gaze. “You’re back on tour after tonight?”

“Yes, back on tour with Uncharted starting tomorrow.” His fingers moved deftly over the strings, but he didn’t even seem conscious of what he was doing. He played a melody to a song she knew, but couldn’t quite place. As she wondered about the dexterity of those fingers, she squirmed in her chair. She still couldn’t believe she was speaking to him in the flesh. She tucked her hands under her legs to resist the urge to reach out and run her finger across the body of the guitar. With him sitting on the edge of the stage and her chair down front, their knees were only inches apart. She needed to get it together before she freaked him out.

“How long have you been playing?”

“Since I was about four. My dad taught me. We’d sit down and play almost every day. Some days he’d get home super late, like two in the morning, and he’d come and sneak me out of bed to jam with him for a bit. It was our time together.”

“That’s cool you had something special with your dad.” Keira thought back to her father giving her the first camera she ever used. A pang hit her as she wondered if he would be proud of her and of what she’d become. Probably not. He always thought she’d be a world class photographer and artist, but here she was, a community class teacher who couldn’t even get up the balls to show anyone her work.

“What’s this?” he said, glancing down at her bag on the floor. Her photo book peeked out of the bag that she’d knocked over in her haste to get to Rox.

“My photo book.”

“I thought you said you were a teacher.”

“An art teacher. And I also draw and take pictures,” she said, bending to close the flap back over on her bag. She did not need to have him look at her photos. She hadn’t shown them to anyone but her sister.

“May I?” He gestured toward the book. Her hand froze. She took a deep breath and the stomach churning was back. A bead of sweat broke out across her brow, but she wiped it off and she handed the book over. He flipped through the pages and Keira watched his face, taking in his reactions to each picture.

Her sister recruited her to take some pictures of the two of them. They’d been through a lot and moved to a new house and her sister, Izzy wanted to do something fun with the three of them. Some were just silly pictures she’d taken with her sister and niece, while others were more artistic shots, but that small ball of nervousness that showed up whenever someone she admired looked at her work, was tight in her chest. It stayed there until a smile spread across his face when he got to one of the pictures she’d taken of her niece. The little diva was wearing a cowboy hat, mermaid tail flipped up in the back and star sunglasses laying on her stomach on a picnic blanket.

“Cute kid.”

“She’s my niece. The little monkey loves to dress up and goof off.” Her niece had been through a lot for someone so small, but she always had a smile. She could charm the pants off anyone and definitely knew it.

“Perks of being a cute kid. These are amazing. Your eye is…it takes something I think I’ve seen a million times and makes it completely different,” he said, handing the book back to her.

A commotion kicked off behind them as Rox came barging into the room from upstairs. She made a beeline straight for them, practically knocking Keira over trying to get to Eric.

“I need you to get back up there and play.”

He hopped up on the stage. “I don’t care, as long as it gets everyone dancing and keeps everyone occupied.” He gave her a small bow and she stormed off back into the kitchen.

“Ask and ye shall receive.” He called out, but she was already slipping back into the kitchen. He glanced down at her and she shrugged. Rox wasn’t the type of person who liked to be the center of attention and she wouldn’t want to ruin Mark’s night. Better to go along and give her some space. Someone turned off the background music and Eric grabbed ahold of the mic.

“Okay everyone. I think you might know this one. I wanted to save it to the end.” He winked at her again and played the opening chords to his biggest hit. Well his only hit and top radio rotation song. It started out slow and gradually built as he layered his sounds one on top of one another. He moved from mic to mic and looping petal to petal on stage, weaving a performance, not only with his sound, but technical skill in front of the crowd. She swayed on her feet and sat to give herself a break. All the commotion and excitement with Rox had her a bit queasy.

* * *

Standing in front of the small bar crowd, Eric couldn’t help but get pumped from their energy. Performing had always been when he felt most at ease. The awkward band kid slid away and he could express himself without reservation. Playing songs most people didn’t know, he marveled at how they sung back the chorus by the second or third time. Touring with Uncharted had been a little bit of a kick in the teeth. Their fans weren’t necessarily the type that enjoyed his music and depending on the temperament of the crowd on any given evening they let him know. They leaned more toward rock, where he was more folk pop, but every so often he’d get out the electric guitar and rock up one of his songs live on stage and that would win some of their fans over. He had no idea how the rest of the Uncharted tour would go. The stadiums were not packed, but mostly full and he hoped that his style would mesh with their fans as they got used to him.

The life of an opener was never easy. You’re not who they came to see. Plain and simple, so even if you’re spot on the type of music that they want to hear, it’s not you they want to hear it from. Every so often if the crowd was particularly restless one of the guys would run out and do a little duet with him. Otherwise, he was out there flapping in the wind. And in the case of one show in San Antonio, he was literally flapping in the wind because he’d forgotten to zip up his fly after taking a leak.

When he played his single that was on the radio for the crowd, there were people singing along from the beginning. He hoped the rush he got from hearing people sing his music never went away. Staring down, Keira was rocking along, eyes closed and from this close he could hear her singing the words. She had a great voice and she must have felt his eyes on her because she snapped them open and turned a lovely shade of crimson. He winked at her and went back to entertaining the rest of the crowd. Something about her made him want to spend all night talking to her, drinking with her, touching her. She did something to him that he hadn’t experienced before and he wanted more of it.

After a few more songs, he finally decided to call it quits and they turned on some background music. Rox had set aside a plate of food for him back in the kitchen, which was a godsend because everyone pretty much devoured everything that had been put out. She was a hell of a chef. He’d miss her food and as long as she stayed at The Bramble, that was another reason to stop in whenever he passed through town.

Backslaps of congratulations and handshakes abounded as he hopped off the stage. Keira had disappeared as soon as he finished playing and he craned his neck surveying the crowd to figure out where she went. He tried not to think about the fact that he was tracking her after only one conversation. Over the past few months, he’d lost interest in women. The rush of having them throw themselves at him wore off pretty quickly when he realized he was only a trophy for a lot of women to use. He wasn’t a real person, but with her he felt real again. He felt like the old him.

The party crowd thickened as latecomers arrived and the drink pours were more generous. Someone hopped up on stage to try their hand at a little karaoke. While there weren’t many people there, Keira’s bouncing halo of curls was nowhere to be seen.