Page 24 of In This Together

As Seth continued to pace, Rosalie motioned to Sofia to step in. He was Sofia’s artist, after all. Surely she had some words of wisdom.

‘Look, Seth, Rosalie is right,’ Sofia said calmly. ‘She’s heard your single and wouldn’t have suggested this – I wouldn’t be in agreement with this – if we didn’t think you were up to it. I want the world to see what you do. I want those people out there to hear your lyrics, the way you play, that voice.’

‘You’re the complete package, Seth,’ Rosalie added. ‘I mean, I had my doubts when I first saw you, believe me. Those ripped jeans and scruffy boots and… I digress. Tonight, though, you look… you know.’

He stopped pacing and looked at her as if he were contemplating her words. Then he smirked.

‘So maybe look at it this way,’ Sofia tried. ‘You’ve been shot at and you’ve kept people alive in the middle of a war zone. All I’m asking you to do is go on stage, with Billy and Frankie, and sing like you would have to your platoon. Like no one else is there. Just you, sitting on some turned-up crates at your FOB.’

Shot at? He was a soldier?

Rosalie watched him rub the dog tags that hung down his chest, then he looked down to his feet and she truly had no idea whether he would do the show or not. God, maybe she was irresponsible after all.

Then she stood taller and asked firmly, ‘Do you want this, Seth? Do you want to be an artist?’

He raised his eyes and Rosalie saw the answer in his determined look.

‘Then you’re going to have to get used to big stages and screaming fans because you’vegot. It. All.You’re going all the way. I believe that. Sofia believes that. And you need to too. I’ll give you two minutes to decide, and if you choose not to go on stage, I’ll go and tell Graham that you weren’t up to it. But my best advice, for what it’s worth, is don’t waste life’s opportunities. Take them for those who can’t.’

She left the bathroom, letting the door close behind her. In the corridor, Billy and Frankie were leaning up against the wall, wondering whether they would be going on stage in a matter of minutes.

She twisted one side of her mouth and raised her arms from her sides as if to say,We’ll see,hoping that this wouldn’t come crashing down around her and Sofia.

Why did she think she could meddle in a business she was fast realising she didn’t know at all?

She came to stand between the guys, and the three of them waited for the bathroom door to open, counting long seconds until eventually, the door opened. Sofia appeared first, followed by Seth’s imposing frame filling the doorway.

They waited for Seth’s response. Rosalie held her breath.

Seth cleared his throat and asked, ‘What about the piano?’

As Billy and Frankie quickly got excited, Rosalie exhaled slowly, relieved.

‘You’re going to have to play the piano, Soph,’ Seth said.

‘The stage isn’t for me,’ she said. ‘You can go on without the piano. The guitars sound great anyway.’

‘In the studio, you said the piano makes the track and I agree, so it’s the single with the piano or no show.’

Reluctant though Rosalie was to admit it, from what she had heard in the studio, Seth was right; the piano did carry the melody, particularly in the opening of the track.

She thought quickly. ‘Can’t someone else just play the piano? Billy, you can play piano, right?’

‘Yeah, I can, musical genius, but then we’ll lose the bass guitar and?—’

She held up a hand to quash his sarcasm and told him, ‘Billy, I’m nothing if not a lady with contacts. You guys get ready and I’ll find you a bass guitarist to blow your socks off.’

* * *

The feeling she had was a feeling she rarely got and one that Rosalie knew only came when something truly great was about to happen. Rosalie rushed over to Hannah and Andrea, tottering at almost a light run as best she could in her heels, finding her friends deep in conversation with Calvin Richards. Calvin was a radio DJ capable of making or breaking artists, and Andrea would doubtless be tapping him up for airtime.

‘Ladies, we need to get to the stage for the next act,’ she announced, breathless. ‘You too, Calvin. You’re not going to want to miss this, let me tell you.’

‘What? Who is it?’ Hannah asked, already falling into step behind Rosalie as she led the way to the arena stage.

‘Someone who is about to make history, magic and the front page of every glossy magazine in the country. Hurry!’

They hustled to the stage with Calvin Richards in tow, turning heads as they made their way, until they were part of a large group of others who tapped into their frenzy and filed into the arena, coming to stand in the press area immediately in front of the stage.

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