My jaw dropped and I looked at Jake, confusion written all over my face.
And then the lyrics started: ‘Whenever I’m feeling blue, when I see you, you light up the room…’
‘Wait…’ I paused, my brain scrambling.‘This is your voice.Is this one of your new songs?’
Jake nodded, still staying silent.
More photos flooded the screen.This time it was photos of us together.The one from the horse riding, the pic Sammie took of us at The Huntington, a selfie Jake snapped on the Pacific Wheel at Santa Monica beach and so many others.
A million thoughts flooded my mind: how bloody brilliant this song was, what an amazing singer Jake was, how much I loved the lyrics, how cute we looked together in the photos, plus how glad I was that I’d got over my fear of having them taken so that I had all these memories to look back on.And how on earth he’d managed to put all of this together.
Now I understood why Sammie thought I’d be impressed.
She was right to, because this was epic.
It was just Jake singing and playing the guitar, so it was an acoustic performance that had the kind of pop/rock feel of bands like The Script, OneRepublic and Imagine Dragons, mixed with the soulful vibe of artists like Usher, Khalid and Myles Smith, Arlo Parks and Masego.I freaking loved it.
The song ended and I instantly wished I could press rewind and hear it all over again for the first time.
But just when I thought it’d finished, Jake appeared on screen.He was at Santa Monica Pier.I recognised the Pacific Wheel in the background.
A man with short dark hair appeared with a microphone.He seemed like he was about to interview him.I frowned, not understanding what was going on.
‘So today, I am here at Pacific Park in Santa Monica with Jake Myers, who has just unveiled a brand-new single called, “You Light Up the Room”.Jake, what inspired you to write this song?’
‘I wrote it about a very special woman.It’s been a while since I’ve written or released any new music.I just hadn’t found the right inspiration.But then I met this amazing woman and the words just poured onto the page.I wrote the whole song in thirty minutes.’
I looked at Jake, then the screen, my face contorting in a million different directions.My brain was more scrambled than a dozen fried eggs.
My first thought was that it was a song about Minnie because we’d spoken about him writing something about her.But I quickly realised that didn’t track, because Jake just said he’dmetan amazing woman, which sounded more recent.
Then I remembered something in the lyrics talking about kissing.
Which meant that…
No way.
Could it be about…me?
I wanted to ask, but if I was wrong, I’d feel like an egotistical twat, so I kept quiet and continued watching the interview.
‘Wow, must be a very special lady,’ the man, who I noticed had a French accent, added.
‘She is.She’s smart, kind, caring, talented and so damn beautiful.’
‘And you have brought us to Santa Monica Pier.Please can you explain the significance of this location?’
‘Sure.I wanted to come here because it’s where we had our first kiss.’ Jake looked into the camera this time.‘Right up there on the Pacific Wheel.’
OMG.OMG.OMG!
I gasped.It reallywasabout me.
‘That’s so romantic,’ the French guy said.‘Well, “You Light Up the Room” sounds like it will be a big hit and I hope that your special lady agrees.Good luck.’
‘Thanks,’ Jake said before turning to the camera again then saying, ‘In case you haven’t already guessed, Smiley, I wrote this song for you.’
My eyebrows hit the ceiling.
