‘I thought I would sleep on the plane,’ I spat.
‘Oh, stop being so dramatic. You’ll sleep,’ he said. I knew for a fact that there wasn’t going to be any time for me to sleep, it was about to be another hectic couple of days. I was too tired to even argue. I knew I wasn’t going to win anyway.
‘Okay,’ I sighed into the phone.
‘Great, Luc, I’ll send the flight details through to you now and organise a car to take you to the airport.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Chat soon,’ he said, hanging up the phone before I could say anything else.
I sat back in my chair and threw my arms over my head My phone vibrated on my desk. It lit up with a message from Emma that read ‘How about tonight?’ I smiled, quickly grabbing my phone.
I was keen to see her. The night we met was one of my favourite memories, the adventure fuelled the lyrics for my last album, I wonder if she knew.
I wondered what she had been doing the last year of her life, I wondered where she had travelled to. I wanted to hear all about it. I can’t believe I ran into her like that so randomly. Something about her intrigued me, I had to know more. I had an hour and forty-five minutes, to catch up on all my emails and be ready for her arrival.
I grabbed a towel out of the cupboard and headed up the hallway towards my bathroom. I stood in the shower for a while, lost in thought. If she asked what I had done for the past year of my life, what would I tell her?‘I’ve been spending every morning getting high and the nights are spent on creating music on the leftover fumes leaked around my studio. Weekends, well, they’re much the same as when we first met. Different Saturday, different city.’I guess that answered everything. But she didn’t need to know that. She didn’t need to know about my addictions, my anxiety, hey at least I was aware that they existed. I was working on them. I was getting better. One day at a time.
She seemed very innocent. She didn’t need to be dragged into my life in any way at all. But I just wanted to be surrounded by her energy one more time. To run into her seemed too much of a coincidence. What a small world to see her again a year later, miles away from our first encounter.
I shook my head and took a deep breath, trying to shake out the rollercoaster of thoughts that rode fast around my brain. I turned off the shower tap, fixed my hair in the mirror, and threw on my favourite pair of jeans with a black tee. I took a seat at the desk in my studio, which was also currently my bedroom. All the other rooms in my house were filled with housemates. I liked having people here, it made my house feel more homely when I came back from a trip. It was filled with pictures and memories from other people’s lives. I like how they filled it with memories and gave meaning to my materialistic things that otherwise to me, felt soulless. My table had become an ordainment for memories filled with late nights, too many drinks, and dancing on tables. My couch was where my previous housemate supposedly conceived her first child. I liked that my place gave other people something, but I was still unsure of what it gave me.
I sat down at my computer again, opening the latest track I was working on, when my phone buzzed. Emma Scully: I’m here. I bounced out of my chair and walked out into the hallway to meet her at the front door. It was then when I realized I knew nothing about this girl, I knew none of the details that you’re supposed to know, I didn’t know how old she was. I knew nothing about her family, I didn’t know what she drove until I saw her little red Suzuki Swift parked at the top of my driveway. Apart from all these ‘should know’ details, I felt like I knew her deeper, I knew her through her infectious smile that had crossed my mind a couple of times of the past year. The way she walked, her soft but confident voice. I didn’t know about her friends or her middle name. But I knew what made her happy, what she wanted in life and the way she perceived the world.
The car door swung open, and she hopped out walking towards me. She was casual and gorgeous. Her long brown hair was flowing over her shoulders; she was wearing a light pink t-shirt and some white denim shorts.
‘Hey there,’ I said, trying to act cool while holding my arms out to hug her.
‘Hey,’ she said. Her tone loud, but her body reserved as she draped one arm around my back, and I threw both of mine around her. I stayed holding her tight for just a moment. I pulled away, grabbing onto her shoulders with both hands. I looked her up and down and smiled. ‘You look great. I’m so glad you’re here,’ I said.
She smiled. ‘Thanks for having me. Today was a really random encounter.’
We stood staring at each other, both a little shocked by how small the world was, and this time, we were in my place. ‘Yeah, but I’m stoked that I ran into you.’ I said.
‘The feeling’s mutual,’ she said.
‘Come on in,’ I said. I opened the door and held my hand out, waving her in. she walked through the large wooden door, slipping off her shoes in the doorway, her eyes gazed around the open living area, my lounge room, kitchen and the glass doors that opened up to the balcony overlooking acres of greenery.
‘Your house is amazing,’ she said, ‘how long have you lived here for?’
‘Thanks. I do like it; I bought the place seven years ago. I’m still traveling a lot, so my housemates get to enjoy it more than me,’ I said. Pointing her down the hallway towards my studio
She sat on the edge of my bed. ‘What are you working on Mr Bigshot,’ she said nodding towards the computer screen.
‘A couple of different songs now, they’re just party beats. Nothing too exciting,’ I said, hoping she wouldn’t ask me to listen to them, I didn’t love what I was creating currently. It was just what the fans wanted to hear and it was what my current label wanted me to sell.
Her head turned and she smiled at me. ‘I’m sure they’re really great,’ she said, her wide eyes flickering back to me.
‘They’re all right,’ I said. ‘I guess I want to move into something a little different, something a bit deeper, you know, become more of a real artist.’
‘You are a real artist,’ she said, crinkling her forehead, confused.
‘Thanks,’ I said. I loved her words, but I didn’t know how to react to them.
‘But yeah, I understand what you mean, wanting to change up your style and create something different,’ she said. Her darting around my studio.
It was slightly nerve-racking to have her here in my space. I wondered what she was learning about me from sitting in my room. I wondered what her eyes were fixating on and what conclusions she was coming to. ‘I really love this studio, it’s freaking sick,’ she said.
