‘– and if you take this leap of faith as I abseil down your heart –’
I couldn’t help but laugh at that.
‘And if all I have to do is put away my fears –’ Patrick sang, looking deep into my eyes, as though the whole world had stopped existing– ‘I need you to know your name is music to my ears.’
Oh my God.
The song came to an end with cheers and celebrations, and I couldn’t tell if the pounding in my ears was from the crowd or from the sound of my racing heart.
He had actually done it. He’d written a song for me.
‘Ms Donovan?’
I blinked. I hadn’t noticed the woman all in black and wearing a headset approach me, but she glanced down at her tablet then back to me with a sharp nod.
‘You are Ms Donovan, correct?’
‘Yeah – yes, I’m –’
‘This way, please,’ she said, gesturing to the left.
Before I knew what I was doing I was on my feet, and the crowd was muttering, my face still being blasted on to the screens. For a second, I panicked, thinking I was being pulled on to stage. But that didn’t make sense. The band had already gone backstage.
‘I was told to bring you this way,’ the stagehand said, gesturing to our left. ‘Come on, we don’t have much left of the ad break!’
So it was in a kind of daze that I allowed myself to be pulled forward, my ears almost ready to burst at the screams of the crowd. I could hardly think as I staggered forward, head spinning, the gazes of a thousand people staring –
I stepped to the left and halted at a door that the stagehand had just opened. Inside was some sort of dressing room, though it was mostly empty. There was also a screen. A screen showing a replay of Patrick singing– or maybe it was one of those delayed livestreamed things, so they could cut out the swearing?
Whatever it was, my ex-boyfriend-not-boyfriend, famed celebrity and musician, had sung a song all about me to the world.
This could not be happening.
‘I’ll leave you here,’ said the stagehand, closing the door behind her before I could say anything.
And so I did the only thing I could. I turned to look at the images of Patrick and the rest of the band bowing on the screen.
It was impossible to stay away from him; the draw that pulled me towards him was magnetic. The crowd was going wild, and still all I could do was stare at Patrick.
‘And that was These Exiles,’ said the awards host as she stepped dazzlingly back on to the stage, the camera immediately panning away from Patrick. ‘Now, the next award was hotly contested last year and has proven to be just as competitive today. The nominees for the –’
‘Jessy.’
I gasped.
The door had opened and there stood Patrick.
And the rest of These Exiles behind him.
‘Great song, mate,’ Matt said, clapping Patrick on the back as I tried not to be overwhelmed by being this close to the entire band.
I mean, I knew Patrick. And the rest of them … were just people.
People who were world famous.
‘We’re heading backstage to the green room,’ Wes was yelling into Patrick’s ear in the doorway as a singer started to croon back on stage, their voice carrying all the way out to us. ‘Derek said to take your time.’
‘Great, thanks,’ Patrick said, as he stepped fully through the door and took me in for the first time.
