Hit'n Those Notes Ch. 06

What the hell was going on? Between my mom's looks, which I hoped Blake hadn't picked up on, and my inability to speak - aka 'nervous school girl syndrome' - this meet-up with Blake wasn't going as I expected it would. I was reeling a little, trying to catch my bearings and process his question.

Before I could speak, my mom said, "Brea's got a sore throat, Blake. Alcohol is probably not on her list of beverages to consume the next couple days." She paused to look at me, "Right honey?"

Both of them were looking at me. Say something!

"Yeah, I probably should stay away from alcohol..."

What was my freak'n problem?! Why couldn't I speak with any confidence?

"Not a problem; the bar menu has plenty of non-alcoholic options. We've got to deal," he asked.

"Sure..." What was I going to say, 'No!' "Guess... I'll look for you in the club after the contestants 'Meet and Greet' after the show."

"Perfect. Well, you ladies enjoyed lunch. I have to check on a few things. Nice to meet you, Denise. Hopefully see you ladies tonight in the club later."

Mom replied in kind, 'Nice to meet you...' and Blake turned and headed towards the conference room area. We headed toward the bank of elevators in silence and entered the middle one in the bank of five.

Alone in the elevator, Mom gave me a look.

"What," I asked.

"He likes you," she said.

"No. He's just a nice guy."

"Okay...," she drug the word out, "How many others in this competition had their airfare paid for to get them here, get lunch paid for, get VIP treatment in the club..."

"Mom, all our meals and lodging have been picked up by the hotel for this competition. He's just being polite. And honestly, the club thing - if we're any good tonight, people will want to be around us to rub elbows with the contestants. It'll be a draw for his club to have us there. He's no dummy; he knows we're value added to this place. And did you hear what he said? He thinks you're going to be in the club tonight, too. Don't read more than there is with him, mom."

She looked at me for a long moment, and then said, "So, he's not attractive at all."

"Mom!" I started a little exasperated, "I don't know; honestly, he's okay, I guess," I didn't give it a second thought and wished I could sway the conversation in some other direction. "You know, he's like ten years older than me, maybe more."

"There's nothing wrong with an older man, Brea... Generally a little brighter than the younger ones," she said with a giggle.

"He's a nice man, that's it..."

Please! I do not want to talk to you about men or whatever right now!

"Yes, a nice man," she paused as if she conceded my point, and then added, "Who just happens to like my daughter..."

I could see in the mirrored finish of the elevator doors that she was smiling and trying to suppress a laugh. Augh! Mom's...

Wednesday, March 28th, 6:49 p.m.

All the contestants had arrived to the theater by 5:00 PM; not a single person was late. The first order of business was walking through the process for the evening: where to be, how to enter and exit the stage area, dressing rooms, food and drink requests, and hanging out in the 'green room' until called to be on deck as the next performer or waiting for everyone to complete singing their song.

When everyone had finished singing, we would be paraded on stage for some pomp and circumstance, and the six finalists for the finale would be announced. The show would then be over, the audience would be invited to meet the singers, and we'd be paraded to a banquet room to mingle. Oh, and don't forget the PBS cameras will be running and catching all the action.

Because it took longer for the women to get made up and there were only six makeup and hair stylists on staff tonight, we went through getting made up in shifts. Dressing was a bit crowded, and I got to share a room to get dressed with Michelle and Janet, both from my group yesterday. Wyatt got paired up with Dana and Jesse, the only three males in the contest.

Everyone was dressing to impress; a few of the women were certainly taking their outfits to the Vegas showgirl extreme, but most were in beautiful ball gowns and looked amazing. Then there was me in my Britney Spears wanna-look-like-her leather pants, black heeled boots, long black gloves, black wig, shawl, and leather black bra. If I wasn't intimidated enough before by these other women in the competition - I was now! I felt like I'd been knocked me down a few notches with my costume choice.

When I was done getting dressed and primped, I made my way to the 'green room' and sat next to Wyatt. He was dressed entirely in black - suit, shirt, tie, cowboy boots, and hat. He looked like someone straight out of a country music video. Of course, when I entered the room, the seven others already waiting, either standing or sitting, didn't hesitate to 'check-out' my outfit.

Most of the looks were polite, but there were some that were pretty harsh, and I tried not to let it bother me, which of course was a battle I wasn't going to win. Breathe...

"Let me guess, Britney Spears," Wyatt asked after I sat.

"That's obvious, huh," I replied quietly.

"I personally love her, and you look damn good, if you don't mind me saying. You singing 'Toxic'?"

"Mmmhuh... What are you singing?"

"Putting a spin on the Eagles, 'Hotel California'. I'm going to twang it up a little... It kills in Nashville; we'll see about here in Vegas," he said, smiling and appearing to not be nervous at all.

I really hadn't given it much thought, but I should have realized that some of these talented singers were going to go the creative route and spin a popular song to showcase not only their voices but who they were as artists. I looked around the room and wondered what everyone else was singing.

While getting dressed, I learned Michelle was singing 'Black Velvet' by Alannah Miles and Janet was singing something by Carrie Underwood I wasn't familiar with.

"Everyone... Five minutes. I need Jenna; you're up first. Lisa on deck...," someone with headphones on was saying to the group milling about the 'green room'.

Everyone watched him walk to a TV monitor, turn it on, and adjust the volume. It was a live feed of the stage from the left rear side. We'd be able to watch whomever was singing from the rear left side of the stage. Oh God! From the look of the feed, the audience had packed their way into the theater. Augh! Nerves, not now! Breathe...

I watched Jenna move towards the door, with Lisa right behind her. They waited for the headphone-wearing coordinator to exit, and then waved at those waiting their turns before disappearing. A couple people wished them luck; I was thankful I wasn't first or last.

If the nerves hadn't kicked in fully for those waiting, that had just changed. You could feel the room tense up. It was about to get very real, very fast.

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Author's Note:

Don't be afraid to rate this story if it's doing anything for you (you don't have to have an account to do so, and there are no prizes for most 'Rates'). If you comment, I will reply directly to you (if you have an account) or in the comments if you're anonymous, so let's chat...

If there are problems or you have criticisms you'd like to share privately, feel free to message me; I'd love to address them if I can.

I'm trying to grow as a storyteller; I'm far from perfect, so any help is much appreciated. Thanks for reading...

Rachel M. Moore