Michael or Mac Ep. 08

After lunch, we continue our expedition. At three o'clock I collect all the bags, and return to the hotel. I put all the bags in Emma and my room, and then make my way to the Saturday Night Live studio. As I approach, I notice several photographers and some people watching people coming and going. People are queuing outside, and I presume they are part of the audience.

I decide to turn around and go off up one of the side streets. I get my phone out and call the number I was given.

"Hi, it's Mac. I'm up the road. Is there any way in without going through the front door?"

"Hello, Mac. Let me know where you are, and I'll send someone to get you."

I give my location and wait. Five minutes later, a young girl walks up. "Hi, Mac. Follow me."

We walk across the street and around the block directly behind The Rockefeller Center. We enter a shop and walk straight through the back into a long corridor. The corridor ends in the back of the studio, and we weaved our way through some staging. I'm following the girl who hasn't said a word since 'follow me.'

"Stay here," she says, stopping by what I recognize as my instrument's shipping case.

While I wait, I unlock the large aluminum case and quickly check nothing came loose in transit. Everything looks fine, and I turn to see a middle age man walk toward me.

"Mac, good to finally meet you. Christ, this week has been so crazy. In the fifteen years I have worked on this show, I have never seen anything like the interest tonight's show has generated. My name is Stephen." He looks down and sees that I have already opened the flight case. "Is everything okay?"

"Hello, Stephen. Yes, it seems to have traveled well."

He gives me a smile of relief. "Right, see this screen?" I looked up at what I thought was a white wall at first glance. "You will set up here facing that. At first, you will be lit from behind and play the instrumental version. Then we would like you to blend into the version with Miley. She will then walk out and sit on a stool on that X there."

"How long do you want me to play for before the blend?"

"That is entirely up to you. Tonight's show is devoted to you. Again we haven't done anything like this before, and it's live."

"Okay, I'll talk with Miley when she arrives."

He smiles. "Right, I will let you set up. You have between these marks." He points out four corner marks. "One last thing. While you are setting up, keep any possibility of anyone overhearing who you are to a minimum, and please stay put, out of sight. If you need anything, just ask Selsey over there." He points to the young lady who came to get me. She smiles and nods toward me.

"Selsey, is it? Okay, thank you, Stephen."

I quietly set about putting my gear together. I brought two guitars, my keyboard, and my magic boxes: my beat master and a loop machine.

Everything is set, and I tune both guitars and check everything is working. I start playing the piano, and for some reason, the John Legend song all of me pops into my head.

I look across at Selsey, who is now sitting, leaning forward, and listening, so I start singing....

"What would I do without your smart mouth?

Drawing me in and you kicking me out....."

A huge smile spreads across her face as she realizes what I'm singing. I only get to the chorus when someone walks around asking me to stop. "Sorry, but we can do a sound check in about half an hour."

I nod and then shrug my shoulders toward Selsey. She gets up and walks over. "Mac," she whispers. "Can I get you anything?"

"Coffee would be good," I reply. As she turns, I say, "Thanks." She looks back and nods in acknowledgment.

A microphone is wired up, and we do a sound check before I am taken out the way I came in.

When I get back to the hotel, the girls aren't back from their shopping trip, so I take a shower and thumb through social media to see what the latest is about tonight's show.

There still seems to be the same confusion. Miley has done a great job deflecting why she's in New York; she's doing a guest appearance at a charity event across town.

The girls come in loaded with more bags, laughing and making a lot of noise. I hurry them along because we need to be seen going in the wrong direction.

We make our way to one of C&W's restaurants and walk in, past the long queue waiting outside. The girl wrinkles her nose as we walk up to her desk.

"Good evening; I was wondering if I could get a table for four, please," I say with a smile.

She looks at me. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Umm, no, I didn't think I needed one."

She tries to stifle a laugh by coughing. "What made you think that?"

"Because he owns the place," a very British voice says from my right.

"Hello, Edward," I say. "I wondered if you were still here."

"Hello, Michael. How have you been?"

"Much improved, thanks to this little lady." I turn to Emma. "This is my girlfriend Emma and friends Donna and Mia."

"Pleasure is mine." He turns to the girl on the desk. "You will need to free a table for four." The girl acknowledges him. "Would you like to go and sit at the bar while we find you a table, Michael?"

"Edward, most people I know call me Mac."

"I am not most people, Master Carter." He leads us to a small seating area, and we order some drinks.

It doesn't take long to get a table cleared and ready for us. We sit and eat the incredible food. When I ask for the bill, our waiter looks at me as though I had asked him to strip.

Edward comes over to explain, "Michael, it gets deducted from the corporate account. It saves our execs having to carry the cash around."

The studio texted me during the meal, asking where we were.

As we had exited the building.p"Mac, how are you?"

"Hello Selsey, long time no see," I say as Selsey hugs me.

She whispers in my ear, "Just go along with everything."

Emma coughs. "Sorry, Selsey, this is my girlfriend, Emma, and her best friends, Donna and Tia." Selsey nods to each in turn. "Selsey is an old friend."

"I'm off to a new club that's just opened. Are you in?"

"Yeah, why not," I say. I look back at Emma. She's looking a cross between jealous and confused.

I grab hold of Emma's hand as Selsey hails a taxi. As the cab drives off, I turn to Emma. "Emma, this is Selsey from the show. She's come to smuggle us in." The relief on Emma's face is noticeable. Even Donna and Mia say something, to Emma's embarrassment.

"I think I've got the easy task of getting you in tonight. Getting you know who in is a whole different ball game." Selsey says.

The taxi pulls up outside the club, and we walk straight in. I notice at both the restaurant and outside the club some guys with cameras. Luckily not many recognize me.

Again Selsey leans in, "Keep close. Today has been the craziest day, I've never seen so much interest."

We walk through the club and into the VIP lounge. The place is packed, but we don't stop and are taken to a door at the back. We walk through the door into an office. Once we are all in, Selsey closes the door and opens another that goes down some steps.

"Sorry, this bit is a bit yucky, but none of you can be seen on the streets within two blocks of the studio."

We descend the stairs, walk along a narrow corridor, up another set of stairs, and into the back of a waiting van. It looks like a cleaner's van on the outside, but inside it's seated like a minibus.

"Right, we are going in the same way as this afternoon. The shop is closed now, so this van stopping outside will not draw much attention. Once we open the door, we get out and into the open side door. Try not to look around and keep your heads down." We all nod to acknowledge what Selsey told us.

"Okay, nearly there." The driver says. "Looks like the street is deserted." The van stops, and the doors open. We all walk out; I have put my hat and glasses on again.

We finally arrive in our dressing room at half ten. "Stay here; no walking around," Selsey says.

The girls make themselves comfortable. They are quiet from the cloak-and-dagger way we got here.

Around ten to eleven, the door opens, and a very disguised Miley walks in. She closes the door, "Mac, fuck, that was rough."

"Hey, Miley, how are you?"

"Great, she says. Do you realize the charade that's going on outside?" They've got every famous female singer on the continent walking around to throw the paps off." Miley then goes to greet the three girls.

"Wow, everyone around here is buzzing about tonight." Miley says smiling as she hugs Mia. "I had no idea it would explode as it has. I heard a couple of people guess me, and I see on Donna's site that some think it's you, but no one seems ta have a clue." She has an incredible glow about her, and Donna nods in acknowledgment. "I must admit, this has been a lota fun to do." Miley seems to have caught the bug as well.

There's a knock at the door, and Ariana DeBose walks in. "Hi, guys. Just a quick hello, and to let you know how we will do this." She leans against the table. "Okay, tonight, as you know, is dedicated to you. We will start on the stage with a backlit Mac playing the instrumental. After a while, you will walk on Miley, and we blend into that incredible duet you do, this is when we reveal who you are. We finish with Miley's beautiful vocal." She takes a needed deep breath. "Once you have played, we will then call you both over for an interview,"

"You want both of us?" I ask.

"Of course, you are as much a part of all this....Mac, after tonight, your life will be different for a while. Even if you avoid interviews, people don't forget a face." Ariana stands, "Any questions?" Both Miley and I shake our heads. She then looks at Emma, Donna, and Mia. "The doors are now closed, and there are no mobiles allowed in the place, so you three can go and sit out front."

Ariana gets up, and the three girls stand to leave. Emma comes over and kisses me before following Donna out of the door.

Miley starts to strip her disguise and then the rest. As she takes her t-shirt off, I ask. "Would you like me to leave?"

"No, you're fine there. Anyways, you can't even if you want to......I gotta take a shower." She smiles at me. "Ya can scrub ma back if ya like big boy," she says.

"Are you trying to make this more awkward than it is?"

Miley laughs, "Just pullin' ya chain, handsome." She picks up a towel and disappears into the bathroom at the rear.

Ten minutes later, Miley walks back out with just a towel around her. "Need my bag," she says. I handed her the bag she came in with, and she disappeared back into the bathroom.

There's a knock at the door, and two women come in carrying bags. "Make-up," the first says.

Sitting in front of the mirror, looking at myself as the makeup girl puts the stage makeup on me, my nerves kick in. Miley looks across. "Take a deep breath Mac and close your beautiful eyes."

"Have you got a thing for Mac?" One of the make-up girls asks.

"I think he will be up there with Brad Pitt and Ian Somerhalder after this." All three look at me.

"You could be right, but seeing him blush at that is great." All three women smile at me.

"Yeah, I don't think he knows how good-looking he is. You know he hides himself at times," Miley says.

"No, baby, I wouldn't be doing your make-up today if I had your looks."

"Come on, ladies," I say. "Enough, my girl is sitting in the audience."

"That Emma is one lucky girl. That song is so beautiful; if it were about me, I would melt every time I heard it." Miley looks at me in the mirror and smiles.

"The song is for your girlfriend? Wow, lucky girl. When it started playing on the radio, I could hear the pain and the happiness. Incredible song. What's its name?"

"Emma," Miley says. "And it's the most beautiful song I've had the privilege to be involved with." She reaches across and squeezes my hand. "You know, it took only one take to record."

"That's rare these days."

"Took one and a half days to finish with vocals," she adds. "This man is the most accomplished musician I've ever played with."

"Stop, Miley. I won't be able to get out of the room at this stage. My ego will need to have a wall taken out."

There's a knock on the door. "Five minutes." Shit, my nerves had almost gone.

I take another deep breath as I sit next to my keyboard. I have my acoustic guitar ready. I hear the credits roll over my two earpieces, and Ariana DeBose's voice welcomes the audience. She runs through a short routine before explaining what a special show she has tonight.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath as Ariana introduces me, but not by name, and announces the song's title for the first time. I feel the heat of the light behind me and wish I had my glasses on. There's an enthusiastic round of applause as I start to play. I can hear what I am doing clearly through the earpieces as I get lost in the song. This goes on for about three minutes when I look across at Miley. I change up a little and add the light drum beat. She walks out into the light.

She glances at me and smiles as we starts to harmonize. I loop the guitar before I do the part on the keyboard. Suddenly the screen is gone in a flash, and the crowd comes to life. Then Miley goes into her solo version, and I swap to the electric guitar with bass strings. All the time, I add layers as the song comes to life.

We do a nine-minute version before we finish, and as the crowd applauds us, we make our way over to an applauding Ariana. She hugs us both, and I take the furthest seat.

The crowd settles, and Ariana rubs her hands together, "you know, this has been the most anticipated Saturday night live we have ever done." The audience claps again. "So, Miley Cyrus and Mac. Who would have thought? I didn't see anyone get both of you together other than a couple on your sites." There are some whoops from the crowd again. "So, Miley, tell us about the song and all the withholding titles and artist thing."

Miley smiles and looks out to the audience. "Okay, I had these lyrics for a while, and when the film company asked me to do this for a film, I thought they would be perfect. I saw Mac play a concert on TikTok and saw how incredible he is, so I got in touch with his friend Donna. He had this tune in his head, and we recorded what you hear today."

"Wow, and Mac, tell me the inspiration for the melody?"

"Most people who know me know that Emma is my girlfriend. The music was written over years when Emma and I were apart. The music is about the pain that I felt at the loss of my best friend, our reunion, and our friendship that has developed into love. The song's mood reflects that journey."

"That's right, and Emma is in our audience tonight." The camera is briefly on her, and she smiles and waves.

Ariana continues. "During the debate of who is behind the song, many critics and artists say that the person who wrote the song must have experienced real pain from the pure emotion that this song transmits." I nod in response but don't add to it.

"I think Mac and I have had our share of trauma in our lives," Miley says.

Ariana changes the subject. "Miley, so what is new with you?"

Miley fills her in on what's happening with her, and then we break for commercials. Ariana leans across to me, "Mac, can I ask what trauma you had? I don't want to put my foot in it more than I have."

"I lost my parent in a car crash, and a couple of years later after that, my Grammy who had taken me in."

"So why do you not want to make music your career?"

"Haven't your researchers done a background check on me?" I say smiling.

Ariana looks at me, confused, and then she's run out of time. She obviously can see more to this story, but she's struggling. I can see the cogs grinding away. I've never hidden who I am. I just don't advertise it.

Time has run out for her to change anything. "Welcome back," she says to camera two. "Now, many people have commented on the Miley concert that Mac was your warm-up, as well as joining you later to do a couple of songs. Is there any chance we can have some more music?"

Miley looks at me, and I shrug my shoulders. "Sure, why not. It's just the two of us tonight, so we haven't prepared much."

We get up and walk over to the stage. The audience gives us some encouragement as we get comfortable.

Miley came over, "Nothing Else Matters?" She asks.

I nod, and pick up my guitar. At the first chords of the intro, a ripple of recognition spreads over the crowd. Miley is watching me as I launch into the second sequence. She turns to the camera and audience and sings,

"So close, no matter how far

Couldn't be much more from the heart

Forever trusting who we are

And nothing else matters......"

We do the same version as we did on stage at Miley's concert, and as we wind down, Ariana walks up and puts her arms around Miley. "That was incredible, and we'll be right back."

The program goes off for sponsors' ads, and Ariana turns to us. "Right after the break, we have a little fun time. If you hadn't noticed, we have several celebrities in the audience, and for the next part, we would like Mac to sing some of their songs, and whoever the song belongs to will come up and sing with you. Is that okay, Mac?"

"Are you sure I know all the songs?"

"Mac, this was some of their requests. They've seen you on YouTube singing their songs and want to perform with you." One floor manager hands me a piece of paper with some names.

My eyebrows go up as I go through the list. A smile breaks across my face. It's like one of my concerts for Donna.

One of the managers counting Ariana in, brought me back to earth. "Welcome back and if you've just switched on, where have you been? Tonight we have discovered one of the best-kept secrets of a generation. Who is singing this?" She points up as Emma starts playing. "Yes, we learned tonight the song is called Emma, and Miley Cyrus and Mac are the two very talented people to blame for this incredible song." There's a ripple of applause around the room. "Now, not many people will realize the amount of deception we went through tonight. We have several stars in the audience who helped us keep the world guessing. So for this part of the show, Mac will do one of his sets. The difference is that whoever the song is connected with will be given a mic, and they will join Mac onstage and sing with him." Ariana turns to me. "Are you ready, Mac?"

I nod and start to play the first song. The Microphone gets handed to Alicia Keys.

I start to sing as she walks down to the stage.

"Oh, New York

Oh, New York

Grew up in a town

That is famous as a place

Of movie scenes......"

Alicia gets to the stage and is straight in with the next verse.

"Noise is always loud

There are sirens all around....."

We alternate and then sing the chorus together.

"I'm from New York

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothing you can't do

Now you're in New York...."

We run through the record, and as it gets close to the end, Alicia comes over, kisses me on the cheek, "You are fuckin amazin," she says, before heading back to her seat.

I continue with the music and blend it into another song. I use a prerecord for this and then a beatbox. Finally, I pick my guitar up and start singing.

"You know the bed feels warmer

Sleeping here alone

You know I dream in color

And do the things I want....."

As I make my way through the first part, Kelly Clarkson grabs a mic and walks down toward me.

She continues the next line.

"You think you got the best of me

Think you've had the last laugh....."

Again we alternate, and the joy on Kelly's face is incredible as we make our way through the song.

Again I blend across as Kelly leaves with a kiss, and I see Lady Gaga stand as soon as she hears the beginning of Shallow...