He took advantage of the first guitar solo to exit the stage area and grab a chilled Evian from Ricky. Now he methodically searched the room for Kenny. He was fooling himself, because he was really searching for Raina. There was just something about the look in her eyes that was so familiar...
He spotted Kenny just as he had to go onstage, so he nearly tripped as he tried to keep track of his friend as he moved from the bar. He hoped to follow his trail back to the table. Kenny was good this time, and went right back to the table, and Voz didn’t miss a note. But he didn’t go to just a table. There must’ve been at least three butted together, and Kenny was holding court with about twenty people. It was Elysia, Jury’s friends but Billboard rivals, that had expanded the group, and made it hard for Voz to find Raina. The song was just about to end when he spotted them – on the dance floor! Raina and Venn! As the band swooped into the ending of the song, Venn decided to dip Raina. She came up laughing at him as the song ended and the two walked back to the group laughing. She slapped him lightly on the back and sat between Kenny and Shawn. Shawn’s wife Jossie sat next to him, and she and Donna were quite involved in some discussion. It must’ve involved hair, the way they were gesturing. That left Raina in conversation with Kenny, Venn and Shawn. Who knows what they were talking about, but she was laughing at whatever was being said.
Voz couldn’t understand it, but he did not like it! Why should it matter to him so much that this woman was there and having a good time with friends of his? And what could he do about it? He was performing, record execs were watching, everything needed to go smoothly. Exodus was selling well, but if they made a good impression tonight, a multi-record deal could be in the making. Then, as the audience clapped and he thanked them, the idea formed in Voz’ mind. Perfect. What better way to get Raina’s attention away from Venn, and impress the execs at the same time? It could work, he could pull it off.
Brill played the intro to their new ballad. It hadn’t even been released as a single yet, so it was brand new material to everyone in the room but the band. As he sang the first note, he began the stroll from stage right to left. Don was surprised to see him walk down the steps to the audience. What was Voz up to? This wasn’t in the plan, and he had never been brave enough to venture out into the audience before. For a lead singer, Voz was pretty shy. Don kept an eagle eye on him because he knew what was on the line tonight. He caught Brill’s attention in a rare moment of broken concentration and communicated that he should check out Voz. Brill came closer than Don had ever seen to missing a note during a live show.
Because it was new, and because bandmembers wandering the audience hadn’t been seen at an industry show before, the audience was more attentive during this song. Voz wove through the audience, singing, making his way to Kenny’s group. He was casual, nodding and smiling at everyone, so as to keep his surprise. He ended up standing in front of Raina, of course. He reached out for her hand and took it as he sang, making the Kodak moment he and that Rolling Stone photographer were looking for. Now the test: would she or wouldn’t she? He backed up, intending her to follow him. It took a discreet and gentle push from Venn, but she rose and followed him, almost in a daze. Voz made a mental note to thank Venn later; maybe he’d made a rush judgement, and Venn was only trying to loosen Raina up. He was, after all, the clown of Elysia, and had absolutely no idea that Voz was becoming more intrigued with this woman.
As they approached the stage, he turned to walk up the stairs forward, but kept hold of Raina’s hand, resting it on his shoulder. He led her to the stool in front of the drumstand and sat her down. Voz ended the song on one knee, still holding her hand. At the end of the last note, he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. That brought energetic applause from everyone watching, industry folk included. Raina just sat dumbfounded, the look on her face, priceless. As the clapping died down and he lead her to the stairs, Voz said, “Thank you to our lovely audience member for going with the flow of the moment and helping us out. Let’s give her a hand.” She walked down the stairs and to her seat to a short round of applause before Jury dove into the next song.
Voz kept his eye on her for the remaining songs. The table was quite thrilled with the little turn of events, and Venn loved giving her a hard time. Because Voz had time to think things through while he was forced to stay on stage, he had quickly come to the conclusion that Venn was not truly interested in Raina, he had just been trying to put her at ease. Shawn was pretty attentive, but since he and Jossie were married, Voz was not worried too much there. He was beginning to think he had a pretty good shot at getting to know this one.
Jury knew that is was best to mingle with the execs right after the show, so Voz lost sight of her several times while being sidetracked with Kalodner’s group and Mottola’s also. It didn’t bother him too much, since the response to the show was great. The suits were pretty impressed with his impromptu venture into the audience, and couldn’t believe it wasn’t staged. Devin had quite a time convincing everyone that the woman Voz pulled out of the audience was not an actress.
Don was finally able to pull Voz aside for a moment to ask him what was up. He told him he thought even though the move was risky, it was brilliant, and tried to explain how shook up Brill got over seeing him break the unwritten rule. “But what made you do it, Voz?”
All Voz could do was shrug. He told Don how he’d met Raina through Kenny at the salon earlier in the day. “I don’t know what came over me Don. I just keep thinking about her. You know, I’d like to cut away from this now, go buy her a drink and apologize. I think she may be a bit shy. I might have embarrassed her.”
“She’s a bit shy! Look who’s talking, buddy!” Don scoped out the situation. Um... yah, it looks like this is all breaking up. It’s management’s job from here on out. Go find her. Good luck!”
He made his way to Kenny’s table, but could not see Raina. He found Donna on the dance floor with Bob, and explained to her why he wanted to find Raina. Donna told him that she had left for the ladies’ room. She also tried to reassure him that everything was ok. He asked Donna what Raina was drinking so he could have something ready for her.
That is how he found her, as he waited outside the ladies’ room with a Heineken for her and a Coke for himself. He surprised her, and she stopped short. He offered her the beer, and asked her if he could talk to her for a minute. There was a semi-private room around the corner, where it was a bit quieter. After a minute of hesitation, she agreed, and followed him down the hall.
They sat, and she looked at him. He was not sure what or how to say what he wanted. He toyed with his glass much in the same way she played with her bottle.
“So, what did you think of the show?”
“It was great, but then I’ve always liked Jury, “ she said cautiously.
He cleared his throat. “Well I’m glad you came. How has Kenny been? Not too obnoxious, I hope.”
“Actually, he’s been fine. He’s got some really great stories. Then Elysia stopped to say hi to him, and he invited them to sit with us. They are such a great group to meet. It’s nice to know they are actually great people when you meet them, and not a bunch of conceited jerks. They’re just regular, nice people, that happen to be incredibly talented. Shawn Thompson is just such a cutie, and the way he plays that guitar. And Venn is hysterical!” She sighed. “I have loved Elysia all my life.” While she rambled on, he had been playing with a nick in the tabletop, but at that statement he looked up at her. Her heart stopped. “I’m sorry. I ......I don’t mean that I liked them better than Jury, it’s just that I knew them before Jury, and...”
Voz smiled at her, and if she hadn’t been sitting, she would have lost it. It was just one of those looks she could have never imagined being directed at her, from someone like Voz. But there was no mistaking it, they were currently the only two in the dimly lit room. Even the bartender had gone into the back, so she could not have a single doubt. “Don’t worry about it. Listen, Raina, I wanted to talk to you because I want to apologize for earlier. There are just some times that the music compels me. At the last minute, it just seemed like a great way to present the song. I was hoping that since you heard earlier that the record bigwigs were here, you wouldn’t mind too much helping me out. I hope I didn’t impose too much.”
“Oh no, that’s fine. I was surprised at first though. But I could see what you were trying to do, and it was such a wonderfully romantic thing to do.” She realized what she said, and worried that he might think she was implying the wrong thing. She blushed, and said, “I mean....” and fumbled for the right words.
“I think I know what you mean,” Voz interrupted. He startled her by reaching out to brush her hair away from her face. She flinched, then felt even worse for being so jumpy. She met his eyes and wasn’t so sure so liked what she saw in them. They seemed to dig into her mind, like he was trying to read her thoughts, and yet at the same time, she was lost in his eyes. “Look, we’re going to be in town a day or two, while this record thing is ironed out. Can I..... would you... Jesus, you’d think I’ve never done this before,” he muttered under his breath. “ I’d like to know if you would like to go to dinner with me tomorrow night? We’ll do something casual, something simple.”
“Me?”
That smile again. “Yeah.”
She was torn between yelling yes, just so she could get Donna off her back, and screaming no. No because she had no clue who this guy really was, underneath that good-looking exterior. She could no longer deny that to herself – the man was almost too gorgeous for words. What to do, what to do?
As she was deciding, Dev glanced in the room. “Voz, there you are! I’ve been looking for you.” He walked into the doorway. “Greg Sherman of Indie Records wants to talk to the band.”
Exasperated with the timing, Voz asked, “Now?”
“Now.”
He turned to Raina. “Please say yes.”
Impulsively, she said yes. His grin was electric. “Great! Look I gotta run, but I’ll call The Mane Event for Donna’s number. I can call you there, right?” She nodded her head. “Great! This is great!” He slid out of the booth to follow Dev. He turned back, leaned over to give her a peck on the forehead. “See you tomorrow night.” He flashed her another smile before he walked out after Devin.
Once he had left the room, she downed the rest of her beer and sighed heavily. How in the world would she make it through tomorrow? She not only had a date with a talented, gorgeous man, but he was the lead singer for Jury. Who would believe it? Could she?
She slowly left the room to return to her table and her date for the night. Slowly, because she knew when she told Donna what her friend’s reaction would be. And her friend didn’t disappoint her.