Sketch

80 - Emmy

It's finally here, the next upload!  Sorry it's taken way longer than expected.  Thank you so much for waiting patiently :)

Dedicated to GraceGurlo :)

 Love.  Love.  L.  O.  V.  E. 

I test the word out as I shower.  It sounds and tastes right, especially in the same sentence as Sam. 

I feel like the heroine in a romance novel when everything finally starts to fall into place.  I suppose this could be a Disney movie too, where the evil queen is plotting to over-throw everything, but the lingering dark cloud that usually envelopes me whenever Michelle is mentioned doesn't appear today.  Instead I feel giddy, in the mood to sing and dance with animals and make cakes and smile so much my cheeks ache. 

Speaking to Mum has helped my mood too.  It's like I finally feel like I'm on the right path in life.  I have a job I love, a boyfriend I adore, and friends I can laugh and have a great time with.

The LZ awards are in a few days and it's only when I walk into the lounge to see Tanya that I remember.  Sam's flicking through the latest copy of LZ magazine and I smile as his eyebrows pinch in concentration as something seems to catch his interest.  I stroke his arm as I pass him by but it doesn't pull him from his reading so I carry on towards where Ollie and Tanya are chatting on the sofas.

"Hey."

My sudden arrival seems to startle Tanya and Ollie, who stop talking immediately.  Curiosity wants to know what they were talking about before being interrupted but I've managed to reign it in recently, not having as many inappropriate outbursts.  Mum had been pleased to hear that too; it had been one of the first things she'd asked me about. 

"Emmy."  Tanya smiles warmly at me but it doesn't quite reach her eyes.  I don't know whether she's annoyed at me appearing out of nowhere but when she crosses to me and pats my shoulder I know I'm just being paranoid.  Whatever is bothering her has something to do with the conversation just now.

I shrug it off and smile back.  "Are we still heading to the studio?"

She nods.  Close up I can see that her hair looks unwashed and her eyes look tired.  Questions are on the tip of my tongue but I bite them back and swallow them down.

"I can't believe the album's almost finished," Ollie pipes up, his smile also seeming a little forced.

I glance at Sam to see he's still got his nose buried in the magazine.

"Just a couple more songs to touch up," Tanya agrees.  She reaches for her hand bag and pulls out her leather bound notebook.  She flips a few pages in and then hands it to me.  "Stan's ideas for the last song."

I smile as enthusiastically as I can while my mind's still on the way her and Ollie seem to be holding back today.

"Let's have a look."

I jump when I spot Vince getting up from the window seat.  I hadn't spotted him earlier and as he walks towards me I wonder how long he's been sitting there.  Had he heard any of the mysterious conversation?  I make a mental note to ask him later as I offer him the page covered in Stan's neat scrawl.

It's silent as he reads for a few moments.  "Seems legit," he says, offering an encouraging nod.

I stop biting my lip to smile at him.  "Cool."

"Have you read through this, Tanya?"

I jump again at the proximity of Sam's voice.  One minute he'd been at the breakfast bar and now I turn around I see him hovering behind me.