Hidden Talent ➳ (Emerson Barrett x OC)

Chapter 15: Birds

The only date I had ever been on was when I was five years old, and my mother had set me up on a playdate with one of my brother's friends. Not even Dahlia had taken me on one in the six months we had been together. I had never imagined my first ever date to be with a man so amazing as Emerson.

"I'll have the pasta and meatballs, please." I smiled politely to the red-haired waitress that stood before our table for two. She scribbled some words down on the notepad she held in her hand.

"Me too." Emerson shot the waitress a polite smile, then placed the menu back onto the table.

"Is that all?" She questioned after she'd scribbled down our orders onto her little pad. I nodded in response and she left us to ourselves.

"Tara." Emerson stated, drawing my attention from picking at me fingernails to his sparkling eyes. "Tell me something about yourself that you've never told anyone." His playful smirk caused me to blush and giggle.

"What do you mean?" I let out a nervous laugh.

"I don't know... like a weird habit you have. Ooh, or a phobia. Anything, really. I wanna know you."

"Well..." I hesitated for a while, thinking about something Emerson didn't already know. There was so much he didn't know about me - so much that I didn't want to share. Not yet, at least. "I guess I have this really weird fear of birds." I squeaked out, tilting my head down to conceal the pink that kissed my cheeks.

"Birds?" His laugh made my heart flutter.

"Yes! They just- I don't know... freak me out!" I protested in attempt to save some of my reputation.

Once he had finished making light of my bizarre phobia, he brought his hand and placed it atop mine, which was rested on the dark wooden table. His touch brought my eyes to meet with his. He gazed into my eyes as though they were the most beautiful flowers he had ever seen. And his, his were like miles of ocean with so many undiscovered creatures deep below the surface.

"I think it's adorable." He had long since stopped laughing. Now, his voice was full of a charming sincerity that made my heart leap and bound. I dropped my eyes down to my lap, avoiding his gaze. I felt my chin being lifted up by his index finger, forcing my eyes to flicker back up to see the drummer reaching over the table.

"Sorry to cut this short, lovebirds, but I got your drinks." An unfamiliar female voice snapped me out of the trance, but my heart still raced from the memory of it.

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The low hum of the crowd slowly building was enough to get my heart racing in both anxiety and anticipation. The looming sense of doom that a single mistake could ruin an entire song made me shudder just the same as the last show, but the rush of adrenaline as soon as the audience erupted in screaming was enough to blast all the worries away for the hour or so we played.

I only realised my breathing was so heavy when I felt a pair of hands on my hips and a warm breath against my ear. I felt myself jump slightly at the surprise contact, but was instantly calmed when I heard a familiar soft voice. "It's just me. You're going to do fantastic tonight, you don't have to worry."

"Says you," I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I turned around in his grasp so that I stood scarily close to his chest. I brushed a piece of my curled hair out of my face, but it seemed to have a mind of its own and decided to fall back over my nose. Emerson chuckled as I stared cross-eyed, angrily at the strand of brunette. He gently tucked it behind my ear. Somehow this simple movement caused butterflies to break free in my stomach. 

I stared at him for a few seconds longer, eventually bringing myself back to reality by clearing my throat. "Anyways, I was saying that you can't say anything about being fantastic, Mr Rockstar." I teased, trying my hardest to take the attention away from me. 

But apparently, I'm easy to read.

"No no no, you aren't turning this on me. I'm comforting you, so let me." I felt his fingertips fiddle with the ends of my hair that fell just below my shoulder blades.

"Hey, you guys are on in five minutes. Tara: your bass" Joshua seemed to completely ignore the fact that Emerson had his arms wrapped around me and my cheeks flushed bright pink. In his hand, he held out my glossy black bass guitar, fully tuned and ready to go. However, the rest of the band made their way to meet us backstage, bizarrely on time for once, and they definitely would not ignore that fact.

I gently tugged myself out of the drummer's arms and took the bass from the technician, slipping the rainbow strap (a gift from Alexis) over my shoulders. 

"Hey, just because we're here doesn't mean you have to stop your makeout session" Both Emerson and I shot Sebastian a deathly glare that would have warned anyone else enough. But not Sebastian; he laughed along with the others and stopped himself from saying anything more.

"Ignore them." Emerson's whisper sent shivers down my spine.

"Alright, ladies!" Callam appeared from behind some crates that were stacked up in the hallway at the side of the stage. "You're on, right now. Go, go go!" And with that, we were all hurried onto the stage. The lights turned down upon our arrival, and as soon as Sebastian started with the first guitar riff, the crowd erupted in screams. 

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Sorryyy I disappeared for a long ass minute

I've had huge block on this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed

ALSO! I realise a lot of these chapters have been fillers, but I'm planning on slipping some more drama in soon ;)

Zoe xoxo