Remedy | Harry Styles

02

I grab my pepper spray, tucking it into my purse before grabbing a small sweater, my guitar case and heading out the door. The club is about a 35 minute subway ride from our small apartment, so I make my way there as quickly as I can.

Once I get to the club, I enter through the back as they told me to when I first got the job. The people in the back were kind and showed me where I could set up, warm up and talked me through how things would go. It seemed simple enough, and I felt the butterflies swarming my stomach.

"You're Alina, right?" the man backstage asks me. He's wearing all black and carrying a clip board so he must be important. I nod then, a nervous smile on my face. "I'm Brian, and I kind of make sure everything runs smoothly back here."

Afterwords, he takes me through a small hallway and through a door. Inside the room is pretty plain. Nothing but a black leather couch, a few mirrors, and a table.

"Thank you so much," I tell him, turning around to face him. I set my guitar case down slowly, feeling the nerves settle even deeper into my body.

"No problem," he says. "Let me know if you need anything." Brian is quick to leave after that, and I'm left alone in the room.

I take this alone time to warm up, stretch, have some water and try to relax before the show. I don't like playing or practicing right before a gig, it makes the nerves of it all to intense if I mess up right before I have to go on stage.

My phone buzzes then.

Melanie: we're outside waiting to get in!! we're so excited baby

Alina: i'll try to spot you in the crowd <3

After about 25 minutes or so my head snaps up when I hear a knock on the door. The door opens then, and I see Elijah peak his head in. I grip the material of my shirt, already knowing what he was about to say.

"Hey," he says excitedly, running over to me to give me a side huge. "I'm so glad you're here. Do you feel good?"

I nod. "I'm beyond excited," I tell him. "Thank you so much for doing this for me, again."

Elijah takes a seat next to me, taking a sip of his water bottle. "Alina, you're crazy talented. The fact that you're self taught is unbelievable. Not many people can play the way you do without years of professional training."

"Stop." I blush, hitting his arm. "But seriously, I really appreciate everything you've done and setting this whole thing up for me. I've never played at a club as nice as this one."

Lots of the other gigs I had done were much smaller, and you didn't have to pay $16 for a margarita. Most of the time, people weren't really interested in the live music and were just there to get drunk for a cheap price. I knew that it would be different at this place, that at least a couple people would be listening.

"You know, you're welcome to come back anytime you want." Elijah pinches my cheek. "Oh, by the way, I have a friend that I invited out here tonight. I really want you to meet him."

"Oh, really?" I ask, turning my body towards him. I was always up for making new connections.

Elijah smiles as if he knows something that I don't. "You want to make music your life, don't you?"

I stare at him hesitantly. "...Yeah. What are you going on about?" I laugh.

"Just keep an open mind later, when I introduce you. Okay?" We stare at each other for a moment in silence and then both start smiling.

"Why are you doing this for me?" I ask, shaking my head and chuckling underneath my breath.

"There's something about you..." he trails off, and then looks at the time on his phone. "You ready, Alina?" Elijah gives me a comforting grin.