// above is a brilliant song that comes into play later in the chapter. I great, so you should definitely listen to it. //
"Hey Dan?" asked Charlotte, pacing back and forth backstage, "I just realized, I took the wrong guitar. I'm sorry this is last minute, but could you please bring the red guitar to the address I texted you?" She felt like an idiot. In all the excitement of moving, things had blurred together, and she'd brought her old broken guitar. It wasn't obvious, but she couldn't play a show on it.
"Sure," said Dan, "It might take a minute though." She sighed.
"Just bring it as fast as possible, okay? It's urgent."
"Okay, I'm coming," said Dan, and hung up. It was the first time he'd had to actually travel somewhere in two months, and he wasn't excited. Of course, he would get to see Charlotte in concert. He looked like a homeless guy, but that wasn't important. Maybe this way people wouldn't recognize him. His hair was long, like, Ben Cook long. Ew.
Disregarding that, Dan grabbed Charlotte's guitar and put inside one of the cases she had lying around. Good. Then he headed downstairs and out the door, trying not to bang the instrument up against the narrow hallway leading to the street. A couple strings sounded as he closed the door, hitting the neck on the door handle. Dammit. He had to be more careful. He made his way down the street and into the Tube, making sure to not hit the guitar again. Charlotte depended on this.
Somehow, he was able to get to the club with little incident, and ran through the crowd, guitar in hand. Charlotte was waiting on the edge of the stage, drumming her fingers against her ripped jeans. Her face lit up when she saw him.
"Oh my god, thank you so much. Are you going to stay to watch the show?" she asked, already busy plugging in the new guitar.
"Probably not," said Dan, "I don't like crowds, and there's a lot of people out there..." Charlotte looked up.
"I think there's a lighting booth with a brilliant view of the stage up there. You could watch from there!" Dan smiled.
"Sure. Am I allowed?"
Charlotte shrugged, "I don't know. There's never anyone up there, though, so you'll be fine. If you get arrested, just tell them you're my FX guy."
Dan retreated to the little room above the venue, ready for Charlotte's performance. He still wasn't sure what she even did, but whatever it was, he was excited.
People started filing into the room, crowding up into the stage. How Charlotte was able to stand all that, Dan wasn't sure. She sat on a stool onstage, chatting with the first rows of people. She seemed so at ease, so unworried.
A few minutes after people started filing in, the lights dimmed, and Charlotte picked up a battered acoustic guitar. "So, this is a song by the absolute legend James Taylor. You might know it if you're a music geek like me. Anyways, this is Fire and Rain." Dan hadn't heard the song she played much. He knew it, but not the name or artist. Well, now he did, James Taylor. It wasn't his usual mix of hip hop and rock, but it was a nice change. Something softer.
After Fire and Rain, she moved onto her own songs, more intense. The way she played stayed the same, though, with her brows furrowed, constantly focused on what she was doing. She was a force of nature, a hurricane, unleashing gale-force winds on everything and everyone around her.
Watching her up onstage, Dan realized something. So,etching he hated. He'd fallen in love.
