Scared to Sing

Chapter 1

~Ellie's POV~

I checked my watch and sighed. I was late to a writing session with Keith Urban and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous, I was almost fifteen minutes late. I quickly got out of my old, beat up car and grabbed my guitar and bag from the trunk, before crossing the street and entering the small building where we would be writing.

Keith was a big star in country music and this writing session was a huge opportunity for me, I really didn't want to screw this up and I knew that I had already made a bad impression by being late.

I walked up to the large reception desk. Universal Music Publishing Group - the publishing company Keith was signed to, appeared on the desk in bold letters. "Hi, I'm here for a writing session with Keith Urban."

A middle aged lady with blonde hair stopped typing on her computer and looked up at me. "Name?" She said, giving me a mean stare. "Ellie Brookes" I replied. She quickly typed something on her keyboard and checked the screen."You're late." She said bluntly. "I know, I'm really sorry." I apologised quickly.

I was already extremely nervous and this lady was not helping. "This way" she said, getting up. I followed her as she lead me to a small room. It contained two couches, a coffee table, one window and a piano in the corner.

Keith was sitting on the couch, playing guitar. The receptionist stood with me for a moment, admiring his guitar playing. There was no doubt that he was good. In fact he was amazing, which only seemed to make me more nervous.

The receptionist left, leaving me alone. Keith still hadn't noticed me standing there. When he stopped playing I took the opportunity to make my presence known. "Hi" I said quietly, walking into the room and setting my guitar case down on the floor. He smiled and stood up, gently putting his guitar down.

"I'm so sorry for being late." I apologised. He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked over to me. "That's okay, don't worry about it." He said in an Australian accent. "It's nice to meet you Ellie" We shook hands.

"Want some coffee?" He offered, walking over to a coffee machine. "Shouldn't we start? We've already lost half an hour" I said. Keith smiled. "I take that as a no for coffee?" He asked, pouring himself a cup. "Actually on second thought, coffee would be great." I said.

I told myself to relax. It wasn't everyday that I got to meet and work with Keith Urban.While he was making the coffee, I took a moment to really look at him. He was an average height but quite a bit taller than me. He looked just like he did in magazines and on TV, possibly even more handsome in person.

"Here you go" Keith said, handing me the hot cup of coffee. "Thanks" I replied. "You're welcome baby." He sat down next to me and took a sip of his own coffee. "I've been really looking forward to this." he said. "You have?" "Yeah, you're an amazing songwriter. You've either written or co-written basically half of all the songs playing on country radio right now."

"Well I doubt that's true." I said, looking down at my cup of coffee. "So you're pretty humble huh?" He said. I decided to change the subject because, as sweet as he was being, I hated to be the center of attention."Congrats on your number one." I said, referring to his latest single which had just reached the top of the country charts. "You wrote that didn't you? You're a pretty amazing songwriter yourself."

He shook his head. "Not really. I just get lucky sometimes. I wish I was half the songwriter you are." I was surprised at his lack of confidence in his songwriting abilities. Especially because he had written most of the songs on his latest album. An amazing album which I had been listening to on repeat since it came out. I was surprised at how humble he was.

We talked about songwriting for a while before beginning to toss around ideas for songs. I found it so easy to write with him, with my poetic mind and his musicality we made a great team.

****

I checked my watch. It was almost 11 pm. Where had all the time gone? Songwriting sessions usually only lasted for a couple of hours, yet we had been here almost all day. I looked over at Keith who was making some final adjustments to the song.

"What do you think about adding another line to the bridge?" He asked. I ignored his question and instead asked one of my own. "Do you have any idea what the time is his?" He shook his head. "No." I held up my wrist with my watch on it to show him. "It's almost 11."

"Wow. It's getting late, where did all the time go? We've been here for hours." He said. "I know. I should go." I said, getting up from the couch opposite him. A frown formed on his face. "What? No, you can't go yet. We need to the finish the song." He protested. "The song is finished and it's awesome. Feel free to make some adjustments if you think they're necessary, I trust you're judgement. I began to pack up my things. "But I need your help." He said, walking towards me. "The song is amazing okay? Probably the best I've ever had the privilege of writing. I honestly don't think anything needs to changed. I'm really proud of this one and you should be too."

He relaxed a bit and slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "You really think it's okay?" "It's far more than okay. It's a hit." I said, reassuring him. I swung my bag over my shoulder and picked my up my guitar case. "I should go." Keith nodded. "Let me help you with that." He said, gently taking the heavy guitar case from me. "Thanks."

He followed out of the building and across the street to my car. I opened the trunk and tossed my bag in before taking the guitar from him and closing it again. "Thanks for today. It was fun." I said. "Yeah, it was. And thank you for writing with me, I learnt a lot. We should do again sometime."

"Absolutely. Have a goodnight Keith. I'll see you around." "You too Ellie." He said before I got into my car and turned the ignition key. We waved goodbye and I drove off.