Finding Jemima

Lily

  JEMIMA

I went very early the next day to the opera house with Tammy, Peter and William. Matty wanted to come too, but I insisted he stay behind, I was nervous enough as it was with out him watching me as well.  Peter had met him after we had returned from dress shopping yesterday and filled him in about my past and the issues surrounding performing in public, Matty returned to the room we were sharing and without saying anything yanked me off me bed and held me in a silent hug for twenty minutes. He eventually pulled himself off me telling me he believed I could do it and he'd help in anyway he could. Matty sent one of their security guards with me to rehearsals, I'm not sure why, but it made him happy so I agreed, I had met him a few times before, his name was Jack, and he seemed nice enough.  Once there jack just hung back talking to the security at the venue.  We ran through a few songs and played around with some arrangements, and they sounded ok.  Peter pushed me to make some notes longer and higher, I was able to do it, and I felt pleased I wasnt a complete disappointment.  I drove back to the hotel with Jack at around midday where we met the boys.

"How'd it go?" Tom asked, as Matty quietly talked to jack out of my ear shot as if he was getting an update from him, like a dad picking his child up from a teacher after the first day of school.

"Not bad, ok...I think, I don't know. They seemed pleased, that's good right?"

"Sure, what are you going to be singing do you know yet?" Ed put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, I must have looked flustered.

"I'm not sure I'm allowed to say"

"Ooooo like that is it, I see" milo said in a faux sassy voice, I just giggled at him.

"She's seriously good boys, I wasn't expecting that voice to come out of that little mite that's for sure" I heard jack whisper to them as we walked to lunch

We went to eat in the bar of the hotel, burger and chips, I picked at the food.  Matty noticed and cut my burger into four segments, making it look more manageable.  I ate a fair portion of the food and a milkshake, which Matty was pleased about even though he didn't say anything, you could tell by his facial expressions, I was determined to really try this time not just for me but for him too. When we'd finished we piled into a van and drove to a local hospital where the boys were visiting the children's ward. I watched them proudly as I hung back standing with Jack, I looked on as they interacted with the young kids, playing games with them, Max made them laugh pulling funny faces, Milo danced around for them in comedic fashion although I wasn't sure he was intending to be funny, Ed gave the kids piggy back rides, Tom did animal impressions for the younger kids, they all sang a few songs as Matty played his acoustic guitar.  They took loads of photos with the kids and staff, I took some candid ones and a few videos on my phone to show them later.

I noticed a shy young looking girl standing behind the last bed in a row of beds, just observing the boys from the corner of the room.   She must have been about six or so.  She looked nervous but a little curious.  I approached her carefully crouching down to her level.

"Hey sweetie, did you want to meet the boys" she shook her head "you see the one with the bright red hair, that's Matty, he's my big brother" she turned her head to me in interest noticing my pink hair.

"I like your pink hair better"

"Me too, but shush don't tell Matty I said that" I whispered and she giggled

"Can I touch it?"

"My hair....sure"

"It's beautiful" she gently touched my hair and played with the ends.

"Thank you." The boys rushed past chasing another kid in a game of tag, not even noticing us, the girl flinched away and hid in the corner. "My names Jemima but everybody calls me Em" I sat down next to her on the floor.

"I'm lily"

"Do like music lily?" She nodded "Shall I see if the boys will sing you a song?"

"Do you sing?" I nodded. "Can you sing to me?" I stood up and got Matty's guitar that he had put down on one of the beds and walked back over to the girl and sat crossed legged with the guitar, between the bed and the wall away from everyone's view.

"Do you have a favourite song?" I asked

"My mummy sings over the rainbow when I'm sad, she's in the hospital too, they won't let me go see her."

"I see, well maybe if we sing it she'll know your here with her eh?" The little girl beamed at me.  I started to sing Eva Cassidy's version of the song that I knew from a school talent show I had done years ago, the little girls smile got wider and wider as I sang, I was enjoying watching her little face go from sad to happy while I sang that I forgot where we were and went full pelt for her doing the big loud long notes! Making her even happier. As I finished she flung herself into my arms and hugged me

"Thank you Jemima" she squeezed me tight. I looked up to see the boys standing over us with equally as wide smiles as Lilly's. As we left Lily gave me another hug and waved good bye but not before she tugged on Matty's trouser leg and told him that she liked my pink hair better than his red, then she skipped away happily.  A man approached us as we walked out of the door stopping us leaving.

"Excuse me, sorry, Jemima is it?"

"Yeah that's me"

"I'm Lily's dad Keith, I just wanted to thank you." He started to shake my hand "that's the first time Lily's smiled in a week, she hasn't spoken to anyone since she came here, her and her mum were in a car accident and her mums in ICU, you have no idea what you've done for her, for me, thank you so much" he was still shaking my hand making me a little uncomfortable.

"Oh it's no problem really it was just a little song, no biggy" I told him.

"No no no, that one song meant so much more to lily than you'll ever know, thank you so much Jemima, your an angel, truly an angel" with that the man skipped back into to ward waving goodbye.  I turned to Matty with a bemused look on my face.

"YOU little lady, are something else you know that! so fucking proud of you right now. Come on let's go get ready for this party or whatever it is, I hope they have beer" Matty put a protective arm around my shoulders and led me back to the van.

I couldn't get lily out of my head, had me singing one little song helped that girl that much? Me? I smiled as I thought of her smiling little face as I sang.  I was snapped out of my thoughts by the boys getting out of the van.  We headed off into our rooms, Ed and milo were sharing, Max and Tom and then I was sharing with Matty.  Matty got ready first then said he was going to wait in one of the boys rooms so I could shower and change in peace.  I got myself ready, I had not been to a large social event in some time and I have to admit I was more than a little bit nervous.  I put my outfit on and Tammy came in to do something with my hair and to safety pin my skirt in place so there was no chance of it accidentally falling down.  Tammy looked stunning in her teal full length ball gown, I couldn't help but feel inferior standing next to her. We went to find the boys in the lobby, who all looked smartly dressed, except max, who although he looked smart had managed to sneak into black skinny jeans with his shirt and tie instead of proper trousers. I walked up to him and whispered in his ear

"Sneaky, I see the jeans"

He whispered back into my ear "your just jealous" I was, I would much rather be wearing black skinny jeans right now. "You look breathtaking by the way" I blushed the same colour as my hair and thanked him quietly.