They're Like Us [Part 3]

7.4

POV Shawn

She teased me by saying 'soon' to me. I say 'soon' to my fans when they ask when new music comes out, purely to tease them, but Indy takes that from me and uses it to tease me. I now finally understand how my fans always feel.

Before my performance starts, I take another pill to lower my heart rate during the performance. I've been taking them for almost two years, but nobody except my parents and Andrew know that. Without those pills I get a huge panic attack on stage and that hinders the performance. "Shawn, two more minutes." Andrew yells.

"I really have to pee." I tell him. He sighs deeply and rolls his eyes. "I want to see you here again in a minute, not a second later." I run to the toilet like crazy. I pee often before I start performing. I also throw some water in my face there. I'm not yet wearing the shirt I received from Indy, I'll keep that for the best moment. "Come on, Shawn, don't be nervous." I encourage myself in the mirror. I'm always nervous, but I think that's a good thing. I always want to give the fans the best experience.

When I hear the music of 'Lost In Japan', I'm shocked. I've been here way too long. I look at the clock on my phone and see that I have to go on stage every moment. I run even faster than ever to the stage, throw my guitar on and run to the stairs. Andrew is angry with me because I was late, but when it's time for me to go on stage, he gives me an encouraging pat on the back. "Goodluck, son."

"All it'd take is one flight. We'd be in the same time zone ..." I sing. While I continue singing and the audience screams loudly, I search the audience for Indy and my father. They would be there tonight, they promised.

I stand a little more at the edge of the stage to see when I see them somewhere. I stand by my toes to look behind the group of girls, but I really see them nowhere. I feel a small disappointment in my body, but I'm not going to show that to my fans. That would be disrespectful to my fans and I want to give them the best experience ever. I'm as good as I can for them.

After a number of songs, Mike gestures backwards. My father is standing there with a backstage pass around his neck. When he sees me too, he gestures to my grandmother who is sitting next to him in the chair. Indy stands behind my grandmother and waves at me. I wave back to her which causes the audience to cheer loudly. They probably think I'm waving at one of them, but that's not the case now. I wave to Indy, my wife and the mother of my children. She is amazing.Apparently they made sure that my grandmother could come and watch my show. That means a lot to me, because my family means everything to me. With new energy I continue my show again. This might just be the last time my grandmother can watch me live, so I'm going to make the best of it. Specially for her.

Suddenly I hear in my ear that I have to run to the B stage. I had completely forgotten that in the hectic moment. As fast as I can, I run to the B stage. I make a short stop at my family and give my grandmother a kiss on her cheek. She takes my hand and gives me a smile, but then nods to Indy.

I put my hand in the back of Indy's neck and press my lips on hers. They are so soft and taste like muffins, when did she ate a muffin? "You ate a muffin without me?" I ask her seriously.

"How can you even think about that right now? You're performing. And for your note, your grandma gave it to me. There's one for you as well." She says while laughing. I can't suppress a smile on my lips. The idea that Indy and my grandmother can get along makes me so happy. Again I press my lips on hers.

"Go kick some ass, Mendes." She jokes with red cheeks. Shit, she's so cute. I nod and then run to B-stage.

"Hey guys," I gasp when I've climbed on stage, "I just wanted to thank y'all for coming to the show tonight. And I wanted to say that my grandma's here tonight and I just love her so much." I say smiling to my grandmother. I see that my father immediately starts to translate everything, but he doesn't have to translate everything."Eu te amo, avó." I say to her. It means 'I love you, grandma'. That is one of the few sentences I know in Portuguese.