EMERALD

Part 1

New Years Eve 2015

Zander and his band are getting ready to perform at their first big gig in a local dance club in New York City. During New Years Eve, local clubs hire artist and musical acts to be the musical host at their establishments for the entire night. The band is scheduled to perform at a club called HalfTix and the manager is a dude named Marty. Marty is a bit on the leaner side but wears bigger clothes to hide his muscular absence. He usually wears his hair slicked back but today his hair is left untouched, the front hairs partially covering his face. He's sporting a black leather jacket with a white shirt underneath and blue denim jeans with suede black shoes; all seemingly one size too big.

Marty discovered Zander on the street in front of Lexington station singing Led Zeppelin covers with his guitar. At the time he was in desperate need of a musical act and he thought Zander had potential. So he did what any business man would and hired him. When Zander told him he was in a band he was reluctant to let the rest of the members play at his club. Mainly because that was more people he had to pay which he didn't want to do. But after hearing them play he instantly fell in love with their eccentric sound and sincere lyrics, and decide to hire them. Fast forward to the present time, Marty is starting to regret his decision he made a couple weeks ago. Now at his club he anxiously stares at the clock waiting for his new act. The band has delayed their set for more than 30 minutes and the crowd has grown impatient which made Marty impatient. The longer they wait the more money he loses, and Marty HATES losing money. Frustrated, he moves toward the backstage to find out why the band has yet to appear on stage.

"Where the hell is Zander ? Why aren't you guys on stage yet ? what's going on ?"

"Last time I saw him he was running to the bathroom" Tj says.

Marty covers his face with his hand in frustration

"Fuck man I swear if Zander is drunk out of his mind I'm pulling your set and calling the back up dj"

"That wont be necessary Marty. I'll go find where he is." Alex says.

"You've got 15 minutes. Find him"

Marty walks back toward the center, disappearing into the crowd, while Alex heads toward the bathroom to find Zander. Walking in he hears a man violently throwing up. He bends down to check if the shoes of the man matches Zander's and to his surprise they do.

"Are you ready to go man ? Everyone is waiting for you"

Zander jumps in surprise, the voice initially startling him. But he soon relaxes once he recognizes the familiar voice. "Yeah just give me a second Alex I'm kinda busy here" he says hoarsely

"Alright just hurry up and don't fuck this up for us"

"Alright I'm coming. Give me 5 minutes.

"What are we supposed to do until then?"

"Just stall them"

Alex sighs and walks out of the bathroom, the door immediately closing behind him while Zander is left to continue throwing up the remaining alcohol that is in his stomach.

Although his memory is a bit foggy, he recalls that he didn't drink enough alcohol for him to be throwing up this much. Maybe his body is reacting differently because he hasn't consumed a lot of alcohol in a couple of months. Or maybe his tolerance level isn't what it used to be, or maybe he just has an upset stomach because he's nervous. Whatever it was he didn't have time for it. This was the biggest night of his life and his bands life. His stomach pain just had to wait for the time being. Flushing the toilet, he walks out of the stall and moves toward the sink to wash his hands. Afterwards he quickly splashes cold water on his face to sober him up. Satisfied, he walks out of the bathroom joining his band backstage. Marty, seeing Zander walking toward the backstage approaches him.

"How drunk are you? Look at me"

Zander looks at Marty for a brief second but struggles to stand still and stumbles over his own feet. Marty picks him up aggressively, his frustration showing

"You're wasted . Why the fuck were you drinking on the day of your performance?" Marty asks as he shakes Zander.

"Are you even listening ? Zander!"

Suddenly Zander's lips perks and without warning the last remains of his stomach is exploded out of his mouth and onto Marty. Zander and his bandmates watch in horror as Marty clenches his fist, his eyes remaining closed. He doesn't move to remove the vomit. Instead he just speaks through gritted teeth.

"Go"

"Marty I'm so so-"

"I said get the FUCK OUTTA HERE ! IVE HAD IT ! GO HOME ALL OF YOU ITS FINISHED !" With that Marty turns on his heels and walks toward the bathroom to get cleaned up, desperately trying not to slip on the vomit. After Marty leaves, the band focuses their attention towards Zander. Zander looks at his band mates apologetically struggling to find the words to say. When he finally gets up the courage to speak his bandmates beat him to it.

"I cant believe you ruined the most important night of our life." Tj says

"Guys I'm so sorry I-"

"You know what... save it Zander. Nothing you say will ever make up for what you did. Look I know you're going through a lot right now and I understand I truly do. But this... this was important to us but you couldn't stop thinking about yourself for one second. It's always about you." Alex says cutting Zander off

"You're out of the band man. This time you went too far" Tyler says

"Guys please just give me one more chance I can explain. I didn't even drink that much I swear"

"Your excuses aren't going to work this time. We've put up with them for too long. We're done!"

Tj, Tyler and Alex all walk toward the front stage leaving Zander by himself.

Zander, overcome with emotion plops down onto the floor and begins to sob uncontrollably. "My anxiety won again" he mumbles angrily. He's worked so hard to keep it under control but no matter what he does it never seems to be enough. From the anxiety to the substance abuse to now being kicked out of his band the only thing that brought him true happiness, Zander is just done with life. As he sit there on the floor, millions of thoughts race through his mind. He just wants the world to stop so he can catch his breath. Just a brief moment of peace to ease his mind. After calming down he snaps out of his thoughts but struggles to get up as his body is exhausted from vomiting. Whatever remaining strength he had has now been lost from the crying and his eyes begin to droop as he sit on the marble floor. Zander now too tired to deal with his problems and pain instead settles for sleep.