Billie and Brandon: Unpredictable Circumstances

32

"Billie, you alright?" Ms. Redmond asked as she walked towards her with a woman at her heel.

Billie leaned against her crutch, smiling and nodding, "A little tired, but nothing I'm not used to. It's my last music showcase ever. I can manage at least one evening."

Technically, she hadn't been officially discharged from the hospital yet since they were still testing the effects of the medications she was on, but Drew had managed to get a go ahead from her doctor by calling, emailing, and showing up at her office hundreds of times. In the end, provided that a chaperone went along with Billie, she was allowed to briefly leave for one evening, also to check the effects of the medication with the general public as an environmental stimulus.

She absolutely hadn't wanted to be coddled by everyone, so she'd requested only Drew come pick her up from the hospital to bring her to the music showcase. The rest of the group was planning to arrive later, once the huge crowd in the presentation hall of the early evening dwindled a bit more.

It was an event where some people would perform or show their skills to some pretty important people in music. In Billie's case, she wouldn't be performing due to her condition but Ms. Redmond had wanted Billie to come and she wouldn't tell Billie why. Right now the performances were over and everyone was standing around, talking to the important people.

Ms. Redmond set a comforting hand on Billie's shoulder.

"Well, I just want you to know that I'm proud of all your accomplishments and everything you've done these past years I have known you. You are an incredible songwriter, Billie. There's someone I want you to meet."

She stepped away, gesturing to the woman who had been standing next to her. The woman walked up to Billie with an outstretched hand and a smile.

"Eleanor Preston" she said, giving her hand good, hard shake. "Call me Eleanor. I hate Ms. Preston, sounds like my mom. I've being inspecting your songs over the past couple of months, Billie O'Connell. And Ms. Redmond was right. You don't disappoint."

Billie was a little taken aback by the unabashed compliment. "Thank you."

"I read your most recent song from a couple weeks ago. What was the inspiration for it?" She asked.

Billie had written a song while she was in the early days of recovery and she had gotten most of her feeling back. Even though she had missed a ton of school, Ms. Redmond had made Billie promise to try and get to the music showcase as she had someone she wanted to meet.

"Long story short." Billie said, smiling in amusement, "I found out I was pregnant last October and my life turned upside down in every single way. The whole experience kind of put things in perspective, you know? So I tried to capture my entire journey until I had my baby in one song."

"The struggles you endured" Eleanor muttered, staring at her intently. "I could easily hear your triumphs and failures in this magnificent song."

"Thank you. It really means a lot."

"I could really make out how you are forcing the viewer to accept the reality of the piece, much like you had to come to accept the reality of your pregnancy."

"Yeah." Billie smiled.

The woman rubbed her chin, looking quite pleased. If Billie thought about it, she was the first person who hadn't stared at Billie in shock at her blatant reveal of her pregnancy.

"Remarkable..." Eleanor turned to Ms. Redmond. "I've fallen in love with her songwriting capabilities."

"I knew you would, Eleanor." Ms. Redmond chuckled. "Tell her the good news."