Dre's Issues

Anxious

(Dre's POV)

He walked up to the building where the ASCAP awards were being held, Nicole held his hand and walked beside him. As they walked he was immediately flooded by paparazzi. Everywhere he looked there was a camera pointed at him in each direction. Flashing lights continuing until it started to give him a headache. All he could hear was a roar of voices asking so many questions that he couldn't even answer one before the next was asked. He held on tight to Nicole's hand as they made their way into the building. As they walked into the building they were greeted by hosts who led them to the table where they would be sitting for most of the night. They sat and walked through the steps of the night.

"Show starts at 7 but they you are free to mingle until then. Be seated by 6:40, food would be served by 6:50. At 7 the intro to the award show will start, awards should begin to be presented by 7:30. Here's a list of honorees. When you go to receive your award be ready to go on stage as your name is called, don't be late. We have to stay on schedule. Don't be early either, you don't want to just stand there while your presenter is still giving their speech..."

The man continued through a list of rules and plans for how the night would go down. He paid as close attention as he could, he didn't want to miss anything important. The man finished explaining by about 5:20. Dre looked at his watch then around the room. There weren't that many people there. Were they too early? Was he even supposed to be there yet? He looked around the room and didn't see anyone he recognized. Nicole did. Before long she had invited a woman over to socialize but Dre had never met this woman before. They chatted while he sat there awkwardly checking his phone. He didn't really use social media or anything so he just scrolled through his pictures, notes, settings, and whatever else while the ladies talked. Eventually the womans husband came over and made conversation with him. They discussed the awards and their jobs. Upon further discussion the man began to speak about politics and current events. He himself didn't like to talk politics with strangers out of fear of confrontation and the man was saying so things he didn't agree with so he just stayed quiet. This led to the man beginning to get frustrated. Dre tried to explain that he just didn't feel comfortable talking politics at the moment but the man kept trying to push him. He shot Nicole a look thinking that she'd help him out but she brushed it off. He luckily was saved by Jimmy Iovine arriving and pulling him away from the conversation. The two talked instead, and he let Jimmy speak politics with the man freely. Shortly after, he and Jimmy went to grab drinks from the bar. At the bar Jimmy ran into someone he knew and they began to talk as Dre continued to stand there and hold his drink. He went to sit his drink on the bar but accidentally dropped it, causing the drink to spill and the glass to shatter. He looked up and saw an employee quickly coming to clean the spill. He looked around the room and saw multiple eyes now staring at him, probably judging him for being clumsy. Jimmy and his friend cracked jokes about it, he knew they were just messing around but it still made him feel bad.
He continued to follow Jimmy around the party as he socialized with people whom Dre had either never met or didn't feel very comfortable with. Whenever they did run into someone like Diddy or Will.I.Am, they would take a picture and talk for a while but before long they would be talking over Dre and excluding him from the conversation. Dre made his way back over to the table. He was starving, luckily the food would be served and the show would start soon. The woman Nicole was talking to eventually made her way back to her own table so he was able to actually socialize with his wife. Jimmy and his wife joined the two of them at their table as well. Eventually food was served and the host went on stage to start the ceremony.
Dre began to eat his fish filet and look around the room to ensure that he wasn't eating any faster or any slower that the average of people who were there. He didn't want to be the first person to finish his meal but he didn't want to be the last one either. He enjoyed the food and the company as well as the opening presentation. The award show went smoothly. Towards the end of the ceremony he was to give a speech and present Jimmy Iovine with an ASCAP award, he would next be awarded one himself. He had two speeches written down, one for giving an award and one for recieving. He prayed he didn't mix them up. His leg bounced in a rapid pace as he waited for the correct time to stand up and head for the stage. He felt a bit better about having to give a speech as he watched Marshall, who had the sharpest tongue in the game, stutter as he gave his speech. As he headed up the steps he watched careful to ensure he wouldn't trip. He took a deep breath before he went through each of his speeches and managed not to stutter despite the fact that he could feel his heart pounding in his throat. Once they had gotten their awards and taken pictures he made his way back to his table, this time with Marshall in tow. He could feel himself still shaking lightly even after he had gotten back to the table. He tried to take deep breaths, drink water, anything he could do to calm himself down but it didn't work. Once the show was over there was an afterparty where the attendees could socialize, take pictures, and enjoy their successes before heading out for the night. He was glad Marshall was there, he had no idea that he'd be there. Let alone that he'd be the one presenting him with his award. The two of them tried to just hang out together but they kept getting swarmed by crowds of people wanting to talk to each of them. Dre still hadn't calmed down from the award show. He was still shaking and short of breath. He felt himself start to feel sick so he excused him and tried not to look rushed or desperate as he went looking for, hopefully a private, restroom that he could try to calm himself down in. He found the restroom and realized that there were other people in there. On the far end of the restroom, away from the stalls and sinks was a small sitting area that was kinda hidden by a wall that acted as a divider. He went to a sink and started to wash his hands until the other person in there walked out. He then started to splash water onto his face. He felt himself continuing to get hot flashes and made his way over to the seating area. He sat with his elbows on his knees and his face in his palms. He heard someone else walk in and desperately hoped they wouldn't notice he was in there.

"Andre, what's wrong?"

He looked up as Marshall sat next to him and put a hand on his shoulder

"Are you alright? Did something happen?"

"No I'm fine..." he said quietly as he stared forward "there were just too many people around me I guess."

"You having like a panic attack or something?"

"Yeah kinda." He sighed

"What do I need to do?" Marsh said as he gently rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort him.

Dre could feel himself getting kinda numb and light headed. He decided it was safer to lean back rather than forward incase he blacked out. Marshall picked up on this and stayed close to him, ready to catch him if he did black out.

"I'm sorry." Dre said quietly under his breath

"What? Why are you sorry?"

Dre shrugged "you're having to be in here with me instead of out there."

"Why would I wanna be out there? I don't know no one out there. Why would I leave you in here?" Marshall hugged him carefully "Don't worry about it. I'm here tonight for you anyways. Not anyone out there."

They sat together in silence for a while until he felt comfortable enough to go back out where everyone else was. They got up and he splashed his face with water one more time. He looked at himself in the mirror and adjusted his tie.

"I should probably take this off."

"Why?"

"Because... I look stupid."

"How do you look stupid?"
"I'm overdressed."

"What makes you think you're overdressed?"

"Well everyone else is wearing stuff like that." Dre said referring to the comfortable yet nice clothing Marshall was wearing

"Okay well I saw quite a few people wearing suits so... also who the fuck cares? If you're the best dressed person in here then so what?"

"Yeah I guess you're right. I need to stop being stupid and caring so much."

"Hey. Don't say that. It's like you can help it. You know it's an actual sickness right? Whitney tells me about this kind of stuff all the time. It's like a disease. You can't help it if you have it."

He looked over at Marshall and smiled as the two headed for the door and walked back towards the party where they could try to enjoy the rest of the night.