Sanditon Melodies

Chapter 29: The gig

"... And that folks was Charlotte Heywood with her song "Out There" which will be released along with the rest of her EP on 5th September 2020 when she supports Georgiana Lambe on her tour. Charlotte, thank you so much for joining us today. Good luck with the tour and I have no doubt that we will be hearing much more of you on the air waves over the coming weeks and months."

"Thank you so much for having me."

"Right next up we have a band from Brighton called Darcys with their track "Forgotten"."

The radio host put on the next song. "That was so great Charlotte." He said taking one ear out of his headset, and Charlotte removed hers. "Thanks for being with us today. I'm actually going to Georgiana's Bristol gig. It will be great to hear you play live."

"Thanks. I hope you enjoy it." Charlotte said and then someone came in the room to collect her and take her back to the lounge where Babington was.

"Well done." Babington said beaming.

"Did it go OK?" Charlotte said uncertainly.

"Charlotte, you were great! A complete natural." Babington said reassuringly. Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief. She had been so nervous about her first radio interview. "And the song sounded amazing! Plus you're gaining twitter followers by the second."

"I am?"

"Yes look." Babington said, showing her his phone with her official twitter account which kept flashing up notifications of new followers.

"Wow!" Charlotte said, her eyes wide, thinking everything that was happening right now was pretty crazy.

"When are you meeting Sidney?" Babington asked her.

"Not until seven o'clock, so I've got a couple of hours to kill."

"Want some company?" He asked.

"Oh. Don't feel that you have to entertain me. Honestly, just point me to a coffee shop or a bar and I'll hang out there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm good." Charlotte said smiling. "You've been working so hard over the past couple of weeks. Have the weekend off!"

"It will be no trouble."

"John... Have a break. I insist!" She said.

Babington smiled. "Well, if you insist then I suppose I must."

****************

Charlotte was nervous as she waited for Sidney outside the venue. She kept looking out for him as the people walked past, her heart fluttering whenever she thought she caught a glimpse of him. She was early for their meeting and ended up being there for a good fifteen minutes before she heard him calling.

"Charlotte!" Sidney called out to her, and the sound of his voice made Charlotte's stomach flip. She turned to face him as he skipped towards her. He was as gorgeous as ever, with his token stubble and relaxed smile, his eyes shining with excitement and Charlotte felt all tingly with nerves at seeing him again.

"Hi." She said shyly.

"Sorry, have you been waiting long?"

"Don't worry I was early."

"Here." Sidney said handing over a lanyard with her backstage pass on it which she placed round her neck. "Ready?" He asked. Charlotte nodded. "Are you nervous?"

"What do you think? I'm about to meet some of the greatest musical icons of all time." Charlotte replied, although in reality she was nervous for other reasons.