Willow's Struggle

Duet and Meeting

    As soon as we got to the café, Skylar went and made us both a mocha while I got all of the cords hooked up.  Skylar returned beaming with excitement as she handed me my mocha.  We exchanged glances as we sipped on our mochas.  After we set our coffee down, she quietly asked, "Are you ready?"

    I grabbed my acoustic guitar and strapped it over my shoulder before I smirked at her and replied, "I am now."

    She grinned from ear to ear as she locked her arm around mine.  We walked up to the mic today, then she enthusiastically shouted, "Welcome to Savannah's Café for a very special performance by our one and only, Willow."  

    The crowd cheered as I grabbed the mic.  I gave them a second to quiet down, then excitedly said, "Thank you all for joining us tonight.  Get ready for more songs and a special surprise."  After I winked at the crowd, I took a step back and started strumming on the guitar.  I put everything I had into my singing, making sure to hit the notes perfectly both with my voice and my guitar.  When I finished playing the 

third country song, I walked over to my coffee and took a big drink of it to moisten my throat.  

    I walked back over to the mic and shouted, "Are you ready for the surprise?"  Everybody in the crowded cheered with enthusiasm.  I chuckled as I shouted, "Please welcome Skylar back to the stage to sing my newest song with me."  

    The crowd roared in excitement as Skylar walked onto the stage.  She was smiling from ear to ear in excitement as she walked up to me and wrapped an arm around my waist.  I looked at her and whispered, "Are you ready?"

    She looked me straight in the eye as she continued to smile, then gave me a single nod of her head.  As I started strumming to the tune, she released my waist and we started singing the song.  Before long she was dancing while she held the mic.  Whenever I had a singing part in the song, she would lean close to me so that the mic could pick up both of our voices.  She looked so happy as she performed with me.  Her face was glowing and the crowd loved the show we were giving them.  

    When the song ended, she put the mic back on it's stand as I walked up to it.  I grabbed ahold of the mic and shouted, "Another round of applause for the beautiful, talented Skylar."  The crowd cheered loudly as they applauded.  Skylar did a little curtsy before she pranced off of the stage. 

     I walked over to my coffee and took another drink before I set my acoustic guitar down and grabbed my rock guitar.  Once it was strapped to my shoulder, I grabbed my ukulele and walked back to stand in front of the mic.  

    I flashed an affectionate smile at the crowd before I said, "You all know what song is next."  Immediately, I started playing the song I wrote for my grandmother.  The crowd had started to learn this one and whenever I sang the chorus, they sang along with me.  It was music to my own ears to hear the other voices from the crowd join mine in almost perfect harmony.  As I finished the song, I felt a single tear slip from the corner of my eye and roll down my cheek.  I stepped closer to the mic as I flashed the crowd another affectionate smile, then said, "You are all beautiful, thank you."  I brushed the tear off of my cheek, then shouted, "Are you ready for some rock."

    The crowd cheered as I set my ukulele to the side.  When I turned back around to face them, my eyes locked with Evan's making my heart beat faster in fear.  I quickly searched for Jackson's beautiful blue eyes and found them almost right away.  He furrowed his eyebrows, giving me a questioning look.  I glanced in Evan's direction, then back to him.  He was now glaring right at Evan.  He turned back to me and gave me a mischievous smile, then blew me a kiss as he winked.  Instantly I smiled at him from ear to ear and blew him a kiss back, then winked at him, making the crowd say, "Ah."  Well all of them except Evan who just glared back and forth between us.

    I looked back at the crowd making sure to not look directly at Evan and flashed them another smile before I started strumming on my guitar.  Before long, heads were bobbing and fans were clapping in rhythm to my music.  By the time I finished all three of the rock songs, I was amped up and ready to face Evan if it came down to it.  I stepped up to the mic and confidently shouted, "Thank you again.  It is always a pleasure to perform for you.  Have a great night."

    After I set my guitar down, Jackson nearly knocked me over as he threw his arms around me.  "You were amazing as always," he gushed as he caressed my cheek and gazed into my eyes.

    I cupped his cheek in my palm and placed a soft kiss on his lips before I said, "Thank you."

    I heard Evan scoff over to the side just before Jackson's lips crashed down onto mine.  I melted in his arms enjoying the way his lips were massaging my own.  When he pulled away, he gazed at me smiling from ear to ear, before his gaze shifted and his smiled turned to a smirk.  A second later, he winked at somebody then smashed his lips to mine again.  When he finally pulled away, he smiled at me affectionately as he whispered, "I love it when you kiss me back like that."

    I returned his smile as I said, "We should probably get everything packed up.  Don't we have a meeting?"

    He chuckled before he said, "That we do."  He gave me one last quick peck on the lips before he let me go and carried the equipment out as I unhooked all of it.  When I was finished I walked to the back and made myself a fresh mocha.  

    While I was back there, Skylar ran up beside me and gave me a quick hug as she said, "That was so much fun, and you performed perfectly tonight."

    I hugged my bestfriend back as I said, "You were amazing tonight, too."

    A few minutes later, Jackson came back from loading the equipment into his trunk.  He came up behind me and placed his hands on my hips, then asked, "Are you ready to meet my friends?"

    I smiled as I replied, "Yep," popping the 'p'.

    He let go of my hips and grabbed one of my hands.  He led me to a table in the corner of the café, away from the fans that were still hanging out and eating.  There were two people already sitting at the table.  Immediately I noticed how well dressed they were in nice business attire.  Jackson immediately introduced us, "Willow, I am pleased to introduce you to Samuel and Leslie Lacrosse, owners of the Lacrosse Music Studio."

    Samuel immediately stood up and extended his hand out to me as he calmly said, "It is a pleasure to meet you and see you perform in person."  I accepted his hand and gave him a firm handshake.  He had curly red hair and dark green eyes.  

    His wife who was now standing beside him had straight blonde hair and light green eyes.  She beamed a smile at me as she said, "You have a lovely voice.  Do you write all of the songs you sing."

    I returned her smile as I proudly answered, "Yes ma'am, I only sing songs that I have personally written."

    "And what about the tunes you play on the guitar?  Are those your own work as well?" she asked inquisitively.

    I gave her a confused look as I said, "Of course they are my own work."

    She giggled then enthusiastically replied, "You are very talented indeed.  Please have a seat and tell us a little more about yourself."

    We quickly sat down with Jackson and I sitting across from them.  I looked at Leslie and asked, "What would you like to know?"

    "Let's start with, what you do when you aren't performing here.  Have you graduated high school?  You look very young still.  Are you currently working?"

    I chuckled before I replied, "I am eighteen years old.  I just graduated and I am a waitress here."

    She nodded her head before she asked, "Would you be able to take time off of work here?"

    I shrugged as I said, "I don't see any reason why I wouldn't be able to."  

    "What about your gigs that you do here, would you be comfortable missing one here and there?" Samuel suddenly asked.

    I looked at him skeptically as I responded, "If there was a good enough reason to miss them, but I wouldn't want to make it a regular thing, unless we can find somebody else to perform when I am busy."

    He chuckled as he said, "Fair enough."

    Jackson had been staying quiet until now, he cleared his throat, then asked, "Why?"

    Leslie and Samuel both chuckled at him before Samuel looked at me and said, "We would like to fly you to our town and bring you to the studio to record an album of your best songs."

    Jackson had a serious look on his face as he asked, "And how will this benefit Willow exactly."

    "We would produce an album for her.  If she does good and grows in popularity, we will continue to produce more albums for her if she can keep up with the busy pace.  This would open the doors for her and it would give us a chance to let other known artists hear her.  I am sure one or more of them will want to add her to their tour.  That is when she will really start bringing in the money.  Of course we will pay her for the time she spends recording in the studio and we will cover her travelling costs," Samuel confidently explained.

    "Would I be able to join her on these trips back and forth," Jackson asked nonchalantly.

    "Of course, buddy.  We had already expected that anyway," Samuel said as he chuckled.

    Leslie also giggled at Jackson who was now sitting there looking very pleased.  Leslie patted my hand as she said, "So what do you think?  Is that something you would be interested in?"

    I smiled from ear to ear as I excitedly replied, "Most definitely.  Thank you, all of you."

    She giggled again before she said, "I have a strong feeling that it is going to be us thanking you here soon."

    I giggled with her, then asked, "When are you wanting to fly me out there?"

    "As soon as you can get away for a few days," Samuel deadpanned.

    "I will speak with my boss and see if we can get our shifts covered.  As soon as I know when we can leave, I will have Jackson get ahold of you," I replied, since I don't know their contact info.  

    Leslie smiled as she pulled a business card out of her purse and handed it to me as she said, "You are also welcome to call us anytime if you have any questions or concerns."

    As soon as she said concerns, I frowned as I thought about the s**t Evan had been pulling lately.  I looked at Leslie as I said, "I actually do have one concern."

    "What is it, doll?" she asked.

    "Well, I have this ex that has been sending me threatening messages.  I changed my number and haven't received anymore, but he was here tonight and it made me feel very uneasy," I explained with concern.

    "Oh dear.  Do you think he is capable of acting on these threats?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

    "I honestly do not know.  I didn't think he was capable of slapping me in the face or making the threats in the first place, so I obviously don't know him as well as I thought," I deadpanned making her gasp.

    "He hit you?  Oh hell no, if he bothers you anymore, you are let me know right away and we will see what we can do about the situation," she assured me.

    I flashed her a smile as I said, "Thank you.  That makes me feel a lot better."

    She giggled then asked, "Is that why you two started winking and blowing each other kisses during the show?"

    Jackson laughed as he hugged me, then said, "You know it," making the rest of us laugh with him.  He cupped my cheek in the palm of his hand as he gazed into my eyes and said, "You are so beautiful."  He placed a gentle kiss on my lips, then whispered, "I can't wait to get you back to my house later."

    Leslie giggled bringing our attention back to them.  She smiled at us as she said, "We will let you two get back to celebrating.  Willow, I look forward to working with you and hope to hear back from you soon."

    Samuel immediately added, "Yes, we are going to make you an even brighter star and I look forward to seeing your rise to fame.  You have so much potential, this is going to be fun."

    I returned their smile as I replied, "I am looking forward to working with the two of you.  Thank you for coming to my gig tonight."

    "It was our pleasure," they both said in unison, then chuckled together.  

    Jackson stood up and shook both of their hands, then I stood up and did the same.  He held my hand as we walked to Savannah's office.  As soon as I shut the door, I jumped into Jackson's arms and smothered him with kisses all over his smiling face.  When I stopped, he sat down on the office chair with me straddling him.  He smiled at me affectionately as he said, "You did it, you have officially got your foot in the door."

    "We did it.  I couldn't have done it, or well not this soon at least, without your help," I deadpanned, before I started showering his face with kisses again.  

    Jackson laughed heartily, then asked, "Are you ready to tell the others your great news?"

    I squealed as I jumped out of his lap and grabbed his hands pulling him out of the chair.  We walked up to the front counter where our group was hanging out.  As soon as Skylar spotted us, she excitedly asked, "How did it go?"

    "They want to produce my first album and possibly more after that," I exclaimed happily.

    My three favorite ladies all jumped up and grouped hugged me.  After Skylar and Savannah let go of me, my momma continued to hug me tight.  When she pulled back, she looked at me through teary eyes as she asked, "Does that mean you have to move?"

    "No, momma, and if I did, it would just be to get away from Evan if he keeps up his shenanigans, but I will have to do some traveling while we record the album and if I get signed for a tour," I assured her.

    "Okay," she sniffled, then added, "As for Evan, if you need to get away from him, I would completely understand.  Your safety is my top priority."

    "Thank you, momma.  I will be staying at Jackson's for at least another night or two.  Has Evan said or done anything around there?" I responded.

    "Nothing yet, but I saw him here tonight and shooting daggers at Jackson.  Sometimes he would shoot daggers at you but other times he would look at you like a love sick puppy.  It was very strange," she commented.

    "Hum... well, be sure to let me know if he does or says anything," I insisted.

    "Will do, now you go celebrate with you friends and don't worry about him for now," she cheerfully replied.

    I smiled at her, then turned to Savannah and said, "Savannah, Jackson and I both need to be taken off of the schedule for the time being, as he will be traveling with me.  If you can't cover our shifts on the current schedule, let me know as soon as possible so that we can finalize the travel arrangements."

    "I will see what I can do, and congratulations," she excitedly replied.  

    After she gave me a quick hug, I looked over at Skylar and asked, "Are you ready to head back to Jackson's?"

    "Definitely, I am ready for my bed," she said giggling.  

    I turned to Jackson and flashed him a smile.  He smiled in return as he said, "Let's go ladies."  He draped his arms over both of our shoulders as we left the café.  

    As soon as we got to Jackson's house, Skylar said, "If you don't mind, can I get my stuff tomorrow?"

    Jackson chuckled as he replied, "That would be just fine, Skylar, but you know, if you are too tired to drive, we have plenty of extra bedrooms.  You can spend the night here if you want."

    She yawned as she rubbed her drowsy eyes, then sleepily said, "That's not a bad idea.  Show me the way."

    I giggled at my exhausted bestfriend.  She played hard today between the swimming and the gig.  Once we got Skylar set up in the bedroom across the hall, Jackson and I quickly made our way to his bedroom.