The Night, is for the Young
My assistant closed the door to backstage, leaving me sitting alone in front of the piano. From the little crack in the middle of the sliding doors, I could see thousands of fans packing the stands, their thunderous cheers filling the stadium night. I took several deep breaths.
“We’ve got a guest coming over tonight. I think you’ll know his song.” Outside, Selena said through the microphone to excited clamouring from the crowd. The sliding doors slid open slowly, revealing the night sky illuminated by a sea of light. As the stage mechanism carrying me and the piano slowly pushed us into the light, I sung the opening lines of my song. The crowd screamed.
Selena sauntered to the front of the stage, her tussled hair and sleek black dress catching in the cool evening breeze as I sang the first verse. My hands danced around on the keyboard, my eyes following her beautiful silhouette as she mouthed out the lyrics blithely.
Germany, three years ago.
Neon strips hung on the side of the bar spelt out Frohe Weihnachten, Merry Christmas in German. Half drunk young Germans sang and cheered to each other. To me, the festivities sounded foreign.
The bartender was a Santa Claus like septuagenarian with a rich white beard and few strands of white hair. I had practiced speaking German on the way, but when I was halfway through ordering wheat beer he laughed. “You English, my boy?” He inquired in accented english.
“American.” I said sheepishly.
“Oh ho! No worry. This is not World War Two. All are welcome!” He chortled. His meaty hand placed a beer glass on the counter before me.
I drank. The wheat beer was deliciously sweet. All around me the Christmas eve celebrations were all in place. The sound of accordion and waldzither choralled through the air as raucous young men, beer glasses in hand, put their arms on each others’ backs and yodelled folk songs at the top of their lungs.
“Young man from America, you waiting for somebody?” The bartender called out.
“No. Just spending the night here.” I said.
“Go out and enjoy! There’s alot of things for young men like you to do in Christmas eve.” The bartender said with a wave of his hand, shooing me away from the introverted counter. I nodded my head, but my back remained rooted to the barstool.
Seeing that I was not going to be persuaded, the bartender shook his head sadly and went to tend to other customers. I continued sipping my beer, listening to the carols whose language I only half understood, feeling my body sway imperceptibly to the rhythm of the night.
“Hey, are you Charlie Putner?” Amidst the drunken german ballads I abruptly heard a female voice say in english.
I turned my head around and noticed a woman about the same age as me, standing an arm’s length away. “How do you know me?” I asked.
“I heard your music on soundcloud. Then I saw you and matched your face with the profile picture.” She said. Seeing me stunned, she extended a hand out. “Sorry for the awkward introduction. I’m Selena Gunn. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you Selena. You’re a musician too?” I asked. I couldn’t stop myself from looking into her beautiful emerald green eyes.
“Yeah.” She chuckled. “I’m a soundcloud fan!”
“Same here.” I said. “What genre do you do?”
“Pop music.” She said.
“If you don’t mind, can I hear some of your music?” I asked.
“Oh, sure!” She said, pulling out her phone. “I haven’t created any compositions yet. I just remixed existing songs.” She handed me her phone. “This is a remix of rewrite the stars.”
I placed it to my ear. Her voice came through, clear and sweet amidst the din. “You know I want you…”
We duetted, staring into each other’s eyes. Selena’s jet black eyes passed through me, deep as the void.
The crowd roared as we sang the chorus. As she turned back to wave to the audience, I glanced at the back of her low cut dress, my eyes lingering on her exposed flesh.
At the back of the bar, a band of friends were gathered. They boisterously cheered in German as they all ganged up on one and poured beer on his head. I looked at them having the time of their lives, while occasionally stealing glances at Selena’s beautiful green eyes.
“Why did you come to this place?” I asked her.
“It’s a transit on my way to Italy. I had a friend who wanted to meet at the bar, but when I landed she had a stomach infection and could not come. My flight’s next morning, and I’ve nowhere else to go.” She said. “You?”
“I’m here for a music festival tomorrow.” I said. “What’re you doing in Italy?”
“I’m going to meet with a record producer.” She said. “He wants me to audition.”
“You fly all the way there for an audition?” I asked. “I wouldn’t think of something like that.”
“My parents said the exact same thing.” She said. “I struck out on my own when I decided to pursue music. I guess they didn’t take it too well.”
I gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Thanks.” She said.
“You don’t have to feel too bad about yourself,” I said, “it’s been very long since I’ve visited my parents too.”
Selena saw the expression on my face. Without a word, she reached over and gave me a firm pat on the shoulder.
I felt a tap on my shoulder. She was standing right beside me. I shifted, allowing her to rest comfortably on the stool. She leaned her face on my back. I closed my eyes, feeling the smooth touch of her skin through my clothing. We continued crooning the chorus without missing a beat.
She clapped me on the back and got up when the chorus ended. I finished the rest of the song, while her accompanying vocals floated through the night sky like an angel’s wings.
“Charlie Putner, everybody!” She announced when the song ended. I waved meekly at the audience, while they burst into a frenzy. Selena beamed brightly as she waved, her arms enfolding the audience in the stadium. The acclamations sounded like it would go on forever. I sat patiently waiting.
On a cue from Selena, I got up from the piano and placed my arm around her shoulder. The both of us walked backstage, arms around each other amidst thunderous applause.
While catching my breath and rehydrating myself in the dressing room, my assistant informed me that my chauffeured car would arrive in ten minutes. I thanked her and dismissed her for the night.
I knocked on Selena’s dressing room door. She was on a chair, gulping water and catching her breath. Beside her, two assistants were in the process of removing the black dress from her body.
“Hey Selena, thanks for inviting me over.” I said.
She motioned for me to close the door and wait outside. I exited and closed the door just as the black dress was disattached from her body.
A while later one of the assistants opened the door. As Selena sat at the dressing table, her assistants worked synchronously to remove the cake of makeup on her face. Four hands moved up and down her face efficiently with cotton balls, wiping off layer by layer of mascara, concealer and foundation.
She was now wearing Ivy League shirt and jeans, hair tied up in a simple ponytail. She looked like she was going to drop by a bar. While delicately removing black contact lenses from her eyes, she said, “Hey Charlie, thanks for coming tonight. You were so awesome!”
“You too!” I said.
“Thanks.” She said. Behind her, the two assistants cleaned and took out the trash imperceptibly. Once they were finished they left the room and closed the door, leaving me to look at Selena and her green eyes.
I leaned on the doorframe, the fatigue getting to me. “Do you want to collaborate more?
“I’m fine with that.” She said.
“When’s your next show?” I asked.
“It’s on Saturday.”
“This Saturday? Oh…I’m recording my new album though… When’s your next next show?”
“The Saturday show is the last of the tour.”
“Oh.” I said. “Nevermind then. I’m sure we’ll have many chances to collab in the future though.”
“Of course! It was great working with you.”
“Oh yes, you too.”
“…”
The night was not young anymore. After we exchanged our phone numbers to keep in touch, we left the bar. Behind us, the Christmas celebrations were still in full swing.
“I drop you off at the airport?” I asked.
“That’ll be great.” She said. “Thanks so much!”
We walked through the wide carpark to the Opel I rented from Hertz. We pulled out of the driveway and into the deserted road that would take us back to the city. The air was cold and still, none of us spoke a word. My headlights lit the road, six feet at a time. Tall fern trees on both sides towered like Grimm fairy tales, threatening to bury us.
Her arm was propped up against the windowsill, her head leaning on her hand. When she caught me looking she smiled.
I smiled back. In the cold and still night air, we had no dreams, and had nothing to be proud of. We did not want to think about the future. We were lost souls in a foreign land, moving down the road of life.
At the dark and lifeless airport she alighted the car and waved me goodbye. I waited till her figure disappeared into the terminal building before I drove on. I stopped the car at the side of the road for the night. Already drowsiness was threatening to take me. Planning for the next day, I reasoned that I needed to rush back to the hotel to collect my guitar and dash to the studio for the dry run during the next day, after which the music festival would begin. There was no time to spare, so I decided that I would call her after the festival was over.
I never did. After the festival ended, I was approached by a record producer for the first time, a piece of paper in his hand. After one week of intense, sleepless nights fueled by adrenaline and coffee, I finally released my first EP. It got me my first Billboard top 100. Then the record producers started coming.
I forgot about Selena until I heard over the news, one year ago, that she was going on a tour of the country.
There was no sign of life as I walked down the old carpeted corridor to the pick up point. Above me, the lights formed halos in the dark. Behind me, I heard the clicks as the light switches in the dressing room were turned off, and the creak of the dressing room door as it closed for the final time.
There were two cars at the pickup point. I went to the first one, a sleek black Audi that I hired for the night. Upon seeing me, he started the engine, excited to end the day after sending me home.
As my car pulled away from the exit, I saw Selena come out, heading towards the second car. Selena’s car vanished from sight as my car turned into the empty main road. I leaned my head on the headrest and shut my eyes. It had been a long day. I needed to catch some sleep.
End.
Chris Quek
