INFINITE (Eminem Fan Fiction)

Chapter 35: Curtains Up

Chapter 35: Curtains Up

Riley couldn’t shake the nerves. She’d always been an anxious person, especially when it came to the pressures of her job, but the idea of stepping out onto a stage in front of tens of thousands of people was beginning to be horrifying. Neither distraction nor relaxation techniques seemed to help. She’d had shaky hands when trying to put on her makeup and shallow breathing as she ran over her routine in her head.

She’d always felt like this before anything she did. Somehow she always managed to turn it around into positive energy. But without Mark right by her side, in an unfamiliar territory, she felt like she didn’t have the right weapons to fight. Sky and Barbie did their best to comfort her but she’d ended up pacing up and down the dressing room in the damn sequin infested outfit.

 She had three intervals to fill before a costume change, the criminal skit, another costume change before she would have seven more intervals out on stage. She certainly had her work cut out for her and knew that confidence was the biggest key in her performance. She’d been stepping out of her comfort zone ever since the music video in LA. She could do this. Everyone else had faith in her. She just needed to have faith in herself.

There was a knock at the door and Riley looked up nervously, praying it wasn’t the stage hand telling it was time to head out. Sky yelled out that it was fine to enter, as they were both fixing their hair and make-up. The door opened slightly and a familiar face stuck his head through.

“Guess who?”

Riley was surprised and shocked to see Mark, swing open the door and step inside. She stepped up to him, and pulled him into a hug. Relief washed over her. He was here. Right by her side like he always was. He was beaming, just the same, obviously glad to be there.

“How did you get here?! You didn’t tell me!” Riley exclaimed.

Mark gave a sly smile, “I wanted it to be a surprise. I couldn’t let you do your first big show without me.”

Riley was so thankful he was here. “Thank you so much.”

“I have another secret,” He insisted. “I’m actually here for all the US shows. I’ve worked my schedule around it.”

Sighing, she could only hug him again, “You’re too good to me.”

Mark just shrugged as if it was no big deal and eyed her outfit, “Good lord. I haven’t seen you wear so little since that shirtless photo-shoot a few years ago.”

Riley closed her eyes, ‘Don’t remind me. I am never doing that again.”

She realized most of her nerves had dulled. While she was still apprehensive somehow Mark always managed to make her feel like she could do anything. He’d been with her since the beginning. They sat down and got caught up in chatting for longer than Riley realized.

Before she knew it the stage hand was at the door, calling for the three girls. That meant that Limp Bizkit was close to finishing his performance. They stood up and followed the stage hand quickly to the sides of the stage. Sky and Barbie were over on the right while Riley stood on the left, Mark right by her side.  

As she stared out from behind the curtains, she could see the elevated band against the backdrop of the stage. If she leant out a little, she could see Limp Bizkit rapping away. She could hear the crowd roaring and felt her nerves spike. Mark knew instantly and grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

“Riley, listen to me,” He said, loudly, over the top of the music and crowd. “You’ve got this. You’ve done way harder things before. I’ve seen your talent and I have complete confidence in you. You’ve practiced and worked hard. You can do this.”