the balcony ••• awsten knight

three

"Come in," he calls, and Emily exhales as she pushes the door open. "Oh, Emily!" Jeremy grins brightly.

"Hi, sorry for interrupting," she steps into the room. "Apologies for being a little late, I—"

"Don't worry, sweetheart!" Jeremy ushers her over and Emily visibly cringes at the subtle slip of the nickname. "This is Waterparks! Otto, Geoff and Awsten," he points to the three men sat across the table from him.

Emily knows of Waterparks— she researched every artist at EVR when she was hired. She likes their music, too. But, she can't say that she knows much about them individually.

She's glad that Jeremy gestures to each of them as he says their names— it makes it much easier to decipher who is who.

She glances at each of them. Otto first, then Geoff, then— oh.

Emily's eyes widen as they land on Awsten. The familiar head of blue hair, standout cheekbones and killer jawline that she doesn't think she could ever forget, no matter how drunk she might've been when they met.

Not to mention the mesmerising mismatched eyes that seem to be looking right back at her— Oh, shit, he's looking at her.

With a swift motion, Emily tears her gaze away.

It makes sense now. She recognised him, but couldn't put a name to a face.

She looks back to Geoff, who comes across exactly how she had thought he would, based on what shes heard; though, he seems to have been leading the meeting for the band before she'd walked in, which she didn't quite expect.

Otto looks cheerful and warm. He seems the happiest to see her, which is nice.

Meanwhile, she won't look back to Awsten— not directly, anyway.

She keeps her view of him in her peripheral vision. He seems to have a grey cloud hanging over his head, constantly raining on his already-ruined parade. He's wearing a frown as if it's been etched into his features for days, weeks even.

She can imagine that he doesn't want to waste time on introductions to a nobody-girl who works for the record label that he's 'rumoured' to hate.

If he's running low on patience, it probably doesn't help that Emily opened with the words apologies for being a little late. Being late doesn't give a great first impression— even though she's not really late at all.

She wants to look back at him, but she won't. She wants to search his face for any sort of recognition or familiarity— but she doubts he remembers her, or the things she said to him that night while she was wasted.

"Guys, this is the girl I was telling you about a few weeks ago," Jeremy turns to the three boys. "Emily. She designed all of those merch mock ups that I showed you."

The girl. It's not the nicest introduction she's ever received, but she moves past it.

"Hello," Emily offers a small wave to the three of them—still avoiding locking eyes with Awsten— slightly embarrassed by how robotic her words sound. She wants to make a good impression— she tells herself that she needs to be more relaxed. "You guys are Waterparks, right?"