Bliss (Matthew Bellamy)

Chapter 2

The sight of you makes me weak, there are no words left to speak

Matt P.O.V.

I sighed. Though our initial reception didn't spark me as very lively, the crowd had not only loosened up but even exploded in cheers after just one song. The wash of relief came over me with a surge of excitement, as some whistles emerged from our audience.

Before the buzz around the stage began to die down, I snuck a look at the figure who stood farther behind everyone else, at the bar. I doubted that she's realised, but I've already noticed that in the past five or so minutes her eyes have spent a disproportionate amount of time positioned on me. She was now looking at the audience rather than the stage, her hair gold with the reflection of the yellow lights over the bar, though I my guess was that their actual colour was closer to brown. Her face drew up and suddenly her eyes were locked with mine.

I refused to drive my gaze away, despite a certain nudge in my stomach. She stared at me first anyway... I deserve a look at my mysterious surveyor...

Despite the distance, I was sure I saw her hand tense up around the tall glass she was holding. To my surprise, I too felt a surge of uneasiness rise up in my chest, like the butterflies that stage fright used to send spiralling into my gut back before the band got acclimated to the environment of the spotlight.

However the sudden tension that had overtaken my muscles eased immediately once my eyes had registered that the lady had winked at me. Her lips painted a charming smile, and before I could produce any coherent thought I felt a grin spread over my own face. Biting lightly on my inner cheek, I quickly drew my eyes away from the girl as I felt another chunk of warm restlessness take a jab at my stomach.

Free of the captivating gaze, I managed to push away the tension that had appropriated my body. I took one look at my bandmates, and without unnecessary introduction, I strummed the first chord of Overdue.

------------------------------

"Thank you everyone! Have a wild night!" - I let go of the mic , relishing in the final ovation of the night.

Chris and Dom had already begun to back up, and I followed them to the guitar stand where I disposed of my instrument. The two guys had already found a topic of conversation and rather hearty laughter, so I wasted no time trying to get their attention and headed to the backroom.

Today's performance may not have been anything outstanding, and neither could be said about the audience, yet still I could feel a special fervor rolling in my chest. The sensation may have been connected to the mystical girl who had occupied my mind ever since our encounter. Perhaps from a more detached perspective that wasn't anything special either, but it somehow didn't appear that way to me.

Without turning on the lights in the room, I felt for my jacket where I thought the couch had been, and once the tough fabric was under the touch of my fingers, I grabbed the garment and turned back towards the corridor, the stage, the bar.

Perhaps she was a fan, a proper fan, an i-discovered-their-music-and-now-i-like-it fan? Perhaps she was a groupie? Perhaps I'm just blowing an accidental confrontation and a polite gesture out of proportion. The latter seemed most likely.

"Ay, Matt, where you off to?" - Chris had called to me.

I must have just passed the two men in the corridor, as Chris and Dom were now behind me, stopped but evidently en route to the backroom too.

"I'll wait for you at the bar"

I may have been unnecessarily abrupt but I knew well enough that neither of my friends would take offence.

I took a few seconds to slow down my pace and my breathing before I entered the main room. Various groups of people, separate and intermixing, were concealing the bar from my view. So, tangling my way through the crowd I approached where I remembered seeing the girl. But she wasn't there. I moved closer, the counter where she had stood was now right next to me, yet she still wasn't. On the warm wood stood the glass which I assumed to have been hers.

Had she just left?

As my confusion had began to turn blue, I turned to face the stage and leant on the counter, as she had earlier. I must've blown this whole thing out of proportion for myself after all.