The Assistant | Scavi

Medicine

"I'm fine, just…" 

Scott was relieved when he heard the bearded man speak. "Don't talk, Avi. Can you walk over to the meeting room?"

Avi nodded. "Help me?" 

Scott smiled. "Of course." He held Avi tight against his side and slowly walked over to the other room with him. He noticed that Avi's legs were very wobbly and he had a hard time put one foot in front of the other. 

"Here we are. Sit. Or would you rather lie down? I don't know what's better…" Scott said softly. 

"Sit" Avi said. "Need some juice. Orange, please."

"Okay." Scott carefully lowered Avi onto a chair and then went to the little fridge in the corner and got two of the small bottles with orange juice and one big bottle of water just to make sure. He sat down next to Avi and opened one of the bottles. "Here you are, drink carefully."

"Thanks" Avi whispered and emptied the first bottle of juice in small sips. "Good…"

Scott smiled at him. "Do you want a another one or some water?"

"Water, please."

The blonde opened the bottle as well and handed it over to the musician. 

"Thank you…"

Scott watched Avi drink a few sips and gave him a moment to calm down, before he decided to ask him: "Anxiety?"

Avi shrugged his shoulders. "Probably. Mixed with a bit of stress and not enough non-alcoholic fluids."

"Do you have some emergency medicine for the anxiety? Mitch has some and they've been quite handy at times" Scott asked.

Avi nodded. "Yes. Esther has them in her handbag." 

"Got it." Scott fished his phone out of his pocket and called her, hoping that she would hear her phone. Surprisingly she answered the call immediately.

"Scott?" 

"Esther can you come up to the meeting room? Avi is unwell and might need his medicine."

"I'm on my way."

Scott ended the call and turned back to Avi, who just sighed. "What is it?"

"I just want to go home, Scott. But I can't…" Avi took a deep breath when he felt tears welling up in his eyes. “I want to perform, want to show my new songs, but it’s just so much…” 

“Avi…” Scott took his hand and squeezed it slightly, smiling when Avi added his second hand and held on to him. “I’m here, just focus on me, can you do this?” 

Avi looked up and into Scott’s eyes which were so warm and familiar. “Yeah” he whispered. 

“Good. I want you to just breathe, Avi. deep breaths, try to calm down. I am here, you’re not alone. I know that it is a lot for you to deal with right now, but try to shift your focus to what’s important. Your music is. You’re excited to play your new songs, aren’t you?” 

Avi nodded. “I am. We worked so hard on them…” 

“See? And to be able to perform, you need to get better.”

Avi nodded once again. “I know.” He took a shaky breath. “It is getting better” he said. "Not as dizzy anymore.”

Scott smiled. “That’s a good start.” He wanted to say more, but Esther had arrived and swiftly entered the room.

Avi’s first reaction was to pull himself away from Scott, but the blonde held on to him. “Just your sister. She has your medicine” he said softly and felt that Avi relaxed when he saw Esther. 

“Hi…” he said softly. 

Esther smiled back at her brother. “Hey, Avi. Scott said you need your medication?” 

Avi nodded. “Would be better, Scott… has helped me to calm down, but I still need to make it through the performance and everything…” 

“I get that” Esther said while she got the little pillbox out of her purse. She got one pill out and handed it to Avi. 

“Thanks” he bearded man said before he took the pill with water. “Good…” he said softly. “Now we have to wait a few minutes… Esther could you tell Caleb and Noah that I will be back in ten minutes?”

“I will. But take your time, alright?” Esther pressed a soft kiss on the top of Avi’s head and left them alone. 

Avi was focused on his breathing, he was aware that Scott was there and he was still holding on to his hand as if it was a lifeline, but he needed a moment of quiet. 

And without even knowing about that, Scott granted him all the time he needed, a sign that either Mitch was similar or that he just was able to read him well. 

“They’re working…” Avi finally said. “I feel the storm in my head calm down.”

Scott smiled at him. “Good…” he said softly. 

“Mmhm” Avi said and closed his eyes momentarily. Then he emptied the bottle of water and looked at Scott. “I am ready to go back downstairs.”

“Alright, let’s do this.” Scott got up and stretched out his hand to Avi. He took it and held it right until they were at the door. There he let go and looked at Scott sadly. “I’m sorry…”

Scott shook his head. “Don’t be, I understand. If you want to, I’ll go downstairs first and mingle…” 

Avi nodded. “Thank you.” He got on his tiptoes and pressed a kiss onto Scott’s cheek. “You really helped me tonight. You don’t know how much it means to me.”

Scott smiled down at the musician. “I am glad that I was able to help you. He kissed Avi’s temple “Have fun on stage.” 

“I will…”

Scott left the musician and went back downstairs. He found Mitch who stood with Esther and Darien near the stage and joined them. 

“Is he okay?” Esther asked immediately, her voice quiet.

Scott nodded. “He’ll be back in a moment…” 

“Good…” Esther said. 

Neither of them wanted to talk more about the incident, mainly because no one needed to know about Avi’s breakdown, not when he was just on the verge of releasing his new album. 

In this moment, the lights were dimmed and one of the important men of the record company stepped on stage. He said a few words about Avi and his work, things that Scott already knew, but also things that were rather superficial. Then Avi stepped on stage and, after the applause had died down, said a few words himself. He thanked everyone in general first and then proceeded to name some people, including Esther.

“Before I end this little speech and proceed with what I do better, I need to thank Kevin Olusola, who brought this whole record to life. My best friend and my ride or die when it comes to making music. Our studio time was so good and I cannot wait to write more songs and work on them with you. The musicians who worked on this record, thank you so much, especially to Noah and Caleb, who will join me on stage tonight and on the upcoming tour, and, last but definitely not least, Scott Hoying. He joined us while we were finishing the album and he really brought some fresh air. For now he is an intern, but once he knew his way around the studio, he created music with us. Thank you, man, I wish you all the best for your future” Avi closed the speech and smiled slight. “And now without further ado. This is I’ll Get By. I hope you’ll enjoy.”

Scott was gobsmacked. He hadn’t expected Avi to mention him. Of course, Avi had kept it rather formal, still, there was a surge of warmth that rose in the pit of his stomach while Avi began to sing the song Scott had first heard him record, back when he first stepped into the studio. 

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