Everyone looked at me with eyebrows raised, "I said that out loud... didn't I ?" I questioned as I felt my cheeks heat up.
"Yeah you did," John chuckled, "it was kinda cute, actually." He scratched the back of his head, "Anyways, it's nice to finally meet you. Your voice is beautiful; obviously, it's not only your voice."
"Uh... wow, thank you. It's nice to meet you too, I honestly can't believe you wanted my voice on the track," I rambled slightly.
"Your voice is absolutely stunning and would go with mine perfectly. I am so ecstatic that you accepted my offer, and I can't wait to work with you the next couple of days," John spoke with a glimmer in his eye.
"I'm speechless, thank you so much. That really means a lot coming from an established artist like you."
"The pleasure is all mine!"
We were interrupted by my manager asking, "Are you two going to sit down and eat with the rest of us?"
"Yeah, Sorry," He replied to Tree.
"It's fine, please, have a seat." Tree smiled back at John.
He then walked around the table and pulled out a chair. "Taylor, would you like to have a seat here?"
"Ummm..." I pondered, "Of course. You did not have to do that."
"I wanted to," he said with a sly grin.
I wondered why he was being so nice to me. Is he not supposed to be some kind of player? It was confusing because he was acting so kind and genuine. Which was the total opposite of what the media had to say about him. While I was having a conversation with myself, John had apparently asked me a question.
"Taylor, did you hear him? He asked you something," Tree inquired.
"No, I'm so sorry. I was in my own little world. What did you ask me?"
John smiled and repeated himself patiently as if nothing happened, "How was your flight?"
I smiled, "Everything was great. There wasn't a kid kicking the back of my seat so that's a plus. Thanks for asking."
"That's good, I've had that happen to me before. It's not the best feeling in the world," he chuckled and turned to the other people at the table.
Pretty much everybody wanted to talk to him about something or another. I was sure he was used to having people practically beg for his attention. Maybe that was why he was able to drift so smoothly between the conversations and retain it all. I couldn't even carry on one conversation without zoning out, so it amazed me that he could have seven going at one time. When there was finally a break in the chatter, I took it as an opportunity to try and further our talk from earlier.
"So, did you fly here or do you just live here?"
"No I don't live here," he grinned amused, "I have been here for a few days because I'm currently touring. My show here is actually tonight."
"Oh...really? How much are tickets?"
"Free if you would like one," he answered still smirking at me with that stupid sly grin.
"No, I can't do that. Have you sold out yet?"
"Yes but I always keep a few backstage passes handy," he winked.
"Why do you keep backstage passes with you? Aren't they usually bulky? Where did you put them?" I babbled
"You have so many questions." He tilted his head while saying, "I have a question for you, Miss Taylor. Why are you so inquisitive, curious even?"
"Well... I honestly don't know. I guess it's just second nature to me. It's how I learn things about music or, in this case, people, "I mumbled hoping I didn't annoy him.
"You're adorable," he answered back sweetly, "I'm just messing with you, Tater. I like your questions." His tone wasn't condescending at all, even though he used a pet name. A pet name that I had hated my entire life. But when he said it, weirdly enough, I didn't mind. The way it rolled off his lips was so much smoother than when my father taunted me with it.
"Did you just call me, 'Tater'?" I raised my eyebrows at him.
"Yeah I did, why?" He tried to copy my expression, already knowing what my response would be due to my burning cheeks. He went on, "If you don't like it, I won't do it again."
"No, no it's fine. It just took me by surprise," I giggled while trying not to blush even more.
"But seriously, if you want a ticket...just tell me. It is my tour and I could get you in," he insisted.
"Of course I do. I just don't want you to go out of your way for me or give me some sort of 'special treatment'," I said with air quotes.
"The ticket wouldn't be free if that's what you're so worried about. You have to work for it."
"What does that mean?" I inquired with uncertainty. I wasn't sure that I wanted to know the answer.
"Nothing bad. You just have to perform. My opening act has the flu and I need someone to do it, tonight."
"You want me to open for you? I thought you just wanted me to be a special guest or something."
"Well, a song or two together would also be really fun. Do you know any of mine?"
I could already feel my cheeks heating up all over again. Do I know any of his songs? I wanted to hop up and squeal 'only every single one' but thought better of it. He wanted me to open up for him AND sing with him. It was almost too much to take in and make sense of for one night. On top of that, the concert was the same day I arrived. My understanding of this trip was that I would just come, record, and then leave. Obviously, I was wrong. I calmed myself down before answering him.
"I know a couple," I responded, trying to be as nonchalant as possible and prayed that he could not tell. If he did catch me trying not to fan-girl, he didn't let it show, "So you'll do it then, right?"
"This is a huge deal, of course, I will but...why me?" I asked dumbfounded. Surely he was getting tired of me asking him that same phrase over and over again.
My timidness wasn't intentional. This man had made me into a bashful and unsure coward within minutes of meeting him. I began to wonder what gave him so much power and influence over me. I had never acted like that in front of anyone else so what made him so different?
"Because you're good at your job," he shook his head, "I swear it's like you're the only person that doesn't know how big you actually are." He sighed as his tone became more agitated, "If this is some sort of activity, you can drop it now. Seriously."
"I uh...huh? An act? What are you talking about? I'm not acting," I spoke softly, trying not to freak out and debate on whether or not he hated me now. Gotta love anxiety always budding in.
"You just seem so unaware of...well, you, and who you are. I'm sorry, I really did think it wasn't real. But I was wrong," he apologized.
"It's fine," I assured myself more than him and half-smiled.
The waitress came around to take our orders as we finished talking. I was still basically staring at John as she wrote down what the others wanted to drink. He looked up from his menu towards the lady and I saw his eyes follow her figure down and then back up, twice, before looking back down at his menu. 'He seriously just checked her out' I thought to myself scoffing quietly. He's not anything to me, so why did I care? It's not like we were on a date. He probably flirts with everyone the way he has flirted with me. However, rationalizing why I shouldn't feel rejected and hurt didn't stop the pain from hitting my chest.
I could feel him looking at me, probably eyebrows raised trying to figure out my sudden change in attitude, in retrospect. His eyes continued burning a hole into my cheek until I looked at him. When I turned he was looking at his glass, as if he was never looking at me in the first place. 'Maybe I'm just going crazy,' I thought and shook my head.
He glanced my way then smiled, "What's going on in that pretty little mind of yours?"
"Nothing important," I grinned back as the waitress came back to take our food orders.
She went around the table and got to John. Somehow the hem of her shirt had gotten even lower. She bent over slightly, showing off what her mamma gave her, before taking his order. She added, "If you ever need anything else just let me know." With a wink, she went back to the kitchen.
I looked at him and scoffed how dare he flirt with me then check her out. Wait maybe he wasn't. Maybe. . . Who am I kidding he was checking her out. However, he did look away so maybe she's not his type. Who am I kidding, if she wasn't his type I don't stand a chance.
"Earth to Taylor," John interrupted my thoughts.
"Oh. . . sorry I'm here now," I replied with my cheeks burning red from being caught in a daydream.
"So about tonight, do you wanna play or not?"
I looked to my right to Tree and my managers to see if it would be okay for me to go. After seeing their nods of approval, I responded to his question. "I would love to come to your show tonight!"
"That's awesome I was really hoping to hear you live. Now I don't have to wait!"
When he said that my face automatically turned bright red because he of all people wanted to watch me, " Thank you for saying that." I responded keeping my very flushed face hidden from his view.
"Well if you wanna have a warm-up we better head on out, precious," he said winking at me.
Did he just... No... No Way... He couldn't have winked at me and called me a pet name. I mean I'm me, a girl that is ten years younger than him. "Oh... umm... okay let's go," I stuttered out blushing harder because of that wink. This gorgeous man winked at me. Is he flirting with me? Is he not? What is even happening?
"Ready?" he grabbed my hand and started pulling me outside. "Give me one second... TAXI!"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth a taxi pulled up to the curb. He quickly opened the door and looked at me expecting me to get into the cab with him. So I quickly slid into the cab and across the bench seat to the other side. As I was clicking the seat belt into place he was getting in telling the driver to head to the venue.
"So Taylor how has your day been so far?" He asked me looking me directly in the eyes with his beautiful browns.
"My day so far has been very eventful. I got on a plane, flew to Dallas, had to change and get ready to meet up, Embarrassed myself and now I am going to perform at a concert. So it has been a little crazy."
He squints his eyes together laughing silently, "I can see how that can seem a little out of the normal. How long was your flight? I hope it wasn't too long and it went well."
"My flight was great, It was about a three-hour flight," I said while smiling at him.
"Well, that's great. I am happy you had a good flight."
As he finished his statement the car came to an abrupt stop and the driver turned saying, "We're here." John quickly reached into his back pocket and grabbed a twenty handing it to the man. He then proceeded to throw the door open and climb out then turning to offer his hand to me. I quickly slid over and took his hand to carefully get out of the car.
Once I was out of the car he quickly pulled me into the backdoor and through a long hallway. Soon enough we were at a dressing room that had his name on it in big bold letters, John Mayer. He opened the door and pulled me inside with him.
"Sorry about that it can get a little crazy before a show."
"No, It's fine. Where do I need to go to warm up?"
"Oh yeah it's right down the hallway to the left, you can't miss it," He replied smiling, giving me the biggest smile I have seen tonight. "When you get done you can come back here and we can wait until it is time to go out there."
I nodded my head acknowledging what he said and left the room going to the stage walking onto it with the lights already shining brightly onto the pitch-black surface. I quickly greeted his band and we settled on a few of my songs for the opening act. Soon enough we were done warming up and I was back on my way to John's room. I walked into the room to find him on the couch looking up at his phone.
"Oh, sorry I didn't know you would be done so soon," he responded while quickly sitting up on the couch.
"It's fine."
"Umm... so I have to take a shower before the show."
"Oh... I can leave..." I responded with a slight frown as he was looking at the ground.
"Thanks." He said as I quickly grabbed my thing and went to the side stage to wait for my cue to go and perform on stage.