Chapter 17: Striking a Chord
Not long after, down in the underground venue, "click," Eric flipped on the lights. "Whoaaaah!" taking in the massive layout and the professional stage right in front of them, Emma, Priya, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura stood completely frozen, their eyes wide and jaws hitting the floor.
Eric walked toward the stage with the six girls trailing behind him, and they all stepped up onto the platform, looking out at the completely empty, soundproofed venue.
"Incredible... you actually live in this building?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah... my grandfather owned the whole place," Eric replied casually, unslinging his guitar case and setting it down next to the drum kit, which had been left uncovered since he played it yesterday.
"Come on... play the drums, I want to see," Monica said enthusiastically.
"Yeah, seriously, I want to hear you lay down a beat," Priya added excitedly.
"Hey... don’t pressure him. If you’re tired, Eric, you can do it later, it’s totally fine," Heidi said, looking concerned.
"Yeah, don’t overexert yourself," Laura added briefly.
"It’s fine, I don’t mind," Eric replied easily.
He slid onto the drum throne, and "crash," he grabbed a pair of sticks and smacked the cymbal, causing Emma, Priya, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura to whip their heads around to look at him. Without missing a beat, Eric launched into a high-tempo rhythm, delivering lightning-fast fills and spinning his sticks like a seasoned pro. His head started bobbing and his body swayed to the beat, his foot burying the bass pedal in perfect time, instantly filling the venue with a thunderous, driving drum groove.
Watching Eric play the drums live right in front of her, Emma was so completely mesmerized that she stepped forward and stood right next to the drum kit, completely locked into his performance. Her face held an expression that was hard to put into words, and her eyes literally sparkled, while Priya, Chloe, Monica, and Heidi looked ecstatic, moving and dancing along to the rhythm. Meanwhile, Laura just stood still with her arms crossed, but her head bobbed slightly to the music and a gentle smile played on her lips.
"Crash."
Finally, after a few minutes, he struck the final cymbal. "Huff... huff..." Eric was panting slightly, sweat glistening on his face, but a massive grin spread across his features. He had been completely lost in the zone, totally unbothered by his surroundings. But the moment he set his drumsticks down, "bum." Eric was scared half to death when Emma suddenly lunged forward and threw her arms around him without warning.
The impact nearly knocked him right off the drum throne. Eric caught Emma by her waist, holding her back to keep her from pressing right against him.
"Hey... what are you doing? I’m completely covered in sweat, come on... let go," Eric stammered.
"Hehe, sorry, I just couldn’t help myself," Emma said, letting go of Eric and stepping back.
"Seriously, what if you got your clothes all wet," Eric muttered, wiping at his sweat.
"I can’t help it, you just looked so cool," Emma said cheerfully.
Emma pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and immediately started dabbing the sweat off Eric’s face. Eric was caught off guard and a little confused, but he just let her do it.
"I’ll wash your handkerchief for you later," Eric said.
"Don’t worry about it... it’s fine," Emma replied.
With Emma leaning down right in front of him, Eric caught a glimpse of her collarbone shifting, showing a little too much skin down her top. He instantly averted his gaze, looking off to the side, but Emma just kept right on wiping his forehead.
Meanwhile, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Monica stood in front of the drum kit, just watching Emma’s antics and smirking without saying a word. Laura was the only one who simply shook her head with a faint smile.
Then Emma looked over at her friends, who were all staring back at her with expressions that said they were completely ready to tease her. Instantly, Emma’s face flushed bright red. She stood up straight and snapped both hands behind her back.
"Why are you guys just standing there staring at me?" Emma demanded.
"Oh... nothing, don’t mind us. Please, carry on, haha," Priya answered.
"Yeah, exactly, we’re just third wheels over here, minding our own business and keeping our ears open," Monica added with a smirk.
"Go right ahead... ignore us. Eric, is it cool if we look around?" Chloe asked.
"Go for it, the whole place is empty anyway. Feel free to check out the back too," Eric replied casually, still sitting on the drum throne.
"Alright, come on guys, let’s explore," Chloe suggested.
"Let’s do it... I want to see what a venue like this actually has under the hood," Heidi replied.
With that, Priya, Monica, Chloe, and Heidi stepped down from the stage. They began wandering around, checking out the control room, heading over to the left side to see the green screen room and the makeup room, and then looping over to the right to check out the private rehearsal studio and the storage space.
Meanwhile, Laura just sat on the edge of the stage, completely absorbed in her smartphone. She didn’t join the others to look around, choosing instead to sit with her back turned to Eric and Emma. Seeing this, Eric, who had been curious about Laura from the very beginning, finally decided to ask Emma about her.
"She isn’t going to look around? Is she just naturally quiet, or does she have a problem with me?" Eric asked, genuinely curious.
"She’s just like that, she barely talks. It’s not just with you, even with us, she keeps to herself a lot. Her parents... they’re wealthy gangsters, and she actually ran away from home to this city because they tried to force her into an arranged marriage," Emma whispered directly into Eric’s ear.
Hearing Emma’s words, Eric was a bit taken aback. He glanced over at Laura again as she sat on the edge of the stage, studying her closely. It turned out someone else had run away from home and was living completely on their own in this city, just like him, though in his case, he had been thrown out with absolutely no say in the matter.
"Everyone’s fighting their own battles, huh," Eric whispered.
"Yeah... that’s exactly why we always try to drag her along to have some fun. Oh, by the way... are you actually planning on reopening the music shop upstairs?" Emma asked suddenly.
"Yeah... why?" Eric asked, turning his head to look at her.
"Hmm... what if I worked at your shop during our summer break? Um, actually, not just me, Laura, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Monica too," Emma said, cutting straight to the point.
"Huh... I’m only just planning to open it, there’s still a ton of stuff that needs to be sorted out first," Eric said.
"I know, that’s precisely why I want to help. Besides, Heidi can promote it on her fitness channel, and Priya and Laura are both great with bookkeeping because of their family backgrounds. Chloe, Monica, and I can handle the retail floor upstairs. What do you think?" Emma pitched.
"Hmm," Eric thought it over. Aside from opening the music shop, he also wanted to breathe new life into his grandfather’s recording studio, but he still didn’t have any real-world knowledge of how this business actually operated. On top of that, he still intended to go to college, and there was a massive to-do list to tackle like inspecting and rewiring the electrical grids across the first, second, and third floors.
But what truly made him hesitate was the fact that, aside from Emma, he had only just met the others today, and it was clear he didn’t fully trust them yet. Ultimately, he just gave a polite out,
"Let me sleep on it first," Eric said.
"Alright, but don’t take too long. Our break wraps up in about three and a week weeks," Emma replied.
"Don’t worry, I just need some time to crunch the numbers and figure out your wages," Eric countered.
"Oh... you don’t even have to pay us, it’s totally fine, haha," Emma said.
"Huh... no way. If you work, you get paid. Even if it’s just part-time," Eric shot back.
"What if we opened a music cafe and a music shop all in one?"
Eric and Emma both turned their heads toward the front of the drum kit to find Laura already standing right there between them, her eyes sparkling and a massive grin on her face as she pitched her idea.
