One Man Band System

The next day down in the basement venue, Eric passed out the music sheets for the guitar and bass to Priya and Chloe, who were holding their respective electric instruments. He then handed a dedicated keyboard sheet to Heidi. But when he looked next to Heidi, he noticed Emma holding her open hand out toward him.

Completely missing the gesture, Eric simply shook her hand. Emma immediately snapped her hand back and held it out again, looking totally exasperated.

"What are you doing? I’m playing the keyboard too," Emma said, pouting.

"Wait... aren’t I the one playing the keyboard?" Heidi asked.

"You don’t even know how to play the keyboard, Emma," Chloe added.

"Yeah... why didn’t you just go with Monica and Laura to buy drinks earlier?" Priya asked.

"Because I want to be part of this too, okay?" Emma shot back, clearly annoyed.

"Alright, fine... just slide over here with me, we can share the sheet," Heidi said, shifting to make room.

"Awesome, thank you," Emma said, sliding in right next to Heidi.

"Sigh," Eric let out a breath, then watched Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Emma review their respective parts.

"Alright, let’s have everyone try playing their parts individually first," Eric said.

"Sounds good," the girls replied.

Priya and Chloe immediately stepped off the stage and headed into the right corridor, putting on their headphones to practice on their own in separate private studios. Meanwhile, as Emma and Heidi tried things out up on the stage, Eric plugged the keyboard into the amplifier.

Instantly, a beautifully crafted, fast-tempered main melody echoed through the empty venue. Eric shook his head gently, listening closely to the rhythm and feeling the groove.

"Hold on, stop for a second," Eric said.

Emma and Heidi stopped playing immediately. Eric noticed that Heidi was handling the left side of the keys while Emma was playing the right.

"Emma, come over here for a second," Eric said, waving her over.

Emma stepped out from behind the keyboard and walked up to him. Eric suddenly wrapped his arm around her shoulders, catching her off guard and making her face turn bright red.

"Um... what are you doing?" Emma asked.

"You’re going to do a duet with me later. For now, let Heidi play it solo. Having both of you on it right now throws off the balance. Sorry about that," Eric explained.

"Ugh... you’re honestly the worst," Emma shot back, though this time she was secretly thrilled.

Seeing this, Heidi flashed a massive grin, which was incredibly obvious even though she tried to hide it by pressing her fingers over her mouth. Eric then asked Heidi to play the part entirely on her own. The result was twice as good as before, sending actual chills down Eric and Emma’s spines. Without even realizing it, both of their faces lit up with smiles and they started swaying to the beat.

Once the song wrapped up, Heidi looked completely satisfied, as did Eric and Emma, who had been watching her.

"Awesome... this song is seriously incredible. I had so much fun playing it. Thanks, Eric!" Heidi said enthusiastically.

"Glad you like it," Eric replied with a smile.

"Did you write this all by yourself? Where did you get the inspiration?" Emma asked, curious.

"Ah... that’s a secret," Eric answered, scratching the back of his head. There was no way he could tell her that the inspiration came from his own feelings for her.

"What’s the title anyway?" Heidi asked.

"Hmm... let’s go with... Strangers Destiny," Eric replied.

"Ugh... that’s so corny. I’m changing the title later," Emma said, nudging Eric’s side, though her face was completely red.

The group burst into cheerful laughter just as Monica and Laura walked back in and headed toward the stage. Heidi went back to practicing her melody, memorizing the notes so she could play it by heart. Meanwhile, Eric left Emma and headed down the right corridor to check on Priya and Chloe.

When he opened the door to the private studio where Priya was practicing, he was instantly hit by a beautiful, rhythmic electric guitar melody. Priya seemed totally oblivious to the fact that Eric had just walked in and was listening.

Eric walked over and crouched down directly in front of her. Priya jumped out of her skin in sheer shock, instantly cutting the music short.

"Gosh... you scared the life out of me!" Priya said, patting her chest.

"Let me borrow that for a second," Eric said, holding his hand out.

"Oh... okay. Did I mess up?" Priya asked.

"Not at all, it just needs to be a little faster. Let me show you," Eric answered.

Priya unstrapped the electric guitar and handed it over. Eric threw the strap over his shoulder and quickly tuned it. Then, he stood up and started to play. Watching him play flawlessly without even looking at the sheet music, his hands moving at lightning speed, Priya’s face went completely blank.

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, because Eric’s playing was incredibly fast, his fingers gliding effortlessly across the frets.

"Wow... crazy. I’m nowhere near his level," Priya thought to herself.

Without even realizing it, she started moving to the music, losing herself in the fast tempo that was bound to get anyone’s heart racing and blood pumping. "Twaaang," as Eric finished, Priya instinctively burst into applause, tears literally welling up in her eyes.

"Wow... wow... wow... you play way crazier than I do! Teach me, please!" Priya said, standing up and pulling off her headphones.

"Sure... I’ll teach you," Eric said.

Eric suddenly sat down right next to Priya, his arm pressing flat against hers, causing her face to instantly turn red. He immediately showed her how to pluck the strings for maximum comfort and speed, matching it to the tap of his foot. But Priya kept staring at his profile, her face burning, her eyes darting around as if she were committing his features to memory. Sensing her gaze, Eric turned his head and locked eyes with her, their faces only inches apart.

"Hey... look at my hands, not my face," Eric said.

"Oh... right, sorry, sorry, haha," Priya replied, snapping back to reality and immediately looking down at the guitar.

After running through it a few times, Eric finally handed the guitar back to Priya. She started to get the hang of it, her fingers shifting along with the song, even if she wasn’t quite at full speed yet. But then she asked Eric to leave because having him watch made her too nervous. Eric stepped out of the room and moved to the next studio where Chloe was practicing the bass.

The moment he walked in, Eric was hit by a heavy, low, yet beautifully fast-paced bass line. He noticed Chloe was playing while standing up and even using her pedals. She was clearly much more skilled than Priya, and the notes she produced sounded remarkably close to how Eric would have played them himself. Seeing Eric enter, Chloe stopped playing and smiled.

"How is it, Eric? Am I getting it?" Chloe asked.

"You are... but let’s slow the tempo down just a bit so it doesn’t clash with the guitar," Eric answered, walking over to her.

"Oh... okay. Can you show me?" Chloe asked.

Chloe unstrapped her bass and handed it over to Eric. After testing the strings and making a quick adjustment, he launched into the rhythm. Naturally, Eric’s playing style was different from Chloe’s, but they weren’t far apart.

Chloe was completely captivated. She stared at him, really stared at him, as her face began to flush. Her eyes traveled up and down his face, lingered on his Adam’s apple, and then moved back up. When Eric finished, she spoke up.

"Wow... that was awesome. You’re seriously amazing, Eric," Chloe said, stepping closer and grabbing his arm with a huge grin on her pretty face.

"Ah... you’re pretty awesome too," Eric said, gently patting the top of her head.

Chloe’s face instantly exploded into a bright, tomato-red blush. Snapping back to her senses, she snatched her bass back and shoved Eric out of the room, leaving him completely bewildered.

"Huh... what’s her deal? Man, juggling individual practice and group rehearsals... it’s pretty exhausting," Eric thought to himself.

Then Eric leaned back. Even though the rooms were soundproof, he could still faintly hear Priya and Chloe playing at the same time. The rhythm matched exactly what he had imagined in his head. A smile spread across his face, and he closed his eyes, completely losing himself in the music as he nodded his head to the beat.