The entire set finished two hours later and I was sweaty but still high on adrenaline when I came backstage. Audrey was already waiting for me, glaring at me when I opened my arms to give her a hug. “You’re all sweaty!”
I didn’t really care and I knew she didn’t when she didn’t make any attempts to push me away. Instead, she removed the earpiece that I still had on. “Oh jeez, you complain like that but we both know you’re used to cuddling me despite the sweat-,”
“I love you.”
“You never complained when you fall asleep after sex and I wrapped-,” I stopped mid-sentence and stared at her. “What did you just say?”
Audrey was smirking at me and was tugging me to go back to the dressing room, but I stayed rooted to where I stood, my heart pounding and it wasn’t because of the rush of adrenaline anymore. I could feel all eyes on us, because everyone - from my band members and to our crew and staff for the show - knew what I was about to do next.
Audrey’s eyebrows furrowed when I wasn’t budging. “Is there something wrong?
She was too focused on me that she didn’t see the cameras pointed on us, filming. I wanted to get this moment on video, so we could relive it for the rest of our lives. “I was going to call you up on stage earlier.”
I wanted to. If there were guys who proposed to their girlfriends during concerts, I wanted to be that guy too. Even when I was part of the band and not the crowd. “But you know I’m better backstage.”
I knew that, which was why I didn’t really go on with my original plan. Audrey treasured whatever semblance of privacy that we had. “Let’s go back on stage.”
Audrey was looking at me weirdly. “The crowd must’ve left by now. What are you planning?”
I could do this in front of a crowd or none at all, the thing was, I just wanted to do it in the right place. What better way than onstage, where the music was still loud because the speakers continued to play the song I wrote for her. I didn’t bother giving Audrey a response and I dragged her back on stage. She was right, the crowd was slowly dispersing.
“Julian, what are you doing?” I could sense the confusion in her tone, but rather than answering her question, I signalled one of the staffs to change the music into the instrumental version of her song. It was a little quieter now and she could hear me better. “Julian?”
I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair that was wet with sweat. “I love you, Audrey Finch.”
“And I’ve established that I love you too, backstage while you were rambling. Seriously, Jules, sometimes you talk too much and I love that about you and at least you’re not as talkative as Leo and it’s actually endearing but sometimes, you really need to learn to stop-,”
“Marry me.”
“-actually, I don’t mind if you continue being talkative. It’s cute, I’ll admit. But there are moments when you need to-,” Audrey paused mid-sentence and she looked at me and I knew I looked at her the same way earlier when she said ‘I love you’ and I was talking. “What did you just…?”
Audrey was looking around and I didn’t really care if the crowd went back to witness this. The whole world could disappear and I wouldn’t mind as long as Audrey was by my side. “I love you, Audrey Finch, and if there’s anyone in the world that I would want to have by my side, it’s you. It’s always been you.”
“You’re the lead vocalist of a band that every girl- in her teens and even in adulthood- fantasize about. You were hailed as the sexiest man alive last year and you…” Audrey was trying to find the right words to say and she looked back at me, brown eyes glistening with unshed tears, “and you want to marry me?”
“There isn’t any other Audrey Finch in this world and if there is, I’ll still choose the one in front of me right now.”
“You might be dethroned as the sexiest man this year if they find out you’re hitched.”
I shrugged. “I don’t give a damn.”
“You’re going to marry the woman that owns the company that produces your music. Can you handle that?”
“I wouldn’t be proposing to you right now if it bothered me. Besides, I’m proud of you.”
“A lot of hearts are gonna get broken.”
I let out an exaggerated sigh and waved a hand off. “They’ll move on, but you’re kind of breaking mine by not giving me an answer.”
“Well, you said it more like a statement than a question.”
Ah, sometimes, the woman I loved had the tendency to be impossible. I took a deep breath and then knelt down. The moment I did, there was a spotlight on us and Audrey let out a small yelp at the sudden brightness and I couldn’t help but laugh. By now, I could feel eyes on us, but none of them mattered because the brown ones in front of me were the only ones I wanted to stare.
“Audrey Finch, if there’s anyone else in the world that makes my heart beat like crazy and makes me write love songs like a sap, it’s you. I’ll write you love songs, sing you to sleep, and every beat my heart makes is a crescendo of my love for you. There’s no one else in the world that I want to be with, but you. Will you marry me?”
Audrey was biting on her lower lip and I could see her tears slowly stream down her face. She reached for my hand and pulled me up, crashing her lips into mine. There was an applause in the background, even when Audrey hadn’t even given me an answer yet. “You planned this, didn’t you?”
“I knew you were coming but I’m a fan of surprise sex.”
“Julian…”
“You haven’t said yes.” I was looking at her expectantly, the box still in my hand and Audrey wiped her tears away and nodded her head slowly.
“Yes.” Audrey whispered, placing her hands on my face and then kissing me again.
Six years ago, I chased after my passion and built a name for myself with it. The world knew the music my friends and I made and placed us on stage, yet fame would always be temporary. It used to scare me, but now I’d ride this success for how long they would want me. Because when the limelight would dim and the cheering would quieten, when the songs we made would become nostalgic, and new artists would rise to claim the spotlight, I wouldn’t really care anymore.
After all, I realized that in this lifetime, there was something else that mattered more to me than music.
Her.
THE END