“Ladies and Gentlemen, Warner Music’s newest country artist… Georgia Clay!”
The crowd was on their feet in an instant. He hesitated, caught off guard by the bright lights and the noise, Buddy pushed him gently forward onto the stage. The drummer played the downbeat of the first song, the audience quickly clapping along. He waved to everyone and smiled, his eyes frantic to find his focus, which was standing on her feet in the front row. Their eyes locked and a calmness swept over him. Shifting the acoustic guitar across the front of his body, Clay approached the microphone.
“Hey, Y’all. I’m Georgia Clay.”
Another, thunderous eruption of screams and applause swelled in the famous auditorium like a giant wave in the ocean as he looked up into the heavens and started to sing.
*
Katie had managed to let her hair loose out of the corporate bun, wipe her face and put on lip-gloss before being escorted to her seat on the front row. Knowing Stacey would approve, she unclasped the top three buttons of her blouse and held her chin high, looking up at the man of her dreams doused in bright light. He commanded the stage, sending the audience into a tizzy with his upbeat, catchy first song about a hard-working cowboy partying with the boys. His transformation was jaw-dropping, and he looked like he belonged in the elite group of male country music mega-stars.
His talent seemed to fascinate everyone in the audience as he segued into a sexy ballad, painting a picture of a couple exploring each other in the darkness of night. She watched him close his eyes several times, his strong jawline clenched during the musical interlude, his head rocking to the sensual beat. He had to wait several seconds for the crowd to pipe down as the last note rang out in the ambient space. The smile on his face was infectious as he looked down and winked at her.
“Thank you,” he said into the microphone. “Thank you so much to Warner Music for…for bringing me on as a new artist. Thank you to the fans out there…” He paused and chuckled, allowing the screams of several women to dissipate.
Katie watched him shift nervously and wondered what was going through his mind. A stagehand brought out a stool and the bright lights dimmed, except for a lone spotlight on Clay and his guitar.
He sat on the stool and swallowed hard looking at the floor. “M…my daddy is the reason I’m here tonight…” His chest rose with a deep intake of air. “Ever since I was a young boy, he always believed that I’d sing a song on this stage one day. I’d like to dedicate this song to him. It’s called, ‘Big Daddy.’”
A hush fell over the audience and everyone sat in their seats. Katie watched Clay’s hands pick and strum the guitar effortlessly in a hauntingly beautiful melody, knowing this was the moment he had feared; the emotional climax performing for his beloved father. His voice echoed throughout the building as he sang about a gentle giant who taught him life lessons; about a man who had unending pride for his son and how he lifted him out of the darkness that was his childhood. Tears streamed down Katie’s face as she watched Clay. The vulnerability and transparency he evoked were precious at that moment. This is what made her love him with everything she had. This was a man who was real and sensitive and creative. He was her song; the melody that had been missing from her life.
Clay strummed the last chord and let it reverberate throughout the room, allowing it to end in a whisper before he looked up and nodded. The crowd went wild, standing on their feet again. Katie slapped her hands hard, laughing and crying at the same time. She was witnessing pure brilliance. The stagehands returned, one grabbing the stool, the other taking the guitar Clay handed off. His lean physique was highlighted in the bright lights making her gasp. He was gorgeous and in total control. The pride she felt was overwhelming.
Taking the mic off the stand, he paced back and forth grinning from ear-to-ear, waiting for the audience to simmer down. “Gosh, y’all. I haven’t even been on the road yet and you’re giving me a big head.” Laughter filled the auditorium, the warmth in the room perceptible.
“I’ve been writing songs for a while now. Some of them are near and dear to my heart, especially this last tune. There’s a pretty girl behind the music of this one and she’s sitting right there in the front row.”
Katie gasped as Clay pointed her out, heads turning to see who she was.
“This pretty girl has inspired many songs over the years. She’s had my heart for a long, long time. Katie? Darlin’? I want the whole world to know right now that…” His voice cracked with emotion. “…that I love you too.”
She covered her mouth with her hand as the surrounding folks gave her side hugs and pats on the back, her heart bursting with elation. For a brief second, she wondered if her best friend might be watching back home, screaming at the top of her lungs.
The band started a familiar melody as Clay strutted across the stage, getting the audience to clap along. When he started to sing, she recognized the song he had sung to her in bed several weeks ago—and now he was singing it for the whole world to hear.
“Drivin’ down a two lane road. Gravel flyin’, takin’ it slow.
You look so pretty. You wanna come closer with your lips and kiss me?
Lookin’ over the river, at the moon and the stars, they make us shiver.
Drinkin’ in the neon lights, stayin’ up all night.
Dancin’ real slow
Oh, baby, I gotta know…”
Everyone was on their feet, couples with their arms around each other and the entire room swaying back and forth to the sweet music.
“What would happen if…
We stayed in bed all day long and I wrote you a love song, yeah.
What would happen if…
You promised to stay by my side, oh our love is somethin’ I can’t hide.
What would happen if…”
