At just a little after 7pm, Emil, Natsumi, and Roy were on their way to a house party. But it wasn’t exactly a party, but rather a house show, one primarily for an acoustic singer-songwriter showcase.
Although Emil wasn’t initially enamored by the idea of going to a party right after the exhausting gig and the weird experience of “time travel” (something of which he still wasn’t sure was real), he was eventually convinced by Roy that attending this party would be crucial to forming the band.
Roy wants to use this opportunity to look for a singer, and she has one specifically in mind. During the car ride she spoke excitedly—perhaps the most excited that Emil had ever seen her speak—about the necessity of having a charismatic vocalist for their band.
Emil was somewhat surprised by Roy’s enthusiasm about forming a band. After all, it was only last night that Emil had broached the idea, and he never actually received a confirmation. Natsumi joked that once Roy sets her mind on a goal, she commits 110%.
The fact that both Roy and Natsumi were taking Emil to look for a vocalist was enough of a confirmation that they wanted to form a band. Emil smiled to himself as he sat in the backseat of Roy’s car, watching the trees pass by as twilight swept across the city.
The last forty-eight hours had been a whirlwind of emotions, a torrent of excitement mixed in with unsettling doubt. Nevertheless, he realized he felt giddy about his life. No matter what happens in the future—no matter what happens to any of his future lives, as that stranger had said—he would commit to this life, this present moment.
Emil’s thoughts were suddenly punctured by the one-sided argument occurring in the front of the car. Natsumi insisted that they were already the perfect vocalist, and Roy simply responded with a curt “no.” This conversation would continue even after Roy parked the car and even as they walked up to the front of the house.
Tucked away in a quiet street off of SE Division, the house looked a little rundown, but nevertheless full of life. Emil could see people milling about the front porch, talking, smoking cigarettes, drinking tall boy cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon. They talked and laughed, a person in a corner was absentmindedly noodling around on an acoustic guitar. Emil took all the sights and sounds in, his heart beating faster in anticipation as they reached the wooden stairs leading to the front door.
As they approached the door, Emil could hear Natsumi becoming increasingly heated by Roy’s unyielding stance. Deciding that if this continued, it could put them both in a sour mood for the rest of the night, Emil stopped at the front door. Before entering Emil turned around to face them both.
“Natsumi, you are such an innovative and creative instrumentalist, that it would be a shame if we ended up sacrificing your gorgeous sound for vocals,” said an earnest Emil.
Natsumi was easily swayed by Emil’s sweet-talking. “Well, what Emil says makes a lot of sense, I am a genius with instruments, so it’s better if I leave the vocals to someone else,” Natsumi said with a smile and a wink toward Roy.
After letting out a sigh, Roy motioned to Emil with her eyes to just open the door already. Feeling intimidated by Roy’s glare, Emil quickly pushed on the front door. Unfortunately, Emil had pushed on the door a little too quickly and with too much force.
“What the hell?!” yelled a voice from the other side of the door. Stepping out from behind the door was a woman with straight black cropped hair, thick black framed glasses, and a face full of rage. Although she was a good head shorter than Emil she had an overwhelmingly hostile presence. Emil found himself reflexively taking a small step back.
“I’m drenched asshole,” the woman said in a seething voice. The entire front part of her outfit, a light brown wool cardigan and a black and white striped t-shirt, was covered with what looked to be red wine.
Emil immediately knew that he was at fault, pushing the door into this woman and causing her to spill her drink onto her clothes. Realizing that his carelessness had caused this accident, Emil panicked and brought his hands before the woman in an attempt to wipe the liquid off her clothes.
“What do you think you you’re doing, you creep!” the woman said angrily as she knocked away Emil’s hands. Others inside and outside of the house began to notice the commotion. Roy and Natsumi were laughing wildly at Emil's predicament.
“Sorry!” Emil loudly apologized and then began unbuttoning his shirt.
“What the hell,” the woman said in a voice both perplexed and irritated. The woman, along with everyone around, began to wonder why Emil was attempting to undress. Even Roy and Natsumi went silent in surprise.
Emil looked around and realized how strange his behavior looked, especially without any explanation on his part. He then settled his mind and in a calm voice said, “I wanted to offer my shirt for you to wear.” He wasn’t sure if he really did live as a lawyer in his past life, but he still felt like he had lived as one. He then followed up by saying, “let me know what you email is and I’ll pay for the dry-cleaning”
Natsumi and Roy laughed even louder. Emil’s strange offer to pay for dry-cleaning could be easily interpreted as a terrible pick-up line.
“Are you an old man or something? Why would someone dry-clean a t-shirt?” the woman asked in an even more befuddled tone. Interestingly the woman’s face had softened, the animosity replaced by confusion and a bit of curiosity. “Whatever, give me your shirt, we’ll call it even,” the woman said brusquely.
Emil quickly finished unbuttoning his blue and red plaid flannel Patagonia shirt and held it in front him as an offering to the woman. Luckily he wore a white undershirt beneath.
The Patagonia shirt, however, was a somewhat expensive shirt that his aunt had bought him for his eighteenth birthday just before college, something that he had only worn a couple times before tonight. Although he felt guilty to be giving away his aunt’s gift, he was even more sorry for being negligent and ruining a stranger’s clothes.
The woman simply sighed, grabbed the shirt, and turned around.
“I really hope there isn’t a stain,” Emil said as he absentmindedly began to follow the woman.
The woman turned around and quickly said, “Quit following me, I’m going to change.”
“Ah yes, sorry again,” Emil mumbled in a meek voice.
“And stop apologizing, we’re even,” the woman said as she held up the shirt. She promptly turned around and disappeared into a crowd of onlookers.
Roy walked past Emil and simply lightly patted him on the back as a sort of silent consolation.
“What a way to make an entrance, Hermit,” Natsumi happily said as they tugged on Emil’s elbow.
Then in a low whisper Natsumi said, “Don’t mind that girl, her name is Tam, and she’s known for being a bit,” Natsumi then paused, as if trying to find the least offensive way of expressing their thoughts. “Let’s just say she has a very strong personality,” Natsumi said with a coy smile.
Natsumi then began dragging Emil toward the living room, where Roy had already headed.
Despite all the eyes inside the house being trained onto Emil, with the sudden tuning of an acoustic guitar and a microphone check for the vocals, everyone quickly lost interest. The focus of the crowd was soon on the lone performer, sitting on a stool in the middle of the living room.
A man with a black beanie covering his long dark brown hair, a faded gray t-shirt, and dark brown corduroy pants sat on the stool holding a 1970s Yamaha Red Label acoustic guitar. A Shure SM57 microphone was propped up in front of his lips. A very short beard covered a well chiseled face, Emil immediately recognized this person as someone who would become very famous, if not also infamous.
“Hello, my name is Anton,” the man said in a relaxed, yet confident low voice. There were a few “woos” and "yeas" of recognition coming from the crowd. Anton smiled, took a breath, and began to sing while fingerpicking an intricate melody on his guitar.
Emil let out a quiet gasp as he saw purple and red light begin to wrap around Anton’s body and snake its way into the crowd. He hadn’t seen these kinds of color combinations before. Emil involuntarily leaned forward, a hunger developing inside of him to hear more of Anton’s song.
