Grace glanced down the table at Eli, who was spooning some cheesecake into his mouth.
She smiled slightly and quickly averted her eyes; they'd managed to say only a few polite words to one another all through the main course, and she was sure that Lily and Rick believed they were 'over' each other.
"So, Eli-" Rick looked over at his son, smiling happily, "-you going to make this big announcement?"- Rick couldn't hold in the suspense a moment longer!
Eli looked up at his father's beaming face, and returned the smile.
"Ok" he breathed, putting his fork down.
"Ok, brace yourselves" Rick smiled even wider.
RICK I didn't even need to hear the announcement to know that he'd done something great!
Everyone looked at Eli, has a took a few quick breaths, Grace and Jessie smiling sweetly at him; encouraging him to go on, and Lily staring coldly at Grace, urging her to stop smiling at him.
"I have a record deal" Eli gave a faint smile.
RICK see…….I knew it!
There was an astonished silence at the table; it seemed everyone was holding their breath, allowing the news to wash over them.
"Say something-" Eli asked quietly.
"That's amazing!" Grace exclaimed, exasperated and proud.
Lily cleared her throat, "Well done Eli," she said, sweetly.
"My brothers going to be a rock star…….." Jessie's lips curved into a broad smile.
GRACE my boyfriends going to be a rock star!
Eli raised his hands, stopping the praise; "No, no no- not THAT kind of record deal…….." Eli smiled at everyone's questioning faces.
"Sorry Jess, I'm not going to be a rock star-" Eli smirked "-a company called Blue Collar records have signed me up as a song writer. I sent them a demo tape and they're going to use two of my songs" Eli sat back in his chair, silence filling the room once more.
Rick laid a heavy hand on his sons shoulder "I am so proud of you" he said, seriously.
ELI its about time I did SOMETHING right.
"But what about this contract……was there a lawyer present, what sort of money will you get, copyright laws………" Lily asked anxiously.
"Its all taken care of" Eli assured her "-my mum finalized everything. I called her in, explained what was going on, and she read the contract, acted as a witness……..she said it was a fair and legal deal" Eli felt his heart race as his accomplishment hit him hard.
"This is-" Rick couldn't find words "-I am just so-" he felt himself choking up.
ELI my dad actually cried because he was so proud of me! That hasn't happened before!
Rick leaned over and grabbed Eli in a bear hug.
"Dad-" Eli exchanged the hug uncomfortably "-cant breathe-" he eventually croaked out, and Rick released him, wiping away the few tears that had escaped his eyes.
"Eli-" Grace said softly, and Eli looked over at her beaming face; "-congratulations, you should be very proud of yourself!" she said sweetly, and he reflected an even wider grin.
LILY Great! Now he has a record deal, money……..how could she possible resist him NOW!
"Thankyou" he replied, and they stared at one another for a moment, before Zoe broke the silence.
"Play us the songs," she demanded.
Eli turned away from Grace to look at Zoe, "huh?" he asked, confused.
Zoe sighed "the songs they chose- play them for us!"
"Oh" Eli nodded slowly, and pushed his chair out, walking over to the staircase to get his guitar.
"Everyone, in the living room" Rick beamed, pushing out his own chair, and everyone did the same- filing into the lounge room, they took their places on the couch as Eli sat on one of the arm chair's, adjusting his guitar in his arms.
"This ones called 'Let that be enough'" Eli smiled at everyone's eager faces; glancing over at Grace's beautiful smile before looking down, concentrating on the strings of his guitar.
I wish I had what I need
To be on my own
'Cause I feel so defeatedAnd I'm feeling alone
RICK my son, living his dreams to the fullest- this is exactly what I wanted him to do in life- something he enjoyed.
And it all seems so helpless
And I have no plans
I'm a plane in the sunset
With nowhere to land
LILY atleast the heartache he felt over losing Grace made for a good song.
And all I see
It could never make me happy And all my sand castles
Spend their time collapsing
Let me know that You hear me
Let me know Your touch
Let me know that You love me
Let that be enough
ZOE I wonder if he'll teach me to play the guitar- we could have two stars in the family!
It's my birthday tomorrow
No one here could now
I was born this Thursday
22 years ago
JESSIE my brother's going to be a rock star……..well, a songwriter- eh! What's the difference……..maybe he could introduce me to 'no doubt'?
And I feel stuck
Watching history repeating
Yeah, who am I?
Just a kid who knows he's needy
GRACE I love it when he singsLet me know that You hear me
Let me know Your touch
Let me know that You love me
And let that be enough
Eli strummed the last chord and looked up at everyone's calm faces; it seemed they were in a moment of stunned pleasure.
And then Grace clapped, slowly at first, and then as everyone else joined in, faster and faster.
"That was amazing" Rick exclaimed, feeling more tears break through- and Lily wrapped an arm around his middle, hugging him tight.
"No wonder they chose that song!" Jessie beamed at her big brother.
Eli glanced over at Grace, who simply smiled at him; she didn't need to say anything; her smile spoke a thousand words.
"Now the other one" Zoe said happily, and Eli nodded; "Ok, ok ok" he aid, adjusting the guitar again.
"This one's called-" Eli glanced up at Grace for only a moment "-Heart" he breathed, and Grace held in her breath.
We lead two
different lives
just like two lines that never cross
And here
we are together
standing closer than we are
but we're still
standing here untouched
too scared to make a move
We want so
much to touch
and we can't wait forever
we know it's
dangerous
for us to be together
How do we ever keep
this secret
how do we keep it in the dark
and if we dare to
taste our weakness
how could we tear ourselves apart
why do we
keep this love together
didn't we know right from the start
that
we would have to keep this secret
or forever stay apart
LILY interesting………..very, interesting.
I watch you coming to
me
walking in the pouring rain
I can't help looking at
you
wishing I could stay away
So many times I've tried in
vain
to close my eyes and pray it goes away
but I can't stop
myself from feeling
to let you go would be too much
for me to
take
I can't help thinking
when I look into your
eyes
how much I need you
it's so hard to hide
GRACE he was only signing to me.
This time as Eli strummed the last chord, the silence that followed was longer and far more deafening.
But, just as before, Grace clapped slowly; taking in short, quick breaths as the tears of joy cascaded down her cheeks.
Lily and Rick glanced over at her; and looed back from Grace to Eli, as they stared into one another's eyes.
LILY it's his song……
RICK for Grace!
"Right" Lily broke through Grace's clapping, stopping her abruptly as she tore her eyes away from Eli to look at her mother's face.
"Grace help me clean up-" Lily said, standing.
Grace nodded and followed her mother into the kitchen, but as she walked past Eli, she turned to look at him; "I'm truly proud of you," she said softly and walked away into the kitchen.
"Eli" Rick rose, walking over to his son "this is what you've always wanted" Rick said softly.
Eli nodded, returning the grin; "did you like it?" he asked, and Rick nodded, resting an arm around his sons shoulders.
"So, tell me about the contract…….." he began.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
'Let that be enough' is a song by a band called switchfoot.
