~Lockwood~

"Testing testing one two three" my voice boomed from the speakers. Well, almost all the speakers. George, my dearest friend and colleague pointed to speaker three with his lucky blue and green pen, clip board stuffed under his arm.

"That damn speaker hasn't worked right from day one." He wasn't wrong, I bought that blasted piece of junk from corner store. It was cheap and didn't have any exterior damage, I knew I could fix it if I put in the time. Time, a very limited thing for me these days.

"I'll bet you ten pounds the cables are switched, we really need to color code them or something." I jumped off the stage and headed toward the back. It was mid spring and the heat waves were already rolling in, but today the weather couldn't have been better. It was an outdoor stage which looked out over yards and yards of clean grass, freshly mowed (I would know they were doing it right now).

I supposed I should give you the run down, my name is Anthony Lockwood, I'm a country singer. Me and George are a team, I do the singing and he takes care of the rest of the crew. He's in charge of basically every aspect of making sure the show goes right. Right now we're in the outskirts of London, all the farms and animals you don't see in everyday life reminded me of why I started the path I'm on today. To put it simply, I love music and anything to do with the outdoors. My fondest childhood memories were our family camping trips.

While making my way to the back I was stopped by our smallest and newest employee, Lucy Carlyle. She stopped me by promptly running straight into me. I myself being very tall and somewhat muscular was only shoved back a small bit, the girl on the other hand landed straight on her butt.

"Oh God I'm so sorry Anthony I wasn't watching where I was going-" I stopped her by putting a hand out to pull her up, my most dashing smile brought to my lips.

"Don't worry about it, no harm done. Well no harm done if you're alright that is." She took my hand with only minor hesitation. She brushed her bottom off hurriedly and smiled up at me. "Oh yes I'm alright." She had her head tilted up at me at such an angle, that it wasn't until that moment that I noticed the drastic difference in our heights.

"So, what made you run so fast?" She laughed and then in the blink of an eye her expression changed from happy to

"I left my cellphone at a T-shirt stand!" She was already moving towards the exit as she said this. She was gone before I could open my mouth to wish her luck.

I thought about our encounter on the way to the back. I kept thinking about many things about this new girl, the most overwhelming thought being our height difference. Then those thoughts quickly took shape of many other thoughts. How would it feel to bend down and scoop her into my arms? Or hold her tiny hands as we danced for hours on end. To kiss those full lips of hers and pin her against the wall- no. Stop that, you just met her.

Truth be told I've never had much luck with love, my experience with women have been discouraging to say the least. Most want fame, or money or, well I'll just say it, sex. I let my mind fantasize the thought that Lucy could be different. She told me in the interview that she grew up in these parts, surely anyone raised around here knew proper dating etiquette. There were countless country songs based around love not being used for some lousy pickup line.

I let the thoughts drop for the time being while I worked at the cords behind the stage. Surely enough I was right, the two nearly identical cords used for two different purposes, were switched. I only knew the difference because on the side of the base of each cord. Long story short, I fixed it.

As I made my way back around my thoughts slid back to that tiny girl, I knew I needed to stop, I barely knew her. She was just an employee, nothing more and nothing less. I would treat her with the upmost respect.

Those thoughts only grew as I got to know her.

~~~

That final night on that final stage I felt invincible. The crowd cheered after every song. You could see them singing along, dancing with loved ones. I poured every bit of my heart into every song.

As we were rounding our final song for the night I took the mic as said,

"First I'd like to thank you for coming out," they cheered in response. "When I was a boy I imagined this, standing on a stage, looking out at people who actually came to see me. Of course I couldn't do this without the amazing behind the scene crew of mine. They are the funniest group of country loving people you'll ever meet." I took a deep breath, and continued.

"This final song is actually one that I started writing when I was fourteen years old, obviously its gone through many improvements and changes, but I hope you like it nonetheless."

I heard the beat start and saw the lights dim. I waited, took a few deep breaths, and began.

~~~

Our tour had finally come to an end, we visited so many places and met so many adoring fans. My personal favorite was the show in Wales, it was our largest show and the outdoor stage was set on a slope. The stage being toward the bottom, the audience inclining all the way to the top. During the slowest song in our list the fans took out their phones, turned on the flashlights and swayed from side to side. It was breathtaking.

Now, all packed up and ready to hit the road I whistled to my faithful companion, a short border collie named May. May was the runt of her pack and the owners were having a hard time selling her. They were sweet old folk by the names of Bill and Dawn. I couldn't help myself, my family dog pasted away last year and she was the last piece of family I had left.

May was smart, she turned and seen the open door to my black pickup truck and took a running start before leaping in. I myself was about to climb in when I heard a lot of cursing and the sound on an engine failing to start. I motioned for May to sit and wait while I investigated the sound.

It was Lucy, she was attempting to start her two door, six cylinder jeep. Me and Lucy had worked on this very car before, the sound was very familiar upon my approach.

"Its not gonna start, dead battery is my guess." She looked up, smiled and jumped out.

"I was just about to take her in for inspection, of course she wouldn't hold out for one more ride." She frowned at the car, shaking her head.

"Good this it was now rather than on the road. You got that new phone yet?" She looked at me a her frown deepened.

"No, I can afford a new one. Between the parts I had to order for this and the rent doubling on my apartment, I haven't got the cash." She looked down, kicking at the dirt. "Can I use yours to call a tow truck, and a cab?"

"No need for a cab, lemme take you home." She stared at me, then at my truck. May was peeking her head out the window of my window, wagging her tail.

"You sure?" She asked me, I could sense her hesitation. I nodded, "Of course, lemme grab my phone from the console."

Two hours later were on the road, Lucy was staring out the window lost in her own thoughts. May was laying in between us, head resting in my thigh as she slept.

"I like your dog." Lucy said suddenly. I smiled, reached down and ruffled the fur on her head.

"I do too, shes a good girl, keeps me company."
I looked over at Lucy, ours eyes met. I swore whenever I looked at this girl my face heat up a million degrees. She seemed to have a bit of blushing going on herself, she quickly looked away and cleared her throat. I turned back to the road.

"Lucy?" I said after a few long silence minutes. The radio was off, it was just us speaking.

"Hmm?" She hummed. She was back to her regular position of stating out the window, fist holding up her head. There was a slight red mark forming on her cheeks. With all the courage I could muster in that moment, I took a deep breath and said, "Do you think you could see yourself on a date with me? Maybe sometime this week?" That made her look at me.

"Anthony, I would love that." I smiled and look at her. An overwhelming surge of happiness bloomed in my chest, I felt like screaming and throwing my fist in the air. In the end I settled for taking her hand in mine. Thats how we drove the rest of the way home.