I nervously fussed with my hands while Ramin did one last check on his microphone. 

Since it was almost 6 P.M., almost everyone had left the theatre for the day, so we pretty much had it to ourselves. 

But even with that knowledge, I still felt terrified at what I was about to do.

Ramin had asked me to sing the chaotic medley of "Down Once More/Track Down this Murderer" from Phantom of the Opera with him, and in a haze of shock, I had agreed.

But now that we were about to start, I could feel the ice-cold sensation of fear running through my veins, and I had never wanted to pass out more.

"Alright, my Angel," he said while pulling up the instrumental version of the song on his phone. "Are you ready?"

I swallowed the large lump that had formed in my throat and weakly replied, "Yes."

Ramin turned around and faced me with a smile, but it quickly faded when he saw how pale I had grown. 

"Avery," he murmured softly. "What's wrong?"

I suddenly started to back away from him and shook my head. 

"I can't do this," I whispered. "This was a mistake."

He took a few steps forward, then extended his hand out to me. 

"Ave, you have no reason to be scared," he argued lightly. "We're the only ones here."

"I can't," I replied with a firmer tone. "I don't know what I was thinking when I said 'yes'."

"Just take my hand," Ramin encouraged. "I promise that I'll guide you through the whole song."

I wrapped my arms around my shaky body and glanced away from him. 

"Sing by yourself," I muttered under my breath. "I'm not the right person for this type of job."

"Ave," he sighed. "Come on. Work with me here."

"No!" I snapped, spinning around to face him. "Stop forcing me to do something that I'm uncomfortable with!"

"You agreed to this," Ramin argued, raising his voice slightly. "I didn't force you to do anything."

"Then don't try and convince me otherwise!" I yelled. "Did you honestly think that I would ever want to sing with you?"

His expression went from frustrated to shocked, and then, it dropped in hurt. 

As soon as I saw his sad brown eyes gazing at me, I realized what I had said to him, and my heart shattered into a thousand pieces. 

The tension in the room was palpable while we stood there staring at each other, not knowing what to say.

Ramin then broke the silence, however, by saying quietly, "I thought you enjoyed singing with me."

The near-whisper of his words sent me into an uncontrollable spiral of despair that threatened to bring me to the ground. 

"I-I..." I stuttered, not getting a coherent sentence out.

He held his hand up and signaled for me to stop. 

"I understand," he nodded slowly. "I won't waste any more of your time."

With that, Ramin coldly brushed past me and out the door, leaving me alone to regret the terrible decisions I had made.