I had read that eBay was the best place to get really good tickets to concerts or shows- especially ones that were sold out. I typed in the url address and did a search on eBay for “Clay Aiken RBC”. There it was, fourth row center tickets. Price: $650.00. It didn’t matter. I had to have them. The question- could they be overnighted in time?
My dog began to bark, startled by the sound of the doorbell that permeated the quiet din of the house. It was after one in the afternoon and there , just on the other side of the storm door, stood the Fedex man- an envelop clasp in his hand. “John Paulus”, he asked. He must have thought I won the lottery from my reaction, “Yes, Yes, I’m John Paulus”. I snap the envelop out of his hands and turned… “whoa, whoa, you have to sign for that”.
I couldn’t get to my room fast enough. Anxiety took over. My knees began to buckle and I quickly found myself sitting on the floor. I stared at the envelop and raised it close to my chest. I feared opening. Please don’t let me have fallen victim to an Internet scammer. It wasn’t the $650 I feared losing. No. It was fear of not seeing my future husband perform onstage.
With my eyes closed and the envelop still firmly held to my chest, I took a long deep breath. While slowly exhaling, I opened my eyes, and tore open the envelop. There it was; a ticket to Clay Aiken’s Joyful Noise Christmas Concert. I could feel myself get hot and then cold. My hands began to sweat. I reached behind me and put the ticket on my bed, afraid that my sweaty hands would damage it.
I couldn’t sit there all day, I had to get up. I had to figure out what I would wear. After a few moments I stood up, my knees still weak. I walked to my closet. Jeans would be too casual and a suit- no, that would be too formal. Choosing what to wear was proving to more difficult than I had thought. After trying on several clothes, I settled on a pair of black Giovanni Mouscolini pants, which accentuated my buttocks, and a cranberry red Calvin Klein sweater that settled nicely on my shoulders.
Before heading to the tanning salon, I checked my email. Still no invite from Clay. Perhaps, he didn’t want to come across as anxious to meet me as I was to meet him. On my way to the salon and while laying naked in the tanning bed, I kept playing various scenarios in my head. Should I write a message on a piece of paper and hand it to security letting him know that I had come to surprise him? Should I pretend to cough in the hopes it would draw his attention to me? I wanted to do something to get his attention, but not scare him off. I mean, I didn’t want the guy to think I was stalking him.
Six o’clock fast approached. I took one last look in the mirror, adjusted my hair, and sprayed some Gucci Pour Homme on my wrist and neck before heading out the door.
A forty-five minute drive seemed like forever. There I was, pulling off of Trinity Road and in front of the RBC Center. An officer motioned me to wait. I thought to myself, “if only this guy knew who I was”. As of now; however, I was simply some screen name that Clay Aiken exchanged well wishes with. But soon, soon I would be much more.
Thirty minutes before the show began and the Center was starting to fill. There were far fewer people than I had anticipated. With Christmas just a few days away, it made sense that a majority were probably shopping. I kept glancing at my watch. The minutes seemed to pass so slowly. 7:34, 7:35: 7:36… eight o’clock would never come, I thought. 7:37, 7:38… I started to become restless; fidgeting in my chair, looking to the right, left, and behind me. To my left sat a women in her mid to upper fifties, with hair dyed black, wearing glasses. She leaned into me and asked, “Is this your first time to a Clay Aiken concert”, the smell of a cigarette still evident on her breath. I replied, “yes”. ”You’re in for a real treat”, she said smiling revealing her coffee stained teeth. Moments later I heard a thunderous applause which would be the introduction to my first Clay Aiken concert and the first time I would set eyes on “Oh MY Clay”.
Chapter 3 to be continued…
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