Pop Rock Love

by Raine Koh

  “I had to come by to make sure someone did not mess up my song,” he answered, glancing over at Mimi. She responded by rolling her eyes. Ayaka looked at Mimi's reflection in the mirror and nodded. “You're done!” she cried.

  “Can I be alone with Mimi for a moment?” he asked, looking at Kenta. Kenta and Ayaka hurriedly scurried out of the room. Mimi stood up and faced him, with her arms crossed. Was he going to pick up a fight, right before her performance? She glared at him.

  To her surprise, Sato took a step towards her and cupped her face with his hands.

  “I know you are hurting inside, but you can do this. I believe in you.”

  Mimi lips quivered as she tried to hold her tears back. “Thank you,” she whispered. Someone knocked on the door and Sato retreated. The production assistant entered and said, “Mimi, you are going to be on stage in ten minutes. Please be ready.”

  She took a deep breath and smiled at the producer, “I won't let you down.”

  He smiled back, “Knock them dead.”

  For tonight's performance, she didn't have her full band with her. It was just purely vocals with Kamaki accompanying on piano. A slight mistake by either one would be glaringly obvious. She stood on stage and felt the television cameras on her. This time, a single spotlight was on her and Kamaki started to play the piano. Mimi closed her eyes as she listened to the soft tinkling of the piano. The inevitable has happened. He has left her, or to put it more accurately, she has left him. The only thing she could do now is to shine as brightly as she could. Even though she was finding it hard to even breathe...Mimi opened her eyes and placed her hands on the microphone stand. Even though her heart was breaking...She had to sing.

  Sato was backstage, carefully observing Mimi's performance. She had placed every once of emotion into the hauntingly tragic melody. Listening to her voice, he felt his own heart hurt. “You're a professional now,” he said, as she finished her song flawlessly.

  *

  Six months later, Mimi was finally able to take a week off. She had finished her promotions for her second single, “Galaxy”, and it was the opening theme song for a High School drama. Her second single sold more copies than her first single and her life became a series of busy schedules. She was thankful Niji Music was able to grant her a week-long break. She missed Singapore and her brother. The first thing she did once her leave was approved was to book the first flight to Singapore.

  It was the month of August, the first thing she noticed when she touched down in Singapore was the intense heat of the city. It was morning and Roy was in school for classes, although he knew that she was coming. After unloading her luggage at their apartment, Mimi walked over to Sakura. Roy had handed over the operational aspects of Sakura to her old band member, a drummer named Sam. Her old band still performed every Wednesday with a new vocalist, and Mimi wondered if she could jam with them later tonight.

  She opened the doors of the pub and turned on the lights. It looked exactly the same as she rembered it, save for that corner behind the bar which had turned into a mini “Mimi shrine”. It had her poster, albums and some magazine clippings which featured her. She walked over to the stage and stood by the microphone stand. How nostalgic, she thought. I was standing at this exact spot when we first saw each other. She smiled sadly when suddenly the lights blacked out. She looked around bewildered. Was it a blackout?

  Suddenly out of nowhere, a male voice started to sing,

  “The way you shone when I first saw you.

  I should have known you were a star.

  Love music pain.

  Two manic stars creating a cosmic creation across the universe.

  We may not know what may happen tomorrow,

  But it was a beautiful meteor shower.”

  Mimi clasped her hands over her mouth. She knew that voice. But it was impossible. She squinted her eyes towards the voice. He was walking towards her with a cordless microphone. She was soon standing face to face with Yuki. The lights of the pub came back on. Mimi couldn't believe her eyes. The wavy-haired boy smiled at her. “How did you know...” she mumbled.

  Yuki nodded towards the control panel. “Roy told me.”Mimi looked towards control panel to see Roy behind it, controlling the lights. He gave his sister a wink. Mimi was too shocked to react.

  “But...Aren't you supposed to be in America? Why...How?” she asked. He reached out and held her hands in his. “I finished filming and made a detour. Other than Roy, no one knew that I was coming here.”

  Mimi looked at him. “So why are you here?” He was still holding on to her hands.

  “Every day in those six months, I couldn't shake off this thought. I couldn't live with the thought that I didn't have your arms to run to at the end of the day.” He let go of her hands and handed her a black velvet ring box. Mimi glanced at him, puzzled before opening the box. Inside, there was a pink solitaire diamond ring.

  “Yuki, it's beautiful,” she said, although she still wondered where he was going with this.

  “Seven years from now, let's get married. During these seven years, we can rise as high as we can as stars, work as hard as we can until we reach a point in the sky where no one can touch us. During these seven years we may spend more time apart than together but I cannot imagine my future without you. On this day, seven years later, it will be our wedding day. Mimi, will you marry me?” He got down on one knee and held out the ring to her.

  Tears were streamming down her cheeks as she listened to her words. Admist her tears, she smiled and nodded, “Yes, of course.” He got up and flung his arms tightly around her. Roy cheered loudly in the background. Mimi looked over at her brother and smiled. Yuki loosened his grasp on her and slipped the ring on her finger. He leaned towards her and kissed her softly on her lips. She wrapped her arms around him.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” He leaned over and kissed her again.