XXXV

                                    

                                          
Brett froze. He hadn't really thought of the actual content of the video they were going to shoot today, just about all the administrational planning stuff around it. And it hit him like a sucker punch into his guts.

 It had been requested thousands of times, after they had made fun of the jubilee video few months ago:
 Blind dating musicians. 

 One person had to choose one out of a number of musicians he/she liked most, based on their musical talent and a bit of conversation. 

 And of course, them recreating that idea meant, that one of them had to blind date a group of girls. Beautiful girls their team had casted and they'd never met before.
 Fairly obvious, one would think. But not for Brett. And he didn't know, what he deemed worse: him having to choose, or seeing Eddy pick one.

 Blowing everything off suddenly didn't seem like such a bad idea...

 "Brett?" Eddy looked at him, his brows furrowed.
 Brett shook his head. Get your game together, mate!
 "Of course! Have fun with the blind date. I'm gonna cheer for you from the sidelines", he said, although every fiber in him screamed he should take Eddy to the other side of the world and lock him up in a secluded shack. 
 But why? He should in fact encourage his good friend to get himself a nice girl, or not? So why did he feel like doing the exact opposite and yeet every human being out of the way, if they so much as dare to approach him?

 "You're pale af. Are you still sure, you want to do this?"
 "Yup! A hundred percent! Go get 'em, tiger!"
 "Eww! You sound like my fourth aunty." Eddy scrunched his nose.
 "What? Does she really say that?", Brett cracked up, despite the situation.
 Eddy smiled. "She does, in fact. Told me just recently on the phone, because she thinks, I'm too old to be single."
 "Then she will be thrilled, when she sees the video."
 "Hope so! But Brett", Eddy had his serious tone back again. "If you don't feel up to it at any time, tell me, and we stop."

 It wasn't a plea or a polite question. It was an order. Brett could hear it in every syllable of the sentence Eddy just had voiced out. He looked at Eddy and nodded.


 Brett took a shitload of pills to get rid of his headache and tiredness after breakfast and actually managed to feel a bit more like a functional part of their Youtube channel. They packed their gear and soon left for the studio, where they had recently filmed those line up videos. 

 The musicians their team had casted weren't going to arrive for another two hours and Brett was extremely thankful for that. By now, he dreaded filming this video like nothing else and he couldn't place a finger on why. He really needed to get his shit together though, otherwise he'd be mean to those girls they had asked to come in the first place, but which Brett didn't want to see, meet or talk to for the life of his.

 They set up the cameras, lights and also a black curtain, dividing a part of the room for the blind dating.

 Eddy was getting giddy. Brett could tell by the way he was rushing around to get everything in place, how he talked to people and how he fumbled with his Vivaldi four seasons cardigan so much Brett feared it might dissolve into a bunch of red threads sooner or later.

 "Hey, you nervous?", Brett asked quietly, as he passed by Eddy to get something to drink. 
 "Why? Do I look like I am?", Eddy asked back and brushed through his hair the millionth time since they'd gotten here. 
 "You might as well carry a neon sign around with the words 'I'm a nervous wreck, please save me'." He nudged Eddy's side. "What's going on? It's not a recording session. And it's also not the first time you're talking to girls."

 Eddy sighed and anxiously looked away.
 "Brett, I don't know... It just feels so wrong..."
 It sure as hell felt wrong for Brett for whatever reason, but why would it for Eddy? And as much as Brett wanted for this to just be cancelled, they'd already done all the preparations and he also didn't want to go through his inner emotional turmoil a second time. So he asked:
 "Why? It's a game. It's not like you're betraying anyone or something. Some of the girls even got boyfriends... Wait, is it that, what's bothering you?" 
 It seemed highly unlikely, but Eddy did have high morals, so who knew.
But Eddy shook his head.
 "No, I know it's a game and nothing's serious and all, but I really don't wanna do this!" He looked at Brett with wild eyes.

 "Brett! Can you be the one doing the blind dates?"
 "What?"
 "I know, I said I'm gonna, but I don't think I can! Please, only if you're feeling okay of course. Otherwise, I say we cancel this! I'm really sorry I'm being such a wuss, and I know, we said you're gonna do as little as you have to. But I just don't think I can go through with this!"
 "Eddy! What's your problem?"
 "I don't know!", he almost screamed. Some of their team turned their heads towards them and Brett quickly decided, it would be best to take their conversation somewhere more private. He grabbed Eddy's arm and dragged him out of the hall to the men's room. 

 There, Brett placed both his hands on Eddy's shaky shoulders and directly looked into his eyes.
 "Eddy, mate! Talk to me!"
 "I don't know. I can't explain what it is!", Eddy said, his voice desperate and his breathing going double the speed it normally would.
 "So, you're telling me, you don't wanna do this, but you don't know why?"
 "I know, it sounds lame." he hid his face in his palms. 
 Brett just stared at Eddy, while his brain quickly tried to make sense of the situation. 

 Clearly, Eddy either didn't want to disclose anything, or was actually having real trouble understanding, what was going on with himself.
 As for Brett, wasn't that, what he'd kind of wanted in the first place? That Eddy wouldn't be listening and talking to those girls, even if it was just for a fun video? And while Brett wasn't keen on doing it himself, it was still a thousand times better, than seeing Eddy being on the hot seat. 
 So why not help Eddy out and have his own peace in the process? He did feel the headache coming back with full force and his energy leaving his body, but he could press through. He'd simply have to!

 "Alright!", Brett sighed. 
 Eddy looked up. "What?"
 "I'm gonna do it."
 "Wha... You sure?" 
 "Yeah. I mean, doesn't really matter as long as it's one of us, right?"
 "And you're okay? I mean, you're not feeling too sick or anything?"
 "Just gotta sit there and listen, right?" Brett patted Eddy's back. "You're off the hook."
 "Oh my God, thank you!", Eddy exclaimed, launched forward and grabbed a surprised Brett into a fierce hug. 

 With that settled, they went back to the hall and prepared the candidates arrival. Eddy was much more relaxed than before and the team actually thought, them changing roles was a great idea. Better for the views, one said, whatever that meant. 
 "You're a cutie, Brett. Everyone would die to see you in this setting!"
 "And Eddy not?", he asked incredulously.
 "Eddy is the confident type, you're more of the kawaii type. It's different", Anna, one of their team members said. 
 Eddy snorted. Brett really didn't know, how to respond to that and shook his head. 

 The musicians arrived and Brett was told to get out of the hall, so he wouldn't see them before filming started. 
 Out in the hallway, he suddenly started to feel really dizzy and blamed the returning headache for it. But there was also an unexplainable inkling of falsity, rising with every new female voice he heard on the other side of the door. He put it down as nerves, tried to take deep breaths and forced himself to get his deadpan game face on. 

 Time to blinddate some female musicians then!