One Man Band System

Chapter 40: A Beach Day

The next day, Eric sat there with a blank expression, lounging on a mat under a beach umbrella. He was wearing an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt with a pair of sunglasses pushed up on his head, staring out at the vast ocean in front of him while trying to brainstorm a theme for his new song. Suddenly, reality kicked in, and he realized he was actually at the beach as a few guys carrying surfboards walked past him. A group of girls wearing bikinis and sunglasses strolled by, offering a casual greeting as they passed. Once they were gone, Eric thought to himself,

"Why am I at the beach? Oh right... they all wanted to come here yesterday."

Eric began to piece together exactly what had happened the day before. It started right after their rehearsal at the venue, when everyone headed up to the third floor.

***

One day earlier, they had finished recording a track for their all-girl band, Reed’s Empress. They had used Eric’s previous instrumental track, simply adding lyrics over it. Everyone crowded behind Eric as he reviewed the footage on his computer. Once the playback ended and the final edits were locked in, the room fell so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Snif... snif."

Eric glanced back and saw Chloe, Priya, and Monica tearing up just listening to their own performance. Laura and Heidi just stood there, speechless.

"Hey... what’s wrong with you guys?" Eric asked, completely bewildered.

"Yeah... why are you crying?" Emma chimed in, looking just as confused.

"Dude... we’re a real band now," Chloe said, wiping away a tear.

"Yeah... I’m just so happy. My dream actually came true," Priya added, dabbing at her eyes.

"I can actually sing... I can really sing... sniff... sniff," Monica sobbed.

"I can’t believe it... I’m actually playing music in a band now," Laura muttered, still in total shock and disbelief.

"Same here... I don’t have to bury my passion for music anymore," Heidi added.

Eric and Emma traded glances, watching the five girls turn the recording session into a major drama. Eric just snorted, then went ahead and posted the video, uploading the track to his streaming account while officially introducing Reed’s Empress to the world. Once it was live, he turned back to the group.

"Alright, now we just wait for the results. I’m positive you guys will pull in even better numbers than the last video," Eric said with a smile.

"Thank you, Eric," Priya said.

"Come on, why are you guys being so dramatic? Get it together," Emma teased.

"Easy for you to say. You’ve been in the entertainment world since you were a kid. The rest of us haven’t," Chloe shot back.

"Exactly. You don’t even have to try and you’re already famous," Heidi added.

"I’ve always felt totally insecure standing next to you, Emma. But after today, I won’t anymore," Monica chimed in.

"Yep... absolutely... no arguments here," Laura nodded along in agreement.

"What is wrong with you guys? Stop bringing my background into this. We’re in this together. You’re being ridiculous," Emma snapped, clearly annoyed.

"Alright, alright... let’s just chill and wait for the numbers to come in. After this, I’m going to write a brand-new song, and you guys are going to record it like total pros, got it?" Eric interrupted.

Hearing Eric’s words, the faces of Priya, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura instantly lit up. Without a second thought, they collectively lunged forward, dogpiling Eric with a massive hug. The force of it shoved his rolling chair right against the computer desk behind him.

"Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!" Emma yelled.

"Zip it!" the five girls shouted back in unison, burying Eric in their group hug.

Eric felt completely overwhelmed. He kept his arms extended outward, not daring to move an inch, totally resigning himself to being hugged by the ecstatic group. Meanwhile, Emma tried to wiggle her way through the crowd of girls to get in on the hug too. Once the excitement finally settled down,

"Let’s go to the beach tomorrow! It’s summer break and we’re just stuck in the city... it feels wrong," Monica suggested.

"Oh... I’m totally down," Chloe agreed.

"Count me in! I just bought a swimsuit that I haven’t even worn yet," Heidi added.

"Heck yeah... beach trip!" Priya cheered.

"I’ll go. I’ll just bring whatever swimsuit I have lying around, no need to go shopping," Laura said.

"Awesome... okay... so that means we all head home right now, grab our stuff, and come back here for a sleepover so we can all leave together in the morning. Sound good?" Emma coordinated.

"Sounds good!" the others shouted. freёwebnovel.com

"Hold on a second."

Everyone turned to look at Eric. He hadn’t been consulted at all, and they were making decisions as if they owned the place.

"What’s up?" Emma asked, looking confused.

Eric opened his mouth to protest, but looking at the bright, happy faces of Emma, Priya, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura, he closed it right back up and looked away.

"Sigh," he let out a defeated breath. "Nothing. Whatever you guys want," Eric gave in.

"Yeeey!" the six girls squealed, jumping up and down in celebration.

***

Back in the present, Eric pulled out his smartphone and opened his video app to check the track he had uploaded just yesterday. A massive grin spread across his face when he saw the stats: 12,224 subscribers, 915,152 views, 520,006 likes, and 620,118 shares worldwide. He scrolled through the comment section, which already had over a thousand entries.

"Wow... this is awesome. Reed’s Empress is great... I love the guitarist."

"Insane... the drummer is so cool."

"Oh... the vocalist is totally my type."

The comments kept rolling in alongside countless emojis. There were even direct messages from other bands looking to recruit their guitarist, drummer, bassist, and keyboardist. On top of that, several recording studios wanted to sign them, and other bands were already challenging them to musical battles. freёwebnoѵel.com

"Awesome... at least the fanbase is building up. Once the new song drops, hitting over a million views won’t be an issue at all, haha," Eric thought to himself, grinning like an idiot.

"Eric."

Eric turned around, and his heart nearly skipped a beat. Emma was wearing a incredibly sexy black bikini. Priya wore a ruffled white one, while Chloe was in a strappy red bikini. Laura wore a bikini top paired with a sarong wrapped around her waist, Heidi was in a blue-and-white striped bikini, and Monica wore a one-piece swimsuit with a plunging neckline that went all the way down.

Every single one of them looked stunning, fit, and absolutely gorgeous. Eric’s heart hammered against his ribs, leaving him completely speechless as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Seeing his stunned expression, the six girls instantly grew a bit self-conscious.

"Hey... don’t stare so hard... well? What do you think? Does it look good?" Emma asked.

"Yeah... does it suit me? I just bought this," Heidi added.

"Wow... Eric is totally stunned seeing six beautiful girls in bikinis just for him, haha," Priya teased.

"I think his brain just short-circuited," Chloe added.

"Aw... I didn’t know Eric was that innocent. How cute," Monica chimed in.

"You guys... stop teasing him," Laura said, turning to look at the others.

Then, they all stared intensely at the dazed Eric, as if waiting for a verdict. Realizing the six girls weren’t going to budge until he said something, Eric slowly raised his thumb.

"All of you... look beautiful and absolutely amazing," Eric said, doing his absolute best to keep his eyes from wandering to any of the forbidden zones on their bodies.

Hearing that, the faces of all six girls instantly lit up. They crowded around Eric, sitting down so close to him that there was absolutely no space left between them. Then, they started opening their bags, pulling out sunscreen, and applying it while chatting away happily.

The combination of their natural scents, perfumes, and now the lotion made Eric’s head spin a little, forcing him to try his absolute best to think about something else, specifically, the theme for the new song he needed to write.