At four in the afternoon, the show started.
The stadium could hold twenty thousand people, and almost every single seat was occupied. Everyone was holding red neon boards.
Though Eric's agency did not announce that this would be the last live show of Eric's career, a small group of people still caught the news.
After Eric finished performing his first song on stage, the audience erupted into deafening cheers, and Elliot felt as though his eardrums were about to break.
He glanced at his family sheepishly, and Avery, who knew that he was afraid of noises, immediately pulled out sound-canceling earmuffs from her purse and put them on Elliot.
"You are the best, Honey." Elliot felt more at ease.
"I shouldn't have brought you along," Avery said in resignation.
"This is just right, Avery. I can hear very little with these."
"You are definitely the first person to ever wear sound-canceling earmuffs to a concert." She chuckled.
"I wanted to be here with you and Layla. Besides, I'm kind of curious as well. You said that this is going to be Eric's last show. If I don't come today, I won't ever be able to see this again."
"His concert will be recorded and uploaded soon. He's had plenty of concerts throughout his career." Avery had watched countless replays of Eric's past performance and had been to a few lives.
The fact that they were friends aside, Avery loved Eric as a fan because he was a talented artist.
"I am not really interested in idols, but I'm kind of curious."
"I've reached this decision after giving it a lot of thought. Thank you for being with me on this journey. I will still be your friend in the future, but we will just have to interact in a different way. Okay?" He smiled gently, and the sobbing sounds instantly escalated into cries and wails.
Elliot took off his earmuffs and glanced behind him.
The majority of the audience comprised of women of different ages; there were also men, but they were mostly partners of the women here.
"Apart from my retirement, there's something else that I need to tell you because that's what I promised I would do." Eric smiled faintly and announced, "I promised that I would never hide from you if I found someone I love. At this very moment, I would like to tell you all that I've found the perfect match for me. She's not in show business, so I won't be giving you any of her personal details."
The audience erupted into chaos, including Layla, who was seated in the first row.
"Eric found a girlfriend?" she thought. "The last time I saw him, he said that he was single and now he's seeing someone, just a few days after I asked him out?!"
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