Meet Your Future

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex could be dense, especially when her mind started and filled with random musings, thoughts and overly complicated ideas but she wasn't stupid. Most times. The gears in her head rattled and clanged their way to letting Addie's motivations finally sink in. She turned toward the band in the studio, then looked to the manager, the producers, Addie, the floor, then Addie again. "So... you brought me here to try out for-" And then it fully hit and Alex's eyes lifted upward in thought. "Ooooooooh." Addie had gotten the best of her again. She could never let it be said that her more musically inclined friend wasn't a shrewd one.

The tiny redhead almost squeaked and shied away from the sudden emergence of the guitar player. "Oh. Uh. Hi." She replied meekly as she accepted the offered hand with a sheepish smile. She then idly tapped at the porcelain of the mug she carried while awkwardly attempting to find something suitable to say. "So, uh, you guys are looking for a, uh, singer?" She asked, even though Addie had just told her that. Alex simply wasn't any good at this. If she'd had time to prepare she might have been in a more steady state of mind but being blindsided by it had her off her already considerably weak game.

[Addison Sloane]

Alex's realisation made Addison chuckle. She knew her best friend wasn't stupid. It probably just dawned on her a little late because she probably didn't think Addison would just spring something like this on her without consulting her first. But that whole thought process was tied to Alex saying no if she did present this to her beforehand.

As introductions were made, Addison let them interact as she sat on the couch, her phone in her hand.

Julian slid his hands into his pockets and nodded. "Yep. Ian's girlfriend was our lead singer but she had other commitments. Ian's our second guitarist by the way. That's him with the glorious hair." Julian pointed to the guy still strumming on his guitar. "The guy on drums is Hunter and our bassist is Jordan. He prefers Jordie, which reminds me of a bird for some reason but I guess it fits. He's kinda flighty." Julian shrugged with a chuckle. "Anyway, why don't you come in and meet the guys? We'd love to know more about ya and catch more of your sound if you're up for it?"

[Alexandra Lawson]

It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for Alex to be at a loss of words. What was truly rare about this, specific situation was that she actually hadn’t continued talking in spite of it all. Alex only nodded as she peered up to the hardly towering, yet still significantly taller, dark haired guitarist. Her mouth opened just a bit as if she was going to say something but it snapped shut as she was ushered into the studio to meet a group of guys who obviously intimidated the hell out of her. Just as she stepped in through the door she shot a glare back to Addie and ran her forefinger across her neck in a slashing motion toward the almost equally diminutive singer.

One by one the tiny redhead was formally introduced to the members of the band. Each one seemed to regard her with no small amount of amusement even as she looked to them with a demure, almost passive expression. Behind the silence of the soundproof glass, Alex chatted idly with Julian and the rest of the guys. It was a curious and almost fascinating display. The subject matter of the banter wasn’t nearly as important as the way Alex steadily seemed to grow at ease with each word that passed through her lips. When the bassist spouted out a random, wholly unexpected comment Alex broke out into laughter and for the first time since she’d graduated college Addie could see a faint gleam of that playful light beginning to shine in her gaze.

After a few minutes of letting the five musicians chat amongst each other, the producer flicked the switch for the intercom into the studio to casually inquire if there was going to be any music being played or if the quintet merely planned on talking the entire audition. Alex immediately froze up and glanced over her shoulder with the wide-eyed expression of a deer caught in headlights. The thin smirk that played upon Julian’s lips did little to squash her fears, though he remained undeterred. It hadn’t taken long to find common ground with the redhead who was auditioning to join the band and a few hushed whispers behind Alex brought about a sudden rush of noise.

The familiar guitar riff seemed to shake Alex from her dazed stupor and she looked over her shoulder to the band that had already flung themselves headlong into the song. The seconds ticked down to when Alex knew the vocals would start and she turned her uncertain, nervous gaze back to the glass in front of her. A microphone resting atop its stand had never brought about such a harrowing feeling before. Slowly and with an unsteady hand she reached out and gripped the microphone, her lips parting and the words to the song drifting out.

Run and tell all of the angels
This could take all night
Think I need a devil to help me
Get things right

'Cause this one is a lie
We sat around laughing
And watch the last one die

Alex had started shakily, with a bit of an uncertain waver to her voice. As the song progressed the lyrics came out with an increased strength and vigor. Her eyes had closed just a few words in and she allowed herself to become consumed by the music that was filtering through the studio speakers. As the chorus to the song loomed ever closer Alex began to exude a certain energy she’d kept hidden for so long.

I'm looking to the sky to save me
Looking for a sign of life
Looking for something help me burn out bright
I'm looking for a complication
Looking 'cause I'm tired of trying
Make my way back home
When I learn to fly high

[Addison Sloane]

When Addison saw Alex’s gesture, a surprised snort came from the musician before she shrugged. There was no way Alex was even remotely going to attempt to go through that threat because she foresaw Alex thanking her for this. She was confident that this was something that Alex would appreciate in the long run.

Julian pulled Alex into the soundproof room and Addison went up to the sound board and sat beside Jake, watching Alex slowly get comfortable in the band’s presence. Jake nudged Addison and asked if she was okay and the brunette simply nodded. Jake kept quiet but kept giving her odd glances.

The band started playing and when Alex started singing, Addison turned to Jake and the producer with a small smug smirk on her lips. They were both impressed, Addison could tell. And when she caught Alex’s attention through the glass, the smirk deepened. Alex could not deny that she fit in this band.

Once the song was done, Addison stood up from her seat and pressed the intercom. “I’m a genius, no?”

[Alexandra Lawson]

Somewhere along the lines a tech had snuck in and went to slip the large studio headphones onto Alex’s head which prompted a hitch in the song that was accompanied by an embarrassed giggle. Once the equipment had been squared away, Alex seamlessly fell back into the lure of the music. She knew the song well, it had been one she’d sung by herself a hundred times before. Having the force of a band behind her only heightened the weight of the words that slipped from her lips.

As the last of the notes faded behind her, Alex became acutely aware of what had just happened. Her face immediately flushed a deep shade of crimson and she seemed to draw into herself. With wide eyes she stared through the studio glass to the producer and her friend who had been watching. Slowly she turned, her gaze sliding over the instruments and their players behind her. She offered the guys a sheepish smile even as she glanced about the room in hopes of finding an alternate exit.

“Yeah. O-okay.” Alex stammered, turning back to the studio window now. The other members of the band were slowly filtering out of the room and Alex went to follow like a lost lamb with no place else to go. She let out a squeak of surprise as the cord on the headphones she still had around her head tugged her backward and caught on the mic stand, sending it toppling to the floor. She jumped and spun around, stammering apologies as she went to scoop up the stand and set it back upright before removing the headphones and untangling herself from the cord.

[Addison Sloane]

And just like that, the magic was lost. Alex was back to the spastic young woman Addison knew. As the band went into the room Addison was occupying, Julian nodded at the younger woman before jerking his head towards her friend. “She’s as good as you’ve said. Better even. I’m sold.” He shrugged and squeezed Addison’s shoulders, something Addison would have recoiled from but it suddenly didn’t seem to matter.

She waited until Alex came into the room before saying anything else. “How’d that feel?” She asked the redhead, a subtle emptiness behind her smile.

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex rushed to catch up after fumbling with the mic stand and the headphones, pausing just in the doorway as she debated whether or not she was supposed to close the door behind her. In the end she simply slipped into the room where everyone else was and did her best to hide in the corner even though she found that impossible. Julian’s words would’ve caused a deeper flush of red to touch her cheeks if there was such a shade, she’d already been blushing from the embarrassing confrontation with the dastardly headphone cord. “Oh, no, I’m just… uh…” She stumbled over her words much as she had the microphone stand and felt silence was probably the best option at this point.

“It felt good.” Alex spoke only when Addie turned her attention to the redhead and a certain sense of awe touched her voice. She was almost alarmed at how natural and comfortable it felt to be immersed in music again even if it was just playing an impromptu cover. She hadn’t experienced that sense of exhilaration since she left Dirty Little Secrets shortly after graduation a year ago. “I mean, the guys are great.” She said, eyes still wide as she gestured to the band members. “They were tight and, uh, really good.” Her brow furrowed then as she tripped over her words again. “I just basically did karaoke.”

[Addison Sloane]

Normally hearing the girl downplay her abilities would have brought a surge of overprotectiveness from the musician but she was already moving on to discussing strategies with Jake and the producer. Julian, however, spoke up.

“You’re the best damn karaoke singer I’ve ever met. I mean Ian, Malina was great but Alex is...something else.” The dark haired frontman turned to his band who all shared a mutually appreciative look on their faces. They were all thinking the same thing. They wanted Alex in their band.

Julian approached Alex, pulling her aside. “We’re supposed to be playing a gig at Matt’s next week, would you be up to doing a test run with us?”

[Alexandra Lawson]

With a wide-eyed, fierce shake of her head, Alex silently denied the words that came from the musician’s mouth. She wasn’t one to brag about her talent or even claim she had any to begin with. At best she’d admit to having dabbled in music here and there if questioned but she had no misconceptions about where she stood in the grand scheme of things. She was exactly as she described: a talented karaoke singer. She could kill it in a bar with a bunch of drunken louts flailing about, to be sure, and she’d received moderate praise for her time at the burlesque club in town but neither of those were anything like fronting a band. A band.

After being pulled from the rest of the group, Alex looked up to Julian in shock. Had he just asked her to join them? What was this all supposed to mean? They’d have to practice leading up to it and they didn’t have much time. Could she get the time off work? A thousand and one questions ran through her mind as she struggled to find the right words to answer Julian’s offer. Her eyes shifted to look nervously at Addie, but she was distracted with the producer. There was another long moment of silence as Alex deliberated a question she already knew the answer to. “Yes.” She said finally, the word tumbling from her lips seemingly of its own volition.

[Addison Sloane]

Julian’s dark brown eyes lit up at the girl’s decision and nodded briskly. “Addie has my number but just in case she gets lost in Jake’s blue eyes and forgets to give it out,” he paused and took his phone out, snapped a quick picture of Alex and gave his phone to her. “Just give me yours. I’ll give you a call.” He beamed, excited to have gelled so quickly and so well with a recommended musician. And by the looks of it, local too.

Meanwhile, Addison watched the interaction in between the discussion for what could possibly be a long future for her best friend and the band she could very well belong to. “I hope you don’t think I’m too presumptuous, Dale but I’ve already got a contract written out.” Addison heard Jake say. “But you should discuss it with your band first and I need all of you to agree on this so I won’t say or do anything without your sayso. But you have to admit, they sounded good.”

Dale grinned and nodded. “They do, I’ll admit. Look, if your girl can swing with them by next week, I’ll have them look over the contract.” Jake and Dale shook hands and when Dale went to shake hands with Addison, Jake stood between them with a grin. “She doesn’t-” he started but Addison patted him on the back and frowned at him when he turned to look. “I’m an adult, Jake. I think I can handle a handshake.” She retorted and took Dale’s hand to shake.

She then turned to the band and Alex. “So, my work here is done. Alex, you can stay and hang with the boys. I have a few things I need to settle. Great job.” She nodded and went to leave the room.

[Alexandra Lawson]

So many things were going on it was enough to make Alex’s head spin. While she was distracted by exchanging numbers with Julian, as well as the curious comment about Addie and Jake, there happened to have been talks of agreements and contracts and stuff that Alex simply couldn’t wrap her head around just yet. She nodded and tapped the screen of the phone she’d been handed to input her number. They would have to arrange practice time for sure. A week wasn’t a long time to get prepared for any show, even one doing a handful of covers in some dive bar in Montana.

Once all was said and done, Alex frowned when Addie said she had to leave. Even though she felt comfortable around the guys she’d just auditioned for Addie represented the familiar and sitting by while that familiarity left wasn’t something Alex was prepared for. Nonetheless, after making a promise she’d get in touch with Addie later, Alex did stick around the studio for a bit. She made idle chat with her possible soon-to-be bandmates and they even began putting together a short list of songs they all knew.

After a surprisingly short couple hours had passed Alex realized it was time to return to reality. There were things around the apartment she had to do before it got too late and Ezra would be home. She always hated trying to do chores while he was napping. She exchanged numbers with the rest of the band members and almost reluctantly said her goodbyes. There was another, brief conflict with her winter wear but at least she didn’t fall into the plastic plant again. Once safely secured beneath the layers of clothing, Alex pushed open the door to the office building and headed out into the frigid morning. Even from beneath her heavily padded attire one could easily spot the faint bounce that had made its way into each step as she crossed the parking lot to her car