"I am. I thought I would be out of my mind with nerves, but I'm not. Not too bad, at least. I'm actually more okay with it than I thought I'd be. Dale's bringing in a band. He's gonna have me perform the regular song, and if everything works out, I'll do the new version. He emailed it to me last night. It's just a verse and chorus, right?"
"Yeah, he's working it out with Jonah, but I told them it had to be around forty seconds."
"Dale said if everything goes well and I get the job, we'll try to record the vocals tomorrow, and then Jonah will film Sunday afternoon. I thought they would do all that at the same time, but I guess I'd pretty much just be lip-synching for the video."
Lance loved that she was excited about it, and he prayed that her voice was as good as he thought it was. He figured there was a certain amount of magic an engineer could work with audio tricks, but he had heard Dale say, "You can put lipstick on a gorilla, but it's still a gorilla," and Lance knew that he ultimately wouldn’t work with Sidney unless she was a decent singer.
Lance just hoped his physical attraction toward her wasn't fooling him into thinking he heard something when he hadn't.
"I'm excited about it either way," she said. "Even if I don't get the job, it'll be a fun experience. And I'll always know in my heart that me singing the song at the aquarium that day was what gave you the idea for the commercial."
Lance agreed with Sidney, saying how cool the commercial was going to be and it was all on account of her belting that song out at the wedding that day.
They stayed on the phone for the next three hours. Neither of them meant for it to happen that way; it just did. Sidney put in earphones while she took Sheila for a walk on the beach, and Lance did the same thing, wearing his AirPods while taking care of some work he needed to do around his house. They got off the subject of the commercial and began talking about other things—things people talked about when they were getting to know each other.
It was a natural, easy conversation where hours flew by and neither of them realized what time it was or even thought to get off the phone. Sidney's mom came over to her condo, which was what finally resulted in them hanging up. It was well past dinner time, and Lance was starving, so they said their goodbyes, agreeing to touch base the following day in regards to the meeting with Dale.
***
Lance ended up hearing from Dale before he heard from Sidney.
It was two o'clock the following afternoon when he got a call from him. He was doing some work at the store, but he was listening for his phone, and he picked up on the second ring.
"How's it going?" was how he answered when he saw the number.
"Well, she's no Ann Wilson, but I guess you knew that already."
Lance's heart dropped. There were a few seconds of silence before Dale said, "She might be better."
Lance let out a long sigh. The relief he felt literally tingled. He ran his hand through his hair, smiling and shaking his head even though Dale couldn't see him.
"So, it went well?" Lance asked.
"She was nervous at first. It took her about an hour to warm up to us all, but once she did, she really came out of her shell, and yeah, it went well. She's got that upper-register like Ann Wilson. She sounds different, but it's real similar. It's gonna be great. She's already learned the new lyrics. We took a break for lunch. She'll be back any minute, and we're gonna use the rest of the afternoon to cut the track."
"Oh, that's awesome news."
"Jonah came up here earlier to see her. He had her bobbing her head and dancing around with the microphone and everything. They were cracking each other up."
"What was so funny?" Lance asked, feeling a surge of annoyance.
Jonah was an excellent videographer, but there was no need for him to get too close to the clients—especially when the client was Sidney.
"Jonah's got a good grasp on what you're wanting. He's got a vision—late seventies rock video with real Barracudas in the background or whatever. He knows just where he's gonna stop the song and have your logo come up and everything. He said your girl's gonna be perfect for the role—not just vocally, either. She was really getting into it. Jonah's good like that. He really knows how to coax things out of his actors."
Lance didn't want him coaxing anything out of Sidney. His chest tightened as he imagined all the ways Jonah got her to loosen up. Jonah was single—a hipster, artsy type with a moustache and trendy clothes. He carried around an expensive video camera, and made all sorts of cool movies and shorts. He had a gigantic following on social media and knew all the young artists in Miami.
The ladies loved him.
Lance was annoyed just thinking about it.
"I better go," Dale said. "They'll be back any minute."
"Who's they?"
"Everyone. Sidney and Jonah and them. The whole band went to grab lunch, and Jonah went with them. He knew of some taco truck he wanted them to try. I stayed to set up. They're bringing me back something."
Lance took a long, slow breath before letting it out. He never, in a million years, dreamed that he'd be having jealous thoughts and feelings, but here he was, thinking of all the reasons Sidney should not be having lunch with Jonah and the rest of the band, whoever they were.
"I just thought I'd call and let you know everything was on track."
"That's good news," Lance said. "When did you say he's shooting the video? Tomorrow?"
"He's gonna talk to you about that. Yeah, it's tomorrow, but I think he was gonna talk to you about where. He was originally planning on doing it here in the studio, but I think he wants to consider doing some of it on location at the aquarium so the fish are actually in the background. I don't know for sure. I just heard him talking about it. He'll probably call you."
"All right, man. Well, I appreciate everything. And thanks for the update. I'm glad she can sing."
"The girl can sing, that's for sure."
"That's good," Lance said with a smile in his voice.
They hung up the phone, and Lance breathed another sigh. He had been in the retail section at the shop when the call came in, and he stared absentmindedly at the shelves full of treasure chests—the most popular aquarium accessory. There were probably a hundred styles of them to choose from, everything from a tiny plastic one, meant for a Betta fish bowl, to ones that were huge and detailed and looked like actual treasure chests. Lance straightened them without even thinking about what he was doing.
He wanted so badly to go to the studio.
He knew he would be welcome. It was, after all, his project—he was the one signing their paychecks.
He kept doing what he was doing—straightening the retail shelves even though he had other people who would do it if he didn't. It was mindless work, though, and that was what he needed right then.
It was about twenty minutes later when he got a call from Jonah. Obviously, he answered without hesitation.
"Hello?"
"Lance, the man!" Jonah said.
"What's going on?"
"Just up here at Oceanside, hangin' with Dale and the crew. I gotta tell you… that Sidney's a little firecracker."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Jonah laughed. "Nothin' bro, it just means, she's funny. She's awesome. We all love her. The commercial's gonna be really classic."
In spite of the fact that Lance should've felt good about everything Jonah was saying, he felt annoyed. "That's great news," he said, faking it.
"They're about to get going on recording the tracks. Dale said he's gonna try to cut most of it live. I think he hopes to wrap it up by six or seven. I’m about to get out of here, though. I'm not doing any video until the band's got hair and makeup and everything."
"When are you planning on shooting?" Lance asked.
"That's what I was calling you about. We're hooking up tomorrow afternoon. I guess Sidney's got church in the morning or whatever. We were planning shooting it here, but I was thinking about trying to do some of it at the aquarium… you
know, so we can get some live barracudas in the background."
"I could probably set that up, but they're open till six or so on Sunday. It'd have to be after closing time. I thought you were just gonna superimpose fish into the background."
Jonah sighed. "I know. I was. I still might. I haven't decided yet. I'm gonna go home and think about it. I just wanted to see if the aquarium was an option."
"I'm sure I could make it happen."
"I knew you could," Jonah said. "Thanks, bro. And thanks for putting me on this project. It's gonna be awesome. Have you thought about where you're gonna run it?"
"A few local networks," Lance said. "I'm sure some internet stuff, too. I'll just hand it off to my marketing people and let them handle it."
Chapter 9
Sidney
"The original song has thirty seconds of guitar intro, and we've only got forty seconds total to work with," Dale said in a no-nonsense tone. He pointed at Trevor who was playing guitar. "Play the intro one time and nail it, then I want Sidney to come in."
We went over it three times, making sure I came in at the right time, and then Dale went back into the control room.
I had to become another person for this role.
I pretended those musicians and the producer were my mom and Aunt Regina, sitting on the couch and getting into the song with me. I was serious and dramatic, and I felt the lyrics passionately. I sold it. I sucked up my own insecurities and pretended I was a rock star and that I truly felt the lyrics in my soul. The band was good, so that helped. The guitarist nailed the intro, and I bobbed my head, feeling the rock-n-roll rhythm of the music as I began to sing.
So, this is the place I've been looking for, today
No, I won't turn and walk away.
They swim in oceans, looking so sharp and long,
With tails and fins and gills.
They're swimming all around in the sea,
I bet they swim faster than me.
I'll break down, down, down, and bring you home with me.
My own Barracuda.
Lance had given Dale what he came up with for the lyrics, and Dale tweaked them to make them fully fit the flow of the original song. The result was a hilarious version of the classic tune that was perfect for a fish superstore with a sense of humor.
We recorded ten takes of it before calling it a day. Dale let me go, but he kept the musicians so that he could record a few other things with them. It was just after five when I left the studio.
I smiled the whole way to my car. It was impossible for me to wipe the grin off of my face. I never dreamed I would've ended up in a studio recording a song. It was like a different world in there. There were all kinds of things I didn't understand with the music and engineering, but Dale and the musicians still made me feel at home. They treated me like I was a good singer and part of the crew.
I spent so much of my time at Riverview, either teaching or going to sporting events, that it was nice to mix it up with a new group of people. The guys even flirted with me—all accept for Dale and Chris, the drummer, who were both married. I wasn't used to so much male attention. There were a few men who taught or coached at my school, but they were either in relationships or I wasn’t interested. It was odd being in a place where I was surrounded by single guys who were all nice looking and eager to hang out with me.
The crazy thing was that I couldn’t stop thinking about Lance the whole time. I felt so grateful to him for talking me into doing it, and even though he wasn't there, my thoughts kept going back to him.
I wasn't in a relationship with Lance.
I wasn't even sure if he was interested in me.
We had talked on the phone quite a bit, but that was the extent of it. Still, somehow, I felt like flirting with someone else was cheating on him. I was nice to the guys, and we clowned around a lot, but I couldn't let myself lead them on—not when I had my heart set on someone else.
That whole chain of thoughts made me want to call him. I was shy about doing it, but I had told him when we talked the night before that I would reach out to let him know how it went at the studio. I said that I would call, but I was too nervous, so I sent him a text instead.
I sat in the parking lot of my condo, and typed it out before I went upstairs.
Me: "I think it went well today. I had a lot of fun, and everyone was really nice. Thank you for letting me do this!"
I was walking into the building when I heard my phone ring in my purse. I had been hoping he would respond quickly, so I was waiting for it. I was still standing outside the building when I dug in my purse. I smiled as I stared down at my phone. The name Lance was written across the screen, and it wasn't a text. He was calling me.
"Hello?" I was breathless, but I did my best to hide it.
"So, I guess I was right," he said, a smile in his voice.
"About what?" I asked, smiling back.
"About you being a super star."
I laughed. "Dale's a good producer," I said. "He knows what he's doing."
"He said the same thing about you. Not that you're a good producer, but that you know what you're doing."
"You talked to him?"
"I did. He called me earlier when you guys were at lunch. He said you were gonna cut the tracks this afternoon."
"We just finished," I said. "The guys are still there, actually."
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Right now?"
"Yeah."
I glanced at my building. "I just got home. I haven't even gone inside yet. I'm gonna get Sheila and take her for a walk."
"Sure," he said.
"Sure, what?"
"Sure, I'll come over there and go with you."
I grinned so hard that my whole body tensed up. I clinched my fists and opened my mouth wide, letting out a silent squeal. I wanted so badly to see him.
Then, a ton of thoughts hit me at once.
I suddenly realized Lance couldn't come over. My mom and aunt were home. I knew this because they were watching Sheila for me. They were so excited about me going into the studio, that there was no doubt in my mind they would have a thousand questions about it. Even if I answered their questions and then went back to my place with Sheila, chances were very high that they would think of something else and come knocking. I figured if Lance came over, he would run into them, and I just wasn't sure I was ready for that to happen.
It wasn't that I was embarrassed of my family. I just assumed they were a lot different than what he was used to and I… okay, maybe I was a little embarrassed, but it wasn't because they didn't have money, or I didn't love them, or anything like that... it was more because they were slightly unpredictable with what they would say. I never knew what would come out of their mouths—especially Aunt Regina's.
I hadn't met Lance's parents, but I had met his sister, and I knew enough to assume that his family was more (how do I put this) refined than mine. I wanted him to come over so badly, but the last thing I wanted was for my mom or Aunt Regina to say something to scare him off. He knew my mother lived in the same condo as me, I had told him that much during that long conversation we had on the phone. I had, however, left out a lot of the other details... including the fact that my aunt lived there as well. It wasn't that I was ashamed, it just hadn't ever seemed like the right opportunity to mention it.
"Are you there?" Lance's voice on the other end drew me from my thoughts. I really wanted to see him, and I was torn about what to do.
"Yeah, I-I was thinking about taking Sheila to, uh, to walk somewhere else... a different beach… not my beach."
"Why don't you bring her to my house?" he asked. "I live on the water. I mean, I understand if you already had other plans, but—"
"No, I didn't. I don't. I wasn't sure what I was doing."
"We could take her down to the water for a little while or she can just run around at my place. My backyard's not totally secure, but it's mostly fenced. There's just a little gap in the very back where I h
ave some citrus trees planted. I don't know if she runs off or not."
"I probably wouldn't leave her out there for too long by herself. She's been stuck in my mom's place all day, and I'm sure she'd get curious in a new place. But maybe I could take her over and go for a walk. We don't have to stay or anything."
"Come on over." Lance said. "I'll take what I can get."
My heart started racing instantly. It had been such an exhilarating day that I was still numb and delirious with adrenaline, and now Lance was inviting me over.
"I'm gonna go in and change," I said. "Text me your address."
I was already on my way upstairs when I hung up the phone with Lance. I lived on the second floor and, a lot of times, I took the stairs, but I was so zonked from the crazy day that I got in the elevator.
I spent the next ten minutes at my mom's place.
She and my aunt were extremely curious about the studio session and asked question after question like I knew they would. I was excited about it and happy to answer them, but I was also anxious to get home so that I could clean up and leave for Lance's. I didn't tell them where I was going.
I took a quick shower and threw my hair into a loose ponytail. It was wavy, and short enough that it almost looked more like a bun. I put on khaki shorts with a short-sleeve top. I changed three times, trying to find the outfit that looked best.
I was so nervous to see him that I felt like my heart could explode. The studio session had been extremely exciting at the time, but going to Lance's was, hands down, the most thrilling part of my day. I could not wait to see him. I was chomping at the bit. Sheila fed off of my excitement and was turning in circles and bouncing off the walls as she waited for me to finish getting ready.
***
Lance's house was beautiful.
It was a one-story, stucco home that was a light, grey-ish teal color with white trim. The front of it faced the water, and I had to drive up a long driveway in order to park around back. I parked next to Lance's truck, which was big, black, and had the logo for his store tastefully painted on the doors.
All In (Miami Stories Book 2) Page 6