Shattered Hearts

by Coral McCallum

  “So, folks,” he began as he opened a bottle of water. “How has today been?”

  “Awesome!” sighed Cody as he stretched out on the couch.

  “Amazing,” declared Gabriella with a smile.

  “Hard work,” added Landon, who had been playing bass with Grey for two hours straight.

  “Today was the easy day,” revealed Jake with a wink towards Nicole. “You’ve all made great progress but we’ve a lot of work still to do. We need all the tracking finished tomorrow so that you can be involved in the mixing on Friday. Tomorrow could be a late one.”

  “Are there anymore surprise guests coming in tomorrow?” asked Cole, still a bit star-struck after meeting Grey and Paul.

  “Maybe,” teased Jake. “You’ll have to wait and see. Now, home, rest, practice and be back here bright and early ready to work your butts off.”

  Still smiling, he watched his weary students troop out to the waiting school bus. Last to leave was Nicole. Gracefully. she brushed past him then turned back to face him, “I got those fuses. Would you have time to stop by later to fit them?”

  “I’ve still a few things to finish up here. Give me a couple of hours,” replied Jake, trying to keep his tone casual. He could feel her green cat-like eyes gazing into his soul. “I’ll drop by on my way home. It’ll only take ten minutes.”

  “I’ll have a cold beer waiting for you.”

  Before he could reply, she had disappeared down the hallway.

  From behind him, Grey stated bluntly, “Watch yourself. That one’s hitting on you.”

  “No, she’s not,” laughed Jake. “She’s mid-divorce, new in town and in need of a new fuse in her AC unit.”

  “If you say so, Mr Power,” replied Silver Lake’s bass player. “Looked like she was after more from you than a new fuse.”

  “Well, a new fuse is all she’s getting.”

  As he parked the truck beside Nicole’s sports car, Grey’s words were preying on his mind. Was the music teacher after more than help with her home repairs? Dismissing the thought as nonsense, he killed the engine and headed into the apartment building. He could hear music coming from Nicole’s apartment as he rang the bell.

  “Come in. It’s open!” she called out.

  Slightly hesitantly, he opened the door and stepped into the hallway. The stifling heat hit him immediately, as did the distinctive strains of country music.

  “Nicole?”

  “I’ll be out in a minute. Fuses are in a bag on the kitchen counter,” called back Nicole. “Help yourself to a beer. It’s hot as hell in here.”

  “I’ll be fine. I’ll fix this then I need to go. I want to see my kids before bedtime,” replied Jake, deciding to heed Grey’s words of warning and not to hang about.

  The Lowes bag was exactly where she said it was. It only took him a few minutes to fix the new fuses into place. He had just turned the unit on when Nicole appeared beside him.

  “Hi,” she said softly. “Did you find everything you needed?”

  “Yep,” replied Jake, trying to ignore the fact that she was dressed in a bikini top and denim hot pants. “You’re back in business. I’ve set it to seventy. Is that low enough?”

  “Sounds good. Thank you,” she said as she ran her eyes over him.

  “It’ll take a while but things should be much cooler by later tonight. Remember to close the windows and doors. Allows the system to settle better,” he advised as he screwed the panel back into place on the front of the unit.

  “You were great with the kids today,” she commented casually. “They’d do anything for you.”

  “They’re a good group. I get a kick out of seeing them all fired up at being in the studio. They worked hard.”

  “I learned a lot from Paul too. Spoke to him about running some drum clinics next semester.”

  “He’s a good teacher in his own unique way,” said Jake. “He mentioned that he’d agreed to tutor you on how he plays. Said you want to add more metal sounds to your lesson plans.”

  “Yes. I’m sure it will help the students to relate to the overall music programme on offer.”

  “Can’t do any harm,” agreed Jake, checking the time. “Need to run. Promised Lori I’d be home by seven-thirty.”

  “Pity……” Nicole breathed the word almost silently.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow out at JJL. I’m looking forward to seeing Riley with Ellen. I think they’ll get along great together.”

  “Till tomorrow then.”

  Next morning, when Jake arrived out at JJL, he was mildly surprised to see Riley’s beat-up car already parked out front. It was barely eight o’clock. When he entered the lounge, apart from the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, he was greeted with a stunning display of operatic scales. A glance into the live room revealed that it was Riley, who was warming up. The clarity and power of her young voice was impressive, causing him to wonder what tuition she’d had in the past. Not wanting to disturb her routine, he sat down on the couch with his coffee, content to listen.

  A few minutes later, he heard the studio door open and familiar voices echo down the hallway.

  “Morning, boss,” greeted Scott as he led Ellen and Taylor, After Life’s guitarist, into the lounge.

  “Morning,” replied Jake. “Coffee’s fresh and hot.”

  “Already got some,” countered the photographer. “We stopped for breakfast and grabbed one on the way here.”

  “Jake, is that the girl you want me to listen to?” asked Ellen, dropping her blue leather hobo bag on the couch beside him.

  “Sure is. Her name’s Riley.”

  “Impressive range,” noted Ellen, nodding. “I thought you said she had contributed to a metal song?”

  “She has. Wait till you hear it,” laughed Jake. “Want to go in and I’ll introduce you. She doesn’t know who’s going to tutor her this morning. Kept that bit a surprise.”

  “Is she an After Life fan?” quizzed Taylor.

  “I suspect so,” replied Jake then added, “Did you bring your guitar by any chance? Could do with some help with a couple of the boys when they get here.”

  “No, but I’m sure I can borrow one.”

  “Great. Time’s tight here.”

  “I assume you want me to take some photos?” interrupted Scott.

  “Well unless your singing has improved,” joked Jake, grinning at the band’s photographer.

  Hearing the live room door open, Riley stopped mid-scale and turned to see who had entered. Spying Ellen Lloyd, one of her idols, standing beside Jake, she went pale and was visibly trembling.

  “Morning, Miss Riley,” began Jake, stepping towards her. “Ready for your lesson? I’ve drafted in a friend to help.”

  “Hi” squeaked Riley, her cheeks suddenly reddening.

  “Hi,” said Ellen warmly. “I’m Ellen, Oh, and this is Tailz and my partner, Scott.”

  “Hi,” squeaked the student for a second time.

  Recognising the young girl’s nerves, Ellen shooed the guys out of the live room, instructing them not to return for two hours. As he left, Jake turned to his student and said, “Just relax and have some fun in here, ladies. If you can get that vocal recorded though it would be a beautiful thing.”

  With the two girls hard at work in the live room, Jake split the rest of the group up between the rehearsal studio, outdoors and the lounge. In rotation, they all got a chance to spend time outdoors with Scott for their first experience of a professional photoshoot. It added a much-needed light-heartedness to the day and helped to keep the students' spirits up. Shortly after eleven, Ellen and Riley emerged from the live room, declaring that the first vocal was in the can.

  While Dorrian headed into the studio to lay down his guitar track, Ellen offered to stay for another couple of hours to help. Shyly, she admitted to Jake, while they were fetching a coffee, that she’d never done any vocal coaching before and had really enjoyed working with Riley. Happy to accept all the help he could get, Jake asked if she woul
d support Mia and Gabriella with their vocals, explaining that they were going for a more Southern rock/blues vibe.

  Having checked that Taylor was happy to work with three of the students on their guitar tracks, Jake took Mark, Cole and Carlos into the studio house to work on their vocals. He wanted some peace away from the buzz of the studio. Gauging by Dr Marrs’ tone of voice when he’d summoned Dorrian, he was going to work these kids hard with the expectation of fast high-quality results.

  Both Cole and Carlos were confident about their vocals, disclosing to Jake that they both fronted bands and had written their own material before. After a couple of run-throughs and a few tweaks by Jake, all of them were satisfied with their efforts and were eager to get back into the studio. Sensing that Mark was less confident, Jake sent the others back across to JJL to wait in the lounge until Dr Marrs summoned them.

  “Tell me about your lyrics?” suggested Jake as he sat in the kitchen with Mark. “Angel told me you had them written before we started this project.”

  “I had them half-written,” corrected Mark quietly. “My older brother died in a car wreck when I was fourteen. I guess they’re a letter to him.” He paused as he wrestled with his inner emotions. “I miss him.”

  “Tough subject matter but lyrics are a great means of therapy,” said Jake, empathising with the boy’s pain. “Used them many times myself. Many times.”

  “How do I sing it though and keep the emotion out of it?” asked the boy, staring at Jake as if pleading for a miracle solution.

  “You don’t,” replied Jake simply. “Sing straight from the heart. Want to run through them?”

  Mark shook his head, “I need to hear Angel playing it while I sing it.

  “Fine,” Jake acknowledged. “Let’s do your song live. I’ll message over to Dr Marrs and tell him to hang fire on recording Angel’s session for now.”

  “Can we do it live?”

  Jake nodded, “Sure. It might not end up sounding as produced as the other tracks but Jim can capture a high quality, raw, open, live version. We’ve done it a couple of times with Silver Lake tracks. It’ll sound stronger that way.”

  “Will you help me out on vocals?”

  “This is your song, not mine, Mark,” said Jake calmly then, seeing the fear in the boy’s eyes, relented and said, “But, I guess I can sing some harmonies for you. Will that help?”

  “That’d be great.”

  “Ok, let’s get back over there and wait our turn.”

  It was almost six o’clock before Dr Marrs called Angel and Mark into the live room. They were the final pairing to record their song. Not wanting to keep the others any later, Jake had asked Nicole to escort them back on the school bus, promising to see Angel and Mark safely home when they were finished for the night.

  “Right, folks,” called through the producer from the control room. “Let’s run through this a couple of times before we go for it for real.”

  Guessing what the wily producer was up to, Jake played along, “Great. Gives me time to work out the harmonies.”

  “Two guitars would strengthen this one,” commented Dr Marrs.

  “Ok,” agreed Jake. “Happy to play as long as Angel and Mark are happy with that.”

  “Sure,” said Angel readily. “You can cover up if I fluff the notes.”

  “Right, let’s go for it,” called out Jim Marrs. “Jake, the Taylor on the rack over there should be in the correct tuning for this one.”

  “Got it.”

  Over the next hour, Dr Marrs made them play through the song from start to finish eight times. Every time he had them change something, slowly and subtly honing the song, tightening it up and, without the students realising it, polishing it into one of two highlight tracks for the record. Both Angel and Mark remained oblivious to fact that he was recording every second of it.

  “And we’re done,” called through Dr Marrs at the end of the eighth run through. “Excellent effort, kids.”

  “Thanks,” said Mark, his voice husky after singing for so long. “And thanks, Mr Power.”

  “You and Angel did all the hard work,” replied Jake. “OK, gather up your gear and let’s get out of here. Been a long day.”

  “I’ll see you back out here for nine,” called out Dr Marrs from the control room. “I’ll make a start tonight but there’s still a lot of ground to cover in the morning.”

  “We’ll be here,” assured Jake.

  Leaving everyone else in the house fast asleep, Jake crept quietly out the back door shortly after five to go for a run. Having been cooped up in the studio for two days, he needed to taste fresh air and to stretch his legs. Conscious that he needed to be out at JJL before nine, he shortened his planned running route, opting instead to run north up the beach towards the two WWII towers.

  As he pounded along the sand at a leisurely pace, he allowed his mind to wander to the planned memorial show. It was only two weeks away and, despite receiving numerous emails and messages from Jethro and Maddy, he had barely given it a thought. His mind strayed onto the new ballad he’d been working on and, as he headed past the centre of town, he reached the conclusion that they needed to include it. He just hoped Grey and Paul the felt the same about it.

  Up ahead, he spotted another early morning runner. As he drew closer to them, he realised it was Nicole. Increasing his pace, he caught up with her and called out, “Mornin’!”

  “Hi,” she said brightly. “This is a sweet surprise.”

  “Sweaty surprise,” joked Jake, noting that she was wearing only a sports bra and very short silky running shorts.

  “I guess,” replied Nicole, her eyes taking in his tattooed muscular physique. “I had no idea you had quite so much ink!”

  “A life’s worth,” commented Jake, feeling slightly self-conscious under her intense gaze. “How far are you going? I’m headed up to the towers.”

  “Me too.”

  Together they ran along the hard-packed sand just out of reach of the incoming waves. Conversation was minimal and Jake guessed that Nicole was struggling a bit with the pace. After they made the turn and were heading back towards town, he eased up a little.

  “Do you run regularly?” asked Nicole as they both jumped out of the way of a rogue wave that swept towards them.

  “I try to get out most mornings when I’m home,” replied Jake. “I usually run south down towards the bathhouse. It’s a longer route.”

  “What about when you’re on tour?”

  “I try to get out a couple of times a week or at least to grab some time in the gym. Depends where we are in the world and the schedule. The two hours a night on stage is a good cardio workout.”

  “I’ll need to catch another Silver Lake show sometime,” mused Nicole.

  “Come to the show in Baltimore on the 30th,” invited Jake without hesitation. “I’ll add you to the guest list.”

  “Guestlist?”

  “Yeah,” he grinned. “Sounds fancier that it is. Show’s sold out. You can hang out backstage though and watch from the side.”

  “I’d love to!”

  “It’s a date,” replied Jake, almost instantly regretting his choice of words. Swiftly, he added, “Lori and the kids will be there. They like seeing daddy at work.”

  When they reached the centre of town, Nicole peeled off with a wave and headed for the boardwalk. Free to run at his own pace again, Jake upped the tempo and ran hard over the final half-mile to home.

  Lori was making a pot of coffee when he entered the kitchen, trailing sand over the white tiled floor.

  “Morning, rock star,” she greeted with a smile. “Good run?”

  “Mornin’, li’l lady,” he replied, delivering a salty sweaty kiss to her forehead. “Enjoyed that. Ran up to the towers for a change.”

  He almost added that he’d met Nicole then thought the better of it.

  “Go jump in the shower and I’ll fix you some breakfast,” said Lori, wrinkling her nose at the sweaty aroma filling the kitchen. “W
hen do you expect to be home tonight?”

  “Shouldn’t be late. Why?”

  “BBQ,” stated Lori. “Grey and Paul are coming over. Kind of a goodbye BBQ. Lucy and the boys need to drive home tomorrow.”

  “How come?”

  “Something about Sam’s school. He needs to be back for a pre-semester course.”

  “Ok. I’ll need to squeeze in another lesson for Josh too,” replied Jake. “I’ll try to get back for four if I can. Or, I could take Josh with me. Is he awake?”

  “No idea,” answered Lori.

  By the time Jake was ready to leave for JJL, both of his nephews had convinced him to let them tag along. As they drove up the highway, Jake explained that his students were getting a lesson on music production and mixing, adding that he wasn’t sure if they would get the chance to play in the actual main studio. Both boys looked disappointed. Hating to let them down, he called Paul to see if he was free for a couple of hours. The Silver Lake drummer confessed he had planned on going fishing but, when Jake explained about having Sam and Josh with him, Paul agreed to come in and put Sam through his paces on drums.

  All ten students plus Nicole were already sitting in the lounge when Jake and the boys arrived.

  “Good morning!” called out Jake loudly. “Ready for your final day?”

  “I don’t want this to end,” muttered Landon sourly. “It’s been awesome.”

  “Me neither,” said Dorrian. “I’ve learned so much this week.”

  “Glad to hear it,” replied Jake with a proud grin. “So today is all about the black magic that Dr Marrs and Kola work in the control room. I won’t be teaching today. Dr Marrs is in charge. What he says goes. Understand?”