Darren ensconced himself wearily in a quiet corner of his favourite bar. Rosie's frequently had open mic nights showcasing local talent, it was relaxed and exactly what he needed after a long day when all he wanted was some time to himself. He loved it here, he could sit and enjoy the music from his secluded booth with very little possibility of anyone recognising him. The staff all knew him well enough by now and brought a beer straight to the table rather than him having to cue at the very open bar. He settled himself into the deep red seat and watched as a red – headed twenty – something stepped onto the stage, plugging in her guitar and slipping the strap over her shoulders. She checked her guitar once more and plucked at the strings before looking up and out at the occupants of the bar. There were no more than fifteen or twenty people in tonight. A strand of wavy auburn hair fell in her face as she spoke.
"Hi guys, my name is Lara Snow, I haven't been playing long, so bare with my mediocre skills here, I'm working on it." She flashed a slightly nervous, crooked smile out to the room. Darren sat forward a little in his seat.
"Okay, so I'm going to play a couple of covers and one original. I'm going to start with a song I just adore, Colours of the Wind from a little movie you might know called Pocahontas." Lara twiddled a black Gibson plectrum in her fingers before starting to play. Darren noticed the multitude of stickers some brand new looking and some peeling off, plastered all over the face of the guitar.
You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so...
Darren listened intently, of course he loved anything Disney, but this song spoke of freedom and equality and everything he believed in. Lara's voice wasn't perfect, but it added to her performance somehow, you could tell how much she loved singing regardless of the occasional tremor. She seemed to simply lose herself in the song.
Come run the hidden pine-trails of the forest
Come taste the sun sweet berries of the earth...
Darren noted how her voice cracked just a little on the low notes, but came to life when Lara really went for it. She screwed up her freckled face, closing her eyes as she let the song take hold of her.
Can you paint with all the colours of the wind?
Darren clapped enthusiastically as she opened her piercing blue eyes to acknowledge the audience he felt sure she had almost forgotten was there while she was singing.
"Thank you. Right, next up is an original song, written by my sister, Natalia. She taught me how to play and this song helps me feel connected to her even though she's far away." Lara began strumming a little more confidently and started swaying along with the music.
Every night I watch the world go by
Every night I watch the stars go by without you
And it gets harder every day
When I know you're far away
But when I lay my head to sleep
I think of all the loving things that you say
And I drift away.
Lara sang with such emotion, Darren found himself leaning forward, trying to wrap himself in her performance.
Every night I listen to the cries
Every night I listen to the whispers outside my window
And it gets harder every day
When I know you're far away
But when I lay my head to sleep
I think of all the loving things that you say
And I drift away.
Lara strummed a few more slightly over wrought notes and nodded toward the audience.
"Okay, you'll only have to endure one more song from me tonight guys. It's a few years old, but never fails to bring all my emotions to the surface. It's by Westlife and is called If Your Heart's Not In It."
Darren sat back, letting out a low whistle. An unusual choice and possibly quite depressing, but he found himself entranced once again as soon as she opened her mouth.
I'm missing you
Boy even though you're right here by my side
'Cause lately it seems
The distance between us is growing too wide
Darren found his eyes sweeping Lara's frame, drinking in the way her hair cascaded over her rounded shoulders, the way her pale fingers moved slightly awkwardly over the strings on the guitar, the way she tapped her foot along with the music. He shook himself mentally and tuned back in to the song she was singing with such conviction Darren wondered what happened to give her that level of pain and emotion to really pull it off.
I'm so afraid you're saying it's over
But boy, I'll make it easy for you...
Lara launched into the final chorus tossing her hair behind her while she attacked the strings somewhat violently, completely wrapped up in the song. When she finished and looked out at the bar, her breathing slightly laboured she clasped her hand in front of her, thanking them and made way for the next performer. Darren watched her move to one side disentangling her guitar and then making her way to a table where another girl was sat with a video camera. A split second was all it took to make the decision and he was on his feet on the way to the table before his brain had caught up with his feet. He stopped just shy of the table listening to the two girls.
"...Got some really good stuff, I'll post it to YouTube when I get home." The other girl was very thin with jet black hair that cut sharply across her face in a blunt fringe. She was looking at the camera as her fingers slid out of the handle and she turned to look at Lara, but caught Darren's eye.
"Oh my God."
"What? Did I do something really bad?" Lara followed her friends gaze, her cobalt eyes landing on Darren, clearly she didn't really know who he was and he was grateful for that.
"Oh, hi, can I help you?" Lara's tone had become polite and cordial as she took Darren in.
"Yeah, I, uh, just wanted to say you were really good, it's not perfect but you know, the passions there and I think that's worth a lot more." Darren mentally berated himself, why the hell did he not think this through?
"Oh, um thanks. I'm glad you liked it, sorry I didn't catch your name...?" The friend kicked her sideways, resulting in a scathing look from Lara. Darren grinned and held out his hand.
"Darren. Pleased to meet you, Lara was it?" He said acting as if he hadn't memorized her name the minute she said it on stage. Lara took his hand, shaking it with a bemused smile upon her pink lips.
"Yeah." Lara was then shoved to one side as her friend leapt up, grabbing Darren's hand and shaking it firmly.
"Kalpana Clarke, but my friends call me Kal, you can call me Kal, if you want. I can't believe you're here. Like right here." Darren just smiled at Kal as she rambled, sneaking a glance at Lara who was looking at her friend as though wondering if she needed sectioning.
"Okay, Kal, lets go back to the video recorder instead of scaring anyone who actually thinks I'm good." She sat Kal forcefully back at the table, shooting an apologetic look to Darren, who simply shrugged and shoved his hands in his pocket.
"So, do you sing for a living or...?" Darren stood comfortably while Lara perched herself on the edge of the table and literally laughed out loud.
"No, no I... I'm not really a great singer, I just do it because I love it, I know I'm not professional standard or anything like that, but I enjoy it so it's not like it's crushed my dreams. I work with children for a living, and earn a bit extra by doing portraits for people. My sister sings for a living though, she's not got that far yet, but she has a decent local fan base and her band is really good." She fingered the many wristbands she was wearing while she spoke.
"Well, I think you're pretty good, I'd love to hear your sisters band sometime too. Maybe you could send me some of their stuff? I'll give you my email address and then I'll leave you alone, I don't want to intrude on your time." Darren found a receipt in his pocket and a pen appeared in front of his nose from Kal, so he scrawled his email address down quickly and handed it firmly to Lara who was looking at him a little bewildered. He bid them both a good night and returned to his booth smiling to himself. There's something about that girl.
Back at the table Kal was freaking out.
"Lara get your stuff packed so we can leave and I can hit you around the head for being so oblivious." Kal glared over at her friend who was taking her own sweet time packing the guitar and leads away.
"I don't get why you're acting so crazy." Lara shook her head and secured the hard case before hoisting it onto her back for the walk back to her apartment.
"No, you wouldn't. Come on so I can fill you in." The girls exited the bar from a side entrance, stepping out into the cool LA air. As soon as the door closed behind them Kal rounded on her.
"You have no idea who that was do you?" Lara had to suppress a giggle at the look on Kal's face.
"No, should I?" She began walking down the block enjoying the cool night immensely. She loved being in LA, she really did. But she missed her family back in England too.
"That was only Darren Criss. You know THE Darren Criss, from AVPM, from Glee! For god's sake, your sister is obsessed with him!" Kal threw her arms up in the air in frustration.
"Oh, that's nice." Lara was sure that the heat of Kal's glare could bore through concrete.
"That's nice? You do realise you have his email address right? That kind of thing doesn't just happen, why are you not freaking out right now?" Kal was now walking backwards, causing people walking towards her to dodge out of the way, not that she seemed to notice.
"Why would I be freaking out Kal? I don't know who he is, sure my sister likes him and you seem to have a bit of an obsession judging by your nutty behaviour, but come on, it's only an email address, clearly he likes music, he must have liked Natalia's song and wants to hear more. It's as simple as that."
"No. no it's not as simple as that. Darren. Freaking. Criss. This is clearly wasted on you." Kal stopped dead, her long black dress swishing around her heavy black Nu Rock boots. The multiple earrings she wore jangled together like a bizarre wind chime as she cocked her head to one side.
"Ring Natalia. She'll tell you who he is." Lara let out an exasperated sigh and looked her friend in the eye.
"No, I do not need to ring Nat, I do not need a two hour international phone call with her doing nothing but gushing over some guy. Seriously. I bet I'll get home, email him some of Nat's stuff and then we'll never hear from him again. If he's as famous as you're making out he probably doesn't even have time to listen to her band. Now can we just drop this and go find somewhere to eat? Please?"
Kal rolled her eyes but nodded and turned in a flurry of black organza and metal and began trudging off in the direction of their favourite pizza place. Lara figured she'd better at least google this Darren when she got home, otherwise she'd never hear the end of it. Maybe she could get an autograph if Nat was really that into this guy.
She followed after Kal trying to remember exactly what he looked like, but all she could truly recall was the honey golden colour of his eyes.