Hi there, all my wonderful readers! Here you go!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this...even the people, whose words and phrases came completely out of my head, so don't hold it against them personally. ;)
Welcome to Decibel
Jude stepped through the doors of Chad's studio, Decibel Productions, and was greeted by him.
"Harrison, you're here." He smiled at her and they exchanged a friendly embrace, "You're just in time, let me give you a tour."
Jude smiled at him and followed him through the lobby.
"This is hospitality." He pointed straight ahead of him.
"My office." He pointed to a door on the left.
"Supply closet, if you need stuff." Jude nodded.
"Now, the studios are down this hall." He placed a hand on her back, between her shoulder blades and guided her toward the room marked as Studio Three.
"Nice set up." Jude said admiringly, taking in the top of the line equipment.
"Wait until you see where you're working." Chad smiled at her.
They toured Studio Two, then headed to Studio One.
"This is where you will work with Theory." He opened the door.
"Wow, this is awesome." Jude told him, "So many cool toys."
Chad laughed, "Just try not to break any of them."
Jude nodded and said returning the humor, "Can't make any promises though."
"As long as you try." He responded, "Okay, a couple more stops then I'll leave you to your business."
"Sounds good." They walked a couple doors down and Chad told her, "Here is your closet of an office. I know it isn't what you're accustomed too, but it's what we have in this building."
Jude looked around, it is small, but it'll work.
"It's good, no worries." She told him.
They walked back into the hallway and went towards the back of the building.
"Out here is the back alley, if you drive you can park here." He opened the door and stepped down the couple steps.
Jude followed suit, but miss stepped and started to fall. She braced herself for the impact, but when it didn't happen she looked up and saw that Chad had caught her.
"Thanks." She smiled up at him, "That would've been painful and embarrassing...mostly embarrassing."
Chad laughed as he let her go, "No problem, but how much did you have to drink before coming in?"
"It's ten o'clock in the morning!" Jude exclaimed, "None."
"You sure?"
"Yes, and we're never going to speak of this again."
"So, what do you think so far?"
"You have a good setup here."
Chad nodded his thanks and checked the time on his cell.
"The guys will be here in about thirty minutes, so you'll have a chance to meet them then."
"Cool." Jude smiled and nodded. After a few minutes they went inside and to their respective offices. Jude listened to the demos that were on her desk and went to Studio One. She pulled a chair up to the work area and started to get acquainted with the equipment.
Exactly thirty minutes later Jude heard Chad talking with the Theory guys as they walked through they lobby.
"So, where is this Harrison guy?" One of them asked as the group walked into the studio.
Jude turned around in her chair and stood up, "Hi guys." She smiled at them. All four of them looked her up and down, from her red, wavy hair and white blouse to her dark washed blue jeans and black heeled boots.
"Hi, I'm Tyler." The tall dark haired one with a tattoo on his right arm motioned to himself, "This is Dean," he pointed his thumb at the shorter, dark haired man; "Dave," The man with the stocking cap and stubble on his face gave a quick flick of his hand as a greeting, "and Joey." The man with the short mohawk smiled at her.
"It's great to meet you guys."
"Likewise." Tyler said, "I'm sorry, who are you?"
"That Harrison guy...Jude Harrison." She stuck out her hand and each of them shook it. Tyler looked taken aback for a second, like he was trying to place her.
"Jude Harrison, I knew you looked familiar. It is going to be awesome working with you." Tyler told her, "Good work on Quincy's album and the last record you released personally, fantastic."
"Thank you, I really appreciate that."
Tyler nodded and Jude said, "How about you guys show me what you've been working on."
They walked into the booth and went to their respective instruments. Tyler and Dave to their guitars, Dean to his bass, and Joey to the drums.
They huddled together for a minute before turning around, "This is So Happy."
Put the bottle down, finally got somethin' to say
Take another look around and find someone else to play
(Needless to say) That you've got problems
(There's no fuckin' way) that I'm gonna solve them
(It's never the same) Every time you slip, then you fall down, down, down
Ever wonder what I been thinkin' about?
I been thinkin' bout throwin' you out
I'm so happy about you (I'm fed up, so get up and get out)
I'm so happy now we're through (I'm fed up, so get up and get out)
I was so afraid, now you're gone away
Sent you packing, look who's laughin' now
I'm so happy that I feel this way
I'm so happy that I threw you away
Put your problems down and pick up what's left of the pain
Take a good look at yourself and see who's really to blame
(Needless to say) You got issues
(There's no fuckin' way) That I'm gonna fix you
(It's never the same) Ever since you went fallin' down, down, down
Ever wonder what I been thinkin' about?
I been thinkin' bout throwin' you out
I'm so happy about you (I'm fed up, so get up and get out)
I'm so happy now we're through (I'm fed up, so get up and get out)
I was so afraid, now you're gone away
Sent you packing, look who's laughin' now
I'm so happy that I feel this way
I'm so happy that I threw you away
I'm so happy about you (I'm fed up, so get up and get out)
I'm so happy now we're through (I'm fed up, so get up and get out)
I was so afraid, now you're gone away
Sent you packing, look who's laughin' now
I'm so happy that I feel this way
I'm so happy that I threw you away
"That's great guys, a little rough though. Let's go again."
They played again and Jude wrote down notes as she went. When they were finished with that take, Jude made a couple suggestions and they did another take. A couple more times of this Dave became irritated.
"What if you changed the progression from the chorus to verse two, slow it down half a beat."
"Isn't that your job?" Dave asked, irritation coming out.
Jude made direct eye contact, "My job," Jude told him calmly, "is to make this song album worthy. If it isn't it won't be released and that just makes more work for all of us."
She continued when he started to protest, "I understand how frustrating it is to have someone wanting to change your work, believe me, but the song could be the first single, if it's done right."
"Lets take a lunch, we've been in close quarters for a while." Jude told them.
All four nodded and walked out. Jude shook her head when she heard a mumbled "Whose fault is that?"
Jude walked out and Chad approached her, "You handled that well, I'm impressed."
"Thanks." He gave her a quick pat on the back and continued on his way.
Thirty minutes later, the five of them were back in the studio and they worked for a couple more hours before Jude sent the guys home for the day.
Tyler was the last one to leave, he paused at the door, "Sorry about Dave earlier, he just gets a little touchy about stuff sometimes."
Jude nodded, "Thank you."
Tyler nodded back and Jude said, "I do understand why he got angry, I've had my work thrown through the shredder before, it isn't fun."
Jude shrugged and Tyler said, "See you tomorrow."
"Have a good night Tyler."
Jude sat down at the soundboard and listened to the day's work. After making a few minor tweaks, she decided to go home. She said goodbye to Chad and a few other people on the way out.
"Harrison, you want a ride?" It's getting kinda dark." Chad offered.
Jude looked out the window at the darkening sky, "Sure. Thanks."
"No problem." He picked his keys up off his desk and they went out to his car, "Same place?"
"Yep."
"So," Jude said as she buckled in, "how does it feel to be the new Darius?"
"I'd like to believe that I am less of a drag." Jude laughed, "But I like it. It's different, but it's working."
"Glad to hear it."
"How is it working for Darius after, what is it, four years?"
"It's a good gig, can be tough at times like with any other job, but I like it."
"Glad he's still treating you well." Jude nodded.
They pulled up to Jude's house and she got out, "Thanks for the ride. Looks like we got here just in time."
The first of the fat raindrops started to fall, Jude said goodbye and ran to her house. Right as she locked the door the sky let loose in a downpour. Lara ran up to her excitedly and Jude reached down to pet her.
Jude went to the kitchen and filled up Lara's dished up with food and water, which Lara greedily accepted. Jude smiled at her and went to her bedroom. She sat down on her bed with a paper and pen and began to write.
Tom,
I saw this in a movie once and I thought it was a good idea. You know, writing letters, the long hand way. It's raining outside; it's one of those times I want to curl up by the fireplace with you, drink some wine, and listen to soft music. Maybe find some ways to entertain ourselves when the storm knocks out the power. I would verbally draw you a picture, but in case this is intercepted, I won't. If you're wondering, the fireplace is next to the Jacuzzi.
I miss you and can't wait to see you again.
Jude
She picked up the envelope from her nightstand and placed the letter inside. Then she placed it on her dresser next to her perfume bottle. As she started to get ready for bed, Lara walked into the room and walked around as if she was looking for something or someone.
"Tom isn't here girl." Jude told her, "He won't be for a while."
Lara seemed to consider this and plopped down at the foot of the bed.
"I know, I miss him too."
Jude got ready for bed, but before she crawled in she took the letter out of the envelope and added one more thing.
P.S. Lara misses you. She's been wandering around looking for you and got bummed when she found out you weren't here.
Jude put the letter back in the envelope and sealed it, then she went to bed.
The next morning she addressed the letter to the venue Tom was to play next and sent it off.
Thanks for reading! Please shoot me a review if you have a few seconds, it would be very appreciated. :)