Chapter 4
"You didn't like any of them?"
"Well I didn't say that. I liked a lot of them, I just didn't love any." Haley explained on the phone to Peyton once all the auditions for the first day were over. "I want to love them, Peyton. They all have great talent and potential but none of them had the spark I was looking for. I want to find people who really love it, the ones with a true passion for music, who put their heart and soul into every note. I just didn't feel that today".
When there was silence on the other end of the phone, Haley felt what she had feared all week. "You're mad at me." She finally said, breaking the silence.
"I'm not mad at you. I wouldn't have asked you to do this Haley, if I didn't think you were the best person for the job. I'm just disappointed that we weren't able to find what we needed today." Peyton explained.
"I know but there's always tomorrow and maybe if I don't find what I'm looking for then, I'll just pick some of the best ones and maybe they'll find their magic through us."
"Alright Haley" Peyton chuckled at her friend's unfailing optimism. "Good luck tomorrow, remember to call me with any updates."
"Will do. Talk to you later." Haley said, hanging up the phone. She felt bad that she couldn't decide on any of the talent that she had seen that day but she knew she needed more. She was looking for something special, really special, and she just didn't get that feeling from anyone. She hoped she'd have better luck tomorrow, she wanted to make Peyton proud and know that she made the right decision in leaving Haley in charge of the studio.
It was late Thursday night and Haley was exhausted. She could barely sleep the night before with her nerves about the auditions keeping her up. Now all she wanted to do was get a good night's sleep before day two of the auditions in hopes that she will have better luck the second time around. She was up later than she wanted to be though, and so was Jamie. It was a school night and normally she would have had him fast asleep by now but she made exceptions on nights when Nathan's practices ran late and he couldn't call before Jamie's regular bedtime to say goodnight. Haley and Jamie sat in the living room of their big quiet house waiting for the phone to ring. The TV was on, some random cartoon that Jamie had picked was playing but Haley couldn't focus enough to know what it was or what was happening in the show. She was anxious to talk to her husband, she knew he would cheer her up after the day she had had.
Haley sat and listened to Jamie as he tried to convince her to buy him some new toy that he saw on a commercial when suddenly he was interrupted by the sound of their doorbell ringing. She looked over at the clock and saw that it was now 9:42pm. She wondered who would be at their door this late. She got up and made her way over to their front door to check it out.
"Is it the pizza guy?" Jamie called out after her.
"Jamie, you already ate dinner with Uncle Skills, why would I have ordered a pizza?"
"I don't know, it was just a guess. I wouldn't be mad if it were pizza though." He said with a teasing little grin on his face.
"Well I'm sure it's not pizza, honey." Haley replied, laughing at her silly son as she opened the door. She was confused to see that there was no one there. She took a step out and looked around wondering who it could have been. After realizing that there was no one around she stepped back inside the house, closed the door and locked it for the night.
"I don't see any pizza." Jamie observed as Haley sat back down on the couch next to him, empty handed.
"I told you there wasn't going to be any pizza. Are you still hungry? You sure can eat, can't you?"
"Then who was it?" Jamie asked, ignoring her questions.
"There was no one there. It was probably just the older kids down the street, playing some games." Haley guessed.
"Playing games? What kind of games?"
"Games that you shouldn't learn, you better not grow up to be one of those kids that runs around the neighborhood causing mischief like that."
"What's mischief?" Jamie asked as Haley's cell phone started to ring.
"Don't worry about it." She laughed. "Here, talk to your father." Haley handed the phone to Jamie and listened as he eagerly answered the phone.
Haley listened to Jamie talk for a while. Nathan always asked him how school was and what he learned. Jamie told him how they were learning about fractions this week and he made sure to tell him how boring he thought it was. She giggled, knowing that Nathan most likely agreed with his son, as she remembered how he would always complain during their tutoring sessions in high school about math being "useless and boring". Jamie then proceeded to tell Nathan about after school when he got to spend the rest of his day with his Uncle Skills down at the riverourt. Then, of course he had to ask Nathan all about his practice and everything he was doing as an NBA player. Jamie refused to get off the phone until he heard every detail, he always asked Nathan a million questions.
"Alright Jamie, say goodnight to your father, its way past your bedtime and you have to get up for school tomorrow." Haley finally said, interrupting their conversation when she realized just how late it was now.
"Okay" he groaned. "Mom says I have to go to bed now…..Night dad, talk to you tomorrow….love you too"
"Go on upstairs and finish getting ready for bed, I'll be up in a minute." Haley said, taking the phone from him before he made his way up the stairs to his room. "Don't forget to brush your teeth!" She called after him, imaging him rolling his eyes at her request.
"Hi baby, how are you?" Haley said to Nathan on the phone.
"Hey Hales, I'm good. Tired and sore but good. Especially now that I get to hear your voice."
"I bet you are tired, you've been having a lot of late practices this week, haven't you?"
"Yeah they're kicking things up a notch now that we're getting so close to the beginning of the season. Anyways, how was your day? Did the auditions go well?"
"No so great" Haley sighed. "I just didn't really feel like anyone I saw today was right for Red Bedroom. They were all good, you know, but they weren't great. I don't know, maybe I'm just putting too much pressure on myself and overthinking it all."
"No, I don't think you are. You'll know the right people to pick when you hear them. Just trust yourself okay? You can do this. I know you'll make the right decision." Nathan reassured her.
"Thanks, Nathan. You always make me feel better."
"That's what I'm here for."
"Mom! I brushed my teeth!" Haley heard a little voice from upstairs call out.
"Alright Nathan, it sounds like somebody is ready for bed. I better go tuck him in before he tries to talk me in to letting him stay up any later."
"Okay, goodnight angel. Good luck tomorrow. I love you."
"I love you too, goodnight!" Haley hung up the phone and before going up to tuck in Jamie she went over to the front door to double check that it was locked as she always did when Nathan was away. She looked out the window one last time and only saw the quiet and still street under the moonlight. She then turned off the porch light and went to bed.