The rest of the morning had been spent talking with Seph and playing chess in the apartment. Spencer couldn't help but feel excited about his plan to help her with her business. The contact he'd spoken with had been genuinely excited about the designs and depending on what happened in three days, this could have a huge impact and hopefully be enough for Seph to get the business started.
He'd been surprised to hear her singing, her voice not at all what he'd expected from talking to her. Her speaking voice changed dramatically depending on what she was talking about anyway, Spencer had picked up that when she was happy, it was more bubbly, more tone and variance to it. If she was flirting or being sarcastic, it was a drier tone, more dead pan and drawn out, lazy sounding. And if she was sad or contemplative, it was quiet and soft, and she sounded very young and somehow more English. Her singing voice wasn't like any of sounds he'd heard coming from her, it was strong and clear, powerful yet sweet. He'd asked her before they set about playing chess, what plays she'd been in and who she'd played. And he hadn't been surprised to discover that she'd had roles like Eponine and Elphaba in her schools productions, her voice clearly being able to handle the songs. The Flyleaf song had shocked him though. He wasn't familiar with the song, and when it kicked in and he'd heard the scream, he'd jumped a little, wondering how someone so small could make that noise. She'd told him that it hurt, and that she could no longer do it, and he wasn't surprised.
He'd messaged Penelope asking for a decent bar than ran open mic nights, her immediately pestering him for more information. When he'd told her it was for Seph, her immediate response had been "The Damned Dead Queen sings too? Oh my sweet sweet genius, I am definitely coming to see that." He wasn't sure how Seph would feel about that piece of information, but he was sure he'd work something out.
She messaged him again a few hours later, giving him the name of a bar that had an open mic night tomorrow and had a spot left. They had to go sign up in person though.
Eating a quick lunch together, they got ready and headed back out into the city. The bar was a fair few blocks away, taking them a good twenty five minutes to walk there.
They talked as they walked learning more things about each other and discovering that they had a similar taste in TV shows and films. Seph loved movies, all movies, and given her connections she'd been to a fair few film festivals, including Cannes.
He was jealous and expressed his feelings so, Seph laughing.
"I'll tell you what, I'll take you next year okay?"
Realising what she'd said a few seconds later, she clamped her hand over her mouth.
"Seph it's okay you know. You can make plans for the future." He stopped in the street and tugged her hand away from her mouth, finding the gesture somewhat intimate in a way.
"But it's a future I haven't decided if I'm living yet…. " She whispered quietly, continuing to walk on.
"You don't have to decide yet, but make plans. Give yourself something to look forward to. Like Machu Picchu. We can do that together and we can do Cannes together, and you can take me to England to eat bacon." He caught up with her, catching a look at her face and seeing her mouth set in a thin line, her eyes glazed over and her thoughts now somewhere else.
"I'm sorry." He said gently, pulling her to the side of the pavement. They were at their destination although Seph had nearly walked past it.
She looked down at the ground for a moment, briefly closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "It's okay. Are we here?"
"Yep. Garcia says this is the place… Although, she erm… wants to come and watch."
Seph shrugged her shoulders. "That doesn't bother me. I've asked Helen to send a bag for her as well seeing as she actually follows my blog and knows the brand. So I need to see her again anyway."
"You realise if she comes, she'll end up dragging the rest of the team with her right?"
"Your supervisor and Rossi will be discreet about who I am, I'm sure. And Agent Hotchner promised he wouldn't repeat my conversation with him, unless it was with a coroner."
"They'd be discreet. But Garcia is an Internet whiz….. She'll have discovered who you actually are by now, now that she's met you and knows you run that site."
"Ah…. Okay. Well….. Hmmmm. Okay."
"Pen can be discreet too if she has too."
"Alright, let's go sign me up."
They entered the bar together, seeing that it was quite busy already even though it was only mid afternoon. They went straight to the bar, a young girl in a black polo shirt bearing the bars name coming over to greet you.
"Hi! What can I get you?" She asked, a grin plastered on her face.
"My friend called up earlier, has the spot for the open mic night tomorrow been filled?" Spencer spoke to her, leaning over the bar slightly to talk to her.
"Are you Penny's friends?" The girl responded, grabbing a notepad from behind the bar.
"Er yes, we are."
"She gave me a name on the phone…. Persephone Dawn. I presume that's you?" She looked at Seph quizzically. Seph nodded.
"Awesome, great bag by the way." She nodded to Seph's bag where she'd placed it on the bar. "So I told Penny that ya just needed to come down, and play us something first. We kinda pride ourselves on showcasing the best undiscovered artists."
"I have to play for you now? Like live?" Anxiety suddenly coating Persephone voice.
"We prefer live yes, just because recordings can be doctored. We'll go into the back room, you don't have to do it out here. I'm Ariadne by the way. I'm the entertainment manager here at The Blue Spark. Do you have something you can sing for me?"
"Erm…. I think so yes." Spencer noticed a slight increase to Seph's breathing, she was nervous.
"Okay, come round to the back." She signalled to a door to the side of the bar, yelling to one of her colleagues to cover her. Seph walked around, looking behind her to make sure Spencer was following her. He was.
She walked through the door, meeting Ariadne in the hallway and following her down the corridor and into a store room.
"Do you need any music? Something to accompany yourself with?" she asked her.
"Do you have a piano, or keyboard?" Seph looked around the room to see what she could spot.
"We have a keyboard, let me grab it and set it up." She disappeared from the room for a few minutes.
"You okay?" Reid placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling how tense she was all of a sudden.
"Yeah…. It's just been a while since I've actually done this in front of anyone."
"Just breathe okay. I've heard you, you've got a fantastic voice." Spencer rubbed her shoulder slightly, watching her lean into his grip and roll her neck trying to relieve some of the tension.
Ariadne returned a few minutes later carrying a huge electric keyboard. She placed it on some crates and dragged them over to Seph, stronger than she looked. Disappearing again, she returned with an extension cord and plugged the instrument on.
"Sorry, most people bring their own instruments. We have this and a few guitars lying around for those who don't realise they need to audition for us."
"Yeah, I didn't realise.. Sorry."
"It's fine… So, whenever you're ready."
Ariadne perched on another crate across the small room and Spencer stepped away too.
He watched as Seph ran her long fingers over the keys, testing them out first, before starting to form a melody, an opening to a song he didn't recognise.
Clearing her throat, her eyes closed, she began to sing.
"I push all my problems to the back of my mind
Then they surface in my dreams, they come alive
I sweep all my issues to somewhere I can't find
In hope that I'll forget but there's just so many times
Why can't I be strong and just confront all my fears?
When my fear is hurting you by being sincere
But how many more days can I run? How many years?
Emotions flooding and now it's all seeming so clear
Crying for no reason, feel the tears roll down
I felt strong but am I breaking now?
Crying for no reason 'cause I buried it deep
I made promises I could not keep
'Cause I never faced all the pain I caused
Now the pain is hitting me full force"
Spencer definitely didn't recognise the song, wondering if it was one she'd written herself.
"Katy B, right? I love her… My friend from London told me about her a few years ago." Ariadne grinned at Seph.
Obviously not an original song, just an artist Reid hadn't heard before. Very interesting song choice though. But more importantly, he wanted to know if she'd got the gig.
"Okay! You go on at ten tomorrow. You need four songs, preferably a mix. If you have backing music then you can drop it in tomorrow and we'll check it plays. If you need instruments and don't have your own with you then you can use ours. We have a dressing room too if you want to change here. Tables fill up by seven though, so if you have friends wanting to come then tell them to get here early okay."
"Erm….. Erm…. "
"Hun relax, you've got a great voice. They'll love you okay. Everyone's gotta start somewhere right. Paramore played here once when they were starting out, so did John Mayer."
"Okay. Thanks. We'll erm.. see you tomorrow." Seph stood and started leading Spencer to the door, stopping before she exited.
"Ariadne….. Is there a music shop that's sells instruments anywhere nearby? I need to practice and I don't have anything with me. I need somewhere I can get a keyboard and an acoustic guitar"
Ariadne thought for a moment, wrinkling her brow.
"All the other players tomorrow have their own instruments…. Your friends of Penny's and she's a good friend of mine. You can take ours okay."
Persephone looked taken aback. "Are you sure?"
"Yep yep… It's fine. I know Penny's good for it. I'll grab the guitar for you now, just unplug the keyboard."
She left the room again and Spencer unplugged the instrument, wrapping the cord around it and tucking it under his arm.
"We'll get a cab home okay. I need to practice. And think of four songs."
He nodded at you and Ariadne returned, handing Seph a guitar case.
"I look forward to seeing you again Persephone Dawn. And I'm interested to see what songs you choose."
Spencer was too.