Disclaimer: See prologue chapter

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Chapter 33

Creativity

Mitchie walked into the sitting room of their hotel suite, her songbook in one hand and her guitar in the other. Getting comfortable on the sofa, she started to play the music she had been hearing in her head recently, nodding her head with the back beat that she could hear.

After a while though, she put her guitar down and picked up a cushion to silently scream into it before throwing it across the room in a rare fit of petulance.

And the first thing that Caitlyn heard when she entered the sitting room from the room they were sharing was the brunette's lament, "I need my keyboard! I can't believe I forgot to bring my keyboard up."

"Mitch…" Caitlyn moved to her side quickly. "What's wrong?"

Mitchie looked up. "I've had this song playing in my head since the end of camp but I don't have my keyboard to start noting the music and it would be perfect for the tour."

"Give me a second," Caitlyn shot back into the bedroom and emerged with her laptop. She quickly powered it up and opened up her production program before turning to Mitchie again. "Okay, give me the basic layout."

With a grin, Mitchie used her guitar to give the song its base format. "We're done but it's not over…"

When she was finished, Caitlyn set it to playback and then nodded her head. "You're right, we need a keyboard. If we do work on this today, I think we could have something ready for the concert here in Houston in two days time."

"Cait…" Mitchie put her guitar down again, a peculiar look on her face as she looked sideways at her producer best friend. "I thought we'd agreed that I was going to be singing 'Who Will I Be'. There's no way we can get a brand new song ready and the band rehearsed in time for the show here."

"You are and yes we can, if we work on it," Caitlyn agreed, "Because believe me when the boys hear this I think they are going to want you to sing this one as well and with you."

"Oh yeah, I can see it now, Mitchie Torres and her backing group, Connect 3." Mitchie grinned at that, imagining their faces. "You know, there's no way you can avoid not singing on this one, Cait. It needs a second female vocalist from what I hear in my head."

The look of pure horror on Caitlyn's face had Mitchie rolling backwards onto the sofa in hysterical laughter.

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"Where are the girls?" Jason asked an hour later when they returned to the suite following an interview with a local radio station. "I thought they were staying here."

Sandy looked up from his Blackberry. "Apparently, Mitchie need the studio bus for a song she's just written and needed to lay down before it drove her crazy, (that was from Caitlyn by the way) so Megan escorted both of them down to the concert venue two hours ago."

Sandy looked down at his blackberry again and then back at the three young men once more. "Jason, Rob's waiting for you downstairs with the limo to take you to join them; evidently Mitchie needs you as well she's just decided."

"What about us?" Nate asked as he and Shane shared a speaking look.

"Why don't you give her a call and ask her yourself before Jason leaves." Sandy rolled his eyes and leant against the wall, folding his arms. "I can't read Mitchie's mind no matter what she may think at times."

Shane immediately pulled out his phone and quick dialled Mitchie. It was just as quickly answered by her.

"Hey Shane, give me a moment," Mitchie's voice sounded excited. "Play that last section again, Cait."

The sound of music being played back was clear and was enough to intrigue all three of the listening Connect 3 as they moved closer to the phone.

"That's it, Cait that sounds almost like what I've been hearing since I first heard the song in my head." Mitchie clearly sounded extremely happy.

"About time too, I can not believe how fussy you've been with this." Caitlyn must have hit a recorded trumpet melody because both girls giggled.

"Sorry Shane." Mitchie came back to the phone. "I didn't want to miss it while we're on the right track."

"That's alright, love, we know what it's like when you're trying to lay down a track." Shane grinned at Nate and Jason. "On that note, how come you only want Jason's help?"

"Oops feeling left out querido." Without a doubt, Mitchie was amused by the note of jealousy she could hear in his voice. "Of course I want you and Nate to come as well, Shane; I didn't really mean to leave you out. Anyway, it will be interesting to hear how this comes over on mainly live instruments and I know you all can play them."

"We'll be with you as soon as traffic allows." Shane looked at Nate and Jason who were grinning at the thought of being wanted only for the instrumentality rather than their voices for a change. "I'll call you when we get close."

"Watch out for the fans, they just discovered the tour buses." Caitlyn could be heard shouting down the line.

"Oh joy!" Nate said drolly as Shane closed his phone, much to their amusement.

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Mitchie sat curled up in a chair watching the three boys listening to the track they had so far laid down, her chin resting in her hand. She felt almost peaceful now that the melody was finally out of her head and in the open where it could be heard by the people she loved the most.

She was also watching Caitlyn being in her element as she continued to adjust and improve the track they had just finished before they had arrived. A smile suddenly graced her face as she watched Caitlyn literally roll her chair in front of Nate and Jason, moving them out of the way.

Her quiet contemplation was broken as Shane moved to sit on the floor in front of her, leaning his head backwards to her lap so that he could look at her upside down.

"It's good Mitch." He smiled at her, "Real good. You should do this one for the show as well as 'Who Will I Be'."

She smiled back down at him, running her fingers through his hair, the only person he ever allowed to do so. "Caitlyn said that as well. She's not looking forward to singing it though."

"So do you truly need her – on stage to sing that is? No offence Cait." Shane raised his head and turned to look at her.

"None taken, pop star."

Shane then returned his eyes to Mitchie before continuing (although after both he and Caitlyn mock glared at each other). "If Cait's really feeling that uncomfortable about being that involved on stage…"

"Oh believe me I am." Caitlyn called to him, their conversation clearly audible to her now that she had stopped the track playing. "You have no idea just how much I do NOT want to be singing on stage. Performing is one thing; singing is a total different horse of another colour."

"We'll be your backing group for the song." Nate said suddenly as he and Jason joined the couple, finishing Shane's offer for him.

"Presenting Mitchie Torres and her backing group, Connect 3," Jason unknowingly repeated his sister's earlier statement to Caitlyn as he raised his hands pretending to look at a sign with the words on.

Caitlyn and Mitchie looked at each other, grinning at their personal inside joke. "Will it work, Mitch?"

Mitchie looked down at Shane, then at the other two before turning back to Caitlyn. "You know, I think it could but we would need to work on it today to get it ready."

"Do what you need to do." Richard spoke up from where he had been listening to the conversation, making all of them jump as they had almost forgotten that he was there. "That song is too good not to have in the show."

"We better get to it then." Shane rose to his feet and then turned to pull Mitchie from her chair, leading her to the microphones. "Lead the way, sweetheart, this is your show."

"Cait… rock it."

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I had this sudden need to get another song in for both Mitchie and Connect 3 to sing together and ''Days of Summer' just sprang to mind.

Like I said, I will go on sudden tangents but at least they have fun while I'm doing so.

As always looking forward to seeing what you have to say.