I was going to write a disclaimer here, but then I decided that one for the entire story would do… right?
The next week was crazy. Like, crazier than the time Rin and I thought it would be a good idea to raid a fruit stand during a fair. First, every famous songwriter Ty could find was put on the job to create our first jobs. News of our hidden talent spread like wildfire and we were suddenly the talk of every employee we passed. Random official-looking people would glance at us, wondering how we of all people could've possessed any amount of talent.
Ty, of course, was busy organizing his division to get word out about the newest pop star twins to the general public. But before he left us to our business, he introduced us to a woman who explained that she was going to be our manager. Her name was Camille Winters and she certainly was certainly younger than I thought a manager should be, but then again, what did I know about this world?
She was maybe in her early twenties with a head of neat, fire-red hair. It had been gelled back and tied into a wispy ponytail. Camille wore a sort of feminine suit in a most attractive shade of green.
She had set us up in an upscale apartment – after a couple of confusing days spent in spare studio rooms – with an endless supply of food and even a personal maid and a cook that left at night and arrived early the next morning. We were so overwhelmed with the food, furniture, and all together standards of living that when we went to sleep the first night, there was a strange sort of charge in the atmosphere.
Of course Rin and I slept in the same room. If felt weird not to after all. So after we had pushed the second twin bed from one of the rooms into the other and right up against the matching bed, we basically completed the transformation by moving the second desk into the almost empty room, creating a sleeping room and a work room instead of two bedrooms. It just felt… right. You know?
We had turned off the lights and snuggled into our beds, freshly showered and wearing clothes that Camille had been resourceful enough to have delivered to us when I felt Rin's hand creep under my blanket, searching. I met it with my own and we held hands in the strange darkness. There had always been the light from the moon and stars back in our street home. The only source of light in this place at nighttime came from the single window in the room spilling filtered light onto our covers.
"Len, do you think everything will work out?" Rin's voice murmured.
"I don't know," I whispered back, "but even if it doesn't, we'll always be together."
She squeezed my hand tighter. "Is that a promise?"
Subconsciously, my hand reached up and grasped the miniature music box that hung from my neck. "Always."
Rin must've been holding her locket as well because suddenly the quiet night was filled with the tinkling of our synchronized music lockets. We fell asleep before the song had run its course.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
My eyes blinked open and I sat straight up. It took me a moment to remember where I was, but after I figured that part out, I untangled my fingers from my sister's and hurriedly made for the door which endured the abuse of someone's knuckles for a good five minutes.
I was greeted by Camille – now wearing a sunshine yellow suit. She wore a wide smile and looked as official as ever.
"Are you two ready to hear the songs our writers have been working on for the last week?" she asked in an almost annoyingly peppy voice.
"Now?" Rin asked, sidling up beside me. I hadn't realized she'd gotten up.
"Of course, aren't you excited?" she demanded, unfazed by our lack of enthusiasm.
"They're done already?" I questioned, amazed.
Camille produced a notebook from the outer pocket of her handbag and flipped through some pages. "We've got some of the best songwriters on this job. They're paid a great deal for their quality and quantity, along with their sense of time."
Rin and I didn't even try to argue or ask questions about that one and just went with it, allowing Camille to load us into a car that was heading to the studio.
When we arrived there, we were led into a room that had been explained to us as "strictly off-limits". This would be exciting. A glance at Rin confirmed that she agreed.
When the door opened, we realized why the room was off-limits. Thousands of dollars of technology and equipment filled the room. Screens lined the walls and at least ten pairs of headphones lined the desks, all connected to a central sound system in the center of the space.
The screens weren't being used at the moment, but workers and artists were busy, tinkering with buttons on the central sound system, reading from official-looking binders, checking and rechecking music scores, and making important phone calls. Or at least I thought they were important until I heard one man say something along the lines of, "Yeah… yeah Mom, I'll pick up the eggs. No. No, I can't right now. No, we're about to meet the artis- Mom. I'm leaving Mom." He promptly hung up. I didn't ask any questions.
"Okay everyone, if you'd all just get organized, you'd realize that the stars are here," a man who reminded me of Ty announced to everyone. He took a seat at the U-shaped desk and motioned for us to sit beside him. Holding out his hand to me, he said, "Nice to finally meet my work-partners. My name is Riley Becker. I'm in charge of making sure all these lay-abouts get their jobs done." He grinned to show that he was kidding… for the most part.
After his introduction, everyone became organized really quickly and Riley showed us how to use the headphones and handed us scores and lyrics so that we could follow along when the music began.
We were handed two songs: one for me, and one for Rin. The top of mine read, "Nostalgia" and the top of Rin's read, "That Broken Memory". My first thought was, "cliché", but I didn't say so.
Without too much delay, the songs began in our headphones. My sister and I concentrated, following the lyrics and trying to fit the words with the music.
My final conclusion was that these songwriters had no idea what originality was. Or… maybe they did and that's why there were so many famous songs that sounded like these. But the results remained the same. The songs didn't sound extraordinarily new or different. Nothing special. Just another song to listen to on the radio, but nothing you would remember for years to come.
When the second song had hummed its final note, I glanced up from my sheet music into Rin's eyes. We shared an uneasy glance before turning to the rest of the room.
Their faces were a mix of pride, accomplishment, anticipation.
"Well?" Riley urged. He was smiling as well, obviously thinking he had a hit on his hands.
"I hated it," Rin said finally.
Some gasps filled the room as I replied, "That's just what I was thinking."
I hoped you guys enjoyed that! Sorry I haven't published for a while. I haven't had the time because –insert lame excuse here-.
If you've got the time, please review. They make me happy and encourage updates! ^^;