Tuesday Gerard comes up to his floor expecting to see a sulking Frank and Eric lurking nearby but instead his eyes fall upon Bob talking to Frank and his morning gets a whole lot better. Gerard gives a sigh of relief as he approaches them
"Hey, Bob why weren't you here yesterday?" he asks curiously. He asked Frank the same question yesterday but he didn't know either.
"I had to go out of town for a bit, needed to help out a friend. Sorry you had to endure Eric but from now on I'm in charge of the project" he says proudly standing up a bit straighter. Even though Bob has this tough, mean guy exterior built up on the outside which probably has helped him a lot of times to get out of trouble on the inside he's the most genuine, unselfish guy Gerard's ever met.
It's all so new for him, so different from anything he's ever done. He has an interesting job and people he enjoys talking to and not once did he have to force himself into a conversation, he's still not quite used to it. For a man who spent a lot of his time alone, building walls to keep other people away, convincing himself he'd be better on his own, all of this is overwhelming. He never thought he can fit in so easily and feel this confident with others. It's too good to be true.
"Well thank god, I couldn't stand the guy. So what are we doing today?" he asks eagerly. He didn't realize how much he actually missed it until he opened his mouth and let his voice do the magic. It's completely different from the home-alone-and-loud-music type of singing. It made him feel alive and filled with this energy coming from within and radiating all over him when he reaches a high note. Gerard always thought that art and drawing was his one and only path, the one thing he enjoyed doing and was good at, he didn't give that much thought about music. Of course he admired it and knew a whole lot about it but that was the end of it. He could never imagine himself as a musician or much less a singer.
"We need to completely decide on the lyrics and if we're lucky start doing some actual recording" Bob says clasping his hands together and heading towards the interrogation room.
Gerard and Frank look at each other for a split second before following him. An amused smile appears on Frank's face that leaves Gerard confused
"What? What's so funny?" he asks raising an eyebrow
"Nothing" the other man answers still barely containing his smile. The curiosity boils up in Gerard. He hates secrets.
"No, it's not. C'mon tell me" Gerard says a bit louder than he intended attracting a couple of stares from the other people nearby. Frank stops right outside the room already putting a hand on the door handle racking his brain for the right words to use
"You look so excited about all this when most people dread the recording part. It's like you're a kid on Christmas morning." He says all the while smiling. Gerard smiles back a bit embarrassed and enters through the door where Bob is already waiting for them.
All of them have a hard time deciding on the lyrics, Bob and Frank almost get in a fight trying to prove whose idea was better so Gerard has to come in and break them up. It didn't matter that Frank was comically ignoring his friend by not looking at him and turning his nose up every time he tried to speak with him, it was still better than yesterday.
After they had their lunch and Frank had calmed down they finally picked the lyrics and started to make the music match. Gerard sat on the chair near the keyboards feeling useless as his friends were huddled near the computer discussing and coming up with new things to add to it. Gerard spends his time studying Frank's face, little features, his movements and finds himself intoxicated by the way he moves and talks.
Gerard couldn't help and overhear the things they were talking about and discussing and a wild idea hits him. He ponders it in his head for a bit: he fears that what seems a good idea to him, may seem foolish or irrational to the people who are in this business. Nonetheless he still speaks up
"Hey I know I'm not an expert in these things but can I just drop a suggestion?" he says interrupting Bob. They both stop talking and stare at Gerard for a moment before Frank nods slowly
"Well as you guys said even though it's a mobile connection commercial it's still directed to young people as most of them use it, so I thought that instead of those usual pop jingles that get stuck in your head and drive you nuts we'd aim for something heavier, like guitars and bass and a bit of punk rock so it would stand out amongst the other ones and maybe actually capture people's attention" Gerard says his thoughts quickly in one breath letting all the things that piled up in his head in the last 15min. spill. Though his previous confidence all but fades when he sees both of his friends staring at him with unreadable expressions.
"Or not, you know… It's just an idea. You know what forget I said anything" he says waving his hand quickly feeling like he made a fool out of himself and starts going back to his seat across the room where they can't look at him without straining their necks.
"Actually… that's a genius idea" Bob says every word slowly looking into space and suddenly jumps to his feet and sprints out the room.
Gerard stares at the door that swung back and shut itself not quite understanding what happened
"What was that all about?" he asks Frank but he's muttering something under his breath looking deep in thought.
"I'm sorry, what?" he asks snapping out of it at the sound of Gerard's voice.
"Why did Bob just run out?" Gerard asks again.
"He probably went to the advertisers to try and make your idea work 'cause we can't just create what we want, we're still following other peoples orders" Frank says quickly waving his hand away still looking at the ground and humming an unfamiliar tune. Gerard doesn't know what to do again, he wishes he hadn't opened his big mouth
"You know it's just a stupid idea, the jingles are good too and-"
"Stupid idea? Gerard, it's awesome, it's perfect and everything you said is true, it would attract people's attention and me and Bob are much better at making rock tunes than jingles so just shut up about it. It's great." Frank says quickly interrupting Gerard and goes back to staring at the ground looking like he's trying to solve a difficult math problem.
Gerard smiles but doesn't say anything more, Frank looks pretty deep in thought. Bob comes back after a few minutes breathing heavily like he ran up the stairs rather than use the elevator. He tries to say something but he's too out of breath to form words so he just shows Frank a thumbs up and sits on his chair.
"Geez Bob you didn't have to run, this isn't a marathon" Frank says finally taking in the state of his friend.
"I should really quit smoking" he says calming down a bit but still panting "Oh who am I kidding, screw breathing"
They abandon all the previous work they had done and continue everything from the start, all they leave are the lyrics because they don't have enough time to come up with new ones. Gerard joins them in the process this time, not because he wanted to but mostly because Bob made him.
By the end of the day they had a couple of versions to it, all it needs now is the approval of Bob's boss and they should start recording tomorrow.
Gerard goes back home feeling good about himself. He actually contributed and helped out a lot in an area he doesn't know that well. He doesn't even stop to look at the cabinet today. Apparently the good mood gives him more will power. Though, when he enters his room the conversation he had with Mikey yesterday and the day that Frank came by because he was worried enter his thoughts. No. He won't spend his evening over thinking everything, he won't ruin his mood. He'll find everything out when the time comes. However his thoughts don't leave him alone, no matter how hard he tries he can't shut the door behind it. So he tries to force it shut and turns on the TV.
Gerard doesn't know how he got to watching a documentary about planets from our solar system. He closes his eyes and gets to a stage where he's already dreaming but is also aware of every word that comes out of his TV.
If he actually were in love this is how it would feel like: he's one of many asteroids just floating around in space, minding his own business, occasionally saying hi to one planet or the other but never staying in one place for too long, his life moves on, floating through the emptiness of space, living most of his days in the dark. But suddenly he reaches an incredibly bright and unique planet, one he's never seen before. It's the first time he's ever seen such intense light or felt energy as strong as this ones. He comes closer wanting to take a better look at it and floats around it for some time taking in all the beauty. After a while he decides it's time to go, move on now for he was starting to get blinded and missed the coolness of the dark, but realizes he can't break away from the planets gravitation. It's too strong and he's too little and fragile to break free. When he accepts the fact that he won't ever break away from it, not without shattering into a million pieces he starts building up and sooner or later becomes declared another moon of the planet, and the planet itself is unfazed, not even noticing the pieces of rock around it.
Gerard wakes up with a jump start, the image of the planets circling around the sun still stuck in his head making his head spin. The clock says it's still an hour till he has to get up and go to work but instead of going back to sleep he gets up and slowly starts getting ready. He gives his mom a surprise by having breakfast the same time she does. They discuss Gerard's new job while she shares some of her own troubles at work. He hasn't' told her that he plans to move out yet. He figures when he'll save up at least half the money and decide which apartment to take then he'll tell her.
Work gets more exciting for Gerard that day, all day they record and Gerard gets to sing. He doesn't care that it's a half minute tune he still enjoys every second of it. Nothing strange happens that day except during lunch when Gerard almost spilled his drink all over himself because Frank leaned over to get a slice of pizza and put a hand on his knee for support and perhaps unintentionally slid his hand up slightly higher up his leg making Gerard tense up. Though, the shorter man seemed unaware of his slight discomfort as he ravished his share of the pizza.
It's said that time flies when you're having fun. Gerard barely had time to turn around and it was Friday already. They were done with the recording, some final editing was needed and that's it, Gerard can go back to his boring floor with his art assignments.
"Hey so you're going to the party?" Frank asks by the end of the day. They were already in the lobby which is being decorated in balloons and more flowers by workers, food already set on the table. This company takes their parties very seriously Gerard thinks as he looks around.
"Yeah, I guess" he answers uncertainly
"Cool so do you want me to pick you up?" Frank asks. His voice shakes a bit but it's probably just the cold lobby Gerard thinks.
"Uh I was going to walk but yeah okay" Gerard answers going over his wardrobe in his head. They're already out in the cold street, the sky's getting dark.
"Awesome, so I'll pick you up at 8 in a couple of hours" Frank says walking to the direction of his home slowly. Gerard doesn't give it much thought, says "sure" and walks back home himself.
His mom is already home eating dinner in front of the living room TV
"Hey honey! I made lasagna, you want some?" she asked loudly over a talk show.
"No thanks, gotta get ready for the party in a few hours" he says stepping briefly into the living room.
"Oh you better wear a warm jacket, it's cold outside" she says motherly
"Frank's picking me up so I'll just take my regular one." Gerard says starting to walk to his own room when a thought runs through his head making him doubt and he says it out loud "I just don't understand why he's picking me up. I mean he lives all the way downtown he has to make a pretty long trip to get to me and then the company"
His mom starts to laugh quietly
"Gerard, I think you're going on a date" she says through her giggles.
"What? No. If it were a date I think I'd know. Besides, he's just being polite, it's what he does-" suddenly he falls quiet and thinks through what he just said and tries to remember a time when Frank wasn't acting like a little asshole. His face clears up and he draws in a deep breath
"Shit. It is a date"