Chapter 19
Manny's at the studio working on new Music
Manny (to Tommy): The song is good
Tommy: Good, doesn't sell gold records
Manny (scoffs): Alright, let's give it another go
The music starts playing in her headphones
Manny (sings): Man, his eyes really drive me crazy, I can honestly say that he saved me. Now look at where we are, I'm hooked on kissin', gettin' you turned on. Buzzin and lovin on you. All it took was one look and I was hooked. Baby, I'm gonna love you like no tomorrow.
Tommy: That sounds better, but I have another musician I want you to meet.
Manny: Um, ok.
In walks a tall chiseled red haired green eyed musician that catches Manny's attention instantly
Danny (to Tommy): How you doing? Tommy Harrison
Tommy: Hey Danny. There's someone I want you to meet, you guys are gonna do a collaboration together.
Manny walks in, irritated
Manny: What the hell is going on, Tommy?
Tommy: Manny, This is my good buddy, Danny Simms. He's also a recording artist here. He's going to help you with your song
Manny: What?! What do you mean help me with my song, Harrison?
Tommy: Now come on Manny, you know I love your song but its missing something there's no spark no passion behind the lyrics.
Manny: NO SPARK?! NO PASSION?! I'm gonna kill you Tommy
Danny: Uh, Did you not tell her I was coming?
Manny: No, he definitely did not tell me you were coming
Danny: Yea, he does that a lot
Manny: You've worked with him before?
Danny: Oh yea, He's produced a couple of my albums too
Manny (to Tommy): So, let me get this straight. First You tell me the song that I wrote, about my fiancé I might add, has no spark and no passion and now you want me to partner up with Danny, here to redo the song?! Have you lost your damn mind?!
Tommy: Your song needed a little help! And it's my job as your producer to help
Danny (to Tommy): Dude, when you going to learn? You're a good producer, but one of these days, you're going to ambush one of your artists and they're going to quit on you and go to another Producer.
Manny: I'm not doing this, not today. I'm leaving, I'll see you guys tomorrow. I promised Chester a date night
Manny turns and looks at Danny
Manny: Danny, it was nice meeting you, I promise I'm not always a bitch
Danny laughs
Danny: It's ok, I get it.
Manny walks out and calls Chester
Chester: Hey baby, what's up
Manny (sighs): Hey honey.
Chester: What's wrong babe?
Manny: Just a rough day at the studio
Chester: Meet me at the Dot, we'll get dinner, and you can tell me what happened.
Manny: Alright, I'll meet you there.
Chester hangs up, shortly after Manny arrives at the Dot, Chester arrives minutes after her. They sit down and they order their food, short time later their food arrives
Chester: So, what happened at the studio?
Manny: Well, you know that song I wrote for you?
Chester: Yea, the one you sang to me?
Manny: Yea that one. Well, according to Tommy, the song has no passion or spark behind it, and he brought in another artist to sing It with me.
Chester: Are you serious?
Manny: Yea, I was pretty upset. So, he brought one of our other artists from the record label, this guy, Danny.
Chester: Wait, they want you to do a duet with a guy on a song you wrote for me?
Manny: I know. I went off on Tommy for it, and so did Danny.
Chester: I get that he wants your song to be a hit, that part I understand, but you wrote that song about me. Why not just let you work on it?
Manny: That's honestly what I thought he was going to do, but then he brought Danny in.
Chester: Either way babe, your producer has your best interest at heart, even if it is a stupid choice.
Manny: It's my song, you know? It's something I wrote special.
Chester: I know honey. I hate to say it but maybe having another set of vocals on the song is what you might need. You never know, you might just like how it sounds babe.
Manny: It just makes me mad that he wants to change my song about you, it's like I had it planned out in my head how I wanted it
Chester: Sometime Change is a good thing honey.
Manny: yea, I guess you're right.
Chester: Music industry is very tricky sometimes babe. We learned that at Smithdale, remember?
Manny: Yea I know.
Chester: I'm sure it'll turn out great no matter what.
Manny: You're so understanding, that's one thing I love about you.
Chester smiles
Chester: I love you, just be patient.
Manny: Honey, patience is not one of my strongest qualities, you know this.
Chester chuckles
Chester: Come on let's go home, have a nice relaxing night in, and you can try again at the studio tomorrow.
Manny: Sounds good to me
They leave The Dot and go home
Chester: Everything will all work out for the new album babe. It'll take time, and if Tommy wants to bring another artist or 2 in, then trust that he knows what he's doing Manny. It's stupid that he ambushed you with it, but he's one of the best producers in town babe.
Manny: I know, I know.
Chester bushes up against Manny and hugs her from behind
Chester: Just relax baby
Chester softly says as he softly sweeps Manny's hair behind her shoulder and softly kisses her neck
Manny: Babe?
Chester: Shh
Chester continues kissing on Manny's neck, Manny spins around and starts making out with Chester as he pulls her onto the bed and softly plants kisses down her neck and breast
Manny: God, I love you, so much.
They make love
Chester: I'm so in love with you, baby.
After they make love, they cuddle and go to bed. Next morning, Manny's phone rings
Manny (groans): Hello?
Danny: Manny? Hey, it's Danny from the studio
Manny: Danny? How'd you get my number? What time is it?
Chester stirs in bed next to Manny
Danny: It's a little after 8, hope you don't mind, I got it from Tommy.
Chester: Who is it babe?
Manny: It's Danny from the studio honey, go back to sleep
Chester groans as he stirs in bed
Manny: Why are you calling so early?
Danny: I thought we would get a head start on the song today
Tommy (in the background): Come on, Santos
Manny (groans): Alright, I'll be there in a little bit.
Manny hangs up
Chester: They want you at the Studio?
Manny: Yea. I got to get up
Chester: No, Stay in bed with me.
Chester said as he kisses Manny
Manny: I would love to, but I got to baby.
Chester groans as he puts his arm over Manny
Manny: I love you too, but I got to get to the studio to finish this song, babe.
Chester (kisses Manny): Go be brilliant baby doll.
Manny: I love you honey. Go back to bed, you don't have to be at the station until later.
Chester groans as he curls up in bed and falls back asleep. Manny heads over to the studio to meet up with Tommy and Danny
Tommy: Good morning sunshine
Manny: Bite me, it's early and you had Danny here call me to not only get me up but interrupt my intimate time with my fiancé!
Danny: someone's already a little testy
Tommy: she's mad we got her out of bed so early
Manny: What was the urgent matter to call me out of bed at 8 freakin 30!
Tommy: Your song
Manny: Oh, the one you said has no passion and spark?
Tommy: Yea, that one.
Manny: What about it?
Danny: Do you have a name for it?
Manny: Nobody
Danny: Ok, what's it about?
Manny: It's basically about how my fiancé pretty much saved me and made me believe in love again.
Tommy: See, even the description behind the song has no passion
Danny & Manny: Shut up Tommy
Danny (to Manny): I think it's good. Does he know about the song?
Manny: Some of it, yea.
Danny: How does it go?
Manny: I'm still debating on the beginning, but I have "I'm hooked on kissin', gettin' you turned on, buzzin and lovin on you all night long. All it took was a look from you and now i'm hooked, I'm so addicted to, you and me all alone, all the things we do, in between the sheets. I know what I feel, and you feel it too.
Danny: Ok, I like it, but you need something for it
Manny: Like what?
Danny: Have you guys dealt with drama or issues?
Manny: A crazy ex-girlfriend
Tommy: Are you talking about who I think you're talking about? The one behind boyfriend?
Manny nods yes
Danny: Ok, So use a little bit of the pain she's caused on this song
Manny: This bitch is a psycho, and you want me to use some of the shit she's done in a song to my fiancé?
Danny: Manny, your song needs edge. I get your fiancé means everything to you, but some love songs have a little edge to them.
Danny (sings): I don't mean to be so uptight, but my hearts been hurt a couple times, I'm tired of the fake love, show me what you're made of, make me believe it's real.
Manny: Ok, I like it. It's hot.
Danny smiles at Manny
Danny: Your song has a good story behind it, don't get me wrong. It just needs a little bit of edge to it.
Manny (sings): You never lied to me not once, it's not your fault that I can't trust-
Danny: Ok, here's my first question. Why do you say that you can't trust?
Manny: I was betrayed by an ex after high school, and one day he felt the need to betray my trust and sleep with his high school ex in a bed he'd share with me at times.
Tommy: What the hell?
Manny: He'd been seeing her since I left for College, I came home one weekend to surprise him, and I walked in on them
Danny: Damn
Manny: He runs after me, just to tell me they we're getting back together he never loved me and just used me to make her jealous.
Tommy: What a dick.
Manny: I kept my guard up, then Chester and I reconnected at Smithdale, we started talking again, he has a past experience with an ex that put him on edge.
Tommy: I take back what I said before. I understand the meaning behind it now.
Danny: Sounds like you guys have a pretty good relationship.
Manny (smiles): We do, he's my everything
Danny (sings): It's in my past, I never believed in second chances until I met you
Manny (sings): But I can honestly say you saved me
Tommy: I like it guys, sounds good, ok, let's get you both back In the booth so we can get this song recorded
Danny: I think this is going to be a great song
Manny: I hope so, because this is a really important song to me
Manny steps into the recording booth with Danny as music starts playing in their headsets.
Manny (sings): You never lied to me not once. It's not your fault that I can't trust. It's in my past, it's in my paast. I never believed in second chances until I met you, but I can honestly say that you saved me, now look at where we are. I'm hooked on kissin', gettin' you turned on, buzzin and lovin on you all night long
Danny(sings): All it took was one look and I was hooked, baby I'm gonna love you like no tomorrow. I'm so addicted to, you and me, all alone, all the things we do, in between them sheets. I know what I feel, and you feel it too. I always dreamt of our first kiss, and who'd make the first move.
Tommy: Cut it guys
They take their headsets off
Danny: When you did your lines, I could feel your passion in this song for Chester. He's a very lucky man
Manny: Awe thank you
Manny smiles
Tommy: You guys sound really good together, I have a good feeling about this song
Danny: Manny deserves all the credit dude, it's her song.
Tommy plays back the recording
Manny (smiles): I like it.
Danny: But?
Manny: What do you mean?
Danny: Well normally when one says they like it, there's something else about the song they don't like or something they want to change.
Manny: No, it's good. It's really good
Danny: Manny, you don't know me, I get it if you don't feel comfortable telling me how you feel about song, but you know Tommy.
Tommy: Manny, if you don't like it just tell me and we can work on it. It's your song, your opinion matters most.
Manny: I- I need a breather
Manny walks out of the studio and goes outside to get some fresh air. A few minutes later, Danny comes outside
Danny: Are you ok?
Manny: His ex is just a sensitive topic for me.
Danny: I can understand that
Manny: No, not like this, this bitch has pushed us to my breaking point to where if it happened again, I would have left him
Danny: Describe, psycho.
Manny: She almost had him killed
Danny: Tell me she's locked up
Manny nods yes
Manny: She was so obsessed with him, it was sad.
Danny: How long ago did they date?
Manny: About 4 years ago
Danny: I take it she didn't handle the break-up too well?
Manny: Nope. She insisted he's still in love with her and all that shit.
Danny: wow, she sounds like a real cake walk
Manny: If I ever seen that bitch again, I promise you I'd probably beat her ass
Danny: I don't blame you, I don't know you all that well, nor know your man, but if you're writing and recording a song about him then he's very special.
Manny: I don't even know why I'm telling you all of this-
Manny chuckles nervously
Danny: What do you mean?
Manny: I barely know you and my producer just ambushed me with you!
Danny: But, you could get to know me. I don't mind getting to know the beautiful girl behind the song
Tommy appears from behind the door
Tommy: Can we get back to work now?
Manny: You know, for a producer, your pretty damn bossy!
Tommy (smiles): That's my job
Manny rolls her eyes and walks back in the studio
Tommy: We have work to do. Time is money
Danny: Must you always be an ass?
Tommy: You know you have no chance in hell with Manny, right?
Danny looks at Manny who's in the studio
Danny: What makes you think I have a thing for her?
Tommy: Oh, just a wild guess
Tommy says in a sarcastic tone and laughs
Danny: I know she's engaged but she's not married yet.
Manny pops her head out
Manny: Are you two ladies done? Cause I don't want to listen to tommy's mouth about how time is money.
Tommy: Oh, now whose getting bossy?
Manny laughs
Manny: I learned from you, so yea
Tommy laughs as they walk back into the studio
Tommy: Let's take it from the top again.
Danny & Manny put their headsets back on as the music starts playing
Manny (sings): You never lied to me not once. It's not your fault that I can't trust. It's in my past. It's in my paast. I never believed in second chances until I met you, but I can honestly say that you saved me, now look at where we are. I'm hooked on kissin', gettin' you turned on, buzzin and lovin on you all night long
Tommy nods as Danny and Manny continue singing
Danny(sings): All it took was one look and I was hooked, baby I'm gonna love you like no tomorrow. I'm so addicted to, you and me, all alone, all the things we do, in between them sheets. I know what I feel, and you feel it too. I always dreamt of our first kiss, and who'd make the first move.
Manny & Danny (sings): Everybody knows the truth, there's no escaping what you do to me is criminal, baby when I look in those eyes, they drive me crazy. I just wanna be close to you. I know what's good for me and your all I need, baby I want you so much. Lyin' beside you is still the perfect place. I wanna spend all night wrapped in your love. Nobody gonna love you like I do, yea nobody gonna love you like I do
Danny (sings): Baby, kiss me, kiss me till the sun comes up, slow, sweet, I can never get enough of your love. I couldn't dream this up, even if I tried.
Manny (sings): It's always been about giving me what I want whatever it takes. Judging by the smile on my face, I'd say you're on the right road.
Danny (sings): Don't know what I did to earn a love like this, but baby I must be doing something right. I could stay here in this moment with you forever. I'd spend forever in your arms lying next to you.
Manny and Danny (sings): Everybody knows the truth, there's no escaping what you do to me is criminal, baby when I look in those eyes, they drive me crazy. I just wanna be close to you. I know what's good for me and your all I need, baby I want you so much. Lyin' beside you is still the perfect place. I wanna spend all night wrapped in your love. Nobody gonna love you like I do, yea nobody gonna love you like I do.
Danny and Manny take their headsets off
Tommy: That's it. You guys killed it
Danny smiles at Manny
Manny: I have an idea
Tommy: What?
Manny: Why don't we send this one out as a single and then record me solo just for me?
Danny: I think it's a good idea, especially with how much passion you just had in there, I can understand why you want to record it by yourself.
Manny: You do?
Tommy: You do?
Danny: Tommy, believe it or not, I'm not as dumb as you may think.
Tommy chuckles
Danny: She wants to record it solo, as a gift for her man.
Manny: Thank you, Danny. That's exactly why
Manny's phone rings
Manny: Hey honey
Chester: Hey baby, are you working late tonight?
Manny: What time is it?
Chester: 7:30
Manny: Yea, I don't know how much longer I'll be here baby. So, don't wait up.
Chester: Babe-
Manny: We're making progress on this new song babe, trust me
Chester: Alright, Call me when you leave. I love you
Manny: I will, love you too honey
Manny hangs up
Tommy: Where were we?
Danny: You being an ass?
Manny: Now, now ladies
Tommy shoots Manny a look
Tommy: Get your ass in the booth
Manny walks into the booth
Tommy: Ready?
Manny: Yea
Tommy plays the music to Manny's song
Manny (sings): You never lied to me not once. It's not your fault that I can't trust. It's in my past. It's in my paast. I never believed in second chances until I met you, but I can honestly say that you saved me, now look at where we are. I'm hooked on kissin', gettin' you turned on, buzzin and lovin on you all night long
Danny (to Tommy): She sounds really good
Tommy: Yea she does
Manny: All it took was one look and I was hooked, baby I'm gonna love you like no tomorrow. I'm so addicted to, you and me, all alone, all the things we do, in between them sheets. I know what I feel, and you feel it too. I always dreamt of our first kiss, and who'd make the first move. Everybody knows the truth, there's no escaping what you do to me is criminal, baby when I look in those eyes, they drive me crazy. I just wanna be close to you. I know what's good for me and your all I need, baby I want you so much. Lyin' beside you is still the perfect place. I wanna spend all night wrapped in your love. Nobody gonna love you like I do, yea nobody gonna love you like I do. Baby, kiss me, kiss me till the sun comes up, slow, sweet, I can never get enough of your love. I couldn't dream this up, even if I tried. It's always been about giving me what I want whatever it takes. Judging by the smile on my face, I'd say you're on the right road. Don't know what I did to earn a love like this, but baby I must be doing something right. I could stay here in this moment with you forever. I'd spend forever in your arms lying next to you. Everybody knows the truth, there's no escaping what you do to me is criminal, baby when I look in those eyes, they drive me crazy. I just wanna be close to you. I know what's good for me and your all I need, baby I want you so much. Lyin' beside you is still the perfect place. I wanna spend all night wrapped in your love. Nobody gonna love you like I do, yea nobody gonna love you like I do.
Tommy: Cut it. Awesome job Santos.
Manny smiles
Danny: You sounded great Manny.
Manny: Thank you. I hope Chester will like it
Danny: He'd be a fool not to.
Tommy hands Manny a CD with her version of "Nobody"
Tommy: Go home, Manny. You did good today. Go get some sleep, we'll pick back up tomorrow.
Manny: Bye guys
Manny walks out and calls Chester as she leaves to go home
Chester (groans): Hello?
Manny: Did I wake you? I'm so sorry baby.
Chester: What time is it?
Manny: About 9.
Chester: I must have fallen asleep waiting for you
Manny: Awe babe, I told you don't wait up.
Chester: I know, but I can't sleep without you next to me
Manny: I love you sweetie. Go get in bed, I'll be home soon
Chester: How about I just keep you on the phone until you get home
Manny: Someone's lonely
Chester: Nah, I just miss my fiancée.
Manny: I miss you too, my love.
Chester (groans): How much longer until I have you in my arms beautiful?
Manny pulls up in the driveway, quietly shuts the car door and quietly opens the door
Manny: Baby my phone is almost dead, I'm still about 10 minutes from home, get some sleep. I'm come to bed when I come home
Chester (groans): Ok. I'll see you in a bit
Manny quietly sneaks upstairs to the bedroom where she sees Chester sleeping peacefully as she kissed his forehead. She changes into something comfy and climbs in bed next to Chester.
Chester: Goodnight Princess
Chester said as he snuggles up to Manny and places his arm around hers as they fall asleep