Melodious Endgame
VI.
The next day, Tori had renewed energy. Emily noticed right away, commenting that the bags under her eyes had finally gone away. Over breakfast at the hotel, she showed Tori her tablet that featured a lot of houses that were for rent.
"Since you're going to be in this area for the most part in the next year, I was thinking that renting for six months to start would be easier and better for you than staying in a hotel. What do you think?"
Tori nodded as she chewed on a piece of bacon, using a single finger to scroll through the images, "Maybe we should ask the others what area they think would be best."
"We can do that," Emily agreed, taking her tablet back when she saw Tori was hardly glancing at any of the houses. "I thought yesterday went well. Also, I was thinking, since you'll be here and in good hands with Andre Harris and his team, is it cool if I stay with my parents in Michigan? It's fairly close and I haven't seen them in—."
"Oh my god, Emily!" Toi exclaimed and Emily looked shocked at her sudden raised voice, "You haven't asked for an extended vacation since I've known you! Of course you should go stay with them!"
Despite the enthusiastic confirmation, Emily hesitated, "Are you sure? I mean, I'll still be working on getting photo shoots scheduled, and you were invited to the TV show awards that's in a few months, so I'll work on who you'll be wearing, and—."
"Em," Tori touched her arm to stop her, "I appreciate all that, and that's fine to do, but this next year is going to be a slower one when it comes to all that, so please slow down and enjoy yourself."
Emily slumped back in her chair, "You sure you'll be okay without me?"
"Oh, I'll be lost without you," Tori grinned at her and Emily could tell she was half joking, "but like you said, I'll be here with Andre and the others, so I'll manage."
Nodding slowly, as if willing herself to accept that Tori would, indeed, be fine, she then sat forward like she had a secret, "Speaking of the others, Eva was gorgeous, wasn't she?"
"Yeah, she—," Tori paused here and looked hard into Emily's eyes. There was definitely something behind her asking this, "Ohhh, does someone have a crush?"
Emily blushed and sat back again, "No, I just…her work ethic seems really close to mine and—."
"And what does that have to do with her looks?" Tori teased as she took a sip of coffee. As Emily searched for the right words, Tori offered: "Want me to find out what her situation is? Put in a good word for you?"
"No, don't bother with all that," Emily answered, "It was just an observation. Anyway, we better get you over to the studio." She quickly stood up from the table, leaving Tori no choice but to drop the subject and follow her, though Tori made a mental note to find out more about Eva for Emily.
When the two arrived at the studio and made their way up to the seventh floor, only Andre and Eva were waiting for them. Tori nudged Emily playfully, but Emily just shoved her back, "Get to work."
Tori laughed and walked to Andre who was sitting in front of the recording booth, "Morning…short on staff today?"
Andre looked up at her, and Tori wondered if she visibly jumped when his eyes, no longer hidden behind sunglasses or shrouded in the dark of a parking lot, met hers. He always had the kindest, warmest eyes and time hadn't changed that.
"Think they stayed out at the club too late. Slackers," he said this, but it was obvious he wasn't really upset with them. Andre hardly ever started this early with other people, and he knew Siobhan especially was not an early bird.
"Tell me again that you're not a workaholic," Tori teased, taking the seat next to him.
"Remember when I told you I was planning a break but then someone—," he eyed her, "called me to start new work starting immediately?"
Tori put on an offended face, "I never said immediately!"
"You said your company wasn't allowing you a break."
"I thought you said you were drunk the night we talked," Tori countered.
"Buzzed," he corrected, "and that doesn't mean I don't remember every word you said."
"Fair…" Tori admitted defeat here, and that's when she noticed his notebook full of words, many scratched out and replaced with something else, "This the song we were working on last night?"
Andre picked up the notebook and looked over all his notes, "Yeah, we had such a good thing going that I wanted to finish this one before starting anything else. I want you to sing it in the way you hear it in your head."
Tori sat up straight and took the notebook from him. She read over what he wrote and remembered the beat they had going the night before. She opened her mouth to sing but then glanced up from the notebook to catch him watching her. He's seen her sing a thousand times (the whole world had!) but she felt her face heat up and now she was wondering if she even knew how to sing.
"Am I making you nervous?" Andre asked, scooting his chair a little further back from her.
"N-no, it's not that," Tori said, wincing when Andre obviously picked up on her cues. Though, truth was, she had no idea what it was. She tried to ignore the feeling, lightly clearing her throat, and singing in her normal voice.
"Never thought I'd find…someone to rewind! All my broken clocks back to life…!"
"You're singing like a pop star."
Tori felt her face fully flush at this comment, "I am a pop star!"
"Yeah, but this isn't a pop song," Andre told her, ignoring her insulted tone, "it's gentler. Rhythmic. You're not singing this song to an audience, but to one person."
"To one person…?" Tori questioned, looking down at the words again. Though she'd sang love songs before that made tears spring to her eyes, she always thought about all the people who were listening to her sing. What were they feeling? Even when she sang in front of the mirror, she monitored her facial expressions and body language to gauge how other people saw her.
"Right, don't be so performative."
She laughed, "'Don't be performative' says the performer."
Andre smiled, "I don't like your tone!"
Tori's smile faded instantly.
Andre immediately realized what he said could be taken as an insult and waved his hands, "No, I didn't mean your singing tone. I meant…it was a…joke…" he trailed off, recognizing that he was about to go into a ramble if he didn't stop himself. He was called out on that enough by his crew.
"Have I always done that?" he had asked Shiv, Deon, and Eva.
"YES!" they had all shouted.
He cleared his throat, "What I mean is…you're here to change your sound up, right? It's going to take some practice. Ever since I met you, even when you were just starting out and unsure of your true talent, you were an entertainer. You love putting on a show when you sing, and that is the foundation of a great pop star. You did it even when I was your only spectator. Granted, I was the same way back in high school. My musical interest moved away from the pop scene after my first album though. So I also had to relearn some things when I started working with other artists."
Tori was watching him intently as he spoke. Hearing him talk about how he noticed things about her, even if they were things anyone could have noticed if they were around her enough, made her feel like they had stayed in each other's lives all these years. It made her throat squeeze, and it made it hard to swallow. Because not only that, hearing him talk about how he started to advance his music years ago with others made her feel a jealousy she wasn't entitled to. I wanted to evolve with him…
Andre couldn't help but see a lot of emotions pass through Tori's eyes as she took in what he had to say, and he wanted to talk to her about it. He was shocked at how badly he just wanted to talk to her. He wished Eva and Emily would leave, but that would also be a bad idea. Siobhan and Deon could show up at any point and the thought of being interrupted once they began talking…
"Sing with the emotions you're feeling right now," he said lowly.
Tori understood what he was saying, and though her throat still felt tight, she pushed through it and sang like she was having a private conversation.
"We're timeless, timeless... Like stars that never fade, we're timeless. Timeless, my love." Tori's voice sounded tough in her own ears, like she was trying to hold back tears, and all her sinuses were working hard to keep going. "Every moment that we've made. The world keeps spinning but we stay…Never thought I'd find that someone to rewind. It was always going to be…you to bring all my broken clocks back to life. Hours turn to seconds when you're near…minutes feel like lifetimes when you're not…here…"
"That was great, Tor," Andre complimented, keeping his tone neutral to keep himself from getting too caught up in the moment, "That was like a personal show."
Tori smiled forcefully, still trying to shake the feelings bubbling up from before, "But still a show?"
"Almost like a poetry slam. You spoke more than you sang."
"I did?"
"You didn't notice?"
She gave a breathy laugh, "I think I was too in my head."
"So, basically," Andre deducted, "We need to find a balance between you losing yourself in the lyrics but not losing yourself so much that you don't realize what you're doing."
"You would think I'm a complete novice," she laughed again, squeezing the notebook in her hands like it was a lifeline.
"No, a novice wouldn't have been able to sound like that," Andre couldn't help but stare at her and noticed how red her nose still was, like she was holding a lot back. He scooted his chair closer again and grabbed the top of the notebook, tugging gently but not in a way that made it seem like he wanted to take it from her. It brought her attention back to him and finally out of her head; both of their hands were on the notebook now and it somehow carried an energy that felt intimate.
Being this close to her made him realize just how amazing she really did still look. He could have placed her high school picture next to her and the only real difference would be in her eyes. There was still a sparkle there, but they also held years of…Andre couldn't place it yet. He wanted to figure it out.
"Sorry we're late," Siobhan announced as she and Deon walked into the studio. She had large dark sunglasses covering her eyes and her hair was in a messy ponytail. She and Deon both held a drink carrier with four large coffees in each, "Please don't fire us, boss."
"You're fired," Andre shot back, releasing his pull on the notebook. Without his weight on the other side of it, Tori suddenly felt weightless, like he just let go of her hands and now she was freefalling.
"Great, that means I can go back to bed," Siobhan placed the drink carrier on the conference table before taking off her glasses, revealing bags under her eyes. She grabbed one of the coffees and started all but chugging it, waving her free hand to the other coffees to let the room know they were free to take what they wanted.
"You need to stop keeping her out so late," Andre told Deon who seemed quite unfazed and wide awake.
Deon slumped down on the couch against the wall and immediately picked up the guitar, "I'm not her babysitter. And she has some weird FOMO thing going on."
"Don't talk about me like I'm not right here," Siobhan said, but didn't try to deny or defend what he just said otherwise. She put on a smile for Tori when they met eyes, "Hey, girl. Hopefully bossman didn't make you come in too early."
"Oh no, I wanted to be here early," Tori defended, not even realizing that she was still gripping the damn notebook like her life depended on it.
"Uh-huh, I bet you did," Siobhan said ominously. It made Deon chuckle and shake his head, but he kept his eyes down on the guitar strings as he strummed.
Tori was almost scared to ask what she even meant by that.
"Just so everyone is aware," Emily spoke up, interrupting wherever that previous conversation was about to go, "I'm going to be driving home to visit my family in Michigan, so I'll be leaving Tori in your ever capable hands."
Siobhan snorted behind her coffee cup and shot Andre a look, "Capable hands…"
"You need to stop," Andre told her sternly. She was always one to want to crack a joke or innuendo, but he felt way too targeted by her today.
"I've been looking for a place close by for Tori to rent in six-month increments. The hotel she's staying at right now is going to lose its novelty fast…"
"It does have a mini bar though," Tori countered, though she had yet to even touch anything in it.
"Oh, fancy," Siobhan commented, "I need to come visit soon."
"With that being said," Emily continued, "Anyone know anyone renting? Any nice places close by? Specific locations to avoid?"
Siobhan held out her hands, her eyes finally coming to life, her skin almost sucking up the dark bags under her eyes, "O-M-G, are we all about to go house hunting?"
"Now you got her started," Deon said, ignoring the pointed look she shot him.
"I actually do know a realtor that could help us out," Andre announced, pulling out his phone and flip through his contacts.
Groaning, Siobhan plopped down beside Deon on the couch, "You're not talking about Whitney, are you? She is so annoying and her crush on you is too obvious. She reeks of desperation."
Andre continued to scroll until he got to who he wanted, starting to text, "I mean, you're not wrong. But she does have a lot of great connections and intel in the housing market."
Tori felt like this conversation was going in a direction she was not quite ready for. It had nothing to do with this Whitney lady having a crush on Andre, but with going house hunting on her first full day in the area. Besides staying with her mom when she could, she was used to life in temporary hotel rooms. The knowledge that it was only temporary kept her motivated and going. A whole house for only her, even if just renting, felt like a huge difference.
After Andre sent the text, he noticed the way Tori looked, "Hey, we don't have to find the right place today. Just gonna look around."
"But…that's not what I'm here to do," she countered, again looking at the words in the notebook.
Andre smirked, "Now who's being the workaholic?"
"Oh, haha," she was being sarcastic, but matched his smirk.
"Besides," he continued, momentarily ignoring the text message that he already got back, "Environment means a lot when working on something new. It can either stress you out or inspire you." Andre checked his message, "She said there's a few that just came available near Pilsen. Wanna go?" He asked Tori.
And at first, she really didn't, but the way he asked suddenly changed her mind. "Yeah, okay…let's go."
"Whoo! Make sure everyone grabs a coffee," Siobhan jumped up and, though she already had a cup in her hand, grabbed another one, "Six people and eight coffees means two people get lucky. I'm one of them."
Emily asked Tori if she needed her to come or if she could stay behind and take care of some things before she made her trip to Michigan. Tori could see that Eva planned to stay behind and do work as well, so she winked at Emily and told her she'd be fine. Emily smacked the back of her own hand as an innocent threat to Tori.
"I'll drive," Andre offered, grabbing his keys.
"Shotgun!" Siobhan claimed.
"Tori's sitting in the front," Andre countered simply.
"Dang," Siobhan said but didn't sound that broken up about it. She kicked Deon in the leg and told him to get up. Tori laughed at how excited the younger girl was over simply looking at some houses, but felt like the excitement was contagious. Plus, the car ride would give her some time to think about how Andre wanted her to sound when she sang Timeless. Maybe she'd get some inspiration on the way.