Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Trent adjusted underneath her. Bree watched as he blinked a few times, and then his eyes opened. “Hey, what are you doing awake so early?”

“How do you know what time it is?” she asked, leaning her head on her hand so that she could stare down at him.

“By the sun,” he replied. “I’m guessing it’s not seven yet.”

Bree glanced at the clock. He was right. It was 6:53. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Too excited about your big day?”

Nodding, Bree trailed her fingers along his bare chest. They hadn’t gone all the way yet, though they’d been close, and she thought she was ready, but she didn’t want to rush him. Maybe before they headed to the studio…. She pulled her thoughts off of that. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“No, that’s okay. You know I’m a morning person. Want me to make you some breakfast while you get ready?”

She smiled. He was so sweet. And thoughtful. And perfect. “That would be awesome.” She kissed him, letting her lips linger a little longer than she’d initially planned, and then headed off to the bathroom.

When she was done showering, she headed to the kitchen, following the scent of bacon. Trent had gone to great lengths to make a wonderful breakfast, and Bree’s stomach growled in recognition of his efforts as she dug into eggs, bacon, toast, and orange juice. Once they were done, Trent went to get cleaned up, and then at a quarter until 9:00, they headed over to the studio.

Bree would’ve been lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. Picking her bandmates was critical. She knew she wouldn’t have the final say; there’d be executives from the record company there, as well as Zelda, and who knew who else. Probably some sort of marketing experts who could tell them what sort of vibe their look gave off. All she knew was she wanted talented people who were easy to get along with. The last thing she needed was more drama in her life.

If Trent was nervous, she couldn’t tell. He had to be uncomfortable, she figured. After all, he was entering a world he’d never had any interaction with. She imagined she’d feel out of place if he asked her to help him pick new accountants. But he knew he was mostly there for moral support, and she felt so much more calm with his hand in hers than she would’ve if she’d been doing this alone.

Trent pulled into the parking lot outside of the studio a few minutes before she was meant to be there. “Are you ready?” he asked.

“I think so. Thanks, Trent. You’re amazing, you know that?”

He grinned, shrugged, and ran his hand across the back of his neck as he always did when he was nervous. “I try.” He looked up at her, and she couldn’t help but slide over and kiss him. “Come on. Let’s go put the next great band together.”

Laughing, she climbed out of the vehicle, excited to see where this would lead. Nothing could get her down at this point. Nothing.

Zelda wrapped her arms around Trent the moment she saw him, leaving Bree laughing. “There he is! The man who inspired the song that has inspired so many love birds! It’s lovely to meet you in person!”

“Thank you,” Trent said, his face a little pink from the attention. “It’s nice to meet you, too. I’ve heard so many nice things about you.”

Zelda looked at Bree and smiled. “That’s good to hear. Bree is one of my favorites.” She wrapped her arm around Bree and pulled her close.

As soon as Zelda let her go, the manager was back to business. “Come with me,” she said, waving her arm and leading Bree and Trent back toward one of the studio rooms. “I’ve got some folks assembled I’d like for you to meet. We have auditions scheduled for the next few hours. We’ll have the prospective candidates come in, play for a few minutes in the studio so we can talk without them hearing, and then we’ll arrange call backs for anyone we’d like to hear play together. While it’s important that the individual musicians sound good, we need them to sound cohesive as well, as I’m sure you know.”

“That sounds perfect,” Bree noted. “When are call-backs?”

“Next Monday,” Zelda said. She pulled open the studio door and gestured for them to go through ahead of her.

Two men and a woman Bree had never met before sat behind the panel in the small recording space. They all stood as they came in, and Zelda stepped up to introduce them. “Bree, Trent, this is Alvin Cook, one of the chief music engineers here at Sonic Music. This is Sally Henderson, executive in charge of new musicians, and Jordan Right, chief sound engineer.”

Bree and Trent shook all of their hands, and they all exchanged pleasantries. She was glad Zelda had introduced him because she wasn’t sure if she should use the term boyfriend or not, but Zelda just said he was the inspiration for Bree’s most famous song, “Meant to Marry Me.”

Once they were all settled into chairs facing the currently empty recording stage, Jordan said, “I really love the soulfulness of your music. It definitely comes across in your recordings, and it’s even better live.”

Bree could feel her face pinking at the compliment. “Thank you,” she said, smiling. “I really appreciate that.” She was shocked someone of his caliber had gone to hear her live.

“What are you working on now?” Sally asked.

“I have several songs that I’m ready to record. Of course, with a band, we might make some changes, but I’ve got six I’m completely happy with.”

“Excellent,” the executive said. “Any hits?”

“All of them--I hope,” Bree said, which got a laugh out of everyone.

“This first guitarist has worked with several other recording artists on albums but hasn’t been in a band for a few years. I think you’ll like him.”

“Great,” Bree said, picking up the clipboard they’d set in front of her. It had information about each of the musicians they’d hear. They’d certainly worked a lot into the schedule. In the two hours they had available, they had forty musicians to listen to.

The door to the studio opened, and a man who appeared to be in his late twenties, possibly his early thirties, walked in. He gave a wave and then stepped over to one of the microphones. “Hi. Kell Spinks.” He was carrying a guitar case and quickly got out a Fender Telecaster, running a few scales before he plugged it into an amp and stepped up to the mic again. “Ready?”

“We’re ready when you are,” Alvin said into the microphone in front of him.

Kell looked pretty calm as he began to play. The song was “Little Wing” by Jimi Hendrix, one of the most difficult songs to play on guitar, but he not only played it well, it sounded great with just the solo guitar.

When he was done, Alvin turned the mic back on. “Thank you, Kell. Can you play a bit of one of Bree’s songs?”

“Sure,” he said, shaking his blond hair out of his eyes as he began to play one of Bree’s more complex songs, called “Night Life.” He played several measures before Alvin stopped him.

“Thanks a lot, Kell. We’ll be in touch.”

Kell gave a wave and unlooped the guitar strap from his shoulders. He carefully put his Telecaster back into its case and then waved again on his way out.

Everyone took notes on their clipboard, except for Trent, and Bree couldn’t help but smile at him. She knew he didn’t think his opinion counted, but it did to her. She liked Kell a lot. He seemed a bit shy, but definitely laidback, which was important to her. She didn’t want anyone who was going to be anxious or start drama.