Step after step after step after step…
As unlikely as it sounded, JC was taking a stroll around the city of Orlando at an indecent hour of the night.
There was no wind but the air was cool and the sky was cloudless, making the light that surrounded the city glow even brighter in contrast. The sidewalk beneath him sparkled from the streetlights up above, giving the illusion of a pathway of glitter and broken glass. Silence blocked out the background noises of honking horns and radios and JC was allowed to look around and hear the real sounds of the evening.
Everywhere he turned he heard music. The sights and images that his eyes took in traveled to his brain as sound. Poetry in motion, as some call it, but for him it was a sympathy standing still. An old man across the street. What music provided the soundtrack to his life? A neon glowing sign. What things had it witnessed in its existence, what stories and words could it come up with had it the ability to write? All of these things he saw and interpreted into a song in his head, music notes filling his vision, a couple of minutes of his passion put onto a disc to be listened to by a few or a hundred ears.
He never loved music more than when he was out on these walks, in the open quiet of the world.
Without a conscience effort, his feet eventually led him back to either the aqua apartments or the residential area. This night, it was the residential area. He had kept the key to the house, although he officially didn’t live there anymore, and used it to open the door. The house was asleep and dark. JC put his jacket on a chair and took off his shoes, moving around as if the house belonged to him and only him and he was alone in it now. He walked up the stairs and entered the room that waited for him, but instead of changing into his sleeping attire, he took a seat at the desk and took out three pieces of paper from his back pocket. Then he searched the desk for a writing utensil and then, after finding a pencil, smoothed out the papers onto the desk and let his mind drift.
He thought of her.
There was no need to specify the her in his mind, there was only one girl that, when he looked at her, invoked music within him. He did not try to decrease the value of what she was to him by attempting to understand what had happened; he accepted her naturally, finding a small amount of torturous pleasure in knowing that his mind registered someone else’s existence for once, and how easily it was for that someone to fade from his life, how easy it was to lose her.
Technically, he thought, I have lost her. In the lonely room, he smiled faintly, remembering their last encounter. She had put on a convincing display of actually believing that she had control over the situation, that she would not come see him again. And maybe she wouldn’t. But he had seen it in her eyes that she knew she couldn’t forget about him just as he would not forget about her. If he needed to, he would find her. His mind did not go beyond that thought.
Putting the girl aside in his mind, he bent his hand and started revising the sentences on the paper.
~~
Justin was walking in circles around his room, holding the phone to his ear. His voice was on the brink of becoming shouting.
“No Karen, you are the one who is yelling.”
On the other end, a calm, controlled voice said, “Justin, you do love to pretend don’t you? Just admit it, you’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous,” he stated through clenched teeth. “There’s nothing in this world you could do that would make me jealous, especially of you. Go with him then, I don’t care.”
“Clearly.”
“Why not just go with every rich jock that your parents set you up with? I don’t care. You can do whatever you want. I don’t even like you that much anyway.”
“Oh, is that right?” she asked, amused.
“Yes, that’s right. In fact, I don’t think I want to see you again, ever. What do you think about that?”
She didn’t hesitate. “If that’s the way you’d like it Justin.”
“It is.”
“Very well. Good-bye.”
To his amazement he heard a dial tone. He slammed the phone down, trying to think of the proper curse word to yell, but coming up with none to fit the anger he felt. The young man stood in the room, letting his breathing calm down, staring at the phone. The young man who had always found it a game to toy with other people, to control them, the young man who had met his match in a pretty, rich girl.
The strange thing was, that wasn’t the first time they had broken up.
Quickly, he went to his closet to change into a silk black shirt and was putting his shoes on when the phone rang. “Hello,” he said rudely.
“Justin? It’s me, Lou.”
His tone did not change. “What do you want?”
He could almost hear the fat cheeks of the man on the other end move to smile.
“Nothing from you, son. I called for JC. He isn’t answering at his apartment and so I assumed he’d be there.”
“Hold on.” Justin removed the phone from his ear to finish putting on his shoe and then lifted it, handling it as if it were a poisonous scorpion, and walked across the hallway. He entered the room and found JC sitting at the desk, the same position he had been in all night. He had not slept.
“JC, it’s the tyrant.”
JC’s face did not cringe as the rest did, but he exchanged a look with Justin that told him that he was as displeased as Justin had been to talk to him. “All right, I’ll take it.”
Justin handed him the phone. “I’m going out for a bit.”
“Where?”
“You don’t want to know.” He left the room.
With a reluctant air, JC lifted the phone to his ear. “What is it, Lou?”
“Happy greetings to you to JC. How have you and the boys been? Enjoying your little vacation time?”
“Little is the proper word,” JC muttered. “Skip the pleasantry’s and tell me what you want.”
Lou’s jubilant tone disappeared, replaced by his normal, more fitting serious tone. “I’ve been hearing some things son. Concerning the new record, that is. You and the boys will have to begin recording soon, you realize? It’s being released in the fall and, since you have that tour coming up and so much promotion, I hope you understand the very limited time frame we’re working with here.”
“I do.”
“And? When do you plan to get started them?”
“When I get the right producers.”
“The producers have been picked already.”
“Lou, you know what I want and the circumstances in which I’ll work. The others are in agreement with me.”
“My boy,” he said sternly, “What made you think you could negotiate the terms of recording? The record label and I are only doing what is best for you. You want to continue being successful, don’t you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It should. JC, it’s rather unhealthy for a young man such as yourself to have so much ambition and yet no taste for money.”
“Now Lou, let’s not talk about health now, shall we?”
Lou had never been one to enjoy sarcasm, even though JC’s tone had not been sarcastic. “Look here JC. You have a contract to live up to. You’ll make that record.”
“Only under my terms.”
“That’s not a wise attitude to take if you know what’s good for you.”
“Threats aren’t healthy either, Lou.”
“Who the hell…” The voice faded off and a throat was cleared. “I’m going to set up an appointment in which I expect the group, including yourself, to show up and review the arrangements for the first song you shall be recording. Don’t defy me JC, I’m the one who brought you here, and I can certainly rip you from the spotlight just as easily. Be there.”
Before JC could respond, Lou hung up. JC put the phone down carefully and, with just as much ease, returned back to the papers he had been working on.
~~
Karen casually hung up her own phone and then brushed her hands together, as if removing an invisible grime from her fingers. “That settles that.” She looked across her lavished living room, to the girl who sat in a large leather armchair, her face turned to the window, the quiet, sad expression on her face defying the sunlight that shone on it. “Sita, must you look so sorrowful?”
“I’m sorry Karen. I’m not very good company today.”
“This isn’t about the arranged date you have with J.J., is it? Really, I was just as shocked as you were when my mother came in and told me that I was scheduled to see Neal this evening. The nerve of them, manipulating our mothers into making us have dinner with them.” She walked over to her brick fireplace and looked into the large oval mirror that hung above it, fixing her hair. “I always knew J.J. was a dog, but I never expected Neal to sink to his level. Oh well,” she threw her arms up in the air, “I’ve never cared much for Neal anyway.”
“No,” Sita quietly said, her eyes focused on the window, “This isn’t about J.J.”
“Then dear, what is it? Joey isn’t giving you troubles, is he?”
“None at all. It’s nothing Karen.”
Karen approached her. “Have you spoken with Kal? What did she think of that man?”
A smile finally blessed her face, albeit a small one. “I’ve never seen her so happy. She’s fascinated with him, which is strange, because Kal is never interested in anyone she goes out with and this man, from what I’ve heard, would be the last person I could imagine would capture her attention. But it’s so wonderful. I love seeing her smile.”
“Those pop singers can do that to someone.”
“And you and Justin?”
“Better than ever.” A doorbell rang. “Speaking of which.”
Karen jogged to her front door, stopping the maid so she could answer it herself. Opening the door, she saw Justin standing outside, leaning on the doorframe with an irritated expression on his face. She feigned surprise and even a little annoyance. “Oh, Justin. I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”
“Cut the crap Karen.” He took her hand harshly and yanked her towards him, his mouth on hers in an instant. She didn’t fight him and, instead, wrapped her arms around his neck as he pushed her against the door, devouring her mouth. Then he lifted his head and she saw the irritation from his eyes was replaced with something else. He kissed her again, quickly, and then said, “Let’s go.”
“But what about the date I have with Neal?”
“You aren’t going on a date with him. You’re coming with me.”
She shrugged. “If I must then. I have to tell Sita good-bye darling.”
Hesitantly, he released her. “Hurry.”
Karen took her time going back to the living room.
Sita watched her walk in. “It worked?”
“Of course,” Karen answered with a wicked smile. “Tell my mother that I had an emergency that I had to take care of.”
“You know, you could have just asked him to come over and get you.”
“Yes, but that wouldn’t be any fun now would it? Now Sita, don’t go out with J.J. Find a way out of it. You don’t want to put yourself through that kind of torture.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Tell Justin I said hello.”
Karen cautiously watched her. “All right. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Good-bye,” she said, waiting until the other girl had left to return her gaze back to the window.
~~
In the hallway, recording artists and producers alike all stopped to gawk at the single figure making her way down. A young woman with sharp business clothes and a destination in her eyes. She stood out from the rest, not because of her beautiful face, but her sharp, calculated movements. The woman had a power to her, an obvious character trait that when she had it set in her mind, she could stop the wind from blowing.
The people wondered if she were an executive, producer, or possibly an artist.
Kalika paid no attention to them and stopped at one of the doors, entering without knocking. Inside the room, just as she had expected, sat a single man. He looked up at her, surprised. “Hi.”
“Hello.” She closed the door behind her. “Do you remember me?”
“Yes.”
“We never exchanged numbers and, as I was driving by, thought I’d give it a chance and see if you were here. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No.” He turned back to his work. “I’m busy though.”
She smiled, walking towards him. “This is a good studio, but, you know, there are better out there.”
“Yea, I know.”
“Why don’t you go to one of those?”
“Because this is the one owned by my record label.”
She took off her coat and threw it onto the couch, making herself comfortable. “Why don’t you switch to a better record label then?”
He looked up again, grinning. “I’ve been considering it, but it’s not that easy.”
“Contracts?”
“Yes.”
She cringed. He laughed.
Walking forward, her eyes squinted, looking through the glass and into the vocal room. “Those microphones look terrible.”
“The quality sucks.”
“How many tracks is the recorder?”
“24, but there’s only a 4 track digital recorder.”
“That’s it? How awful. Where’s the piano room?”
“Down the hall. There’s only one studio that has it.”
“You’re kidding,” she said, genuinely appalled. “How can you be expected to make the best music you can make with this equipment?”
JC looked her over, inspecting her as if he were making sure she wasn’t a spy or enemy that he shouldn’t betray too much to. “You know your studios, I see. Interested in producing?”
“Very. You?”
“Not really.”
Laughing, she said, “Yes, I didn’t think you were either. Do you mind if I stay and watch?”
He shrugged. “If you’d like.”
Just as before, she took a seat at the couch, watching him. Her eyes never left him, she barely even moved. He again paid no attention to her and after a couple of hours, he turned to stretch and looked surprised to see her there. “Oh, hey.”
“Hello.”
“You’re weird.”
“Why?”
“You didn’t say a word the entire time. That’s very unlike a girl.”
“There’s no need to categorize me, thank you.” She checked her watch. “It’s getting late. Would you like to get something to eat? An early dinner?”
He glanced around the room, checking to see if there was still something he wanted to finish up, and then looked back at her. “Ok.”
They went to a Denny’s down the street. It was his choice. During the meal he barely said anything and she didn’t try to fill the space with meaningless conversation. They just sat and ate, speaking when necessary, watching each other mostly. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. Even while eating, there was something about him that insisted that she watch him, appreciating every movement of his hands, of his mouth. Her mind tried to place what it was about him. She had seen it before somewhere. He had something in his eyes, just like...just like...like...
His eyes reminded her of Sita.
It was then that she noticed that he was staring back at her. Blushing, she looked away and picked up her fork.
“You know.” It was the first time he had said anything without her having to ask a question first. “Joey was right. We have a lot in common.”
“Yes, we do.”
He pushed his plate aside and leaned his forearms onto the table. “Would you like to come to a party on Friday?”
“You’re actually going to a party?”
“My friend Justin is having it and I always have to make an appearance at those things. It would be nice to have you there to talk to. Afterwards, we could go to the studio or something.” He smiled playfully. “I’ll even let you mess around with the outboard.”
Her heart had stopped beating, the world has stopped turning. Kalika was not breathing. She covered the reaction by rolling her eyes. “You are far to kind. This Friday?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t hide her disappointment. “Actually, I have a business function I must attend with my father.”
“Ok,” he said normally, not sharing in her disappointment. “No big deal.”
“Maybe some other time?” she added, her eyes wide with hope. “I’m always driving around here. I could stop by the studio or something.”
“All right. Well anyway, I better get going.”
“Back to the studio?”
“Yup.” He moved from the booth, taking the check and leaving a bill on the table for a tip. It was a ten. “See ya.”
Kalika had already decided that evening that she was in love with him.
~~
The limo was taking its time pulling up to the front steps of the mansion.
Sita sat limply in the back, next to J.J. who made another advancement to take her hand, and which she avoided again. The date had been tiring, trying to pay attention to J.J.’s boring stories and having to avoid him touching her was taking its toll on her and she was exhausted. He expressed his concern over her behavior, stating how unlike her it was, and to which she had to resist snapping “Well, I’m not the girl everyone used to know.”
Her heart felt like a brick in her chest.
“Sita, I hope you found the evening as enjoyable as I did,” J.J. was saying, leaning in close to her. “You look wonderful.”
“Please, you’re crowding me.” Her hand was already on the door handle. “Thank you very much for dinner and the theatre. I’ll be sure to inform my mother that you fulfilled the evening promises that you had made to her.”
“You aren’t upset over that, are you? Your mother was actually the one who suggested we go out.”
“I’m sure,” she muttered. The car finally came to a halt.
“Sita!”
It was too late. She had already jumped out of the car and slammed the door, lifting her gown as she raced up the stairs, like Cinderella, but instead she was running away from the carriage and towards the ball. She yawned as she approached her front door, but stopped short when she saw someone about to ring the doorbell.
“Joey?”
His head shot up and he smiled when he saw her. “Hey, I was coming to visit you.” He walked towards her, noticing her face. “Sita, you look really tired. What happened? Are you all right?”
She sighed and, when he was close enough, flung herself into his arms. Her eyelids closed and she rested her head against his shoulder, a wave of relaxation washing over her. “Joey, I’m so glad you’re here.”
He grinned to himself. “Come on. Let’s go inside.” He held onto her as she opened the front door and then lifted her up to carry her up the stairs. She giggled but yawned again, ready to fall asleep in his arms.
“I hope you won’t be to tired on Friday.”
“What’s Friday?” she asked.
“The party. You are going, aren’t you Sita?”
She barely heard the question, her eyelids like cement. “Yes…yes, ok. I’ll go.”