Background: Adam and Sophie are members of the rock/pop band Xenith. Sophie has also started the band Obsession to showcase her solo work; she’s active in both bands. She and Adam went through a very public and acrimonious breakup of their romantic relationship a few years prior, though they’ve continued to play in Xenith.
The term “track” is sometimes used here as a synonym for the verb “record.” The term “cans” is used as a synonym for “headset.” Lennie is producer as well as engineer for Sandy’s song, with only Neal assisting him; that’s why I don’t mention anyone else. The term “studio” can be a bit confusing. Used here, it refers to the specific room that the artist stands in to sing or play, not a building. If anything else confuses you, drop me a comment.
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Sophie glanced at the ceiling and her lips thinned into a line. She hung the headset on the mic stand hook.
“He just can’t give you a simple compliment,” Sandy said, hanging up his own cans.
“He’s said it before. He’s such a—whatever. You wrote a beautiful song. How did you come up with that rhythm?”
“I was thinking about how the ocean creeps up and slides back, and keeps going up and down. I just don’t get how the two of you can work together.”
A tired smile touched her mouth. “Well, we’re both too stubborn to quit Xenith. Without the outlet Obsession gives me, I might have strangled him ages ago. Honey, if you want help with lyrics or music, come over to my place sometime. I like to keep busy.”
Maybe he’d died and gone to heaven. “Really? You mean it?”
“Sure. If Adam knows I’ve got a friend over, he’ll leave me alone. Mostly though, it’s very satisfying to help somebody do something they didn’t think they could. I’ll leave you my private number and you let me know.”
“Damn! I’d love that. I’ve got a bunch of stuff that’s been giving me headaches for months. You know, all you have to do—never mind. I’ve got some tracking coming up but as soon as that’s done, I’ll call you.” All you have to do is tell Adam not to come over, or just don’t let him in. But you guys must have one hell of a complicated relationship and I don’t want to get in the middle of it.
They went into the control room. Lennie’s hands flew over the board. “Listen to this, everybody.”
He played the whole track with a touch of reverb added to Sophie’s vocal. That was the proverbial frosting on the cake. Sandy nodded along as he listened. A shiver ran up his spine. He grinned. It might be the first of his songs to go gold.
Sophie asked for some paper and didn’t seem to listen as Lennie and Neal enthused about the song. She waited until everybody was saying goodbye to slip Sandy the paper with her number.
Adam must have seen though. On his way out, he winked at Sandy and said, “Another one bites the dust.”
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