A Melody from the Heart

They were right about her, but she didn’t know that I wasn’t going to give up so easily, I was way too stubborn. I had always wondered how different my life would be right now if I had just listened to the producers and their suggestions...

Audrey walked out of her New York City apartment. The bitter cold of February hit her as soon as she stepped out onto the sidewalk, and she wrapped her scarf and her coat tighter around her body. She was used to it being this temperature, and to be honest, she preferred the cold over the sweltering humidity of the summer.

She had bought and furnished her apartment on her own just around a year ago. Her parents had hung the fact that they had provided her with everything she ever needed in life over her head for so long, that she wouldn’t accept their help. She didn’t need their help anymore, anyway. This way, she could say she earned this on her own, and no one could make her feel guilty about enjoying living in her very own apartment.

Audrey was currently on her way to the record company once more. She had finished her recording session the previous day, but when she had returned home that night, there was a message on her answering machine, asking her to come in one more time. She assumed it had something to do with money, which she was still going to refuse taking. The orchestra she had just recorded for had been one she had been looking up to for most of her life. When they came to her with an offer, she was completely flattered, and she refused to accept money from them since it had been one of her lifelong dreams to work with them.

She walked with the flow of the crowd, like someone who had lived in New York their whole life always did. She knew how to cross the street without getting run over, and she knew how to maneuver through large groups of people. Growing up, her family had a driver that could take her anywhere in the city she wished, but she always preferred to walk, as long as the distance wasn’t too long. There was something about this city that still had Audrey in awe after all of these years, and walking was the best way to appreciate that.

She stopped quickly into her favorite coffee shop to pick up a quick latte, and in just a few minutes she was on her way once again.

Audrey enjoyed living on her own more than anyone would ever know. She had always preferred to be by herself rather than around people, and lately her new apartment had been her new found sanctuary. That may have seemed anti-social of her, but if you knew about Audrey’s childhood, you would have wanted the same exact thing.

Her family was more than wealthy since they came from old money. This may have seemed wonderful at first, but Audrey had always wished she could have been born into a normal family. True, she probably wouldn’t have had as many opportunities to advance in her music career if this had been the case, but hey, she could always dream if she wanted to.

Since before she could remember, Audrey’s life had been an endless parade of parties, charity events, and social gatherings. Her mother and father were in an elite group of adults, and to them, appearances were everything. Every day of her life, Audrey always felt like she had been under constant scrutiny. She was always being compared to the children of her parents’ friends, and she hated the fact that she had to watch her every move.

Fortunately, Audrey always had her tremendous talent on the violin to help her through these times. Playing was her escape from the world, and sometimes she thought it was the only thing that was keeping her sane anymore. It was also something that her parents always made sure everyone knew.

To Audrey, being the best wasn’t what was important to her. They only thing that mattered was that she put her heart into playing, whether it was one of Mozart’s symphonies in front of a sold out concert hall or a warm up scale in front of no one but herself.

She finally reached the building the record company was located in, and she pushed on the glass doors, taking herself out of the cold once again. She checked in at the front desk, and they told her to go to the fifth floor, where Ryan was waiting so they could start their meeting.

Audrey made her way to the elevator and when she reached the fifth floor, she went to where she knew Ryan’s office was located. Before she even reached his office, she could see Ryan and his assistant, Glen, sitting there chatting about something that seemed important.

She knocked on the door before she entered. Audrey knew she didn’t have to, but she always liked to be polite as possible. That was another thing about coming from a rich family; good manners had been engraved in her mind for forever.

Ryan stood up when she entered and greeted her warmly, even though she knew he had been frustrated with her yesterday. Audrey had always been a perfectionist, but the only problem with music was that it was impossible for it to ever be perfect. Each musician was supposed to interpret a piece of sheet music in their own way. There were some people who like to play just what was written, which was good, but it wasn’t what made them into an instrumentalist of Audrey’s level. She found the only way to get as close to perfect as possible was to be satisfied with what you had just played. Every time she had to record something, she never kept it unless she thought she played it to the best of her ability.

“Ms. Townsend, I’m glad you could make it back here today. I know I called you with short notice,” Ryan said as he took a seat. He motioned for Audrey to sit in the chair that was on the other side of his desk. “There is something that we need to ask of you, so that’s why I called you to come back today.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble for me to come in,” she replied. “There’s just one thing, though. If this is about accepting compensation for my work yesterday, I already told you that I wasn’t going to take any form of payment.”

“Yes, I’m aware of your conditions,” Ryan said. She could tell he was getting annoyed again. She couldn’t help it though; she always stuck with her ways, and usually no one could ever change her mind. “Yesterday, we received another request for you. We were asked whether you would be willing to work with one of the artists signed to our label.”

“Well, that depends,” Audrey said. “Who is it?”

“They were listening in to part of your recording session yesterday, and they wanted you to play on a few of the tracks on their upcoming album. The postponed their release date at least three times now, and our company is trying to get them to finish their album as fast as possible so they can finally release it,” Ryan said. Audrey could tell he was delaying telling her who had put in the request. That meant he already knew she was going to say no. “They’re a rock band from California called Avenged Sevenfold.”

The only thing Audrey could think to do, as horrible as it sounded, was laugh. “What could a rock band possibly want with a violinist?” Audrey asked, trying to contain her laughter. “Unless I’ve had this wrong the whole time, classical music and rock music are as far as you can get from each other. They’re complete opposites! I’m sorry, Ryan, but my answer is no.”

“That’s what I told them,” Glen muttered under his breath from beside her.

“Yes, we told them that was going to be your answer,” Ryan said shaking his head. “The lead singer told me to offer you whatever amount of money it would take for you to say yes.”

“And you know it isn’t money that sways my decision any closer to yes,” Audrey said. “Why do they want me, anyway? I’m sure there are plenty of studio musicians. Underneath the loud jumble of guitars, drums, and screaming, I’m sure they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”

“I know, I told them that, too,” Ryan said. “I wasn’t expecting you to say yes, but they wanted me to at least try asking you.”

“Well, you have my answer,” Audrey said, starting to get impatient. She was a little annoyed that she had been called to come all the way down here for something that could have been discussed over the phone.

“Yes, and I will tell their lead singer your decision right away,” he said. “But just a little piece of advice: you could at least pretend to be a little bit flattered that they asked you to record with them. They must have thought you were pretty talented to have asked for you personally.”

“Well, Ryan,” Audrey said coldly. She didn’t like it very much when people criticized her. “At the risk of sounding rude, I practiced my violin all day every day since I was four in order to become a concert musician, not a recording artist that works with garbage. I lend out favors to people I want to work with, other than that, I perform on my own.”

“Yes, well, I think we’re done here,” Ryan replied with a stiffened jaw. She could tell she had pushed his buttons enough, and she was satisfied with the result. He was a producer that worked with mainstream artists every day. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t know how much different the world of musical performance was. A well sought after performer didn’t lend their services to just anybody.

She knew that people often perceived her, for lack of a better word, as a bitch, but it was just how she was raised. She didn’t want to be that way, but she had learned to be cold and unfeeling ever since her parents had treated her that way. She used to believe she was a good person deep down somewhere, where the real Audrey resided, but she wasn’t so sure anymore. She had been pretending for so long now that she didn’t know if there was someone better inside of her. The thought made her more terrified than anyone could imagine.

“Yes, I think we are,” Audrey agreed as she stood up and left his office. When she rounded the corner into a deserted hallway, she leaned against the wall and sighed as she closed her eyes. Oh, how she wished she could change sometimes, but that would mean she would have to learn to be compassionate and empathetic again, and she didn’t know if she could do that.

People thought Audrey had an easy life, but they were sorely mistaken. After everything she had been through, she had learned sometimes it’s easier not to feel anything at all. She had been stone cold for so long now that she couldn’t even remember the last time she had cried.

Audrey decided her mini break from reality was over and she continued her way out of the building with her head held high and her dignity intact. She had recovered from her one moment of emotional weakness without anyone noticing, and her impenetrable outer wall was, once again, intact.