A Melody from the Heart

Audrey and Brian never got along for some reason. She was rough with people and pushed them away easily, but it wasn’t all her fault. He never really wanted anything to do with her, but maybe that was because somehow, he saw how much she was going to turn my life upside down. I’ll never know for sure, but at that time, I wondered what his problem was. He was always laid back, but for some reason, something always rubbed him the wrong way with Audrey…

Audrey walked into the room and studied Brian, who was sitting on a chair, absent mindedly picking at his guitar. He was wearing a hat and a scowl, and she could tell today wasn’t going to go as easily as yesterday had. For some reason, he had the biggest attitude ever, one that could rival Audrey’s own, and she was getting sick of it.

The rest of the guys had treated her nicer than she ever had expected them to, but not Brian. Audrey had the feeling he was trying to intimidate her or make her uncomfortable enough to run away, but it wasn’t going to work. If she knew one thing, it was that she invented that game, and you could never beat someone at their own tricks.

It was a shame he was acting that way because Audrey had actually been looking forward to working with Brian. She recognized his skill in the songs she had listened to, although they had been just a tiny bit shaky. She was sure his sound and skill had matured in the time between then and now, though.

Normally, Audrey would have graced him with a small hello to be polite, but she figured she would only be greeted with silence in return. So, she stayed quiet because she could deal out attitude just as well as, if not better than, Brian could.

She took her violin out and began to warm up, not particularly caring if she was disturbing whatever he was doing or not. The dirty looks he gave her a few times did not go unnoticed, though. Thankfully, she didn’t have to stand in the hostile room for that much longer because everyone else arrived just a few minutes later.

“Let’s get started as soon as possible so we can get out of here,” Brian said as they entered. He went over to set up everything he needed to record again. Audrey tried not to think his sudden need to rush was in anyway related to her, but it was hard not to. She wasn’t going to let it bother her, though. She hadn’t practiced being a bitch all of these years for nothing, after all.

The song they were working on today was called Brompton Cocktail and it was at a much faster tempo than yesterday. She wasn’t nervous, though, because she was sure she would be able to handle it. Audrey and Brian were going to record together, so she was hoping if she could lower his ego a little bit, he would act a little bit less like an ice queen.

Matt gave her a reassuring smile, catching that Brian was in a bad mood again. Audrey was surprised how much she was beginning to warm up to Matt. He was just an example of how you could get along with someone you would never in a million years would expect to. A tiny part of her was starting to like who he was just a little bit, but that didn’t mean she was going to let up on the insults anytime soon.

“Audrey, did you warm up already?” Jimmy asked her. Matt told her Jimmy had come up with this song, too. Brian gave her a dirty look again, probably saying she had annoyed him with her scales and such, and, in return, she squinted her eyes back at him.

“Yes, I’m ready to play whenever Mr. Uptight over here is,” Audrey said, giving Brian a brilliant smile with her perfect teeth. He didn’t even dignify her insult by looking at her. She loved that she could push his buttons so much without even trying, but hey, if he could dish it out but he couldn’t take it, that wasn’t her fault.

“Okay,” Jimmy said, smiling a little bit from her comment. “We’ll give you a few bars and then you’re in.”

When Brian started playing, it was clear he was trying to outdo her volume wise. Instead of getting angry, though, she took it as a challenge. Audrey was going to show him how she didn’t need an amp to be loud.

They challenged each other back and forth through the first recording, and any annoyance Audrey had towards Brian faded away while she played. The violin was always her escape from everything, and it always cleared her head.

When they were done, by the look on everyone’s face, it was clear they had recorded something special, even if they didn’t quite like each other. Jimmy suggested a second recording, just to make sure the first was the best they were going to get. At his statement, Brian let out a poorly concealed sigh of annoyance.

“Are you afraid you’re not going to be able to keep up?” Audrey asked with a sideways smile. She knew he would be able to, but she liked the thought of making him doubt himself.

“I think you should be the one who’s worrying,” Brian said, not able to ignore her anymore. “This is my job. I have to be good at it.”

Audrey just smiled to herself as she prepared to record again. She figured she should let up on him a little bit. Clearly, he wasn’t taking her playful insults well. She was just trying to figure out what she had done to make Brian dislike her so much. She usually knew why people disliked her, and it was usually because she said something abrasive, but she was pretty sure she hadn’t really said much of anything to Brian.

With one final recording, Jimmy declared that this song was finally finished, meaning Audrey’s part on the album was finished as well. She always felt a sense of accomplishment when she was done with a task, especially if it was done well.

Their album just needed a few more finishing touches, and it would be done. Audrey wanted to leave, but Matt persisted that she stayed until they were done. He told her she was part of the album, too, which is why she needed to celebrate when it was over.

Instead of going to sit with most of the guys and a still sulking Brian, Audrey stuck around outside of the recording room to watch Matt sing. She sat next to Jimmy, who had treated her the nicest, aside from Zacky.

As she watched him, she noted how Matt definitely had the raspy singing voice that was usually characteristic of rock stars. She also wondered how he could scream so loud and so much without getting a sore throat. She didn’t think she could get even close to the powerful scream Matt had.

Like Audrey said before, she wasn’t a fan of screaming rock bands, but she was beginning to realize Matt and his band were so much more than that. She hated to admit it, but she was a little bit impressed by how much work he put into his music.

She watched him record everything by just being observant and not saying anything. He took what he did seriously, but he looked so relaxed when he sang. Audrey was enjoying watching him record because she liked the way his eyes squinted when he really gave a note everything he had. She also liked the way his t shirt strained over the muscles in his arms, but she was trying to put all her energy into focusing on something other than that. The last thing she needed right now was to be attracted to a tattoo covered rock star.

After about an hour, the look on Matt’s face told everyone that the album was finally finished. The look on everyone else’s face told Audrey they were glad he finally decided the album was in the condition to be released.

And, just a few moments later, Audrey found herself in a room filled with the sound of champagne bottles being popped and glasses being passed around in celebration. She noticed they wasted no time when it came down to having fun.

“To our picky lead singer who finally decided this album was good enough to let other people listen to,” Zacky toasted, holding up an overflowing glass. “And to the girl who looked past his craziness to help us finally finish this thing!”

They were all standing in a circle, and Matt was standing across from Audrey. He gave her a warm smile in response to Zacky’s toast.

“And to all of the hard work being over!” Zacky added quickly before drinking almost his whole glass of champagne in one shot. Matt had forced Audrey to stay, but she still felt like an outsider partaking in their celebration. There were other people there, too, but the bond between these five people was so strong. She doubted anyone could ever come in between them.

After that, Audrey did a whole lot of standing awkwardly in a corner while she watched everyone celebrate around her. She sucked it up for about twenty minutes because Matt had wanted her to stay, but she figured she had stayed long enough. They wanted to celebrate together, and she didn’t want to get in the way of it.

She went over to Matt, who was talking to one of the producers, and lightly touched him on the arm to get his attention. He turned around and by the look on his face, Audrey could tell he knew she was about to leave. He didn’t look happy.

“Hey, I think I’m going to get going,” Audrey said with a small smile. “I have to move on and make other people miserable because my work here is done. Besides, I think if I stick around any longer, Brian’s head might explode.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that again,” Matt apologized. “I really don’t know what’s up with him lately.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Audrey replied. “He makes me look like a nice girl, so it all works out in the end.”

“Why don’t you let me walk you home?” Matt asked, just as he had the previous day.

“I told you, I can take care of myself,” she replied. “Besides, you have lots of celebrating to do. You just finished your album, which is a big deal, so you should probably stick with your band for now.”

“They’ll be fine without me,” Matt said. He didn’t want her to leave because if she did, he knew he would never see her again. So, his mind had to work quickly to find an excuse to make her stick around longer. “And besides, I haven’t thanked you for helping me out.”

“You don’t have to thank me, I was just doing my job,” Audrey said. She was beginning to think this guy never could take a hint. “Besides, I thought that if I finally helped you, it meant you were finally going to stop following me around.”

“Ha ha,” Matt answered sarcastically with a smile. He knew she was never going to let him live that down.

“I think you should stick around so I don’t give Brian any more reasons to hate me,” Audrey said, sliding one arm into her coat. “I will let you walk me to the door though, if that makes you feel better. You can thank me on the way on the way there, that way, everyone wins.”

“Sure,” he replied with a smile as he opened the door for Audrey and followed her out. “So, what’s on your schedule now that you don’t have to help out with rock bands that annoy you?”

“Oh, you know,” Audrey said as she pushed the button for the elevator. “Playing the violin and occasionally making people cry; nothing out of the ordinary for me. When are you going back to California?”

“In a few weeks,” Matt said. “We’re going to wait until the album is completely finished, and then we’re going to be here for the release. The guys want to get home, but our record label thought it would be a good idea for us to stay here for a little bit to make bigger press on the East coast.”

“Ah, so there’s still a chance that I might find you hovering on my doorstep in the next couple of weeks,” Audrey said with a smile as they both stepped onto the elevator. She situated her bag so it was on her shoulder more comfortably. It was heavy, but that was because she basically kept her whole life in there. “At least I have a warning this time.”

“No, you don’t have to worry about coming home only to find me sitting on the steps in front of your building,” Matt said with a laugh. “Despite what the guys may have tried to make you believe, I’m not creepy.”

The elevator reached the bottom floor and they both got off, looking awkwardly at each other. They knew this was goodbye, but there was some odd thing that was keeping either of them from saying it. Audrey was thinking if he had anything to say, this was the time to do it. She was the girl after all, but maybe he needed a little bit of a push.

“Well, this is me,” Audrey said, slowly making as if she were about to leave. If you wanted someone to get to a point, she learned, there was nothing like giving them a time limit.

“Well, actually there was a reason I wanted to walk you home. I kind of wanted to ask you if you wanted to go to dinner,” Matt said as he rubbed the back of his neck. There it was, Audrey thought. Her technique always worked, she just didn’t think she was going to make him that nervous. “You know, as a thank you and all.”

Matt knew if he didn’t ask her everything at that moment, he wouldn’t have another chance. It made it necessary for him to look over the fact that he was just a little bit nervous.

“Yes, as a thank you,” Audrey said with a smile. Matt may have been a good singer, but he wasn’t a very good liar.

“Yeah, if you’re free tomorrow night, we could go then, you know? And since I know where you live and all, I’ll swing by your apartment and we can go together,” Matt said, stumbling through his sentence.

“So, it would be like a date,” Audrey said bluntly, knowing she was only going to make him stammer even more. He should have known by now that she didn’t like to make anything easy.

“No!” Matt said quickly. He knew Audrey wouldn’t have a problem rejecting him because she didn’t really handle people’s feelings like they were fragile. And, to be honest, Matt wasn’t really in the mood to be shot down at the moment. “Unless you thought I meant it to be like a date.”

It took everything in Audrey’s power not to laugh. She thought it was kind of adorable that someone who looked so tough was nervous to ask a girl like her out on a date. It was almost cruel to make this situation any more difficult for Matt.

“Alright,” Audrey said, pausing for a few seconds to stretch out his agony just a little bit more. “As long as I pick the place where eat. I can’t have you thinking that the Hard Rock Café is an acceptable place to take me on a date.”

“A date?” Matt asked.

“Yes, a date,” Audrey confirmed as she started to walk towards the door of the record building. The shocked look on Matt’s face let her know he never expected her to say yes to a date. “Come by at eight, and don’t be late. I hate it when people are late.”

As Audrey stepped out on the sidewalk, she allowed herself to have a self satisfied smile. She never imagined that someone like her would ever want to go on a date with someone like Matt, but there was just something about him that she couldn’t get out of her head. She was beginning to think it was because he was too stubborn to be pushed away like everyone else was.

He was different than what Audrey usually looked for in someone she could potentially date, but if there was one thing she had learned in the past few days, it was that sometimes, different could be a good thing.