1 : This Long Distance Thing...

QuickMemo 49

Last Modified: 14 Mar 03:52AM

-Finish Track 5, 9, 11 before 4th week

-Record Tr. 1-7 this month

-Mix Tr. 4, 8, 10 (bass Tr. 8 - Kyle & Janssen)

-KEZ interview - weekend - play 3 songs

-Call realtor ASAP - down payment

-Fund transfer Charlotte : 209 Bakersville, NY

-Start packing stuff for moving

Clutching her phone as she read through the rest of her to-do list, Veronica glanced up from the glowing screen.

Did someone just call her name out loud?

A lamppost lit a spot by the gate and she stood still and hugged her coat to herself, frowning that it was below 60 degrees tonight. Veronica zipped her coat up to her neck when a slow, frosty breeze fanned her slouching figure.

The nippy desert weather come nighttime just made her grumble. Why can't deserts just stay like deserts all day?

A weak buzzing sound from inside the studio building got her turning around. Finally, her coat-covered bandmates exited the recording studio.

Kyle, hands in his pockets, let out a cough and walked past the gothic-looking gate in a lazy pace. 

"You good?" Veronica shouted at her bandmate a good ten meters of pavement away.

Kyle only nodded, staring in the direction of the parking lot entry where she stood by.

Her eyes scanned the array of commercial buildings towering next to the studio. The streetlight nearest to the recording studio wasn't working, dimming half of the square lot.

"Five? Sure. We're still recording the third song. Haven't touched the vocals yet. Uh-huh. Ten at most," said someone at the door. Probably Dan, busy haggling on the phone again.

Padlocks clinked loudly while Kyle leaned on the gate, waiting like he had time to kill. He looked like he was massaging his forearm.

If she recalled correctly, their record producer had forced him into doing at least twenty takes for the third song of their new record. The repetitive motions of picking, strumming, and fretting for hours must have left his wrists and fingers feeling constricted and chafed.

After rsaving her ever handy to-do list (she wouldn't survive everyday life without it), Veronica waited for everyone left inside the studio to exit the well-lit threshold.

Beside the studio's steward stood Dan -- the band's official drummer -- locking up the main entrance.

"Night!" she shouted to the guys and gave a quick wave. "Tomorrow at eight?"

"Too freakin' early, but, I'll be here," replied Joe, the studio's steward and all-around handyman, grinning. He lit a cigarette before he walked past Kyle to pat him on the shoulder.

Kyle kept waiting by the gate, randomly kicking stones with his sneakers. For a moment, he chatted with Dan, whom they'd met in 2007 through a musical associate.

"Two rounds." Dan crossed his arms. "No? One and a half," she heard Dan say. Dan was convincing Kyle to waste an hour or so at some bar downtown.

"Maybe next week. This one's full-on viral; I can feel it." Kyle declined, referring to his cold and coughing as his excuse.

Veronica raked her fingers through her brown curls, the chill air making them frizzier than usual. She flung another glance to where she had parked her old sedan. The guys' cars, parked a few spots away, were the only ones nearby. She turned back to Kyle's direction. "You hitching?"

Kyle gave a nod. "Wait up."

As he came strolling over, she checked her phone. Maybe her boyfriend had called or left her another message.

Two new messages. Veronica smirked at how they were lengthier than his last. She opened Théo's message, only to end up pouting at his unfortunate news.

He couldn't fly to New York this month. Busy schedule again.

She'd been meaning to spend time with him, but his tight schedule lately just kept getting in the way. Théo had been modeling since he was 16 and he was based in Paris, so what they had was more of a long-distance thing.

It was something serious -- even when compared to her previous relationship that had a pretty impressive five-year run.

Another breeze forced her to rush towards her car, and Kyle followed quietly.

In seconds, she tapped out a short reply to Théo: 

"So u can't come over here this month? K see u in a few years. Ciao."  Veronica shoved her phone back inside her purse. The heels of her boots clicked against the damp pavement as they proceeded to the poorly lit parking lot.

When she looked behind, Kyle was already just a few steps away. "I'm ready to jump into bed and just melt from exhaustion."

"Want me to drop you off the drugstore?" she asked while trying not to laugh at his exaggerated sigh.

"Not dizzy anymore," Kyle mumbled. "Let's grab a drink."

"Not tonight, sir." She turned on her heels to face him, only to notice he wasn't in the same lively mood.

Grayish-white mists streamed out of his nose and mouth when Kyle sighed. "I thought you said yes." His dark brows furrowed.

"You okay?"

"Fine," he muttered, itching his few-days-old stubble. Kyle tucked a clump of his wavy hair behind his ear. They were already near her car, the hood a russet shade under the dull moonlight.

"You sound sick." Veronica placed the back of her palm on his forehead. Arguing he was feeling fine, Kyle opened the driver's door for her.

Théo texted back seconds later.

"I love you more than life itself please forgive me pretty pretty please with cherries and extra sweet icing on top," he wrote with a smiley.  Théo also teasingly asked her if she wanted him to quit his job so they could be together.

Veronica settled in the driver's seat, chuckled at his text, and composed a short reply telling him to call this weekend. Or whenever he got done with newly scheduled photo shoot work.

"Just need some sleep." Kyle shut the car door, trudged around the hood, and got in the passenger side. "Start the car. Wait for the guys to leave."

"Why?" she asked him, but he said nothing. They were finally alone when Kyle told her to hang about so they could talk. "What?" Veronica chuckled at his blank stare.

"When's he comin' over here?" Kyle slid down in his seat. The faint, bluish light coming from her dashboard didn't reach his face.

"Théo?" she asked, to which Kyle only nodded. "Had to cancel."

"Why?"

"Agency told him not to leave yet," she answered, a bit mindful of the weariness in his hoarse voice.

"Why? He's leaving his modeling agency in Paris?"

"No. I meant, leave for a short break," she clarified as she skimmed through messages in her inbox. "Some designer couldn't get that Canadian kid to open for the show. Asked for him instead. Wants him to do an ad." Veronica looked around. The whole street was too quiet; it was only eleven. "Hotel or drugstore?"

"I'm fine." With his elbow on the door's armrest, Kyle faced front and perched the side of his head on his hand. "When's he flying to New York?"

"Not sure. Why?" She shifted in her seat to get a better look at her bandmate. Maybe he wasn't quite thrilled about their new songs. He didn't seem so enthused in the booth earlier as they recorded the guitar parts for their second track. "You don't like the last bit. Wanna edit the intro, too?"

"It's fine," was all he muttered in reply. Kyle yawned before his lips took form of a thin line.

Who pissed in his coffee this morning?  "What, Harriet?" Veronica waited for his reaction, guessing his girlfriend was now too busy with her next book. When Kyle only sighed a quiet 'No', she asked, "She's still leaving for Montreal?"

"Next month."

"And you're arguing over it," she promptly mumbled in response. Every time he and Harriet would have it out, Kyle would always end up brooding about it for weeks on end. She'd long been familiar with the pattern.

Kyle only shook his head. He rejected a call when his phone rang, and then looked askance at her. "Why won't you go out? What, he's Mr. Monogamy now?"

At the question, Veronica gave a lopsided grin. She fixed her hair into a ponytail, and then started driving out of the quiet lot. "I'm just beat..." she murmured while she changed gear. "Have to be in and functioning before lunch and the chorus and verse is still a mess."

Kyle kept quiet in his seat. When she again asked him what was of the matter, he just rumpled his forehead more. "My head hurts. Just head back to the hotel." He scratched the tip of his nose. "Left my stuff there."

"You're not gonna check out?"

"Nope." While he scrolled through his phone, Kyle pouted again.

Maybe he and Harriet broke up. Again. Veronica made a face. "What's up?"

"Boss man keeps reminding about the deadline."

"Tell 'em pure artistry takes time." She exaggerated an eye roll, which made him chuckle at least.

"I wanna finish everything in a month, then tour for a straight year and just...hibernate."

"So not happening." She snickered. Was he doubting they could finish the album on time? Did he want to impress their new big bosses?

It was normal, though. Their band wouldn't have lasted this long if they didn't entertain a heap of doubts on a regular basis. In his analytical brain with obsessive-compulsive tendencies, it might be a burden. To her, though, doubts made things rather exciting.

"We'll pull it off. Quit bein' such a downer," she joked. She actually had a lot counting on this new album's success; a planned housing loan soon and her other recent finances played a major part, but she just never liked stressing over deadlines.

Kyle said nothing. He just went on rubbing his knuckle over his stubbly jaw, his gold ring glinting around his thumb. He always wore it on his thumb. If memory served her, the ring was a graduation gift, and it reminded her of that night she first met him.

It was at a late-night gig. She was 22 then. After finding out they shared the same love for the same bands and other music genres, she started hanging out with Kyle.

They wrote their first song days after that first meeting; it later became part of their first collaborative album. They'd been writing and making music since then. And if things would go as smoothly as planned, they'd get to release the band's fifth record in just a few months.

Hopefully, the paychecks would follow. And then she'd be able to cross off the last lines on her to-do list. She smiled.

•••

"One more?" Veronica slouched behind the microphone stand and waited for her bandmates to nod, while her hand secured the big headphone's cushion against her ear. Then she signaled to their producer to ask if he wanted her to start from the top.

To her right and a good five feet away from her was Dan, positioned behind his drum kit. Dan glanced in her direction. "Maybe from the hook," he mumbled to her while clenching his drumsticks. "A little faster?" Dan looked to Chris (their record producer), who now looked like he'd sucked on a lemon.

His shirt looking scrunched, Chris looked quite unsatisfied with their vocal layering on the song's chorus.

They'd been stuck in the studio racking their brains out since early morning. Even their ever so patient assistant sound engineer already appeared to be only a few retakes away from getting bored to tears.

Despite everyone's noticeable mental and physical exhaustion, all the same they still seemed dead set on covering every hole. They were now close to wrapping up the third song for the new album. If they finished the song today, they'd be able to get on to recording the next single. Which meant they would get to enjoy a work-free weekend.

At the moment, Kyle was making his way back into the cold booth. The strap of his Riviera guitar wrinkled his plaid shirt. Its sleeve was rolled up to his pale forearm as he cradled the instrument. He always carried his guitars in such way, as though they were his babies.

Like Dan, Kyle restrained his frizzy hair with a baseball cap and matched it with a pair of old sneakers. A grin inched onto her face when she recalled the pair was Harriet's gift last Christmas. "Starving," Kyle mouthed to her with a drab look on his pale face.

"Hang in there," Veronica replied, doubting he could hear her through the huge glass divider. The editing of the audio files kept the tech guys preoccupied before Chris gave her a thumbs-up. They redid the chorus.

Soon enough, someone tapped on the glass window separating the live room from the control room. "Be back in twenty, guys," Chris then called out.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket. "Just gonna go chill outside," Veronica informed the guys as she strolled out of the booth. It didn't take her a minute to get out of the building through the back door.

The old chairs by the rear exit caught her attention. She sat on one of the dented seats and unlocked her phone. The five unread messages on the screen didn't surprise her. Almost all were from her beau.

"Call u in an hr. Pick up" was what his first text said, sent fifteen minutes ago.  Théo's next message read: "Still in the studio?"  The third was practically identical, telling her to pick up as soon as he rang her.

Her chest felt light, but her curiosity doubled. Veronica held back a smile and reclined. She couldn't recall an instance when he'd seemed this pressing and preoccupied.

Mental health check again?

"One of those days, Top Model?" She sent the message and waited for his reply.

"Just pick up. Still driving."

•