Chapter 3 2

Clara was exhausted as she cleared the plates from her last table of the night. It was nearly one in the morning and she'd been up since the crack of dawn. She couldn't wait to quit this job. She loved Maria, he was practically a father to her. The camaraderie of her coworkers and the atmosphere were amazing, performing there had helped give her a shot at her dream but now it was time to chase it. And that meant leaving Maria's, at least as a workplace, behind. "I'm proud of you, B. I always knew you were special, I've been saying it for years now." Maria said after she had submitted her resignation and he joined her at the counter, propping his forearms onto the top and leaning his weight against it. "Thank you, for everything. I still can't believe you called Tidal for me." "It was no problem. You deserve this chance, Clara. You deserve to be heard by more than just the regulars here on Open Mic nights." Clara just nodded unsure of what to say to him. For the past three years, Maria had been less like her boss and more like her father. Considering her real parents had never supported her decisions, they'd practically disowned her when she had moved to California instead of heading off to college, he was basically the only 'family' she had at this point. "C'mon, kid. Get these dishes to the back then get out of here. I know you're recording in the morning. This place isn't where you belong anymore." "Does that mean I'm not going to be welcome anymore?" "You will always be welcome here, Clara. Always." He hugged her then, and she had to fight the urge to cry. Yes her dream was taking off, but there was something sad about leaving the place that had come to feel like home to her. "Thanks, Maria." She said pulling away from him. She threw her apron into the pile of dirty ones for the last time and grabbed her bag, she took one last longing look back around at the diner. The lights were already dimmed the chairs on top of the tables for the night. She took it all in and then sighed, heading for the exit and the official start of a brand new life. "Believe in yourself, B! Everyone here believes in you." Maria called after her as she stepped out into the warm southern California air. • "Okay so, what's the song about?" Quincy, the sound engineer helping with her EP asked. They were debating on changes they could make to improve it. "It's about just going where you feel led even when it's hard because you're leaving something behind. I wrote it when I was moving out here a few years ago. I was leaving everything I had ever known behind to chase this dream and it was both exciting and terrifying all at once. A lot of the things I've been feeling these last few days really." Quincy brought his forefinger and thumb to his chin, scratching at his beard as he changed a few things on the soundboard before coming into the recording area and removing the rug. "Let's try it like this." He said simply before retreating to the control room. Clara felt the confused look grow on her face but did as he asked, stepping up to the microphone and delivering her song with as much fervor and emotion as she could manage. "Okay, so we'll need to go back and track specific parts but come listen to this." She removed her headphones and stepped into the control room, falling onto the comfortable black couch situated against the wall. Quincy hit playback and the walls of the sound room echoed with her voice. Only she couldn't believe it was her. Their was something special about the way the mic Quincy had picked crackled and he'd done something to make her tone seem richer. The song was always sad and reflective but now, it was damn near heartbreaking.

"I think that's good for today. Why don't you head up to Frodd's office he's going to get you set up for hair and makeup." "Hair and makeup?" She asked her face twisting in uncertainty. As far as she knew, recording had been the only thing on her schedule for the day. "For the album release party? For Peyton? All the Tidal artists have to go." Clara had known nothing about the party, or hair and makeup, but she still diligently made her way to the elevator and up to Frodd's office. The door was open but he was on the phone she knocked to announce her presence. Frodd held up a finger to indicate he'd be done in a moment and so she settled into the chair, just outside his door, to wait. She found her eyes drawn to the many plaques along the hallway all for various artists and their accomplishments. She cocked her head as she focused on the one celebrating one of Planet Orange's accolades. She'd heard of them of course, everyone had. They'd ascended to fame quickly in the past few years and it seemed like everyone her age thought their lead singer, Austin Sharpe, was God's gift to man. From what she knew of Austin from tabloids and rumours, he seemed to agree with the assessment. He was easy on the eyes, no doubt. However, he had a reputation that preceded him. Rumours of call girls and videos of his drunken rages put a bad taste in Clara's mouth as she studied his picture amongst his other bandmates on the award for their platinum-certified single, Drown. Clara hated to admit it, but their music was good. It was relatable but much edgier than was normally accepted by the mainstream fan base and yet, somehow they'd managed to do it. It was impressive if nothing else, but it didn't change the fact that the thought of Austin made her skin crawl, and she hadn't ever even met the guy. "Ms. Peterson! Come on in!" "Hi, Frodd! Porter sent me up here and said something about hair and makeup, and a party?" "Oh. Well, yes. I'm so sorry, I meant to tell you about that. When our artists have album releases all of our other artists are expected to be in attendance as long as they're not on tour or otherwise booked. So, tonight, that means we need you at this release. It'll be fun it's just a party, you'll love it. Great networking opportunity for you and it'll help start to generate some name recognition for you. I'm going to send you to Candice. She's our go-to hair and makeup master and you'll love her. I'll get a car for you and get you over to her salon. That sounds good?" Clara smiled hesitantly trying to absorb all this information. She hated parties. She didn't vocalize her protests though, she was in no position to turn down networking opportunities. He clicked a button on his Bluetooth headset and spoke so quickly into it that she couldn't understand his words. "Car's downstairs waiting to take you. Terry will be your driver, make nice with him because he will be your usual driver as long as you are with Tidal." Clara nodded again. Did she get a driver? Did she need a driver? She liked driving. Then again, not having to worry about LA traffic could be nice. Clara bid Frodd goodbye and retraced her steps from his office and then ventured out to the building's exit stepping outside into the crisp November air. LA's typical heat had vanished which was a relief, even if only for a few days, as a cool front swept through. She slid her sweater up onto her shoulders and glanced around for this driver. Off to the side of the entrance, she saw a man appearing to be in his late forties or early fifties. He wore a black uniform that seemed likely enough to be that of a driver so she approached him. "Are you Terry?" She said, her hesitancy showing in her voice. He smiled in response, opening the door. "You must be Ms. Peterson." "Call me Clara, please!" She insisted as she slung her backpack into the back seat and then took her seat. Terry shut the door behind her and she settled in for the drive. • "I love Peyton, I really, really do. But do we really have to go to this lame fucking party?" Austin groaned. Jake, Seth, and even Wade turned to glare at him. "Don't tell me you guys actually like these things. It's always stuffy and full of people who want things from us." "It's in our contract." Jake reminded him, rolling his eyes. "I don't give a damn about the contract. We're the biggest selling artist at the whole label, what are they gonna do, fire us?" Austin shot back, growing heated without cause. "Take our rights, push up our deadlines, put us on tour with some terrible opener, just generally make our lives miserable," Jake said as he examined his cuticles, bored with the conversation. One that their band had been through at least a million times. "Fine, fine. I'll go to the damn release, but I'm not gonna like it." Austin huffed, crossing his arms and settling further into his seat. "Well, you don't like anything, so." Wade jokes, prodding Austin in the stomach with his elbow. "I like things," Austin said, furrowing his eyebrows and growing defensive. His three bandmates all turned, looks of disagreement on their faces. "I do!" They continued to stare. "I like alcohol...and sex." Wade snorted as Jake and Seth simply shook their heads allowing the conversation to die.