It could've been (three)

1.

Adam

It was the end of a warm September day. Los Angeles tends to have sunny days but this was off the chart almost boiling hot. My cheeks felt hot so I was pretty sure they were rosy red. I wore a t-shirt and jean shorts today. Plain and simple but breathable. There were fans throughout the room. We were inside a music studio. Those tend to have no windows and boy did it only add to the heat.

Auditions were slowly coming to an end. I am truly amazed by the talents I got to witness today. We started at 10 am this morning and it was nearing 5 pm. I had almost every position filled; And to think the Idol tour just ended and here I was. About to release an album soon and go on my first tour. Me. I did that. And oh, how grateful I was. Finally being put in a position to be what I wanted ever since I was a little boy. A singer. Performer. Entertainer. Yes, yes yes.

As I reflect, a picture is placed in my line of sight on the table. Oh, wow. Such a beautiful face. I looked over at my manager and thanked him before actually looking at the face in the photograph. His hair was cut into a fringe which was partially covering the right side of his face. It was bleached blond, his roots were a dark brown. From what I could see, he was wearing black eyeliner around his dark brown eyes, and a light gloss. I raised an eyebrow as I observed this. "Okay. He is gonna bring something new to the table." I thought.

"Here's your last auditioner. We can call it a wrap after this and if we can't every position today we can continue later this week." My manager says. As the words left his lips, in walked a petit guy with a rather large black guitar case. He said a soft greeting and proceeded to set his equipment up. Heavy clicking sounds were heard as he opened the case which held a rather shiny cherry red electric guitar. I observed as he carefully picked it up and placed the strap over his shoulders. I was amused. He wore a Metallica shirt and black jeans. On his feet he wore black puma's. Somehow this all screamed a bit of glam to me. Such a tiny guy with a large guitar. It somehow seemed to fit him well.

He then picked up the cable that would hook his guitar up the amplifiers we already had set up and plugged it into his guitar.

"Uh hi, my name is Tommy Joe Ratliff. Feel free to call me Tommy." He says as his eyes pierce into mine for a second and then at the floor. My eyes fluttered a moment before I blinked. Weird. Why did that happen?

"I'm gonna audition with Enter Sandman by Metallica." He continued and then nodded. He then hooks the chord leading to the amplifier to his guitar. He then turned a metronome on. "Tic-tic-tic-toc" sounded as it counted.

"Take it away." My manager says and Tommy begins. His right hand picked away the strings of his guitar and his left seemed to flawlessly go through the chords. A rock song. A classic rock song. He eased through the riffs of the song. He walked around a bit and his facial expressions showed real dedication to doing this perfectly. Mouth slightly ajar. He threw his head back and his hair fell backward. His full face was to be seen and I felt my heart speed up a bit. Weird. Behave Adam.

"WOW!" I exclaimed as he came to finish. My manager's jaw was down. He too was pleasantly surprised by how well Tommy played. Tommy held a small smile on his face and a hint of nervousness. It pulled at my heartstrings to see it. He was such a cutie.

"Uh, thanks." He mumbled as his cheeks took on a pinkish hue. He fiddled with his guitar pick in his right palm as he gripped the neck of the guitar with his left. He turned and turned the metronome off. The ticking immediately stopped. The room was once again almost silent. The sound of the fans were the only sound to be heard.

"Yeah..." I say and pause. I wanted him, but unfortunately, we already had a guitarist. Shit, I made him play for nothing. "Sorry, even though I really like your style, we already have a guitarist."