Happy new year :)
Dedicated to garlandgirl!
Emmy looks troubled as we step into the foyer of Walter's studios. Her blonde eyebrows are pinched and she's twirling a bracelet in her fingers. I move an arm around her waist and lean down to kiss the top of her head. Her hair smells like shampoo and my stomach twists.
She offers me a slight smile but I can see it in her eyes that she's still deep in thought. I don't blame her. All I can think about is the interview yesterday. Why on earth did Vince have to say something so stupid? A few responses fly to the foreground of my mind but I bat them away with a shake of my head. He's an idiot, that's for sure, but I know he didn't mean to get us into this mess. It's more than a mess though. It seems like an impossible lie that's going to take skill to wipe clean from everyone's memories. If anyone can do it, it's Tanya.
Emmy still seems out of it when we step out of the lift, so unlike her usual cheerful self, so I hold her back, letting Ollie and Vince carry onto the rehearsal room without us.
Emmy raises her eyebrows at me. "Are you okay?"
I nod. "I'm just worried about you."
"Why?" She frowns then runs her thumb along my forearm and the muscles tense under her touch.
"I just want you to be happy."
She smiles, the dazed look clearing from her eyes. "I am happy."
"But you're worrying about the whole interview thing, right?"
She nods. "Sure. I mean, it's not like I can forget about it." She sighs. "The whole world thinks I'm gay."
I step closer and press my lips to hers, getting a different kind of sigh in response. "I'm sorry that's the case, but worrying won't help." I sound like a hypocrite. I'm worrying just as much as Emmy is, maybe even more, but I can't let her know that. I move my lips to her forehead, letting them rest against the smooth skin under her hairline before I pull back and give her my best assured smile.
It seems to work as she smiles back.
"I just don't want you to be upset."
Her smile widens ever so slightly. "Actually, I know this is going to sound warped, but I think the whole situation is rather funny."
I can't help cocking an eyebrow at her words.
"I mean, I couldn't be less gay." She snorts and mock-punches my arm. "You know, seeing as I have a super-hot boy-band boyfriend."
I grin. "Why thank you."
"I was referring to Vince," she says with a wink.
I laugh, remembering how Yazmine had been sure that Emmy was secretly dating Vince. Now she thinks Emmy's dating a girl. Her gossip sniffing nose couldn't be further from the truth.
I sling an arm around Emmy's shoulders and pull her forward towards the studio where Vince and Ollie are waiting.
"So you don't mind me being gay?"
I look down at Emmy to see that she's trying to keep a straight face.
"On two conditions," I reply, my lips raising with a smile. "One, it's only for a little while."
Emmy nods. "And two?"
"Two, is that I still get to kiss you."
"Oh I don't know about that."
I laugh, pulling Emmy into the studio while tickling her sides. She giggles and screeches, gaining Ollie's attention. Stan's in the booth with Vince, probably going over some new drum routines.
"I thought you'd got lost," Ollie says with a smile.
"Nope," Emmy replies, settling down in a chair to catch her breath.
"Just chatting," I add.
Ollie nods. "Cool. Have you got that new song on you?"
"New song?" Emmy asks, sounding intrigued.
I pull my notebook from the back pocket of my jeans with a nod. "I've been working on a new song since last night. It's called Gossip."
Emmy laughs. "Any chance it's about me?"
I smile. "Sort of. I mean, you inspired it."
"Let's hear it then," Stan says, stepping back into the room with Vince at his heels. "Tanya called earlier saying she wants this album finished sooner rather than later." He looks a little stressed and we all share a smile. We know how demanding Tanya can be.
"Okay," I say, flipping to the bookmarked pages in my notebook. "It's still really rough though." I cross to my guitar and hand my notebook to Emmy. "You sing, I'll play."
She nods, her eyes already scanning the lyrics I've just handed her. Excitement floods through me when I see a smile spread across her face.
I perch on the arm of Ollie's chair and start to pluck the strings. "Ready?"
I get a faint nod in reply so I move my fingers over the strings with more purpose, playing the melody that's been in my head all morning. Emmy moves her blue eyed gaze to me, waiting for her cue, and when I nod she starts to sing the words that up until now have only been ideas. Coming from her mouth they sounds like stories.
"Would you believe me if I said this wasn't true? A figment, a lie, in your imagination. Just what, what they all want to hear. Would it make things better, if they saw the world, through a faded pair of eyes. Tired, weary, fed up of lies. Gossip. Life on stilts, in a sea of angry words, waiting to crash back down, to nothing. Nothing. A simpler time. Where no-one was right and everyone was wrong. What now? If the truth is not enough, then what's the point in trying?"
Emmy's voice brings a spark to my words. Coming from her this rough copy of a song seems finished, polished and ready for the radio. I glance at Stan and he seems interested by the first verse, his eyebrows peaking upwards. By the end of the song he's sort of smiling. A rush of pride and adrenaline surges through me and I let out a laugh full of nervous energy when I still my hands on the strings of my guitar.
"That's the next single," Ollie says, being the first one to speak.
"Not bad," Stan says, moving to the mixing desk set against the glass window of the booth. "Now if you hurry up and get your ass in there," he says, pointing to the recording booth, "I can tell Tanya we're almost done."
I don't need to be told twice.