Prince's POV
After the guitar shop, we stop at her place to change out her strings. I walk into the quiet apartment and take in the familiar sights. We walk down the hallway and into one of the bedrooms.
Tables sit against the two further walls. One seems to be her sewing station and the other seems to function as a regular desk. A mannequin stands in corner between them draped in a pastel blue fabric. Taking more steps, I can finally see inside the closet. At the top are crowns and sashes placed in plexiglass. Below are costumes and gowns. Each one in its own garment bag labeled with the year it was made and the event she wore it to. The garments are divided in two sections leaving a split in the middle of the closet where several instruments reside. A few of the instrument cases and bags I'm unfamiliar with. Many of them are oddly shaped and slightly disheveled from use. She reaches into the closet pulling out the guitar case before sitting in the middle of the floor to work on it. I watch as she removes the old strings and carefully replaces them with the new ones tuning as she goes. She hums and strums the guitar finding each note in her voice before turning each tuning key and finding it on the guitar.
"You don't use tuners?" I ask watching her work her way through the strings.
"No, I can find the notes just fine. Growing up, I tuned my guitars using my father's. To this day, he checks the tune of his guitar every week. I sat with him most of those days and he'd point out the funny sounds then help me find the correct notes."
"You can just recall the notes?" She nods never looking up from her guitar.
"People assume that I have perfect pitch but truth is I have good relative pitch and a very strong memory." She smiles finally looking up at me before playing a soothing chord on her guitar.
"Can you play something?" She thinks for a moment before adjusting her posture to better hold the guitar. She strums softly with her eyes closed searching the back of her eyelids for the best song.
"I can do this one."
I watch as she finds her rhythm and begins to play. Her face scrunches up as she hums along and begins to sing.
"Grandma's hands, clapped in church on Sunday morning. Grandma's hands, played the tambourine so well. Grandma's hands, used to issue out a warning. She'd say Genny, don't run so fast , might fall on a piece of glass, could be snakes out in that grass. Grandma's hands."
I'm in awe of her as the music escapes her mouth. Who would've known that behind that soft demure voice was a loud soulful singer. Her accent has dissipated leaving clearer English in its place as she sings. Some words are changed probably for additional ease but, over all it's beautiful. Her whole body rocks gently as she plays. She's feeling the music, saying each word as if she wrote it as if the story is hers. When the song finishes she looks up at me shyly through her hair.
"You changed some of the words." I smile leaning on the wall.
"When this song came out I was still struggling with certain words and sounds in English."
"And Genny?"
"A bit of a personal touch besides, my name is long enough." She begins putting the guitar away. Securing it in its case before putting it back in the closet.
"Genevieve isn't that long."
"It's a little long but I have two first names."
"What's the second one?"
"Elise." She smiles rubbing her arm. "It's Baba's mother's name. She passed before I was born."
"What does your family call you?"
"Gen Gen. We all have names like that. My brothers Jackson and Tyler, are Jay Jay and Ty Ty and my little sister Jacklyn is Jack Jack. What'd they call you as a child?"
"Skipper." I can't help but grimace as I say my childhood nickname. She smiles looking in my eyes, leaning on the wall in front of me.
"I like it."
"I don't think it suits me."
"The names we get as children never do."
"I like yours. Genny is also suits you."
"You think so?"
"I do. In fact, I think I'll start using it." She smiles and taps me before leaving the room.
"Be my guest."
"What do you think you'll do the rest of the day?"
"Probably get some sleep. Then, work on those dances and that skirt design I made."
"Where do you practice usually?"
"I haven't gotten that far. I haven't found a studio to call home."
"You can practice in Paisley Park if you want. I've got plenty of space."
"I do my best work late at night and early in the morning."
"Me too so I'd probably be awake. If not you could always just tell Ronnie, or somebody,you need to stop by. I don't mind." The words surprise me as they leave my mouth but I mean each one. If she's going to work for and with me she needs a place to do it.
"How would I tell him?"
"Just call the house. Someone on the security team will answer."
"Your guards answer your phone?"
"I never hear it ring." I chuckle. "If I do and I'm near one I'll answer but I'm usually in the studio." I watch as she processes my words. The gears in her head turning behind her eyes as she decides what she wants to say.
"Wait, I don't even have your number." I walk passed her into the kitchen and write my number on the notepad she keeps on her fridge.
"Give me yours." She picks up the marker and grabs my arm. I smirk as she pulls up my sleeve and writes it on my arm in her swooping handwriting.
"Come on. Let's get you home." We make the quick drive back to my house and I smile as I get out.
"See you around."
"I might see you tonight. I'll see how I feel after I run some errands. Worse case scenario, I'll be over on Wednesday."
"You should come buy on Tuesday so I can teach you the songs."
"I'll probably have some things to show you by then. I have a dental appointment in the morning but I can come by after."
"Just let me know."
"Practice your stance. I'm going to start testing you. You better be ready."
"I'll be ready for you."
"If you say so. Later, Prince." She smirks before pulling off. I walk into the house and decide to change into more comfortable clothing. I love my day time outsiders but I don't need heels and lace to walk around my house. I pull out a track suit and change quickly finally able to start the solo part of my day. Glancing at my nightstand, I sigh and pick up the phone.
"Ronnie? I'm gonna give you a phone number. It's Genevieve's, she's gonna start rehearsing here. Yea. Yea. She might call anytime and say she's coming over. Just make sure everyone knows who she is and what she's doing. I don't want her having any issues getting in." I look down at my arm and recite the number before hanging up and heading into the studio.
Once I enter the studio I don't leave. I'm content to pick up instrument after instrument, record vocals, and mix only stopping to write down anything I might want to change. A knock on the door breaks my focus but, I permit them to come in.
"Hey, man. You busy?"
"Always busy, Andre. What's up?" I ask not looking up from my sound board.
"Wanted to hear what you thought about rehearsal. You got us out of there kinda quick, wanted to make sure everything was cool. Wanted" He grabs a seat behind me so, I take off my headphones and turn around.
"Rehearsal was good. I called everybody and told them what they needed to work on. Miko and Wendy are gonna get together to sync some of their playing and Lisa's working on her piece."
"Genevieve like the set? How's she gonna fit into this?"
"She's working on some choreography for the band, some stuff for us and a few solo pieces. I'm also probably gonna have her take over some of the background vocals."
"I didn't know she sang."
"We'll she told me she did at the party. I'll be honest I didn't believe her at first but she sang something for me today and it was good."
"When was this?"
"We went to her place after the guitar shop. She did that one Bill Withers song your mom likes."
"You're not gonna slide passed that. You went to her house?"
"Yea." I shrug not thinking much of it. "She changed her strings, played the song and we left."
"What's the dancing look like?"
"We'll she's still tossing around ideas but it's a lot of her usual stuff. Turns, kicks and hips but she did have some concepts of her and I dancing together. I told her to come up with the moves and I'd let her know how I felt but the stuff for the band looks good so far." I look over at him and realize something has caught his eye. I follow his gaze down to my arm and take a look at it before smiling.
"I thought you didn't like tattoos."
"I don't. Genevieve gave me her number. She said I'd lose it if she wrote it down so she wrote it on my arm."
"You didn't wanna take it off?"
"Her handwriting gave me an idea for my designer and I haven't take a picture yet."
"Why you ain't take the picture?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.
"I've been busy. Now you gonna let me work or you gonna interrogate me?" He raises his hands in defeat and makes his way out.
"I'll catch you on Wednesday."
"Yea alright. See ya." He closes the door behind him and I look down at my arm. I trace each letter and number with my fingertips. A sigh falls from my mouth as I remember how the cold ink felt as she wrote. Maybe, I don't want to take it off.