Meg
I adjust my satchel over my shoulder and step into the lobby area at Capitol Records with Jai's guitar case in one hand and my violin in the other. The receptionist greets me and tells me everything is set up downstairs for practice. She says several people are already here, even though I'm a bit early. I dismiss her offer of an escort since we'll be in the same room as last time—the room with the upright piano—and I already know the way.
I descend in the elevator and walk down the hallway stepping into the room. Oliver is here and he smiles at me and waves. I try to smile at him but it's kind of forced. He approaches me even though there's new people in the room to introduce me to.
"What's wrong?" he asks quietly as I set my things down.
I kind of briefly sum up the situation with Brock... and even mention all of the girls that've harassed Jai and me. He purses his lips and nods.
"I honestly haven't had to ever deal with anything like that before," he replies. "But you may need to distance yourself from some people. Some need to be reported to the authorities, some may even need to be hospitalized for mental illness. I'll talk to someone about it and get some advice for you. In the meantime, don't let it get you down. We're here to make a record that honors God. Let's try to focus on that and not worry about what we can't handle right now."
I smile genuinely at him and thank him for the helpful advice. We walk further into the room and he introduces me to the two others already seated on the chair and sofa. Sean is a man of medium-build, very tan, sandy brown hair, and brown eyes. He'll be playing the drums for me. He informs me that he can play just about any percussion. I smile in reply. Rune looks as if he's of Scandinavian descent. He's exceptionally tall, lightly tanned skin, golden-blond hair, and blue eyes. He'll be playing the bass. They're both extremely friendly. I take a seat on a sofa and notice that there are several instruments set up in here including my xylophone, a variety of drums, and the cajon box.
Two more young men enter the room. They walk in smiling and wave to Sean and Rune. One comes straight over and shakes Oliver's hand and then mine.
"Hi. You must be Megan. I'm Eli Jennings. I'll be playing piano and the keyboard for you when you're not," he tells me grinning. He's a redhead with green eyes, pale skin, and freckles. He's got a medium to thin build but he looks like he's really fit—they all do, actually.
"Hello," I smile. "You don't mind, do you?" I ask him.
"Nah, I'm just happy to have the gig," he laughs.
The other man sets down his guitar case and walks over to me next. He's got beautiful mocha skin, short bleached hair, and light brown eyes—almost amber-colored. "Hey, you're Megan?" he asks shaking my hand. I nod and grin in reply. "I'm Zane."
"It's nice to meet you, Zane," I respond.
"I'll be on the electric guitar for you," he says.
"Thank you," I smile.
He chuckles and tells me it's no problem.
Simon enters the room and greets everyone. He has a stack of papers in his hands and passes them out to all of us. He looks to Oliver in question.
"He's not here," he replies. "But I can handle it or maybe Zane..."
Simon hums a reply and takes a seat beside me. "Alright. Thanks for being punctual," he says to us. "Here are all of the songs we're going to work on this week. We may have an additional vocalist joining us but besides that, this is our crew to get this done."
He passes out the sheet music to us all but holds onto two sets. I hear rapid footsteps in the hallway and a knock on the door.
"Come in, Rob," Simon calls out.
The door opens and a man is standing there with another guitar case in hand. He's very pale almost as if he's avoiding sunlight. He has dark brown hair similar to my shade except he has shoulder-length dreadlocks. He's wearing sunglasses and removes them to reveal dark brown eyes. He's probably the slimmest of everyone here and possibly shorter in stature than me. "Sorry I'm late. LA traffic," he shrugs and walks in. He takes the only seat available across from me at the sofa beside Oliver. I smell a whiff of either heavy cigarette smoke... or possibly something else.
I clear my throat and pour a glass of water from the pitcher on the coffee table in front of me. I take a sip and look over the songs. All of the copies look so professional now—not handwritten anymore but printed out and possibly computer generated. I smile at how amazing they look.
"What kind of music is this?" Rob asks skeptically. He doesn't sound very happy with it.
"Didn't you look at the attachments in your email before you accepted the job?" Zane laughs disbelievingly.
I look up to see Rob frowning.
"I guess that's a no," Sean teases.
"Whatever, bro. A job's a job," Rob shrugs.
"So... I want to see a show of hands. Who has at least practiced these songs?" Oliver asks.
Everyone but Rob raises their hands.
"Alright, well, he's skilled so he'll catch on quickly," Simon says dismissively. He asks me if Jai was still planning on singing with us. I nod and show him which ones. He tells them all which ones Jai will be here to sing for and which day.
"Why don't we practice?" Oliver suggests. "Just so everyone is aware, Megan will be playing several different instruments, switching over frequently. We're here to support her album."
They all nod in agreement. We rise and the guys push the furniture out of the way to the walls, so we'll still be able to sit. Everyone sets up their own instruments. I notice Oliver and Simon talking quietly by the door as I go through and tune my instruments. Simon looks to me and I smile at him. I move on to make sure my xylophone is all set with the mallets I requested. Everything looks good.
"Why don't we pray first before the set?" I say when I notice that everyone is ready.
Rob makes a face.
"That's fine," Simon says but he pulls Rob outside into the hallway.
"Why don't we start without them?" Oliver suggests.
I realize that everyone present may not necessarily be Christian—possibly Rob since he's not too keen on the music so far but I pray anyway, thanking God for his blessings and provision. I ask that the music we create honors him and touches hearts, bringing hope and joy to those who need it. I open my eyes to see that Rob and Simon have returned. Rob is kind of staring at me in surprise. I smile at him and choose a song to start with where I'll be playing the xylophone so he doesn't feel left out. Everyone shuffles around their music and I start us off. I play the intro with the xylophone but decide it'll be better with the acoustic. Rob smiles at me and plays. That sounds even better than I do. I have him play it again and I accompany him with the xylophone. Everyone kind of joins in and once we've got it down, I start to sing.
"Oh, man. I shouldn't have had that cold water," I laugh.
"I thought it was good," Rob grins.
I wave his comment off lightheartedly and take some hot water Oliver hands me from a carafe I hadn't seen against the wall on a buffet. It looks like someone moved the cold water pitcher there, too. I make a light cup of tea real quick and take a couple sips. That helps.
"Sorry about that," I tell them after I clear my throat. "I should've probably done some voice warm-ups."
"No problem," Oliver grins. "We're not recording this."
"Yeah, like my last practice," I laugh.
He and Simon smile at that and explain while I take a few more sips and hum the tune.
"Alright, I think I'm ready now," I tell them.
They all smile in reply, even Rob. We start to play and it sounds incredible. We practice a few times and iron out the details, then we move onto one with my violin. I play the intro and it's exactly how I'd imagined. Everyone joins in at their different parts. Sean is playing the cajon and it fits so well here. I rest while they all play and start to sing. It's absolutely beautiful. I've got goosebumps at how amazing it sounds. I see Simon smiling but he steps out of the room. We continue on making minute changes with Oliver. We play it a few times and it sounds perfect. We go through all of the songs. I switch between playing the piano, keyboards, and acoustic for the majority of them.
We take a break partway through and go up to the fourth floor cafeteria. The guys take over two tables and I join them. We grab a small bite to eat and chat.
"I've got to admit, I wasn't expecting much," Rob comments.
"I think that's a compliment," Zane chuckles lightly patting me on the shoulder.
"Thanks?" I shrug questioningly, but jokingly.
Rob laughs in reply.
"You should hear her YouTube performance," Eli adds. "I've heard Simon say they're making an album from that."
"They are," Oliver tells them sipping a cup of black coffee. I notice Eli showing Rob something on his phone. "She's also getting another live performance made into an album. The executives are currently working on getting the filming and recording set up for that, too."
"Oh?" I ask surprised. I hadn't realized.
He hums in affirmation.
"You look nervous," Sean points out.
"I kind of have a thing about crowds," I admit.
"The one in Anaheim was sold out," Rune says.
"Yeah, but with the spotlights, I couldn't see past the first few rows," I explain. "It'll be daytime at a baseball stadium."
"Just think of them as your extended church family," Oliver tells me soothingly.
I take his advice and consider the crowd in my hometown as that—especially at a prayer meeting. I nod in understanding. That's definitely easing my apprehension. "Thanks, that helps," I tell him nodding.
We finish up and head back downstairs on the elevator.
"I noticed your guitar is a little big for you," Rob says to me in the elevator.
"It's not mine," I shrug. "It's my fiancé's. Mine's back home. But his is nicer than mine and it works fine for now."
He nods in understanding but I see him glance at my ring. He must've not noticed before. "That concert was pretty impressive. Was that one yours?" he asks.
"Yeah," I nod. We all step out of the elevator and walk the hallway back to the room.
Everyone practices the rest of the songs with me. Some of the guys sing backup and it sounds so good. I mention the ones again that Jai's going to sing with us and they nod but we do run through them. Simon joins us again after we've practiced a bit.
"We have time to record one or two if you're ready," Simon tells us.
"Which ones are you feeling most confident on?" Oliver asks me.
"All of them," I shrug. I grin at him and he does as well.
"How about we go in order then?" he suggests.
We all agree and move to the studio. Some of us carry our equipment up, some are taken by the studio staff. I think we're keeping the equipment in Studio B for the remainder of the week. We set up once again. I tune my violin and Jai's guitar setting them aside. I play the xylophone that the staff set up once more and it sounds really good. I actually like this one a lot... but maybe next time I'll request a marimba. I do prefer it's sound.
I watch as the staff sets up the Frank mic for me and I laugh lightly at the nostalgia of using this one to record. It must be a good one if it's lasted this long. I've always believed that things used to be made so well and I'm excited about getting to use it myself.
We start playing and it sounds perfect, superior to practice. I begin singing and my voice is hitting everything better than expected. The guys accompany me and we go through the whole song. It sounds spectacular. We cycle through all of the verses, chorus, and bridge. We do the instrumentals and it's turning out so well. We finish and I see several smiling faces inside the control room. I hear some clapping and I laugh and thank the guys. I look back to the control room to see my favorite person in there.
"Jai," I whisper. I set my mallets down and run to him.
I run through Studio A and the hallway to him. He chuckles as I jump to him. He holds me in his embrace and kisses me gently.
"I missed you, too, love," he says softly.
He sets me down.
"Did you hear us?" I ask hesitantly. He nods. "How'd we do?" I ask.
"Bonzer," he grins.
"Thanks," I say bashfully.
"So..." Simon says smiling. "Are you up for another?"
"Sure," I nod.
I kiss Jai once more and go back to Studio B.
The guys are all waiting for me. Rob's kind of gaping at me, though.
"Wait...you're marrying Jai Courtney?" he asks.
I nod.
"Man, you really need to read your emails," Zane teases.
Rob chuckles at that. "I guess so," he replies.
I smile at them. "So... one more and we'll call it a day?" I ask.
The guys say they're up for it. I grab my violin and nod to Rob to start. He begins and I join him. The rest join us and I stop playing as they continue. I sing and they back me up. I play again during the turnaround. I sing the rest and then we end it with another instrumental part on my violin along with the acoustic.
I smile and thank the guys for a job well done. Simon comes out and congratulates us all. He also gathers the guys and talks to them. Several of them nod their heads. Rob looks back at me and nods as well.
"Thanks guys," Simon says patting a few of them on the shoulders. He turns to me. "So... everyone is joining you at the gym on Wednesday and Friday," he tells me.
"Oh..." I say in surprise. "Alright," I grin looking at them. "That's awesome," I tell them.
"No problem." "Anytime." "It's all good," they variously reply.
We all pack up our separate belongings and I wave to everyone as they leave. Simon asks Jai and me to accompany him up to the E level conference room for a moment. I agree. Jai takes his guitar and I carry my violin. We rise in the elevator with Simon and Oliver. We follow them to the conference room and take a seat. Several others from this level join us along with Amelia. She shakes Jai's hand and introduces herself to him. He's very friendly towards her. She takes the seat at the head of the table and explains that they're going to report the woman who criticized me online for harassment since we have evidence of her following us and she hasn't stopped—she's just made herself very public. I nod in understanding because she is harassing me. They ask for the recordings and we give them copies. They also ask for any other harassment issues to be made known. We give them the information about those as well as explaining previous issues we've had since they've asked. They're keeping a file and monitoring for any further harassment from those people aforementioned. Simon explains that he requested the guys in the band to accompany us for my protection and to kind of lessen my exposure to Brock. I nod in understanding. We thank them for everything and head back to Jai's house.
On the drive, he speaks with me. "Simon messaged me earlier this arvo and asked me if I was alarmed by what happened at the gym. I told him I was a bit concerned. He asked the severity of it and I explained the situation. He thought that having extra blokes there was probably the best scenario for your protection and to downplay a scene. I agreed. I totally want to fight him for you but that's not best for either of us," he explains.
"Yeah," I respond softly.
He sighs and glances at me as he drives on the expressway. "You sounded incredible today," he tells me.
"Thanks," I whisper.
"Are you alright, love?" he asks me worriedly.
I sigh shakily. "Yeah," I say leaning over and wrapping my arms around his midsection. "I think I'm going to be."
He smiles down at me briefly. He caresses my arm with one hand as he drives on. "I think you're stronger than most people give you credit for," he tells me evenly.
I laugh disbelievingly. "Nah, this is the power of God working in this weak little girl," I reply.
"Well, God's strength or not, you're enduring quite well," he says. I smile and thank him, then God for getting me through today.