-Lazaro's P.O.V.-
"Alright, Lazaro! You're all good for today, we'll see you tomorrow." Frank, my studio engineer said to me in the booth. I nodded, giving him my thumbs up before I hopped out of the room,thanking them for their hard work today. It's been a long one, just recording back to back could wear you out it was ridiculous. I still loved it though, being able to make music for my fans is what brought me life.
As I was heading towards my car, Olivia my assistant was telling me all my future business plans for the next month.
"You got an interview with GQ next week, along with a photo-shoot, then we have a bit more rehearsing for the live-concert in New York, then your album launches, your album release party...." She just kept going on and on all the way until I hopped into the car and started it.
"Are you listening, Larz?" She asked me.
I arched my eyebrow and smirked a tad bit at Olivia. "I am listening, Liv." I replied to her.
She narrowed her eyes. "Oh really? Because what it looked like to me is that you were ready to start your car and leave." She said to me.
"Maybe I was." I responded.
She sighed and looked back down at her planner. "Just make sure, you remember I don't think we want a repeat of last time in Montreal." She reminded me.
Ah, Yeah. I totally forgot that I had to wake up after an hour nap so I could perform before this other act and I woke up an hour later, so they had to reschedule me and we were literally rushing our asses to get there before I started.
I smiled, "Oops." I said.
"Oops, indeed...anyway one last thing before you go." She said looking back down at her planner. I watched her waiting for what she had to say, I just wanted to go home and chill. I don't usually get to go home this early so when I do, I take advantage of it.
"Somewhere in between all the hectic mess you have planned, there's the music video you have to get done with Misty...I know you'll enjoy that." She muttered that part softly.
"So we're doing it?!" I perked up.
She arched her eyebrow. "Of course you are, the song did good...public demands a video, so show up!" She said that last part to remind me.
"No problem." I laughed.
She sighed again. "I don't know what to do with you sometimes." She shook her head and began walking back into the building where I know she probably had another million things to do all surrounded around me, I admired her worth ethic. I pulled the car out of park and began driving back to my place.
The drive was relatively short but it did allow me to look over the beautiful coastline of California. The sun was setting over the blue ocean not too far from where I was driving, and it left a blinding glow of orange and purple in the sky. I didn't mind throwing on some music to help ease the atmosphere a little more. As I drove, I could feel my mind drifting off a bit to a series of random things, at first it was work and music but then it shifted off to a better focus, Misty. Just the thought of her brought shivers to my body.
Everything about her just seemed to be perfect, although at times she failed to see that herself. Her eyes were the most beautiful shade of chocolate I've seen, her hair was the softest, silkiest, most curliest hair I could lay my hands on. The best part about her had to be her smile. I could be on the crappiest of moods and it all it took was her to shine her pearly whites at me and I'd forget what I was made about. It reminded me of what Red had said to me not soon ago about that.
"Larz, if that girl asked you to jump off a bridge you'd do it in a heartbeat."
But now thinking about it, she was a bit drunk and slurring here and there. I shook my head. I don't know what it was about her but if she just gave me those puppy dog eyes and pout her really warm and soft lips, I doubt I could even remember my name.
I eventually got home, parked my car in the drive, and entered the house without anymore daydreaming. Inside it was oddly quiet, which in my case was odd because there was always something going on courtesy of Brendan and Red, but now it seemed quiet and I wondered to myself if they went back to their houses or something, which rarely happened because they always seemed fond of crashing at my place.
I walked into the kitchen and found it empty and without a trace that anyone was there. I checked downstairs, outside near the pool, and I decided they just weren't here. So I headed up the stairs where I knew I was going to take a relaxing, hot shower and just kick back and watch some TV, but almost shit in my pants when I saw Red just sitting besides a wall in the hall.
Her striking red hair was flopped in front of her face which I couldn't see, her knees were up and knitted to her chest, her arms were dangling widely over the rest of her body. She didn't look up when I walked over to her.
"Maryland." I started.
She shushed me. "You know I told you I hate it when you call me that." She whispered, although there was no need to whisper.
"What are you doing here?" I asked as to why she was practically laying across the hallway floor.
She didn't answer me for a minute. "I was writing music....and I had a little bit more to drink then usual...again." She whispered. I shook my head still contemplating why she was whispering. There was no one in this house beside the both of us.
I crouched down beside her and touched her arm. "Red, what's wrong?" I asked her.
She didn't answer my question, she remained quiet.
Red wasn't the type to really express herself through words. She wrote songs, and lately she's been doing the drinking thing just to escape it all. She's been going through a lot of things by herself and she had a hard time opening up to people. It was an weird thing, how Maryland and I met. I was about 17 going on 18 or so, I was coming back from my job in Indiana and such. I always had to pass through this little mini bridge that faced the open water connecting to the other side, but today it was gray and cloudy outside and it just put a damper on everyone's mood including mine, so as I walked home in my thoughts not paying much attention to anything, until the corner of my eye caught onto something Red. It was the only thing that seemed to have color where I was walking I couldn't help but turn to the sudden splash of color.
There is where I met Red standing over the bridge railing. She wasn't looking at anything in particular, her eyes seemed daze and red like she's been crying so much but had no tears left to cry out. There was no one else but me, I immediately ran over to her careful not startle her or anything and I spoke to her.
I don't really remember what I said to her, but all I know is that I somehow got her back over the ledge. I stood with her as long as she needed before she finally got up and looked at me with a blank stare.
"Thanks, you're a good guy." And I never saw her again. Well, until now when I was first being introduced to the label and I needed a debut song, and that's when I saw Red again. She was a little bit older from when I last saw her, when she turned to look at her her eyes gleamed and I thought for a moment she forgot me, but then she smirked at me like she knew exactly who I was. Ever since then we've been friends, and it's been through her that I met Brendan and Brad.
So as I looked at her crawling into herself, trying to shut everyone out I knew there was something wrong with her, but she never told me what. Red was my friend so I was going to be there for her when she needed me.
I sat down beside her, just sat there and pulled her to me, patted her head. She didn't say anything and neither did I. I was just going to be here for her. Eventually she fell asleep so I carried over to her room and put her to bed there. I watched her for a moment and she breathed softly not making much of a noise. I wished she would just let us in, tell us what was wrong but she just let all those feelings lock up inside her, no one really could unlock it.
I brushed the back of my hair and I walked over to my room, where I stripped down and headed into the shower and thought to myself quietly, I was so deep into my thoughts that I almost didn't hear the sound of my cellphone ringing. I quickly shut shower and put a towel around my waist. I walked over to where my phone was ringing and vibrating profoundly and answered it.
"Hello?" I asked as I flickered on the television.
"Hey." I knew the voice all took quick.
Misty.
My heart instantly sped up at the sound of her voice. That's just what she did to me.
"Hey, Mist, what's up?" I asked her, walking over to my drawers and grabbing a t-shirt and some sweats to put on. I put them on as I talked to her.
"Nothing much, what are you up to?" She asked me.
"I just got back from the studio." I said to her.
"Oh!! They let you out early, is there an occasion?" She asked me.
I laughed. "Other than my full and understanding attention, not really." I said.
She laughed and I swear my heart melted. "Well that's always a good thing, so I take you're enjoying yourself at home?" She stated.
I plopped onto bed flicking the channel until I found something good to watch.
"Yeah, I am doing some relaxing...it's nice." I said to her.
I could hear the smile in her voice. "That's good, I hope you're having fun." She said.
I smiled, "I'd be having more fun if you were here with me." I said.
She laughed again. "You're dreaming, but I'm going to be in L.A. In about a day or two anyway, so maybe that dream will become a reality." She said.
I licked my lips. "You're coming back so soon, what's the rush...Oh wait! I know you just couldn't get enough of me so you had to come back as quick as you could." I teased her.
She scoffed. "Yeah that could be a reason...that and the fact that I have to start recording my song, it has to come out by the end of this month." She said.
My eyebrow arched. "That soon?" I asked her.
Misty sighed. "My mother has it all strategically planned and it's going according to her plan and since I signed the contract..." She said.
"It's her way or no way." We both said together and died of laughter.
After we finished laughing I asked her another question. "So have you thought of a stage name?" I asked her.
She groaned a bit, "Actually I have...It's really unique and never heard of before." She said.
I perked up waiting to hear it.
"It's...Misty." She said sarcastically.
I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but smile at her little joke.
"I like it, it has this different feel to it." I played along with her.
"I know right?" I could hear a door closing where she was. My eyes focused on the t.v for a moment before I spoke again.
"I think it's cool you decided to keep your name, I mean I didn't change mine." I said to her in a supportive way.
"Yeah, I just thought it was unnecessary, they are going to know it's me anyway." I could almost see her shrugging her shoulders as she said that.
It was silent for a moment before Misty started the conversation up again.
"Hey, Ginger told me that we're doing a music video together...did you hear?" She asked me. From afar I could hear the sounds of Brendan and Brad entering the house, Brendan and his little British accent could be heard from a mile away. I turned back to the phone.
"Yeah, Olivia told me. Are you excited?" I asked her.
I could hear a tad nervousness in her voice. "I'm excited, I'm just nervous about the whole video thing..I've never been in a video before. I kind of hate it when camera's are pointing at me and such." She admitted.
"You'll get used to it, it's kind of like pretending." I said to her.
"Easy said then done, rock star." She teased me.
I scoffed. "I don't really see myself as rock star, you know." I said.
I could almost hear the astonishment in Misty's voice. "Says the guy who has a million girls screaming and yelling just for one glance at them. Larz! Larz! Please look at me!" She said dramatically over the phone I couldn't help but laugh.
"That's nothing, give it a month or two after your single drops and you'll be having guys going, Misty! Misty! Please look at me!" I said teasing her.
"Cute." Was all she said.
"Misty! Zeta meeting pronto!" I heard a voice over the line.
"Hold up a sec, Alex!" She said to the person.
"I take it you got to leave." I said to her.
She sighed. "I am the president of the sorority, I got to be at every meeting." She said to me.
"You know I never knew what it was like to be in frat?" I said to her.
She scoffed. "Just think of a house full of people you have to call your brothers and sisters...and now times that by daily interaction with them and there you go." She said.
"That sounds like fun...I thought you partied in sororities?" I asked her.
"We do that....a lot, but you know me I'm not party girl." She said to me.
Oh, I knew that all too well. She enjoyed herself at them, but she wasn't fond of being at many parties. She was the kind of person that like to snuggle up and watch some t.v. Instead and quite frankly I was that person too, but it was hard getting to do that when you had to throw a party for every single thing you do.
"I know, I guess I'll see you soon then." I said to her.
"Yeah...see you soon." She replied back to me.
We said our bye's and then hung up. I took a moment letting out a huge deep breath. Always talking to Misty made me feel like I could take on an entire world, she just brought so much energy and spark into my life it was amazing. Just as I thought that who comes barging into my room? Brendan.
"Hey, there mate! Fancy seeing you here." He said plopping down onto my bed.
I rolled my eyes. "Bren, this is my room in case you haven't noticed, and my house not to mention." I said.
Brendan turned and held his heart. "Do you want me to leave is that what you are saying?" He always did this whenever he barged into my room and just did whatever, I was so use to it now I wasn't even fazed.
"You know what I mean, bro." I took my pillow and threw it at him.
It smacked into his face and he flipped me off. "What kind of brother are you?" He asked sarcastically.
"The older one, that hates everyone." I joked.
"Wait? I thought that was Brad." Brendan teased his brother who just now walked in.
He nodded like he understood and flipped his brother off. "Fuck you." He said before plopping down onto one of the chairs at the side of the room.
Brendan propped up on his arms and stared at his brother. "You know, it'd be much nicer if you cracked a smile hear and there my dear sibling." He said.
He groaned and rolled his eyes. "Brendan how many times am I going to tell you I came out of the womb with this exact face." He showed us his blank and normal face he seemed to wear every single day. "I'm not going to change!" He said.
Brendan pouted. "Brad...negativity leaves no room for positivity." Brendan said optimistically.
Brad looked over at me. "Larz pass me that pillow." He said to me.
I almost headed for the pillow before Brendan slapped my hand. "Do not pass him the pillow." He said in a eerily scary voice. I backed away from the pillow and shook my head, this was my life when I came home. I smiled, but I couldn't help but love every bit of it. It was home to me, what I knew. I wouldn't give it up for the world and now Misty was going to be around more...around me.
Life was perfect.
-
-Misty's P.O.V.-
"Why I feel like you always moving further away,
Come closer,
Come closer,
The distance separating you and I can't stay, I see you,
Coming Closer,
Coming Closer." I sang inside the booth. It was to the song called Coming Closer that I wrote, the beat was given to me, so I just worked on that the entire time I was in Indiana and it was a bit stressful because just after that I had to hop onto another flight and I was back in L.A.
"I feel your body next to mine, I can't help it I'm alive,
your whispers in my ear boy I don't mind,
we need to keep it just like this you and me,
you can't deny it we're meant to be." I sang.
My studio engineer gave me a thumbs up and I continued to sing the entire song until I was done and the song was over. I pulled the ear phones out of my ear. My vocal couch Andre and my assistant Ginger were here for support, but I think Andre came to see if my vocals were on point, which they were thanks to him. He did some really extensive training with despite the limited time we had together and I really appreciated that about him. He really taught me a lot of things I didn't know about my voice.
"Perfect Misty! Take a break." My engineer said. I nodded and hopped out of the booth taking a large gulp of water, my mouth was dry and I was thirsty.
"Slow sips, Misty." Andre said.
I closed the bottle cap. "Sorry." I sad.
He smiled, shook his head and went over to mixing board and listened to the playback of the song. As I stood Ginger came over to me and gave me some supportive compliments but at the same time managing to stress me out with the work she was reminding me I had coming up.
"You sound great, Misty...we're moving the music video a little earlier because it's more convenient for you two, I just wanted to let you know." She said.
I bit my lip and frowned. "I'm kind of nervous about that." I said kind of sad that I couldn't get a couple more days to put myself together so I could be stared at by millions of people after that video hit YouTube.
She patted my shoulder sympathetically. "You'll be fine, you're killing it in the studio and you're going to kill it at the music video, just take a deep breath you're going to be fine." She reassured me.
I took a deep breath.
"Good." She patted my back. "Before you know it you'll be doing so many music videos it'll be in your second nature to do them." Ginger said.
I nodded.
"Alright, Misty...back in there." My studio engineer said.
I got back into the booth and just went back to doing my thing.
-
"I....am....beat." I said to no one in particular. Since I wasn't going home or anything like that, my initial thought was that I was just going to crash at Larz's place again, so I was on my way to heading there where my mother stopped me out of nowhere.
I think she was just finishing with a conversation on the phone because it was at her ear and then she pulled it back into her pocket.
"Misty! How convenient, I thought I was going to have to call you, and you know how I am with phones." She said.
You were just using one now.
I stopped and stared at her. "Can I help you with something, mother?" I asked her.
She pursed her lips. "Were are you heading off to?" She asked.
What was she going to ask me to dinner or something. I was too tired for this.
I sighed. "I'm going over to Larz's place to crash." I said.
She ticked and clucked her tongue. "Why?" She asked.
Did she not hear the part when I said I had to crash?
"I need a place to crash." I said slowly, maybe she would understand if I spoke more slowly.
She shook her head. "You can't do that." She stated.
I arched my eyebrow. "I can't?" I asked her. What was she talking about?
"No, you can't...you are an upcoming celebrity and if the paparazzi catches you at his house, they won't leave you alone." She said.
I leaned against a nearby wall. "So what do you suggest I do then?" I was too tired to start with my mother right now, and it never really occurred to me that paparazzi would be lurking around, I thought that was in the movies or something.
She smirked. "Don't worry about it, you can stay with me until you're on your feet." She suggested. My tired eyes almost bulged out of my head. I had to make sure I heard that correctly. My mother was asking me to stay with her for the time being. What kind of sick joke is this?
She rolled her eyes. "You're looking at me like I have a million heads and alligator." She said to me. She turned on her heel to an on waiting white Mercedes Benz, driver waiting out in the front for her to hop in.
"Are you serious?" I called out to her.
She scoffed. "Do I look like I'm playing?" She asked.
I stood for a moment, contemplating but then I thought to myself: I'm really tired, and I honestly just want to get into a bed and go to sleep....and eat. So I just hoisted my beg on my shoulder and followed behind me mother.
We both got into the car and the driver did as well. The ride was about 15 minutes, but that was 15 minutes of awkward silence with my mother, and if that wasn't hell I don't know what was. She was on her phone idle texting and I was looking out the window watching as the large buildings, turned into secluded big mansions. I noticed we were in the Malibu area, the houses were getting bigger and more further and further apart.
Eventually we stopped at this huge house, with a large gate stopping anything from entering. The car stopped momentarily before the gate slid open automatically and it followed into where it parked right in front of the doorway. My mother didn't say anything she just pushed the door open and walked out, I did the same following behind her.
She opened the door and I walked in staring in awe how large and big this house-mansion was. It was bright with sparkling diamond chandeliers and Spanish looking lady, who took my mother's things and greeted her.
"Hello Ms.Paul."
"Hello, Maria." She waved her hand although her head was focused on her phone.
She stopped walking for an abrupt moment and looked up at me.
"Make yourself at home, I doubt you'll be seeing me around anyway so don't worry about me making you...uncomfortable." She said and with that she headed up the stairs without another word.
I turned to the Maria lady.
She smiled at me nicely. "Who are you?" She asked.
I put out my hand to shake. "I'm Misty Paul...that's my mother." I said pointing to the non-existent figure that climbed the chair. Maria followed my finger and then she nodded.
"So you are the boss lady's daughter...I never knew." She said.
"My mother doesn't talk about her family, we aren't worthy of her." I said sarcastically.
"I see." She said. She clapped her hands together. "How about I show you to your room?" She said before she headed down the hallway. I followed her up some stairs and down another hallway to a room. She pushed the door open for me and I was met by this huge room with a king-sized bed, and an amazing overlook of the ocean. It was stunning, but was trying my best not to look impressed after all this was my mother's house, she just fed off of people gawking at her possessions and success.
"Thank you, Maria." I said to her.
She nodded. "Are you hungry? I can make you a little something, while you settle down." She suggested.
My stomach growled. "That would be nice, thank you."
She nodded again and then she closed the door behind her and she was gone. I turned back to my room dropping my bag onto the bed and walked over to the window, pushed open the sliding french doors and leaned on the balcony. I could see in the backyard the huge amount of green space, the infinity pool, and of course the lovely view of the ocean.
How did my mother stay in this house all by herself, there had to be at least six rooms in here. I would have felt really alone. Like I did right now, a huge room...but no one to share it with. I stood there for a moment feeling the cool breeze of the ocean hit my face gently before I turned back and headed for the bathroom and a shower.
I stepped into the shower letting the hot water pour onto my body. I had to get used to this lifestyle. This was going to be my life now and I had to work to my fullest potential. I signed up for this. I still didn't regret even as I was basically sleeping in the shower, I was just honestly a bit worried staying at my mother's place while I worked. I didn't need more awkward this week. I was going to have enough tomorrow at the video shoot.
I groaned.
"You can do this, Misty...you don't back down from a challenge." I said to myself. My voice echoed all throughout the pristine clean bathroom.
I opened my eyes and nodded.
I could do it.
I had to put my mind to it and I could overcome this obstacle.
God, help me now.