Have fun with Rush. Ray knows you're coming. The boys don't.
-RM
Susanna glanced over the note on her desk with a satisfied smile. She felt a little bad that she could easily convince Dick to sway his opinion on some matters but this was one she was hopeful for. The early bird in her was rearing to go, so she brought her coffee, a pen and pad of paper, and waltzed off to the studio. Upon entering, she was met with a serene quiet and calm. The studio was dark and clean, though reeking of smoke. Susanna turned the lights on and admired the sight of cleanliness and electronics that had been turned on and off correctly. If they hadn't, it would have meant yet another migraine for her.
She flipped on the main source of power before checking on the boards, checking each microphone, and each amp. Checking on some of the amps and speakers involved her scaling the larger ones, bringing her four feet above the ground to do part of her job.
"Susanna?"
The young woman turned around and looked down to see Neil standing before her a good distance away, a look of combined confusion and curiosity on his face. "Hi, Neil. It's Neil, right?"
"That's me." The drummer clutched the books he had by his side closer to him. "Back so soon?"
Susanna nodded and climbed down off of the speakers she stood upon. "I'm going to be working with you guys from now on. Producing, mixing, the whole lot."
"Oh, alright!" Neil perked up a little more, turning back around to find a chair to sit in and wait for the rest of them to arrive. Susanna decided to go back to the board where her belongings were, but not before seeing Neil open one of the books-an Emily Dickinson collection.
"Her breadth is jarring, but is quite interesting in symbolism."
Neil gestured to the book. "The person who recommended this to me said something similar."
Susanna studied Neil's features as he smiled down at the book before going back to it. He was obviously thinking hard about something other than the text, for his eyebrows seemed to scrunch in amusement. Or someone. She left him to it.
"Oh good! You're here!"
Susanna whipped her head around as the sound of Geddy's voice filled the room. "Ray told us you'd be here." Geddy and Alex entered the studio, guitar cases in tow.
"For as long as you need me." Susanna leaned back against the table.
"So you're officially our sound guy." Geddy said as he walked away, his voice trailing off.
Susanna looked to Alex as if she was asking for a little bit of help as nerves began to take over, but he seemed just as confused as she was. "Uh. Yeah. I am."
"I think she said she's going to be producing it as well?" Neil piped up.
"So the producer guy too."
Susanna snorted, not moving from her position. "Sure..."
"Cool!" Alex exclaimed as he shrugged, sending Susanna a playful smirk before joining Geddy.
Susanna huffed and hung her head knowingly. It was going to be a long day, but nonetheless interesting.
—
With Neil having taken off for the night and Susanna retreating back to her office, Geddy and Alex were left to themselves to pack up some of their own things. Alex was lost in a train of thought about recording his part for the song "Anthem" the next day, barely picking up slack in tidying up the studio.
"You about ready to go, Al?" Geddy's question pulled him away from his thoughts quickly.
Alex shook his head. "You can go on without me. I've got something I want to do first. I'll catch up with you later tonight though."
Geddy knew exactly what Alex meant by that, but he decided to save himself the headache and play it off. "Alright man. Call me if you need anything." Geddy hoisted his case up and waved off Alex as he left the studio for the night. Taking his time waiting, Alex bought the time by deciding to turn everything off for Susanna out of consideration. Once he was done, he gathered his own belongings and took off for her office.
This time around he was greeted with a more calming sight, relieving his senses. Her door was wide open once more, so he had to approach carefully again. Alex brushed his hair out of his face and leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms across his chest. A bundled up Susanna was gently swaying around the room, the music of Elton John's "Your Song" filling the room with background noise she hummed along to. Alex took a mental snapshot of this moment, not wanting to forget how charming she looked.
However, Susanna looked up from her trance to see Alex standing in the doorway that was previously empty. "Jesus!" She jumped slightly and stumbled back towards the wall.
"Oh, shit. Did I scare you?" Alex could feel the color drain from his face.
"No, no just... just startled."
Alex clenched his jaw uncomfortably. "Sorry about that."
Susanna smiled and shook her head. "No, don't worry about it. I startle easily."
"You like Elton John?" Alex gestured to the record that was still playing.
"I love Elton John."
Alex nodded thoughtfully. "His piano playing is top notch, I can't lie."
Susanna stared back at the record before turning the turntable off. "My dad buys me every single record of his that comes out when he releases something."
"So a big fan then." Alex concluded, a sweet smile budding on his face. Susanna looked back up at him, his attentiveness making her blush slightly. She could only shrug in reply.
"So what is it you're doing here?" Susanna wondered aloud, leaning back against the wall to mimic Alex's own actions. She checked her watch as well. "I figured you would be headed home with Geddy since it's 7:45."
It was Alex's turn to be a tad flustered. "I thought I would.... uh. I thought I would at least offer to see you out."
Susanna grinned. "Like out the door?"
"Yeah, like to your car at least."
"I walked here."
Alex grimaced. "But it's icy!"
"And?" Susanna asked, baffled. "I would have to drive on ice then."
"And because of that I'd like to walk you home."
The two stared at each other in surprise at Alex's words before he added to his sentence. "If you'll let me."
Susanna let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding, and the corners of her mouth curled back up curiously. "Well... since you offered, yes."
--
Rush Fact of the chapter: One of Neil Peart's earliest influences as a drummer was Keith Moon! One specific thing in particular he admired the late drummer for was his stamina.