~STEVE SOUL RECORDING STUDIOS~
~WEST LONDON~
Ellie pushed herself back in the plush leather studio chair. The speakers didn't seem big enough to hold their sound. It needed space. Air. It needed a stadium. She couldn't believe only the three of them could make that vast sound.
"Turn it up," she grinned at Steve, their bulging, bearded producer from Manchester, who sat next to her. "Loud. Really loud."
Steve pushed a slider in front of him
The song sounded rich; meaty. Like a jar of angry wasps, constant and full and humming.
It wasn't how Ellie had imagined it. But it worked. More than worked because of the genius of Steve Soul. His pudgy fingers had worked wonders over the last four months, crafting and shaping everything in Ellie's head into carefully moulded masterpieces for Slider's second album. They had a hard task topping their previous album, which had both gone to number one in the U.K. and Australia. And their most recent single 'North' had been sitting in the top ten for three months straight. Steve had brought Meg and Kim's ideas along for the ride and sculpted thirteen works of art from Ellie's rough ideas scrawled on bits of paper; in notebooks; on serviettes, she'd collected on their Australian tour.
Ellie's vocals were thick and deathly over the top of her guitar on the last track. There was no layering or over-production. This was pure Slider, but better than Slider had ever sounded. As the song came to an abrupt end, Ellie swivelled in her chair to where Kim and Meg gawped from the couch at the back of the studio.
"It's fuckin' epic!" Meg cried. She jumped up and waved her arms in the air. Because that's what Meg did. She had on a weird bright blue sack dress with cartoon clouds all over it. Ellie couldn't work out if it was a dress, or a recycled curtain from some poor kid's bedroom Meg had taken a fancy to on her travels.
Kim shrugged from over on the couch. "I like it." She curled her short dark hair behind her ears and sipped on her cup of tea.
Ellie rolled her eyes. "Is that all you've got?"
"What else do you want from me? It's already going to win awards. Isn't that enough?"
Ellie chuckled. "I guess."
"It gives me the shivers," Meg bounced over to Ellie and hugged her. "It's so exciting. Just so bloody exciting. I can't wait to see Daniel's reaction."
"Why Daniel specifically?" Ellie said, the thrill of him coming home today after a month on the road, filling her with a smooth guitar riff at the thought that tonight, they could be together after for so long.
"No reason. Just that half the songs are about him and his sexy rooster-ness," Meg cackled evilly.
Ellie rolled her eyes at Meg even though it was true and turned back to Steve and the mixing desk. "Can you give me a copy? I want to listen to it at home. On a normal stereo. See how it sounds before we release it on the world."
Steve nodded and started pressing buttons, rolling sliders and loading CDs into his machines just as a face appeared at the studio door window. It was Brenin Owen's assistant. Steve waved her in.
"Ellie, sorry." Adriana's face was flushed pink under reams of dark, flowing hair. "Brenin asked me to talk to you again." She glanced around at the others in the studio and back at Ellie. "About the thing." She dragged a magazine from the folder she clutched to her chest and held it out to Ellie. "And now it's in Tattler."
Ellie took a second to work out what Adriana was trying to tell her as she took the magazine and saw the cover - a picture of Daniel, James, Gav and Will wrapped up together in a gigantic British flag with goofy expressions on their faces, with the headline, 'Super Glue'.
"The thing you told me not to talk about," Adriana said under her breath in her rolling South American accent so only Ellie could hear.
Flipping to the pages of Tattler Adriana had marked with a sticky-note, Ellie came across a grainy picture of herself on stage with Daniel and Gav taken during the tour in Australia—at that Melbourne show—the Best Slider Gig Ever.
Daniel and Ellie sat side by side, grinning at each other as Gav concentrated on his guitar. The looked shared between Daniel and Ellie was unmistakable—that first flush of love Ellie felt for him was in her dazed eyes and the curve of her lips—but the whole picture sent her right back to the moment the three of them had played as one.
The article was brief—someone had filmed the gig and made a bootleg video of it, which led to a petition for Ellie, Daniel and Gav to release a song together. There was even a voting slip to cut out of the magazine and sent to a postal box address in London to encourage more people to push for the single.
Ellie closed the magazine and passed it to Kim.
"A song," Adriana said, "with Daniel and Gav. Brenin says it could be a Christmas single and everything."
"A Christmas single?" Ellie groaned as Kim let out a laugh and passed the magazine to Meg. "No songs with Daniel. Or Gav. He knows we're not interested."
"But it'd be so good, Ellie," Meg said from the couch, waving the magazine at her. "Look how sweet you guys look together."
"No," Ellie said pointedly, crossing her arms.
"A Christmas single would be cool." Kim's thoughtful expression sent waves of worry through Ellie. "You should talk to Brenin. Do the numbers."
"It's not happening!" Ellie wrenched the magazine from Meg's hands and gave it back to Adriana, steering her out the door, stepping into the corridor with her. "Can you please tell Brenin I'm still not interested?"
Adriana nodded, slipping the magazine back into her folder and finding her mobile phone in the leather satchel that hung over her shoulder. "I'll call him," she said, but pointed to the phone at Ellie before she moved off. "Do you want to check with Daniel first? Maybe he'd like to do it?"
"What would I like to do? Does it involves snogging you, Devine."
Daniel's beaming smile appeared over Adriana's shoulder. He squeezed Adriana's arm as he winked at Ellie.
Ellie felt her body bristle as she met his eyes. "Hey."
"Hey."
Adriana looked between them. "I'll just ... "
There was no sign they knew she'd even left. Daniel pulled Ellie toward himself and held her in his arms and Ellie felt his warmth all around her. She hadn't seen him for four weeks. He'd been on tour in America and she'd missed him so much it ached every night when she went to bed and counted down the hours until he would be beside her again.
Daniel kissed her hair and her forehead. "It's rather good to see you, Devine."
Ellie breathed him in. All of him. No cigarettes. Just minty, fresh, but musky underneath. He must have come straight to the studio off the plane.
"We just wrapped the album," Ellie sighed up at him. "Do you want to hear it?"
"The boys are in the car," Daniel thumbed towards the door. "Want me to get them?"
Ellie nodded. "Yep."
She headed back into the studio. "Glue's coming for a listen," she said to Steve. "Chuck it on again, can you, please?"
"Glue are coming?" Meg grinned. "Here?"
Ellie nodded.
"Excellent," Kim said, shifting in her seat to make more room on the couch. "They'll also tell you it's an award winner."
Daniel bounded in first and planted fat, wet kisses on everyone, including Steve.
Will followed, waving around with his casual, understated vibe, his skin fresh under shining red hair, looking fit and healthy—healthier than Ellie had ever seen him. He hugged Ellie and she could feel firm muscles under his sports jacket.
"You're looking good." Ellie nodded appreciatively as he leaned up against the mixing desk next to her.
"Decided to cut down on the excesses and get fit." Will threw his thumb at Daniel, who dropped his arm over Ellie's shoulder and checked the company out. "Need to keep up with this one."
Ellie squeezed his arm and smiled.
James sidled in, smelling richly of red wine and cigarettes. He nodded at Meg, gave Ellie a quick bow, then squished his colossal frame on the couch right in between Kim and Meg. Pulling a packet of cigarettes from his jacket pocket he offered them around.
Gav followed, waving a bottle of champagne at everyone. "Oy, oy, the Brits have landed," he laughed as he gave Ellie a peck on the cheek. "Something about a new album?"
"We just wrapped." Ellie grabbed the bottle of champagne from his hands and peeled off its foil wrapping. "May I?"
Gav gave her the nod, and she continued to unwrap the champagne as Meg jumped up and handed around a stack of paper cups she found by the water cooler.
"We have plenty to celebrate," Daniel declared, taking a cup for himself and Ellie. "Like Will running that marathon when we were in New York—"
Everyone cheered and clapped Will, who flexed his muscles and grinned around, pleased with himself.
"And Meg and Coral being in 'lurve'," James said, raising his empty cup at Meg, and Ellie saw a new understanding between the two of them–James' acceptance of Meg's new relationship and their new friendship unfolding.
Everyone 'ooh-ed' at Meg and she clapped her palms to her flared cheeks, then waggled her hands in the air excitedly. "Oh, you guys!"
"How about Glue having two number one songs in America? " Ellie stated, aiming the bottle at the roof. Everyone winced as she popped the cork with a terrified expression. It rebounded off the roof and landed in a surprised Kim's lap. Everyone roared with delight as she held it up triumphantly.
"Like Slider finishing what is going to be another number one album," Gav said, throwing a cigarette into his mouth.
"Like Kim buying a house in Helsinki so she can escape us all and be by herself when she needs to." Ellie said before she tipped champagne into all the cups everyone held out.
"I'd like a house in Helsinki. I hear the Fins are fairly large drinkers. Kim, I shall come and visit," Gav stated, flicking his lighter at his smoke.
"I'm so excited you're all safely back." Meg clapped her hands together. "How was the tour? "
"Hectic," Gav chuckled. "We missed Slider supporting us. Had to put up with a band from Leeds. And everyone knows what people from Leeds are like ... "
Ellie felt Daniel's hands around her waist and she tuned out of the conversation.
"I'm home, beautiful," he whispered into her ear, pushing her hair back - it was longer now, but still shaved up one side.
Ellie linked their fingers together and leaned back into him.
"We've got some catching up to do," he breathed into her ear and she melted against him.
"Okay," Steve said, balancing a few more tuners, then turned to the crowd. James passed him a cup of champagne and before he pressed play, took a huge swig and held his cup up. "Here's Slider's new album. It's called ... ?" he glanced at Ellie, then Meg, then Kim.
"Who gives a shit?" Meg sighed, flopping back into the couch. "Just play the fuckin' thing so I can go home and call Coral. Did you know I've memorised every single clock around the world so I know what time it is wherever she is?"
Ellie laughed. "We'll name it later."
As the first notes of the album seared through the speaker, Daniel rested his chin on top of Ellie's head, then whispered down into her ear that he loved her, his breath making Ellie's senses soar. It was as if they had found each other again after being apart. And now they had months ahead of them to rediscover each other all over again.
Ellie squeezed his fingers, and watched as he brushed his thumbs over hers, his simple touch sending rushes of desire through her.
"Oh fuckin' hell," Meg groaned. "Look at those two. Every time they see each other, it's like a love fest. Get a room, why don't you?"
"You know we're going to move in together, don't you?" Ellie shook her head at Meg. "We'll have plenty of rooms." She glanced across at Kim, who gave her a reassuring smile. They'd spent long nights chatting about Ellie moving in with Daniel and Kim had been open about the fact she'd miss Ellie like hell, but she'd encouraged her too; wanting Ellie to go all in on her relationship with Daniel with no interference from anyone.
"It's just me and Gav left for the ladies now," James grumbled.
"How about we listen to the music?" Gav hushed everyone down and found a comfortable position sitting cross-legged on the floor with an ashtray at his side.
Ellie smiled down at him. They'd talked a little about getting together for jam session.
But she'd drawn the line at releasing music with anyone other than Kim and Meg.
For now, anyway. And it seemed as if Brenin would not give up on the Glue-slash-Slider song everyone wanted to hear soon.
As the second song came on, Ellie chewed on her lip. Daniel hadn't heard this one. It was another one about him. Of course. She knew it was good. She just wanted his affirmation. She felt him listening behind her as he tightened his arms around her waist and planted a kiss on her hair. He stayed still for the whole song. As it wrapped up and Ellie's voice faded out, he said nothing, just wrapped his arms around her and held her flat, tight against his own body.
That was all she needed from him.
Her music and her man.
And her friends.
And friggin' Steve Soul and his panel to make it sound shit hot.
She winked at Steve.
"Fucking awesome," she said as the music curled around her and sunk deep into her bones. "Just bloody fuckin' awesome."
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THE END
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Author's note:
Oh hey, hello and ... wow! 🙏Thanks 🙏so much (you bloody legend!) for reading this story right to the end! I hope you had a great ride! I'm so excited you got to go on this adventure with all these amazing characters and me!
Please give the story a ⭐️👆vote 👆⭐️if you liked it as it means other people will be able to find it and read it too and thank you again! 🥰🥰🥰
✨✨✨Oh my goshness...
If you want to continue reading about Ellie & Daniel and all the dudes from this story - why not dive straight into PART 2 of this feasty story on my profile that I'm currently writing. It's called: 🎸Ellie Devine Rock Star.🎸
It's right there. You can read it now:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/251719027-ellie-devine-rock-star
Join Ellie on her next journey!
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Whoop!!
And also...
Ellie Devine was nominated by the beautiful @SoulFarAway to be interviewed in the fabbo book by @dlcroisette. You can read some of her secrets here:
https://my.w.tt/WDWPK35Ykbb