Chapter Eight
A capriccio: a free and capricious approach to tempo
Charlie
I unlock the door to my house in Spokane, pushing aside all lingering pangs of nostalgia for everything this house represents. Being normal. Having friends. Damian. I knock twice on the open door. “Lauren? You here?”
“Charlie!” she yells and skips out of the kitchen at the back of the house. “You made it!”
I step all the way inside, pulling the door mostly closed behind me, a huge grin on my face. “Of course I did. I told you I wouldn’t miss your recital.” I return her exuberant hug. It’s fun making someone happy just by showing up. I mean, technically that isn’t a new thing for me. But most people are happy to see me because I’m Charlotte James, pop princess. It’s my celebrity they’re excited about, not me. But Lauren’s just happy that I’m here for me. That’s a rare and precious thing in my world, which is why as soon as she told me the date of her recital, I cleared everything on my schedule. My mom gave me multiple lectures about it. I listened politely to the first two or three. After that, I started getting up and leaving the room. Or hanging up, if we were on the phone.
I’ve started looking for my own place, but between working with The Professor, writing the new songs for my album between our meetings, and laying down the demo to bring to the label execs next week, I’ve been busy. It doesn’t help that I’m trying to keep the fact that I’m moving out under my mom’s radar.
When Lauren steps back, I grip her shoulders so she’ll look at me. “I have a surprise for you.”
Lauren’s eyebrows jump up. “Really? What?”
Pushing the door open behind me, Gabby pops into view. “Surprise!”
Lauren squeals and practically shoves me out of the way to throw her arms around Gabby’s neck and pull her inside. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? You said you couldn’t make it!”
“I didn’t think I could. But we made it work, so here I am.” They separate for a second, smiles on everyone’s faces, then Gabby grabs Lauren for another hug. “I’ve missed you.”
“Aw, I missed you too, Gabby.” Lauren throws her arm out. “Get in here, Charlie. I’ve missed both of you. It’s weird living by myself.”
Gabby throws her arm out too. “Yeah, Charlie. You need to get in here for a group hug.”
Laughing, I do. These girls are the friends I always wanted as a teenager. The kind I saw in movies and read about in books, but never had the opportunity to encounter in real life. Happy tears sting my eyes.
When Lauren hears me sniff, she pushes away, giving me a look. “None of that. If you start crying, I’m going to cry, and I don’t want to cry right now. I’m happy that you’re both here. How long are you staying?” Her hands fly to her mouth. “Oh my God, you guys are going to cause a riot.” Eyes narrowed, she looks us over. “If you’re in the audience, no one’s going to be paying attention to my recital.”
Gabby laughs. “We’ll listen from the greenroom.”
My mouth twists in disappointment. “Yeah. If that’s what we have to do, we will. I was really hoping to watch from inside the hall, though. It’s not the same in the greenroom.”
“True.” Gabby sighs, then waves her hands. “We’ll figure it out. That’s why we came a couple of days early. Do you have another rehearsal with your pianist? Can we sneak in for that? I mean, you won’t be in your awesome dress, but at least we’d get to hear you play from the audience.”
“Hmm.” Lauren’s brow furrows, and she strokes her chin as she thinks. Gabby and I exchange a smirk. When Lauren considers something, she strokes her chin like a man stroking his beard. She calls it her existential beard and swears it helps her think better.
“That might work.” Her hand drops and her focus sharpens on Gabby and me. “You guys will have to sneak in. I’m rehearsing on Friday afternoon so we’re out in time for the recital that night. That means people will be around. If anyone recognizes either of you, you’ll get mobbed.”
Gabby gives her a skeptical look and gestures at me. “I can see Charlie getting mobbed. Especially since no one realized who she was when she was here before. But me? I thought you said that I was a cautionary tale around here.”
Lauren laughs. “Yeah, you kind of are. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t also starstruck. And if you ask me, I think the people who snipe about you are jealous of your success more than anything.” She waves her hand, as if waving off an unpleasant odor. “Don’t worry about stupid people. I am serious about the mob, though. If you stay for at least part of the day on Sunday, you should do something so that people here can come see you, talk to you, get an autograph or something. I’ll seriously get in trouble if people find out you came after the fact and they didn’t get a chance to meet you both.”
“Oh.” I chew on my lip. “I’m sorry, Lauren. I wasn’t trying to make your life more difficult by coming. Or bringing Gabby. I just …”
Lauren’s eyes go wide. “No! No. I’m so excited you’re here. It means a lot to me that you’d make the effort. I know how busy you both are. And it’s not like you’re close by, either. Not everyone I’d like to be here is able to make it.” She says the last part quietly, and swallows visibly, before shaking her head and moving on. “I’m just saying, it’d be cool if you guys did something on Sunday that we could invite people to.” Then she narrows her eyes, and one corner of her mouth lifts in a sassy smirk. “But not before. I don’t want anyone distracting from my big day.”
Gabby laughs. “You sound like a bridezilla.”
Lauren’s smile widens, and she shrugs. “A violinzilla? Does that work as a thing?”
“Ha. No, I don’t think so. But I can’t blame you. You’re the diva this weekend. We’re not here to overshadow you. I’ll have my manager see if there’s a venue available on such short notice. Hang on.” I pull out my phone and send a quick text.
“Ooh.” Gabby nudges my shoulder with hers. “How are you liking your new manager?”
I look up from my phone and flash her a grin. “She’s awesome. And she’ll totally make Sunday happen somewhere great. Just wait.”
After that conversation where I basically fired my mom and my longtime manager, I texted Jonathan for his manager’s number. I’m sure that’s why Gabby knows about my management change.
She didn’t have room for me, but she sent me a few referrals. I interviewed them and finally settled on Grace, who’s awesome. She gets that I’m trying to navigate a new direction and is helping smooth the way for that to happen. She sat in on the demo recording last week at The Professor’s studio and was super excited about what she heard. Once he gets the track finished, we’ll take it to the record label. The three of us. Together.
It’s awesome. I love having a team that’s on my side, that I selected. At last. They help me make decisions, but they don’t bully or pressure me into doing what they think is best. They treat me like an adult. It’s refreshing.
And for the first time since I was a little kid, I have friends. Great friends that I get to spend time with because I’m not running myself ragged touring nonstop and recording every spare moment between shows.
And no one telling me how I’m wasting time being here for a long weekend rather than doing something to further my career. No set up dates with other celebrities for the purpose of being seen by the press. No pressure to stick to a ridiculously restrictive diet. Because my diet now is built around healthy food. Yes, I’m counting calories and losing weight. But it’s extra weight that I don’t need. And my new trainer is amazing and encouraging, building a routine that doesn’t make me feel like death, but instead makes me strong and healthy.
I wish I would’ve taken control of my life like this years ago. But for now, I’m happy.
The first night with Lauren and Gabby is basically the perfect slumber party scene from the movies—pizza, ice cream, our favorite movies, and talking and laughing till two in the morning.
Gabby and I manage to sneak into the music building for Lauren’s rehearsal, where Clara, the violin professor, greeted Gabby with a hug and genuine pleasure. I could tell Gabby was nervous because she wouldn’t stop babbling about seeing Clara again on the way over.
Since the recital hall is only booked for ninety minutes for the rehearsal, we settle down quickly and Gabby and I get aisle seats about halfway back. Clara sits closer to the front so she can talk to Lauren or Cheryl, the accompanist, if she needs to. The house lights stay on, so it doesn’t feel the same as a real recital. But that detail is easily ignored once Lauren starts playing.
She’s amazing.
She starts with a concerto by Sibelius, and it’s beautiful. I’m mesmerized by her performance, the way she seems to embody the music, moving with it, not in a contrived, showy way, but like she’s part of the flow.
Clara has her run through everything like she’s giving a performance. Gabby and I clap enthusiastically between each piece, and I give a piercing whistle after her impressive performance of unaccompanied Bach—Gabby told me it’s the E major sonata. My whistle draws a censorious look from Lauren’s accompanist, who’s just stood to climb back on stage for the last piece.
When they’ve finished, Clara makes a few comments and has Lauren play through a couple of spots again. It’s fascinating watching them talk through their music in shorthand, a completely different language to the uninitiated. But at the same time, it’s so similar to my own experience of rehearsals. Everyone knows the abbreviated names for the songs and the shorthand for the dance sections, so you only have to say, “Let’s run ‘Kisses’ again,” and they set the stage for “Kisses in the Night,” one of my singles from my last album.
Gabby and I sneak back out through the greenroom door. Lauren acts as our lookout, making sure no one’s just standing around watching when we quickly head for the door outside. Fortunately, the greenroom door is right next to the exit. At this time on a Friday, no one’s really around. The cold temperatures of February help us even more, making it normal for us to be wearing hats and hooded jackets and keeping our head down against the wind blowing today. Plus, it’s late enough that the sun is almost down.
At Lauren’s, we hang out for about an hour, until her parents arrive. Gabby and I have a hotel for tonight, despite Lauren’s protests that we could all stay in the house.
Lauren gestures at her parents after giving them both big hugs. “These are my parents, Renee and Cliff. Mom and Dad, this is Charlie. And you remember Gabby.”
Their faces light up as Gabby steps forward, and they both give her a hug. “So good to see you!” Renee exclaims before releasing her. When Gabby steps back, Renee holds out her hand to me. “And Charlie. We’ve heard so much about you.” She’s staring at me intently, like she recognizes me but can’t figure out why.
“It’s so nice to meet you both.” I accept her handshake and then Cliff’s. “Gabby and I are going to get out of your hair for tonight, though. Let us know if we can help at all tomorrow. We’ll be in the greenroom for support.”
Confusion flickers on Renee’s face.
“Nonsense,” says Cliff. “You should both join us for dinner tonight, at least.”
Gabby, Lauren, and I exchange a glance. We all know that would be a disaster. Lauren swoops in. “I think Charlie and Gabby are pretty tired from flying in yesterday. Jet lag and all that. Maybe next time.”
“For sure,” chimes in Gabby. I just smile, because there’s not likely to be a next time. On the off chance there is, though, or they try to invite me somewhere before the end of this weekend, I don’t want to agree to something in advance that I know I won’t be able to follow through on. Gabby could probably go with them somewhere. Even tonight. She might get recognized, but her celebrity status isn’t like mine. The chances of her getting mobbed at dinner and starting a paparazzi frenzy are pretty low.
I don’t want to alert the media that I’m here. Especially not when I’m here for a friend. The whole point of sneaking in and out of the rehearsal today was to avoid distracting from Lauren’s big weekend.
We manage to leave soon after and head for our hotel downtown where Gabby and I are sharing a suite.
“Man, it’ll be weird being at the Davenport with you,” Gabby says as she drives there.
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
She giggles. “That’s where Jonathan and I always stayed when he was in town. I’ve only ever stayed there with him.”
“Ah. Well, don’t go getting any ideas. We have separate bedrooms.”
Gabby laughs at that. “Don’t worry. I think I can manage to control myself.”