A Night With No Stars

XXI. Twilight Zone

Ever since Aleks had holed up in his studio, he didn't want to leave at all.

Okay, so far he'd only spent a few hours here and hadn't even recorded anything; he'd been too busy being amazed and pushing all of the buttons. It was more of a dump than a studio, because all real studios were occupied by real artists, but this dump was still the most professional recording place he'd ever set foot in, so he wasn't complaining.

He couldn't stay here forever, though, because there were still other duties. Partyka had made it happen for him, and Aleks couldn't just hole up here in return. No, he needed to prove that he could do both: appreciate the gift, make the most of it, and not blow off his actual job. Maybe it was stupid to think about it as a gift. It's not like Partyka did it out of the kindness of his heart and wasn't going to get his cut if the whole thing worked out. But he was still the only person who'd given him a chance and decided to invest in him first and then see if it paid off. It was hard not to be at least a bit grateful.

The business was booming, so Aleks had been all over the place lately, and now he was also going to be running between the club and the studio, which wasn't all that bad because it left him little time to think about Maks. Only when he got home late at night, worn out and ready to drop, did he go to bed, and sleep was suddenly forgotten. It might be because sleeping at his mother's place suddenly felt alien. Even though he had grown up there, he'd been avoiding it as much as possible for quite some time now, even more since meeting Maks. Which was really sad, like he had no place to call his own. It's not like Maks' apartment had ever felt like home, but neither did his mother's; it was too dirty in comparison to Maks' always tidy flat, too noisy outside, and too silent inside. Just wrong.

So he would be lying late at night, staring at the ceiling, and daydreaming. They hadn't spoken to each other in three days, and Aleks would wonder obsessively what Maks was up to at the moment, whether he had already told her, was planning on it, or wasn't going to tell her at all and was just trying his patience. He must have known that Aleks wouldn't hold on much longer without speaking to him, especially since this time the silent treatment was one-sided. Maks hadn't waited long and texted him the next day. He'd started slyly with 'I'm going to tell her' and then added, 'soon'. Next, he'd sent a pitiful, imploring 'Please, can we talk?'. When that hadn't worked, he'd changed tactics, written, 'I wish you were here right now' and then a simple 'I miss you' before falling silent. Aleks had kept holding his ground and never replied, even though all he could have thought of was that he missed him too. He wasn't even sure whether he was doing the right thing or torturing them both just to make a point.

Luckily, he didn't have much time to ponder it. Partyka, as usual, summoned him like a secretary, and Aleks only hoped that he would have time to get back to the studio today. He wondered if he could sleep there. It would definitely be an improvement from his current place of residence. It was just a dump, so nobody should mind, right? And it was fully at his disposal, because no self-respecting artist would ever record in such conditions, so why couldn't he bring a couch in, arrange it a bit, and live there? That would have its advantages; if he woke up in the middle of the night, hit by sudden inspiration, he could not only write it down right away but also record it.

"You're going to give a concert," Partyka informed him without any greeting as soon as he saw him at the door. "June seventeenth. In Progression," he specified. It didn't sound like a suggestion.

"Okay," Aleks said slowly, stepping in. "Do you think everything will be ready by then?" he asked hesitantly.

Partyka glowered at him. "Is this my project or yours?" he scoffed. Aleks opened his mouth, but Partyka didn't let him interrupt. "Are the backups not going to be ready in two weeks? I'm not paying for you two to slack off."