Ugly Ronney: mafia romance [English]

Chapter 5-1

Satisfied, I removed my helmet. Alistair had done a great job on my scooter. The noise from the exhaust system was still pretty loud, but it was running again, and I had arrived at my destination without any problems. I slicked my messy hair back, but it had decided to do its own thing. I didn't insist.

I was drunk with joy to push open the doors of the building. I had missed the smell of this rather old place. The atmosphere here was soothing; I knew every corner of this place, which I had visited since I was five years old. Unfortunately, the building was in danger of collapsing, and we dub actors, sound crews, and project managers would certainly have to move in the near future.

"Ronney, where have you been? You should have been here half an hour ago!"

Logan, my partner on this project, was holding the door to the studio open for me. His soft gray eyes reflected concern. I liked him a lot. Barely older than me, he was friendly, and his pale face had real empathy for people.

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry, it's been a particularly rough week and I didn't hear my alarm this morning. I've been working for a hard-ass for several days."

Logan seemed to sympathize with my situation. I hastily removed my poncho and placed it with my things on the sagging couch. I tied my hair up in a sort of bun, then settled into my seat in front of a white screen. Logan joined me.

"We still haven't done the theme song, so we'll start with that. Tonio will play the loop a few times, then we'll work on it."

I adjusted my glasses and my microphone.

"It shouldn't take long. I just have to adjust my voice to fit Minnie."

At that moment, Tonio, the chief operator, entered the room with a sandwich in his hand. It wasn't even eleven o'clock, and he was already eating. Nearly sixty with a good bald spot, he looked his age. Everything about him was round: his eyes, his face, his body. His worn pants matched the tone of the room.

Tonio sat on a small stool behind us, then said in a thick Texas accent, "Ronney, don't worry about the song. It lasts less than a minute. Don't forget, we want a nice round voice. Here's your glass of water."

He placed it on the table next to me and then addressed Logan.

"For Popo the Hippo, it's the same. I'll play the first draft Logan recorded. And you, Ronney, you work on it."

I nodded. My colleague went to lower the studio lights while Tonio started playing the song. The text written on the master tape allowed me to analyze the verbal flow and indicated to me by signs the movements of the lips, but also the rhythm of the breathing to adopt. Minnie the little mouse had a high-pitched voice, unlike Popo the Hippo, and she talked fast, which had the tendency to strain my vocal cords. On top of that, I had to be careful to articulate well so that the children could understand her.

We were on the second take and I had assimilated the text on the rhythm band that was scrolling under the images. The song would be finished in no time.

On the third and last verses, the studio door opened. I recognized Mackenzie's blonde bob; she was the artistic director. Politely, she invited someone into the studio. Then the world stopped turning around me. My voice slowed down, then broke as I saw Yeraz come through the door. Holy shit. What the fuck is he doing here? I felt like I was in a nightmare, the scene was so horrible.

He was standing straight in front of me in his perfectly ironed black polo shirt, not wearing his sunglasses. I pressed my temples with both hands, convinced that I was hallucinating. When I looked up, Yeraz was staring at me with his small, uninspiring, professional asshole smile.

Mackenzie pressed a button on the mixer and her voice echoed throughout the room.

"Meet Giovanni Cucitore. This generous investor has just bought Red Channel. Thanks to him, a large part of the building will be renovated and we will be able to stay here."

Logan and Tonio greeted the news with loud exclamations and applause.

"Welcome to the family, Mr. Cucitore!" exclaimed Tonio, his eyes shining with joy. "So, you are our new boss."

A feeling of panic and anger tightened my throat. Giovanni? What the hell is this new bullshit? Yeraz turned a tight face towards me. What was he playing at? Mackenzie had just invited the Devil himself. I couldn't blame her. Without his glasses, the Khan son wasn't recognizable. Suddenly worried, she turned to me.

"Ronney, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

It's worse than that, I thought. Yeraz tilted his head to the side, looking at me intently. Panic ran up my spine. Mackenzie and the others were hypnotized by this man with his extraordinary charisma. It was true that all Yeraz had to do was breathe to fill a room with his presence, but to me, he inspired only hatred and disgust.

"I'd like to stay here for the recording session," the young man said in a cheesy tone that infuriated me. "I've always been fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes in this business."

I've always been fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes in this business, I repeated in my head in a sly tone. Why don't you tell them that it's guns and the smell of blood that help you sleep? Mackenzie, who was twice his age, looked like she was back in her teens. Her eyes fluttered like a little girl's in front of a bakery window and her cheeks kept turning pink. I felt like throwing up. Come on, Mackenzie, say no. It's against the rules.

"Of course! You are now at home, Mr. Cucitore. Logan and Ronney are our best dubbers in animated films, so it's fun to watch them. Why don't you sit down with them?"

I adjusted my glasses and discreetly rolled my eyes at Mackenzie's attitude. She put a hand on his shoulder a little too long, which made it easy to understand a completely different silent invitation.

We glared at each other as he walked past me to sit behind with Tonio.

"Okay, Ronney, let's start from the top."

A slight grimace crossed my face. I could feel Yeraz's heavy gaze on my back. He wanted to destabilize me, to make a fool of me, to make me his puppet as he had done with the other assistants before me. He was the best at this game. With my lips pursed and my fingers tangled like strings, I took a deep breath, finished my glass of water, and began recording.