Better go Solo

Chapter 2

Back at the studio I gave Greg one of the extra cheese sandwiches.

»Enjoy your meal« I said.

He thanked me and opened the aluminium foil wrapped around the sandwich. He took a bite of his warm food, while I went down the corridor back to my Dad. He called someone and through the pane of glass I saw four annoyed guys starring on their phones. Dad put away his one and rubbed his face.

One of the Guys entered the room we were in from the recording room and smiled friendly at me. It was obvious that he was not in a good mood at all.

»Hey, who are you?« He asked me. I opened my mouth to say something but my Dad was faster than me in finding the right words.

»That's my daughter Christina« He introduced me before I cleared my throat. I told him so many times before that I hated it when he called me like that.

»CJ« I corrected him. The guy in front of us smiled before turning to my father.

Why I wanted to be called CJ rather than Christina, which was my real name? My second name was Joanne so the combination of Christina and Joanne led to CJ. There were some other reasons why I did not wanted to be called Christina but that was a topic I did not like to talk about.

»Toby won't come anymore. He's at hospital with a broken arm so that he wouldn't be ready anytime soon. We try to find a substitute drummer. I'm so sorry to make your day even longer. If we can't find someone soon, we'll have to make a new appointment when Toby is well again« The guy explained. He seemed to be very sorry and some kind of desperate.

Dad bit in his fist what he does every time when he was stressed. Meanwhile, my eyes started sparkling from the words 'substitute drummer', but I was too scared to say something. It would have been extremely inappropriate to offer myself proudly as a drummer for a band I did not know. Anyways, I did not even know which type of music they played.

Dad lowered his hand and looked at me before shaking his head. He might have thought about the same idea as me but did not seem to be convinced. The guy looked even more desperate now so that I took my turn to say something.

»I could at least try I guess« I murmured reluctantly. The looks of both of them landed on me.

»I'm not sure« Dad replied and sighed.

»What kind of experience do you have?« The band member asked uncertainly.

»She's in a band with some friends of her« Dad answered for me again and chewed on the back of his pen.

»I could at least have a look« I suggested.

The guy stormed into the recording room to chat with the other band members, before he came back with a stack of paper in his hands.

»You would safe our asses so much« He said and handed it to me. I instantly sat down on the table in the back of the room to have a look on the scores. I would have liked to scream with joy when I realized what kind of music they played. It was a rock band.

It was absolutely quiet in the room until the door opened and the man who ran against me before came in.

»Did you find someone?« He asked in an obviously bad mood and snorted angrily when he did not get any response.

»I'll help you« I decided. The band member clapped his handy happily, the other man, on the other hand, seemed less keen on working with me instead of the sick drummer.

»That little brat? You can't be serious« He asked disparagingly. My Dad tensed.

»Any more bad word against my daughter and you can search for a new studio« He replied angrily. The man turned around to the band member.

»You know that you have to share the money you get with her« the man reminds him.

»Our fans wait for a new album for months now. We have to record. Toby won't play for some time« The band member replied before grabbing my hand and pulling me into the record room.

He introduced me to the other band members. The guy I talked to was the singer named Wyatt. Out of hin the band also contains the guitarists Jamie and Xavier and the bassist Paul.

The evening itself was still very fun. The interplay between the four was perfect so that it took less time to finish than expected.

After some records they invited us to a bar. Although I was the only one who was not allowed to trink any alcohol because of my age we had much fun talking about their way to be successful. Luckily I did not have to get up that early for work, otherwise I would have had a problem. Of course I could not live from being in a band so that I gave music lessons. I loved that job.

Dad earned much money with the studio but I wanted to earn my own even though it was not that much. I played, additionally to drums, piano and guitar very well and some other instruments a little. At the music school I worked for piano and guitar were the big sellers.

Dad and the band members got the next set of shots while I sighed and watched my glass. I was looking forward to my 21st birthday but I had to get 20 first. Of course I already drank alcohol before but in a bar it was not that easy to get something at 19 years old.

Anyways, I was in a good mood and asked the band about some good tipps to get successful. They were on the best way to the top and already had some high listings on the music charts.

»Who does Heather actually thinks who she is« Josy complained and took a sip from her coffee cup while sitting in front of me. She nearly complained all the time but that was what I liked about her. She didn't mince words when something annoyed her.

We worked at the same music school so that we spent our breaks between two lessons together. I drank some of my tea.

»I also find it incredibly cheeky. You two worked so hard on that songs but of course she complains about the songs being too dynamic. I thought we wanted to create a good atmosphere. Instead it would be some melancholic howling« I replied and leaned back in my chair.

»At least her father pays anything. I would not waste my money on some songwriters« She laughed and took the last sip from her cup before putting her cup in the sink.

»I have the next lesson now. I have to get everything ready« She explained and left the room. I had some minutes left so that I plugged my headphones into my ears and listened to my favorite song. I headed towards the room I usually gave the lessons in.

»Hey CJ« the small black haired girl coming through the door greeted me. Her skin was naturally tanned and with her long straight hair she looked like a Native American.

»You can sit down on the piano already and lay down your scores so you can show me how good you practiced since last time« I replied friendly and watched her putting her backpack in one of the corners.

Sometimes I really loved my job because I wished I had music lessons too when I was a child but Dad's studio just works very good for some years now so that we had not have the money in my childhood. I taught every instrument I played to myself and started working at the music school at 16 to earn some money myself and have unlimited access to every instrument.

Anyways, I wanted to help my Dad because there were just us too. I never had any siblings and my mother died ten years ago.