Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Thirty-Six

    "All right, so I want to emphasize...today will most likely be a day for brainstorming. Exchanging ideas. Getting a feel for the message behind the album and finding a way to express it." Drake was dressed in a white t-shirt, dark jeans, and Timberland boots. He wore a backwards Toronto Bluejays cap on top of his head, and adjusted it as he paced the length of the studio. "If you have to sing out loud to try to find the words you're looking for, do it. Whatever it takes for your ideas to flow out, do it. I don't want to miss out on great ideas because you're concerned about how you'll sound, or how you'll look. Nothing like that."

    Noah sat at the helm, flexing his fingers and yawning.

    Mia, seated on the couch towards the back of the studio with one leg crossed over the other, nodded in understanding. A notebook rested on her lap. She'd dressed comfortably, in a t-shirt and jeans.

    "Hush will probably be in and out of here," he went on. "We brainstorm together sometimes." He turned and spoke to Noah in a low voice. Then he walked across the studio and sat on the couch beside Mia. "I'm going to have Noah queue the music he's been working on. For each piece of music he plays, I want you to write notes about how the music made you feel." He held his hand up and snapped his fingers.

    "Queuing it up!" Noah called back to him.

    Mia tapped her pen on the notebook and closed her eyes as she listened to the music. She was gaining a lot of admiration for Noah's work. His ability to weave different elements of music and blend them together to make a perfectly cohesive piece of work was nothing short of amazing. The track finished playing, and she scribbled down a few notes into the notebook. She was aware of Drake leaning over, trying to see what she'd written, but ignored him as the second track started to play.

    When the tracks finished playing and she had all of her notes down, she lifted her head up. "Can I hear the first track again?"

    Noah glanced at her over his shoulder. "Sure, yeah."

    The music started playing. She tapped the end of her pen on her notepad and closed her eyes again. She started humming, getting a feel for how the words would lay out over the music.

    Drake sat back on the couch and watched her.

    The music was slow. It crept beneath her skin and seeped into her bones. She tilted her head to the side, continuing to hum. She opened her eyes and jotted some words down on the paper, and started to bob her head up and down as she wrote.

    Drake grinned and looked over to Noah, who'd turned around in his chair.

    The music ended and Mia continued writing in her notebook. She turned in her seat and handed her notebook to Drake.

    He accepted the notebook from her, looking her in the eyes. He lowered his eyes to the paper and stroked his bottom lip with his index finger. He read a few of the words, closed his eyes and sang a few lines out loud. He nodded his head as he ran his finger beneath one line she'd written. "Nice," he murmured. He stood up from the couch and started pacing while holding the notebook in his hands. He stopped in front of her. "Can I see your pen?"

    She nodded and handed the pen over.

    He continued pacing, alternating between humming to himself and singing. He wrote his own notes in the notebook and gestured to Noah to play the track again.

    Mia started to sway to the music on the couch. She started humming to herself again. "Oh, wait, wait, wait," she said, jumping up from the couch and running over to him. She had to get her idea out on paper before she lost it.