chapter eleven.
POV: Elaine.
The next morning was a blur. I couldn't get myself to snap back to reality for my mind was busy indulging itself to what had happened yesterday. Even now, I still can't believe such thing. Everything was surreal. It felt like a dream. For a second, my heart nervously thumps at that notion; what if it was a dream?
All I could really think of right now is when I would see him again. I can't help but smile to myself.
Last night before I went to bed, I checked my twitter and my timeline was bombarded with pictures of us. I wasn't sure what to feel. I decided, what other people think or say about our situation doesn't matter. At least not right now.
Someone knocks on my door. The person lets itself in and I see it was mom. She was smiling, but her eyes were worried. She sits down at the foot of my bed. "You're all over the internet."
Right, as if I didn't know that. I start to feel sick to my stomach. "Is that a good thing?"
"I hope so." She looks strained.
"I hope so." I echo. "Are you worried?"
"Loads."
"Me too."
"You know what they'll say, right?"
"Not really."
"I'm sure there'll be bad stuff." She stands up and even that takes her a hard time. She hovers over my doorway. "Don't let them get to you."
When she's disappeared from my sight, I scramble up to get my laptop and went over the internet. I checked Twitter and it's like nothing ever changed. It's still the subject of almost every tweet on my timeline. I go to a news site and sure enough there was an article filled with pictures of us. I look at myself. For what it's worth, my head was falling down on the photos that were publicized. The world is getting more curious.
I get a notification from Trisha. The girl from the concert. She sends a photo then shortly a message, Is this you???????????????, it said. I closed the lid of my laptop and sighed. This is tough. Let's see how far we'll go.
My brother strolls in my room next. "I know what you're going to say." I say ahead of him and made a face.
He rolls his eyes. "Mom wants you to work in the studio with me."
"What?"
"She said you need to be distracted."
"She worries too much, I'm fine." I argue. I didn't need to work. "I can find other ways to get myself distracted. And besides, there's not much to do in the studio."
My brother has worked with various artists, but I never really got interested. Sometimes, they would use his studio to record something. Other times, they go there only to hang out and tune some chords. In times I go there for a visit, I find him dozed off.
"I'm starting to think if this was ever a good idea. Having him under your radar."
"What do you mean?"
"It's too risky. There'll be so much to deal with, so much public scrutinization."
"I know, but I'd rather not talk about it right now."
"It's not too late, you know." He says and I narrow my eyes at him. "Don't hold onto him when you know you won't be able to get a grip."
I fell silent.
"C'mon, she'll nag us both." El says in a tired voice and heads out the door.
Even though the last thing I want right now is to work in his studio, I feel okay to have something to get occupied with for the meantime. There's time to think this through, I tell myself. I get dressed and followed him shortly downstairs. My mom follows me with her eyes.
"Please stop looking at me like that, mom." I let out a deep breath. "I'm okay."
She shakes her head at me and continues folding clothes on the couch. Then she speaks when I'm at the door. "Won't you have your breakfast?"
El's car was already honking from outside. I gestured at it and shrugged, then got out of the house. I slide in to the passenger seat and made a face at him. "Geez, you're so impatient."
"You were taking so long. I'm late for work." He backs up the driveway, turns and speeds off.
I snort, reaching over to turn on the radio. "There's no late for you. You make your own rules." To Love Somebody by Bee Gees came on and I start to sing along.
"Whatever." El glances at the dashboard, then switches the channel when he sees I was singing.
I frown at him. He's so annoying.
We get to the studio in no longer than fifteen minutes. It was a short drive as there were no traffic in the roads. El pulls over in the parking lot and got out. I do so too. The sun was blazing. We walk the few steps to the entrance which El unlocks with his keys. I plump on the couch and he snaps at me. I stood up lazily. My brother leads me to a poorly-lit room where the first thing that catches my eye is the shelf filled with boxes of CDs.
"Here's your job." He stands in the doorway and motions me in. "Just stack them by genre. Forget the boxes."
I gawked at him. "Excuse me?" Then at shelf that reached up to the ceiling. "This can't be done in a day! By one person!"
He sneers. "Who said you'd only be working here for a day?"
My shoulders fall. "Oh my god."
"Get on a hustle so you'd have a lot done by the afternoon." He turns and disappears to the hallway.
"Hey, wait!" I yell. "How am I supposed to know the genre!?"
"There's a list there somewhere. " He yells back.
I groan as I bent down the shelf to reach for the first box. I drag myself to an empty table and dumped the CDs out of the box. The sound of it falling against the wood and on top of each other almost deafened me. I hear El yell from outside, "I swear to God!"
I chuckle. I start checking the fronts and backs of the CDs and looking over the list that I found under a dusty drawer. My eyes trail around. This whole place needs a paint and a repair job. I made a mental note to offer that suggestion to my brother, not because I care but only to annoy him.
Ten minutes in and I'm already dying of boredom. I am barely done with the first batch. I made crying sounds and El appears by the door, smiling smugly. "How's my employee?"
"Dying." I groan. "This is driving me insane." I push the CDs away and pulled a chair to sit on. "Why don't you hire someone to do this for you?"
"I already did."
"Where is that person?" I say through gritted teeth. He gestures at me with his hand and I stared at him. "You mean, you employed me to do this?"
"What else could it mean?" He laughs. "Don't sloth."
"In English, please!"
He laughs loud and disappears back to the hallway.
I glanced at the clock that read 9:52 in the morning. I have so many hours left that I should be spending in bed instead. I'm the most impatient person in the world and having me do this will make me lose my sanity. I go over my phone, but it's no good thing as well. Fans are frustrated and eager.
