December 24th [COMPLETED]

14. Worlds Apart

A/N: according to the timeline,
George attended Anton's wedding before arriving in Upstate New York to work with Ali Sykes.

Paradise felt like a breath of fresh air. The wedding had been nice and George appreciated the opportunity to reunite with so many people she loved all at once. But Felix had been there.

She had seen him twice in three months and it felt like she couldn't shake him. It didn't help that her dreams persisted and she saw him every night, calling out to her just as she fell from a high ledge. The worst nights were the nights she jumped on purpose. Those were the nights she woke up in a cold sweat and had trouble going back to sleep.

But Paradise lived up to its name. There was space and fresh air to breathe. There was work to be done and that was all George needed to get over this heartbreak she felt bleeding inside of her.

Ali kept a strict schedule. She was insistent that it helped her keep her work life and personal life organized. It was George's job to go along with whatever the artist needed. And so for those blissful two months in upstate New York, George had a strict schedule.

Ali and her husband had breakfast together every morning, which gave George several hours to sit on the little patio attached to her solo cabin and write. George couldn't help but write. Seeing Felix in February and then again at the wedding had opened up a well of emotions she couldn't help but get out. She took after Ali and grabbed her guitar to release them into the air.

Ali and George met in the dining hall every morning at ten to start work and worked straight until six in the evening. Lunch was brought to them but other than that, George and Ali were nothing but work-minded. However, as soon as the clock struck six, Ali's husband poked his head in and called dinnertime. Ali's work day was officially over.

Sometimes George would eat dinner with them. There was always room at the table and it gave her a chance to get to know Ali's husband a bit more and hear about his work. Will was a writer and found Paradise just as inspiring as Ali had. Dinner was the only time George ever saw Will as he had his own cabin converted into a writing studio and spent his days there.

After dinner, Ali and Will wandered off to do their own thing. Sometimes George spotted them reading before the fire in the living room. Or taking the dog for a walk in the chill night air along the numerous trails that ran through the property. But they were always together when the night ended.

When the day ended, George was usually alone, back in the great hall, working. Sometimes Jamie was there but most of the time George made some excuse as to why she had to be alone.

The work was her sanctuary, the one place she felt she could escape from the hole in her chest. The work helped her forget, helped her move on. The work helped her heal. And Ali's work was the best she had gotten the chance to work on yet.

George's biggest challenge was getting the music to sound like Paradise, to capture what it was like to wake up and find a cloud of mist hovering over the lake right outside your window, to replicate the feeling of the cold rushing off the water and flying through your hair as you stood on the dock, feeling the thawing water bob beneath your feet.

Since it was just George in the dining hall, she fell into the habit of playing the music out loud for the dining hall to hear, the soundwave it sent across the large room affecting how the song came to be. It was as if the room had an opinion on how the song should sound and all George had to do was listen.

Isolation was proving healing. Worked and concentration were doing wonders on George's spirits. She didn't even blink an eye when Ali told her she had a feature coming up to the cabin for the day. The more the merrier was George's train of thought. Sure, features weren't her favorite. Bringing another artist into such a private and intimate setting changed things and altered dynamics. But anything for Ali was George's mindset.