Revamp

chapter two

You had arrived there 5 minutes earlier than the stated time. The room was lowly lit and you could hear some movement inside.

Instead of the sweet 5'2 silver haired lady you had expected, you were meeting eyes with the band's core drummer: Andrew Neiman. He looked up at you, his eyes meeting yours from across the room where he sat at the drumming set. His hands frozen in midair as if you had caught him in the middle of stealing cookies from the pantry.

His shoulders dropped as he held his cymbals in place as he looked at you expectedly. Silence filling the air between the both of you.

"Oh I'm sorry." You lowered your head, already dismissing yourself by backing out the way you came in.

He rose from his seat. "Wait,"

You stopped, now giving him an expected glance.

"Um, you're supposed to be here. We both are."

"Both of us?" You asked, stupidly repeating what he had just said.

The woman you were sure you were going to be alone with came through the doors with a bright smile. "Oh good! You're both here."

So, this was done on purpose.

Susan had established that these sessions were to help break from Fletcher's toxic ways of teaching. She called it positive re-conditioning. She was very adamant on allowing those who've been taught by him to be able to experience music in a way that they loved. You and Andrew were both Fletcher's students and she thought it'd be a wonderful idea to not only get you both in one room to 'heal' simultaneously but not be so alone in this process.

To be quite frank, you wanted nothing more than to be alone during something like this. That's what you had envisioned anyhow. Plus, you really wanted to connect with Susan, not just as one of her musicians in her band but as a mentor/mentee.

Looking at Andrew's face, you could estimate that he wanted the same. As a matter of fact, he looked as if he didn't want to be there at all.

"Think you're prepared to play the song I selected for you, Andrew?" Susan asked as you settle on the bench, now seated at the piano. He nodded. You peeked over at his set up. His sheet music was nowhere to be found.

Jesus. Was he going to play it all from memory?

"Need a metronome?"

"No." Andrew almost instantly answered, readjusting his seat as he readied himself. "No, um, thank you." 

He tapped his sticks and began to play. The room was instantly filled with rapid taps of the cymbals and quick low hums of the drums.

His hands almost moving in a blur. One moment they're here, another moment, they're there. His fingers giving a smidgen of a movement and he was able to do a triple/quadruple pattern on his set. He's quick and committed.

All while doing this, his eyes barely open. Perhaps, a majority of this routine was done with his eyes closed.

He's amazing.

He finishes his song with a  satisfying clash.

Susan faltered for a moment. A look in her eyes yet she only sighed and nodded in approval before reaching over yet stopped short when she saw the young man flinch.

"Good job, Andrew." Her hand simply dropped at her sides, sending a soft smile his way. The drummer kept his head low as he nodded.

"Okay, we all set here?" Susan then turned to you. "Think you can play today?"