Be Here Now

1

London, 1993

Sophie never knew that she could ever write; until one day, Jack was trying to compose some songs for his musical and hit a writers block. Sophie- trying to be a good flatmate and friend, decided to sit next to him on the piano and mess about with some notes. She didn't think that they would make sense musically.... Ever since then he taught her the basics of guitar and, she has been writing ever since. Jack recently just recommended her for a song writing job where she would travel all around the UK, writing for various artists with him and.... she got the job!

Today was her first day and she looked in the mirror of her hallway checking if she looked good. She went for a casual and comfy look by wearing a grey jumper with black jeans to accommodate the look. Her hands ran down her clothes for the millionth time trying to remove any creases if they were to appear. 

Jack, looking fine as always walked into the hallway with a smile of excitement and stood next to Sophie- inspecting her. "You look good as always!" he said with his American accent.

Sophie started blushing nervously and let out a chuckle which immediately made her look down and start brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Thank you, I just want to look good as I'm a bit nervous-"

"You'll be fine. Plus I'll be there!" Jack said reassuring Sophie as he rubs her back to make her feel more comfortable. "C'mon, we better go now or we'll be late".

They both walked out of the flat together and Jack drove them to work in his blue car. That was one positive with working at the same place as your flatmate- he can drive you there instead of getting the bus with everybody else and fighting for a seat.

As Sophie and Jack walked into the reception of the studio, Sophie felt like she was being silently judged by everyone who was working there. She couldn't tell if they were being judgemental as to what if they thought her and Jack were dating because they walked in together? Or perhaps she missed the Corn Flakes while she was brushing her teeth? If she didn't continue walking, her legs would have trembled so, she decided to walk confidently up towards the desk. She wouldn't be able to enter the studio otherwise as Jack has his pass but Sophie doesn't yet.

"Hi, my name is Sophie. I just got a job in song writing here so could I please have my pass please?" she said.

"Hello there" the receptionist said with a kind smile before she passed her a lanyard with her pass inside of it. "You're working with Jack as it is your first day today. He'll show you where to go".

Sophie was very glad to have Jack by her side, without him- she would be completely lost! She didn't want to be late on her first day! 

Sophie stepped into the studio, shutting the door behind her. As she looked up, she saw five men sitting before her. Jack introduced her to these men who were Paul, Guisgy, Tony, Liam and, Noel. Sophie could tell that Liam seemed to be the trouble maker of the group as he had a devilish grin which presented to him to be mischievous. She was told that Noel was his brother which shocked her as he seemed to be quite calm. He was wearing a Smiths shirt which gave her butterflies as no one she knew liked The Smiths since all the controversy with Morrissey. Despite this, she blamed it on the nerves. 

"So what do you call yourselves?" Sophie asked eventually after analysing all of them.

"Oasis" said Liam with a cheeky smile.

"Wait do you want a drink or somethin'?" Sophie was confused.

"Didn' know we had waiters" said Liam.

Noel was giggling at Sophie while everyone else seemed to be confused. 'What was so funny?', thought Sophie. It wasn't until then (when Jack whispered in her ear) that she found out that was the band name.

Eventually, Jack and Sophie sat down with the producers and the band and started listening to the material that the band had made. Immediately when they started playing the cassette, it felt like Sophie had taken drugs. Their music was so addictive. Somehow it encapsulated rock but, it was so dark. They played a song called "Take Me".

Take me when I'm young and true

Was it me or was it you?

Take me when I'm not so strong

Why has it taken you so long?

Jack on the other hand, did not like the song. He sent the band into the recording studio to change some of the chords and solos. Everyone went in instead of Liam.

"Aren't you going to go in?" Sophie asked.

"I'm the fucking singer, what else is there for me to do." said Liam.

Well everything had been going so well up until this point. The song started to sound even better with Jack's ideas and now Liam is ruining it all by being rude. 

Sophie rolled her eyes and eventually said "well what do you want to do then?"

"I think we should get out of her and see if there's any business between those legs?" he said while winking at me. 

Sophie was gobsmacked. Never in her life has a man ever been disrespectful to her and suggested anything sexual to her.

"The fuck" she eventually said. 

Noel could see the tension rise between Liam and Sophie through the window, and he quickly left the recording booth like a knight in shining armour.

"Knock it off Liam." he said while giving a reassuring look to Sophie.

Liam held his hands up as if he was being arrested for what he did "ey ey ey, I was only joking". 

Liam looked at both Sophie and Noel, he knew that he was in the wrong. He eventually left the room to have a break to smoke a cigarette.

Butterflies started swirling around Sophie's stomach again. Never has a man defended her like that before and, liked The Smiths! She kept kicking the floor and looking down as she didn't want Noel to see that she was blushing. She eventually looked up and said "thank you".

"Don't mention it" said Noel.