My Lost Love

Chapter 4 - The Love of Our Friendship

December, 1979

     I was with a couple of people from the record company at a night club called Roxy.  I hardly went out but I was forced to join them.  We were all sitting at a table watching this great band perform.  I was truly enjoying the show when I spotted Maya at the door.  I raised my hand in the air and motioned for her to come over.  I hadn't seen her in a while, maybe a month or two because I had been on tour with my brothers.

     "Hey guys," she said to everyone with a wave.  She took a seat next to me.  We were all expecting her so I kept the chair empty just for her.  "Who's this?" she asked nodding towards the stage.

     "Um, I forgot their name."  I looked back to the stage.  Their music was pretty good.  I was really into them.  They were jazz musicians.

     Maya got into the show too within seconds of her arrival.  Even though we hadn't seen each other in months, the band was too much of a distraction for us to properly say our hello's and 'I missed you's to one another.  She was really into music.  Her dad worked in the creative department at Epic, which is my record label now and was then.  Naturally, she took after him.  She was always in the studio with me and had a lot of connections with the record company.  Her father was a very well-known and respected man.  Maya's mother, Miss Wanda, kept her busy playing music.  At the age of 16, she was a aleady senior in high school and knew how to play the piano, the flute, and the violin very well.  She also was a songwriter.  She was very talented and we shared a deep love for music.  She could've been a superstar if it weren't for her lack of relative pitch.  I loved my best friend but I was very honest with her when I told her she could not sing.  I told her to stick to her instruments and pen and paper.  She recently received a scholarship, due to her talent, to a college in New York and as far as I knew she was going to go but that night she revealed to me that she wasn't going anywhere.

     We applauded as the band finished their groove. She twisted her torso to face me and gave me a hug.  "I missed you so much best friend."

     "I missed you, too."  I laughed at her.  It was nice to see her face but whenever I was away, we stayed on the phone so it wasn't like we had anything to catch up on.  Well, that's what I thought.  Plus, I did have something I wanted to mention to her.

     "I've been waiting to see you in person because I have to tell you something important," she said leaning in towards me.

     "What is it?"  I kept my focus on her as I sipped on my drink.

     "Well, I've been secretly working for Epic behind your back."  She giggled but I didn't understand what she meant.  She could tell by my facial expression so she furthered explained.  "I'm not getting paid but I'm scouting for them."

     "What?"

     "I want to become an A&R rep.  If I find something good then I can make my way on the payroll."

     It made sense, somewhat.  They were obviously just doing her a favor because of her father.  She was still in high school.  I didn't know if anything would really come out of it for her but I hoped so.  "Good luck.  So what about school in New York?"

     "Oh, I'm not going.  I'm going to just stay here and work things out with Epic.  If the scouting doesn't work out I can always be a songwriter."

     I just stared at her.  I was still stuck on the 'I'm not going' part. 

     "What?" she asked smiling.  She knew what bothered me.  "I don't want to leave California.  This is my home."