Not This Time

Jon: April 16, 1986

     I looked over at Nina asleep in the passenger seat as I shut the car off. I'd told her to keep her eyes closed because she'd been in Vancouver almost three weeks already; I didn't want her getting an idea of where we were going. I hadn't meant for her to fall back asleep, though. With a small smile, I reached over and nudged her. She shifted and grumbled.

     "Wake up babe," I  muttered, as I unbuckled my seatbelt. Nina started to open her eyes. "No wait!" I laughed, "Keep your eyes closed! We're not quite there yet!" Nina rolled her eyes at me and closed them again. She unstrapped herself, reaching blindly for the car door. I grinned for a minute and then jumped out of the car to help her.

     "So where are we?" Nina mumbled as she rose from the car. I took her hand and led her around the car door, shutting it behind her.

     "I told you it's a surprise," I reminded her, guiding her toward the door of Little Mountain Sound. I'd spent a lot of the past week in this recording studio working on our next album. I was supposed to be back later in the morning to get to work, but I had arranged time for this.

     I'd spoken to our producer, Bruce, about seeing what one of the songs would sound like as a duet, but he'd handed the task over to his protégé, Bob Rock. So it was Bob who met Nina and me at the studio entrance to let us in.

     I held a finger up to my mouth as Bob opened the door for us. He nodded, but I could tell he was curious. Nina hesitated as warm air blew out of the building. She reached out to make sure she wouldn't run into anything as she stepped into the studio lobby. I motioned for Bob to lead the way. He raised an eyebrow at me and shook his head, but started down the hallway anyway.

     "This way," I said quietly into Nina's ear as I guided her down the hall after him. She groaned and trudged along blindly.

     "Can I open my eyes now?" she complained with a sigh.

     "Not yet." We followed Bob into one of the small rooms. It was decorated with a warm tones, similarly to the large room the band and I had been recording in. Nina had noticed the carpeting in this room in contrast to the tile floor of the hallway. She stepped away from me, hands out in front of her once more. I grinned. "You can open them now."

     Nina looked over at me and then around the room. When her eyes fell on Bob, she paused in surprise. Bob smiled and pushed off the counter where he'd been leaning. Nina glanced at me as Bob stepped toward her.

     "I'm Bob Rock," he introduced, holding a hand out to her, "I'm one of the producers here."

     Nina smiled timidly at him and then nodded. "We're at Little Mountain," she concluded, still nodding. She shook his hand, smiling a little more confidently, "Nina Artelle."

     "So you guys wanna get started?" Bob asked, looking between the two of us. Nina threw a confused glance my way. When Bob looked back at her, he did the same. "Did you not tell her about recording?" he asked me.

     I shrugged. "It was a surprise," I told them both. Bob rolled his eyes, muttering something about that explaining things. Nina was staring at me like I was crazy. "I have this song that I wanted to record as a duet," I explained to her. Nina raised an eyebrow teasingly.

     "You are such a girl," she joked, shaking her head. She shrugged too. "I haven't warmed up, though, so you're gonna get morning voice."

     Bob turned back to Nina too. "You can sing, though?" he asked. Nina nodded to him. Bob smiled a little and nodded, motioning to the door behind her. "You go through that door," he instructed, "And around the corner will be another door that takes you into the live room." He pointed to the room through the window, where we'd be recording. "You can warm up in there."