aTRACKion

Chapter Eight

I thought Doug would be taking me to a studio somewhere, but being the unpredictable person that I'm quickly gathering him to be, we are in fact just beside a little cove. It's stunning. It's sublime. It's Ibiza at its secluded best. Standing on the sea-facing rocks, looking down at the sand-and-shingle beach and out to the turquoise clear sea, I no longer feel annoyed about the longer than anticipated scooter journey here. "What's this place called?" I ask Doug, drawn so much to the very beautiful view before me.

Standing near, Doug is breathing in this little corner of paradise. "My studio." He calmly exhales, before turning to me with such a relaxed smile now on his face. "Es Canaret, that's what this place is called." He starts walking, knowing that I'll follow. When he finds a smooth rock for us both to sit down on, he parks himself on it, again knowing that I'll follow him.

"Is this where you conduct all of your business meetings?" Sliding on my sunglasses, I broadly smile his way.

Looking out at the ocean, Doug chuckles. "I have everything I need for this meeting." From out of his jeans, he pulls out his mobile. Leaning forward, so he's in my space and getting my attention, he starts tapping into some app on his phone. "Okay, I'm still building up this track, but this is the foundation of the melody. It's going to be the backbone of the entire track." Together we listen to a groovy but basic arrangement.

"What's the track called?" My ears are pleasantly now filling with the music being played to me.

"Hear The Chant."

"And what is it about? Does it have a theme?" I always like to know why the track has been written. I enjoy knowing the reason why it has been created.

Doug frowns a little, his reply doesn't just slip off his tongue like many of his other replies do. "I guess it's about remembering who we are. Remembering who we used to be. Remembering those around us, the important ones." He then taps again on his mobile, frowning harder with concentration. "These are the words. If I send you this sample, along with the words, I'm happy for you to just play around with it. In fact, I'd love for you to put your Frankie Fenner mark on it."

I smile, quietly delighted that he's more than happy for me to have vocal freedom with the lyrics. The core of the song is already embedding itself inside of me, now I'm keen for the lyrics to start embedding themselves in too. With him still holding his phone in his hands, my fingers pull the phone nearer to me so I can properly see the words on the screen. As I hold it, I accidentally hold his fingers at the same time. Doug looks down at them, smiling at how our fingers are subtly flirting with one another. But I can't be thinking about his incredible smile or his very soft fingers. Instead, I focus on the words that I can see in front of me.

When the mind falls silent, and only loud memories start crying out.

Hear the chant of my love.

Hear the chant of my vow.

When the eyes don't see, let your heart lead the way.

Hear the chant of my loss.

Hear the chant of my shame.

Hear the chant...hear my love...hear my vow.

Hear the chant...hear my loss...hear my shame.

"Powerful words there, Doug." Quietly comes from between my lips, while I read the lyrics over and over again.

Allowing me a little more time to read the meaningful lyrics, Doug then gently takes his phone back. "This also needs some tweaking, but this is what I'm thinking the intro will be." Tapping quickly on his mobile screen, I am soon hearing a string arrangement, a sample that is both haunting and atmospheric.

With the ocean to the side of us, an Ibizan breeze all around us and the sun's rays warmly shining down on us—I am having an uplifting moment.

The music.

Ibiza.

Doug DiCarto.

All ingredients that are now so very good for my soul.

"With a little melody layering, some simple loops added in and with your beautiful vocals put down onto it, I think this track is going to be something musically surreal, Frankie. This song is going to be all about the voice. Your vocals will give my words their heartbeat and their soul. All I need from you, is a definitive yes."

My blue eyes start gravitating up to his brown ones. I don't know why, and maybe I am thinking ridiculously so, but Doug is showing a true and passionate angle of himself. And although I know that there are many angles to this man, I feel that right in this moment; we are shrouded in an unsaid intimateness.

Whether we are bound together by music.

By unified passions.

Or plain old sexual chemistry.

I just want to say yes. I want to say yes to whatever he wants from me. If anyone can get me to enjoy being up on a stage again; it's Doug DiCarto.

When I am with him, I feel like I can do anything.

I feel like I can be anything.

His passion for his music is crazily infectious. It's pure and it's potent.

With my heart hammering in my chest, I answer him without fear, I answer without even thinking. "Yes!"

Doug cautiously smiles. "And how do you feel about performing?"

Wincing a little, my own smile is a very taut one. "Absolutely terrified, but I want to do this. This is my chance to get back out there. To get back out there and start enjoying what I was born to do." Doug is nodding, seemingly engrossed in all that I am telling him. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but I really do want to do this. I love what you do with your music, now I want you to love what I can do with my voice." I'm now a mixture of excitement and fear, but there's something inside of me that simply wants to impress Doug DiCarto. His DJ'ing. His producing. They both blow me away. Now it's my turn to blow him away.

Now leaning even more forward whilst sat on the rock, Doug's lips happily curl upwards. "To celebrate you giving me a definitive yes, how about I buy you breakfast?"

Confidently, I lift my chin. "How about I buy you breakfast?"

His lips then crudely curl up. "How about you buy me breakfast and I kiss you?"

I'm laughing as I stand up to look down on him. "How about I still buy you that breakfast and you can kiss my ass?"

Doug starts standing up, laughing loudly as he does. "God, I love it when a woman talks dirty to me." And like it's the most natural thing in the world to do—he links the fingers on his right hand with my fingers on my left hand.

Strolling along together on the top of the rocks that overlook Es Canaret, I don't protest to him holding my hand. I like that he's holding my hand. I like that he's holding it while we enjoy the peace and quiet within this extremely pretty cove.

It feels nice.

It feels effortless.

It feels new.

**Video above is: DELERIUM - SILENCE ft SARAH MCLACHLAN**