The Darkest Days

81. I Can't Think Of A Title: Part 2

"I supervised and changed a few words for better flow of pronunciation." Lucky passed out sheets of papers to Vanessa.

"Okay."

"The lyrics were also rewritten for the pre chorus so I've added the alternative on the side." He pointed at the handwritten letters at the margin. "You can choose which you like better."

"Let's record both and see." Vanessa said as she briskly read through.

"And," he turned around and picked out a set of earphones, "the guide version of You And Her arrived. There's some serious vocal compression shifts in there. I don't think Audrey has gained that much control over her voice yet."

"I don't think either. She struggles with grabbing on the right amount of squeeze. Finding it and letting go, it strains her vocal cords."

"Yeah. It is a tricky thing to achieve."

Vanessa put the papers aside and yawned. "I wrote a new melody this morning but I'm stuck for the bridge part."

"The rest is done?"

"Yes, it's almost complete." She said as she grabbed a guitar. "But I don't think I'll be able to write lyrics for it fast enough."

"You should complete your ongoing projects first before undertaking new ones."

She played random open notes on the guitar. "You know that's not how my brain works."

"I do." Lucky laughed. "Literally all the songs you've started in the last few months have been finished by other people."

"It's my thing." She said and proceeded to show him her new work.

****

Audrey closed her eyes to carefully listen to the beats.

"There's a heavy base drop in the background." She said and looked at the couple standing in the middle of the dance studio. "We can add a quick foot movement to match it."

She tapped her right foot on the ground behind the left twice. "Like this."

"Agreed." The female replied as Audrey joined them in the center.

"There has to be no hesitation. The tapping has to be sharp yet smooth." The man added.

"Yes."

"We can also do little illusionary tricks. Like, moving you hand to your knee to make it seem like you're pulling it with a thread."

"Let's try to put it together."

A staff member pressed play on the music.

"Five, six, seven, eight!" Audrey said before breaking out into hip hop style choreography along with the couple.

The loud music echoed through the room before getting stopped abruptly. A sudden contrasting silence to the noise.

The woman clapped her hands to imitate the drum sound. "There's a beat, beat, clap. Then soften, soften, into the groove." She did a soft body roll. "You've got to switch in a second. From powerful and controlling to soft and controlled."

"As if your body is fluid and being moved. You're not moving it."

Audrey nodded. "Let's try that part again."

****

"Hello?" Vanessa picked up her phone.

"It's two in the morning. Where are-"

"I'll be home in a few hours."

"Hours?" Audrey huffed. "Mom wants to talk to you. You're leaving her alone all day often these days."