Holdin' On To You

3. Gravity

Today was the day that I was heading into the studio with Keith. I was nervous, but excited. There was much to get ready for and prepare for. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew I was in good hands with Keith. He was passionate about his work, and I loved working with people like him. My blonde wavy locks fell on my shoulders, while my face was perfectly made up with just a touch of eyeliner and mascara. For some reason, I had desired to look pretty for him. It was an anxiety thing. Keith was a hero of mine, and having the opportunity to work with him was a dream come true. I couldn’t screw this up. Taking a deep breath, I took one last look in the mirror before grabbing my stuff and going.

My hands grabbed for my guitar case, my bag and keys to lock up the house. Quickly I shut the door and drove toward the studio. As soon as I reached the building, I took in a breath before heading in there. This was the moment that I had been looking forward to. Today I was recording with Keith Urban. I couldn’t wait to see the outcome. Quickly, I grabbed my stuff and walked in quietly to see Keith talking to the producer in the control room. There was something gravitating me toward him all together. Maybe it was his smile, or his laugh. I wasn’t sure, but whatever it was had made me grow weak in the knees. I had forgotten how beautiful he was, which was ridiculous. He was beautiful, but why did that draw me to him. I wasn’t ever necessarily attracted to quantifiable external beauty, but by something deeper. That’s why Blake was my friend. But Keith had that too, and I was sure of it.

Swallowing hard, I placed my stuff on the sofa eavesdropping on the conversation between Keith and the producer. With just my luck, the contents in my bag came tumbling out and interrupted what was happening in the room. Keith’s eyes looked back to see me and soon flashed a smile. “Miranda!!” he said with great excitement.

I flashed a smile of embarrassment while picking up the contents of my bag. ‘Hey. Sorry I interrupted. I’m clearly a klutz,” I joked. The country singer soon came closer to me to help me up to leave me staring into his ocean blue eyes. There was something stirring up in me that was unlike anything I had experienced before. My body felt a tingling sensation as he took a hold of my hand and led me toward the producer. His hand was fitting so effortlessly into mine that I couldn’t help but notice how perfect it felt.

“I’m so excited to work on this song with you. I think you’re going to be perfect,” Keith spoke with a smile that had melted my heart. Parts of my body had felt things that I wasn’t quite sure I had ever felt before. My heart was pounding like a dream, while my stomach was fluttering with a bunch of little butterflies. These sensations were terrifying.

“I can’t wait to get to started,” I added nervously.

Keith nodded with a soft smile. “Everything is set up. I figured we could record just your voice today. You up for it?” he asked with yet another smile.

I gave a shy smile and nodded. ‘Yea, that sounds great. Let’s get to work.”

Keith led me into the studio and set me up so I could record, which would become more than a dozen voice over’s. After he set me up, I watched as he walked back into the control room. I took a deep breath and waited for whatever direction he threw at me. “You ready?” he asked. I nodded quietly to answer his question. “Great. We’re going to do some a cappella voice over’s first. You can start whenever you’re ready, baby.”

My eyes grew wide as I heard him speak to me the way he did. His eyes watched me as I began to get settled in the studio building myself up to actually start recording. I wasn’t so sure if I could do it with the way he had been watching me. I took in a breath and closed my eyes so I couldn’t see him and began to sing the first verse of the track. My eyes kept glancing toward his as he kept watching me. My vocals were rough, but I was nervous to say the least.

After going over the first verse, I took another glance. He was still watching me. There was something so intriguing about the way is eyes watched me. It was a form of nonverbal communication that I had seemed to catch on to. He drew me in like gravity. The studio had become silent, as I had gotten so lost in his eyes that I had forgotten where I was for a moment. This action had worried me. Screwing nothing up isn’t much of anything. But me knowing that there was something that drew me in, I then knew there was something to lose and that terrified me. His attention and the way his eyes got lost in mine felt more like an irrepressible gravitational pull than that of mere interest. Why did he have such force?

Keith snapped me out of it, by stating how my vocals were perfect. I shook my head, disagreeing with his comment, and almost irritated at the fact that he had stopped watching me; he had stopped pulling me in with his gravitational pull. That moment was something I wouldn’t let go. I had to remember it, because for a minute I had felt a piece of hope that I could fall in love.

The rest of the day consisted of recording more voice over’s and laughing with him. I swallowed hard smiling at his comments throughout the entire day, wanting so bad to ignore the fact that I was attracted to him. I couldn’t be attracted to him. I had already told Blake that I didn’t want him. But reality was to real and I had to accept the hard reality that I was maybe, possibly the slightest, tiniest, littlest bit, kinda sorta interested in him. His laugh was contagious, and he was deep, much more than Blake. I could sense it in his passion and in the way he had worked so well in the studio with the producer and with me. He was a gravitational force pulling me under.