Open Arms

Chapter Ten

"There she is! We were gettin' worried," Cliff said, smiling at the couple. Hannah stepped into the studio room, enchanted by its setup. Sure she'd made a visit before, though she only stayed inside long enough to greet the band before setting off on her own for the day. Setting off for the independence she craved. 

Bon stepped forward, rubbing his hands over his eyes. "That can't be the little lady I see," he said trying to get a smile from her. "Was afraid Angus locked ya' away or somethin'." Ignoring the face Angus made him, Bon stepped behind Hannah, putting an arm over her shoulder to bring her further inside the building. "Good to see ya, we were jus' gettin' started."

"Bon! Need your help in the sound room!" someone shouted down the hallway. 

"Ah, sorry 'bout that, little miss, I'd better go see what the warden wants," Bon said dropping his arm and disappearing down the hallway. Angus dropped his coat on the sofa and took Hannah's off her shoulders. 

"This is it, you remember," Angus said looking the large room over. "They pack us in like sardines usually but this one is better."

"The one in London was the worst," Phil said, in the process of replacing the old bass drum with a new one. "Couldn't get my damn drums through the front door an' when I asked someone what I was supposed to do when we left, we had to screw open a window for the bass ya' know," he said, keeping Hannah up to speed. He shrugged. "Said it was my business to deal with, an' he had nothin' to do with it."

"I never had a problem," Angus said, stretching himself out on the sofa with the coats placed on the armrest. 

"I didn't either, my drums did. An' now my old bass broke an' I spent half the night trackin' down a new one." He tested the skin out, hoping it wasn't too loose or too tight. It was too loose. He sighed an expletive and continued tampering with it. 

"You wanna see the rest of the place, love?" Angus asked standing up. She followed him out of the main room to a hallway, where one door was wide open. Inside, Malcolm was standing by a control board holding a wire in his hand. Someone was under an open section of the board, jean covered legs and boot covered feet sticking out. Another wire was in his hands, being pulled behind the board and pushed into various outlets.

"Try that," Bon said staying where he was until he got an answer. Malcolm still holding his wire flipped a few switches on the board, no signs of life from the speakers behind him. "Anything?"

"No, number four and eight are still out," Malcolm commented looking it over. "I don't get it, it's like someone came in last night an' messed everything up. Hannah, good to see ya!" Hannah gave him a polite wave, watching with interest. "Don't mind us, we're jus' fixin' a few things here."

"Little lady? Ya' there?" Bon called out from his position on the floor. "Yeah, don't mind me, I'm used to bein' caught like this." Angus giggled to himself while Hannah let out a whole laugh and a half. "Is Angus up there with you? Tell him to get in here with me an' check somethin'."

"I can hear ya'," Angus said dropping to the floor and scooting himself to where Bon was. "What is it?"

"Is this little blue cord plugged in straight, my old man eyes can't see shit down here like," Bon said as kindly as he could. Angus squirmed where he was, trying to get a good look. "You see it anywhere?"

"This one?" He lightly tugged on a long, pale blue wire sticking out from the back of the control board, dangling behind the table. "It looks like it, what's it connected to?"

"Number three-no four, four, that's it."

"An' four's not workin'?" Bon coughed from the dust falling into his mouth.