The Assistant | Scavi

An intern? Really?

"Ready when you are" Kevin said to Avi while he watched Scott leave the room.

Avi waited until the door was closed and then nodded. He recorded the bridge twice more and then was satisfied with the outcome. "What do you think, Kevin? Do we have it?"

Kevin nodded. "Yep, you can come out, Avi" he replied.

Avi put down the headphones and joined Kevin. He sat down on the second chair and sighed softly. "That's it for I'll get by, right?"

Kevin nodded slowly. "Yes. I only have to finish the rough mix so we can listen to it later on? While I am doing this, you could spend some time with Scott? Or I could show him all about mixing?"

Avi sighed deeply. "How long will he work with us, Kevin?"

Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "I really don't know. But I reckon that he wants to follow the process of recording, making music videos and promo stuff? I had interns before and it was usually a few weeks, up to a few months. But why don't you ask him?"

"I don't want him here, Kevin. I like it better when it's just the two of us working on music" Avi confessed.

"But he is here to learn. I did countless internships to get to where I am today. And I gladly work with interns. He seems to be a nice guy. I think you'll get along, Avi. Come on" Kevin said.

But Avi shook his head. "I never asked for an intern, Kevin. I don't want an intern here with me. Can't you tell him to do his internship elsewhere?"

Kevin glared at his friend. "What am I supposed to do, Avi? I cannot just send him away! How would that look?"

"I don't know? You could just think about something?" Avi tried again.

"No. Not until you at least get to know him. If it turns out that you don't get along with him at all, we will find a solution. But we are not sending him elsewhere just because you don't feel like having an intern with you. My reputation in this company would suffer as would yours. Got it?" Kevin said with a no nonsense voice.

Avi opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a knock on the door.

Kevin got up and smiled at the musician. "Good. Now you are going to drink your tea and talk to Scott while I work on the rough mix."

"Sure..." Avi tried his very best to smile brightly when Kevin opened the door and the tall blonde entered the room packed with copies and a mug.

"I got everything. Here, the copies and the tea and..." Scott put down the tea and while he was doing so, the stack of paper somehow slipped out of Scott's hand and fell down on the floor. "Shit" Scott said as he looked at the mess on the floor.

Avi sighed. "It's okay, that happens" he said calmly. "We'll sort them later." He bent down and picked the paper up, laying it on the coffee table. "Why don't we sit down and talk while Kevin works? Do you want to drink something? You can always get coffee or tea from the tea kitchen and we have a fridge with water and soft drinks here in the studio. Help yourself."

Scott smiled. "Thank you. I had enough coffee this morning, but I'll get a water. Anyone else?"

Both Kevin and Avi shook their heads so he only took one bottle and sat down on the sofa. "I hope the tea is okay?"

Avi took a sip and nodded. "Close to perfection. You don't drink tea?"

Scott shook his head. "No. I am a coffee person."

"Hmm..." Avi took another sip of his tea. I mean I do drink coffee occasionally, but tea is so versatile. A strong black tea to get me going in the morning, Earl Grey in the studio, herbal teas at night, ginger for the voice..." he shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, but you are not here to hear my speech about how nice tea is. So you're studying music production and management... what are your plans for the future? More management or more producing?"

Scott smiled. "I hope that I can get into production. I... love music and creating it, so... yeah" he said and shrugged the shoulders. "But right now I am still working on my studies and once I am finished, I need to start earning money."

"Money is important" Avi agreed. "Especially in a place like Los Angeles. But never forget your dreams, Scott. If you want to work in production, learn and try until you make it. Never give up."

"I will try my very best" Scott said. "How... how did you make it here?"

Avi smiled. "I never gave up. I studied classical music and worked as a background and studio singer for a few years. While I was earning money this way, I always worked on my own music and sent tapes everywhere. And with Fantasy it just fit." He shrugged his shoulders. "I can finally make my own music on my own terms and this is the best feeling ever."

"That's nice..." Scott said, not knowing what else to say. He didn't understand how Avi, who had treated him like thin air before was now so attentive and just plainly nice. Maybe he had been focused on his recording and didn't want to be interrupted.

"Yeah... I got pretty lucky, I have to say..." Avi said.

"I think you are working hard for it" Scott said. "How many times you recorded that one part earlier..."

Avi shrugged his shoulders. "It has to be perfect. It's just... who's your favourite artist, Scott?"

"Beyoncé" Scott said immediately, blushing slightly.

Avi chuckled. "Knew it" he said. "But anyway. Imagine Beyoncé drops a new song and you listen to it, but then you feel that she hasn't given her everything. It's good, it's nice, but something is off. I had this with artists I loved and I never want anyone to feel this way about my music. Some would call me a perfectionist, but..."

"It has to be perfect, because it is going to be out there? It is going to be on the radio for everyone to listen to" Scott concluded.

Avi nodded, a small smile on his face. "Exactly." He emptied his mug and sighed. "So Beyoncé... that's far away from my kind of music..."

"Yes... and don't take it personal, but I was never interested in your music..." Scott said and then cringed. "That sounded rude, didn't it?"

Avi chuckled deeply. "No... it shows that you have personal taste. I don't need everyone to like my music. There are some artists and genres I really don't like. I am just wondering what you will think about the song we just recorded..."

"Yes" Kevin suddenly spoke up. "It will be interesting to see what someone who has a different taste think of it. I have it ready, by the way. Wanna listen?"

Avi nodded. "Definitely. He put down his mug and looked at Scott. "So... this is I'll Get By. This will be the second single from the album, we've put out Change on the Rise a while ago... Just listen first and tell us what you think..."

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