Musica Anima Mea Est

Chapter Three- Jeffery

I rolled out of bed Friday morning and blinked the sleep from my eyes. I looked a the clock. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. That couldn't be right. I hated oversleeping, and here I was, just waking up at 10:32 am. I mentally slapped myself and walked into the kitchen. Tracy came trotting out of the living room, and I stooped down to pet her. I busied myself making coffee, as was my morning routine. Coffee first, then everything else. I felt some pressure on my foot, and I looked down. Tracy had her two front paws on my foot and was looking towards the door. That was her way of telling me she needed to go outside. I gave a soft whistle for Scout, then waited. And waited. Scout didn't appear. I looked over into the living room. Scout wasn't there. I started to panic, just a little. 

"Scout!" I called, then whistled again. Scout was always the one who would sneak out when possible. I left the kitchen and wandered around the apartment. I reached the laundry room and looked out the open window onto the fire escape. He wasn't there. But wait, what was that? A soft whine came from the ground. I climbed out of the window onto the fire escape and looked down. There, sitting on the ground, looking most pleased with himself was Scout. Sighing, I climbed down the fire escape and scooped my little Houdini up, then carried him up back to my room. He licked my face the whole time.

"I should have named you Hoover." I grumbled, but I smiled at him. 

Back inside, I poured my coffee into a mug and added creamer and sugar. Carrying my mug outside, I let Scout and Tracy do their thing before leading them back upstairs. Thankfully, Carolyn, my neighbor who had a reputation for sleeping around, wasn't there. She had been trying to get me drunk and in bed with her ever since I moved in. It wasn't harassment or assault, but it was enough to make any self-respecting guy steer clear of her. She had a daughter who visited occasionally, but mostly the girl lived with her dad. Harper, I think her name is. I opened the door to hear my phone ringing. Scrambling to my room, I grabbed it and picked it up, not bothering to look at the I.D. 

"Hey, Jeffery." Liam's low voice came through the phone.

"Hey, Liam. What's up?"

"The meeting started ten minutes ago. We wanted to make sure you were alive." Was it really that late? I looked at the clock on the wall. Yep, 11:10. I grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt and changed as quickly as I could.

"Sorry, I overslept."

"Dude, you need some organization. A planner, or a calendar maybe? Alarms work well too. You know, those things you set on your phones."

"I know what an alarm is Liam."

"Then use one!" He chuckled a little.

"Give me 15 minutes."

"See you later man."

"See ya." Hanging up, I cursed myself. Batty used to get on my case all the time, even buying me a planner for Christmas a few years ago. Batty. The meeting meant she would be there. Mind you, the vocalists would be separate from the rest of us, but I would still have to be there. I felt that flutter in my stomach again. I buried it deep. I had once felt the same way around Skye, and look how badly that ended up. I looked down at Scout. He and Tracy were close friends, and they had even had a litter or two together. "How do you do it?" He barked and wagged his tail. Putting on shoes, I hid a few pieces of food around the apartment to keep them busy while I was gone. I closed the window to the fire escape and made sure to close and lock the door behind me.

I walked into Josh's house that he lived in with his fiancee, Emma. We rotated where we would meet every so often, and this week, the meeting was at Josh's. The vocalists were in the kitchen and dining room, messing around with lyrics and pitches. My ears picked out Batty's voice, and I paused to listen for a minute. Batty and I used to mess around with songs together, but we hadn't done that since The Date. It had been a while since she sang to me. Emma walked into the room and gave me an awkward hug. She was seven months pregnant and had a hard time doing some stuff. She was lucky though. Josh was really supportive and helpful. They had a strong relationship, and I envied that. I wasn't going to act like Carolyn, asking every girl I could if they would sleep with me, but I was tired of my love life being stuck in the mud. I walked over to the piano, where Camilla was playing one of the songs we were working on.

"Try a D flat there, instead of an E." She did as I said, and I frowned. "E flat." She struck the chord again. I nodded. She smiled up at me.

"You are late. Josh said you slept in, no?"

"Yeah, sorry." I looked around the room. Josh was toying with some beats on the drums, and Liam was messing around on the bass. From the kitchen, I heard Owen, Penny, and Batty singing. Yeah, my life sucked sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

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Authors Note

Holy crap you guys! I started this book yesterday, and it already has over thirty views!! Do you know how long it took for Together at Last to get to that point? A lot longer than two days.

So, regarding the picture. Tracy is the dapple one on the left, and Scout is the black and tan one on the right. Are they not adorable?

QOTD: Do you play an instrument, or do you do vocals? If you are in choir, or chorus line, what part do you sing? What instrument do you play? If you don't do either, is there a part you would like to learn to sing, or an instrument you would like to learn to play? I'm in choir, and I sing soprano 2, but I can hit a few soprano 1 notes. Your turn!

Comment, vote, and tell me what you think

Lots of love,

Sammie K