Soundtracks of a Life (18 page)

After we are done with our breakfast, we bundle up with layer upon layer of clothing and head out to look for a ski shop for some rentals and some info. The guy at the shop sets us up with everything we need explaining the best he can all we need to know. As he is talking I just hope I can escape without breaking any of my body parts. When we get to the ski resort we take the lift up the mountain. In spite my ski outfit I’m still freezing as we head up but the view is awesome. We both start at the kiddy slope, heading down the beginners course. Most of the kids there are ten times better than we are and I get the feeling they are mocking us heavily wising past us as we crash our way downhill. That doesn’t deter us though and we go down the hill quite a few times, having a good laugh at it. It was pretty fun but we decide snow is not our thing.

“I think I prefer much better crashing my way off a surf board than this!” I say laughing when we take a break.

“I think my toes are going to break off!” Chris nods in agreement.

“How about we go inside and have a drink to warm up? Afterwards, we can head back into town for an early dinner and back to the house cozy up by the fire.”

“Sounds wonderful,” he answers and we head straight to the resort.

Once in, in town, we find a small restaurant that serves Italian food and relish on a warm comforting meal.
As I’m eating my dinner I can feel my body growing sore from the exercise of that day but I couldn’t be happier. Sitting here with Chris, sore or not felt wonderful.

We leave the restaurant and walk towards our car passing by some stores
on our way. I see a sign in a pet store window that reads “Golden Retriever puppies for adoption today.”

“Oh lets go see them okay?” I say to Chris and without even waiting for his answer, I go inside. The puppies were all together in an area closed off by metal grates. I step inside and as soon as I do a little yellow furry puppy breaks away from the group and comes straight to me. I take the puppy in my arms and look at Chris with a big smile on my face.

“Ohhh isn’t it adorable?”

“Yes it is pretty cute.” He says as he reaches over to pet the little guy in my arms.

A lady in the store comes by now. “She likes you,” she says to me.

“Oh so she is a girl huh?

“Yes. We already have a couple of Goldens and we can’t keep all these puppies so we are trying to find new homes for them now.”

I am completely in love with the little puppy that is now almost sleeping in my arms. Chris is smiling at me certain I’m not going anywhere without this puppy.

“You are a cutie pie,” I say to the puppy. “But I don’t think I should have you. I hope you find a good family.” I say and put the puppy back with the rest of the litter. Chris looks at me in shock.

“Really?” he says. “You’re just going to let the puppy go?”

“Yeah I don’t think it’s a good idea Chris.” I answer and then thank the lady and start to walk out of the store.

“Why not?”

“I don’t think my life would be a good fit for having a dog.”

“That’s bullshit Lorelai. I don’t understand you. Did you see how happy you were holding that puppy? Why on earth would you let that go?”

“I’m freezing can we just go home now please?”

He looks at me in complete disbelief and then opens the car. He doesn’t utter a word on the drive back.   When we are back in the house I finally ask him, “
Are you mad at me?”

“No” he says curtly.

“Why doesn’t it feel that way then?”

“I’m disappointed that’s all.” I try to reply but he cuts me off before I can say anything. “I’m tired, can we just rest now?”

I decide it’s better to let go for now, we were both tired. “Okay” I answer, but he doesn’t speak to me for the rest of the evening.

Next morning I wake up and see Chris is not in bed. I get up, get dressed and go look for him, but he is not in the house either. I see a note on the kitchen counter. “Went to town. Be back later”. I start make some coffee and think about yesterday worried he was still mad at me.

I sit at the kitchen counter with my coffee and watch the beautiful lake lost in my thoughts when the doorbell rings.

I go get the door hoping Chris is back.
When I open, he standing there... looking as handsome as ever and in his hands he is holding the little yellow furry puppy sporting a big red bow around her neck. The scene looks like it was taken straight out of a catalogue ad targeted at women… I can see now how these things do work… he could be selling tires right now and I would have bought a couple of sets.

“No more running away from life Lorelai.” He says to me.  “If you want a puppy, just get a puppy!”

I practically let out a squeal as I take the very soft fluffy fur ball in my arms again.

“Thanks Chris.” I kiss him hard in the lips. I feel so lucky at that moment I almost feel undeserving.

“So what should we name her?” Chris asks me as we sit in the living room, by the fireplace, and play with the puppy.

“How about Sierra? It would be
homage to her birth place.

“That’s cool, I like it.”

“Sierra it is then!”

We sit there quietly transfixed watching the puppy explore and play around us. I can’t help but have my mind wander into thinking about Claude, my beautiful horse, also my last pet. It wasn’t Claude’s fault that he ended up representing a life that never was… but I still rejected him for it. Chris pulls me back out of my thoughts when he asks me, “What are you thinking about? You look sad.”

“Nothing,” I answer, not wanting to share those thoughts. “You are right… it’s time I stop looking back into the past and start finally living my life again.”

At that moment, we see Sierra squatting in the carpet by the dining table. I run over saying “no, no no…” and grab her but it’s too late, she had left her mark on the rug already.

“Oh boy, your mom will pay dearly in legal fees for this pee!” I say amused. Chris has a hearty laugh next to me. “I guess we better start to potty train her!”

The next few days
go by in a blink, all jumbled together in a haze of happiness. It’s like we had forgotten about the rest of the world and we could just stay, in that moment, forever.

But, at the same time as good as it was, part of me was starting to feel a bit eager to get back, head back into the studio, and dive back into the music once more. 
All these feelings of the past few days had triggered an incredibly creative time for me. I’m spending hours on end on the piano or guitar composing new music.

I’m finishing
composing a melody, getting the last part down on paper when Chris comes next to me.

“That was beautiful.” he says. I smile at him and continue writing the music. He starts to examine the myriad of papers spread on top of the piano.

“This is music for strings...” he says looking puzzled.

“Yup.” I finally
finish writing and give him my full attention. “I’m thinking of expanding the band a bit.”

“Oh… I see,” he says uncertain of what I had just told him.

“We need to have an extended band that can join us for recordings and shows.” I take a moment looking at his face. “You seem a bit not thrilled with the idea.”

“It’s just, I don’t know, the band is us, the four of us, and I don’t want to lose that feeling.”

“But we wouldn’t really. Many bands have extra musicians that join in for tours and stuff, but the band remains composed by the original members.”

“Yeah I guess so. It’s just a new idea, I just have to get used to it.”

“I think that was the source of my problems when we were recording last. I was constricted by arrangements with just the four of us and I was not getting the sound I wanted. I need more…”

“I can understand that.
” He replies smiling. “Want me to run all this by the guys?”

“Sure,
” I say, grateful for his immediate support. “I’ll call Susan.”

**************

“You’ve reached the offices of Susan Carmichael, may I help you?”

“Hey Kristina, Lorelai, is Susan around?”

“Hey Lori, yeah she is here, I’ll transfer you right away.”

“Suuuuusan”, I say cheerfully as soon as she picks up.”

“Are you drunk?”

“Wait, what? No!”

“Oh ok, sorry! You’ve been gloomy lately… I just assumed…” she let her words trail off.

“I’ll let that one slide…
” I say amused. “Anyway, I need a few things. I want to head back to the studio soon. I’ve spoken to the guys already, I’ve been working on some new stuff and I want to expand our sound but I can’t do that with just us. I need an extended band. So I need you to schedule some auditions for new musicians. I’m looking for a piano player, I want Chris mainly playing guitar now, and also I want to add a string section probably to the tune of a violinist and a cello? Maybe… probably.” I say trailing off as my mind wandering about the sounds I want to get.

“Okay, geez you’re going 100 miles per hour there, take it easy. Alright, so strings huh? Interesting.”

“Yeah is that a problem?
“No not at all. I’ll have Kristina schedule some auditions. When are you coming back?”

“How soon can you get that going?”

“In a couple of days, how does that sound? I have a couple of musicians in mind already actually.”

“That’s what I want to hear. Work your magic baby!” I say and hang up.

**************

Susan hangs up and stares at the phone for a moment, shaking her head. She wonders if she will ever understand Lorelai. Mercurial woman if she ever met one. One day she is all gloom and doom, next day she calls all happy and ready to go. Artists… she shakes her head again and starts making some calls.

Chapter 26

“So are you happy with the new musicians?” Susan asks me in the studio while we are getting ready to record again. The band is excited with the new changes and everyone is in high spirits.

“I’m very happy! T
hey are great, perfect for what I had in mind.”

“How good is Ann Sterling, huh?

“Ooooh she is an awesome violinist! And so cool too, I think I might have a girl crush!” I say laughing.

“It will be good for you to have another girl on tour.”

“Well hopefully she can survive a tour, being on tour with the guys is not for the faint of heart!”

Susan laughs. That moment Kristina comes in the studio with Sierra and hands her to me.

“I’ve walked her and she has done her duty. Where do you want me to leave her?”

Susan gives me a major evil eye, “You got a dog????” The pitch of her voice
is higher than I ever recall.

“Yes.
..” I answer sheepishly.

“Lorelai, do you know how hard it is to have a dog on tour?”

“Oh come on, can’t be that hard! I don’t know… we can hire someone to be official dog sitter or something. Look at this face how could I deny this cutie face?” I pick up Sierra and point her furry face at Susan smiling.

Susan takes a deep breath and rolls her eyes
at me. “Fine, it’s actually not a bad idea, I’ve been begging you to get your own assistant now for a long time, so now you can’t deny it anymore. We’ll get you an assistant that can also take care of your dog.”

On that note, Kristina turns to Susan just as she is leaving and says, “by the way, I think I need a raise!” Obviously still not that thrilled that she had just picked up dog poop as one of her jobs
. I knew I was pushing it when I asked her…

“That’s all your fault!” Susan says to me trying to sound mad but she couldn’t hide the hint of an amused smile.

That moment Ted comes poking his head into the studio. “Is it safe to come out now?”

“Yes Ted, the coast is clear.”

“Oh okay”, he answers, looking at Susan. “We didn’t want to be here when she broke out the news of the dog to you!”

“What are you talking about? I was thrilled by the idea!” She says to him sarcastically and once again gives me the evil eye.

“Well I do think it’s a great idea.” Chris jumps in taking my side.

“Oh Chris! I have a gift for you…” I say excitedly when I see him. “I’ve been eagerly waiting to give it to you!” Susan and the guys stare at us with curiosity.

“As we all know, last time we were in the studio, your guitar, may she rest in peace, died of unnatural causes …” Chris looks away really embarrassed now, “and I felt somewhat guilty, so I took the liberty to order you a new one. I talked to Paul Reed Smith himself, and he personally oversaw the making of this beauty, so hope you like it!” I reach over to the corner wall of the studio and pick up the cream-colored tweed guitar box and hand it to Chris.

He opens the box with the eagerness of a little kid on Christmas morning. James lets out a whistle when he sees the guitar. “It’s a private stock built
in Quilted Maple hollow body, Blue Tourmaline Burst color, with collection 57/08 pickups and abalone helix inlays…” I say, not able to hold back my guitar geek excitement.

“Wow Lor… geez, I’m a bit speechless, it’s the most awesome guitar I’ve ever seen!”

“Wait until you play it!” I say with a big smile, experiencing that rewarding feeling you get when you give someone a special present and you get to partake in their enjoyment of it.

That moment, Chris closes the distance between us in one rapid fluid movement, like it was the most natural thing in the world, gives me a
loving tender kiss on the lips… completely forgetting, in his overwhelmed state, that we were in front of everyone. I froze in place. Ted and James look at me, equally frozen, with shock in their eyes.

“Chris!” I say a bit shocked and take a step backwards. I recompose quickly and immediately jump into damage control. “Geez, man, I knew you would like it, but come on!” I give him a nervous laugh.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he says to me in a mix of shock and embarrassment. “Sorry…” he says once more, looking as red as a lobster.

“It’s okay. I would probably kiss any of you in the lips if you have given me a guitar like that, even Susan!” The guys laugh, trying hard to look causal. “Let’s go,” I say eager to change the subject
not daring to look at Susan, “we can start jamming to warm up this way Chris can get used to his new ride.”

After jamming for a while throwing some ideas around, we take a break
before we start with the actual recording. That moment, Susan pulls me to the side to talk to me privately. I was completely expecting that to happen.

“Sooo…” she says to me
calmly, “what was that all about? And don’t give me some BS Lorelai. You may have smoothly walked out of that but I’m not THAT stupid. Anyone can see he has feelings for you.”

“Yeah we need to talk.” I say
truthfully, “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it…” I was actually ready to let her know, it was gnawing at me hiding it any longer, but it was hard now that so much time had gone by. I needed to choose my timing well and this was not it.

“Do you have feelings for him?” She asks me
. I can tell that while she is obviously aware we are in love she has no idea of how long this been going on. I look to the floor and rub my eyes uncomfortably.

“Yes, but it’s more complicated than that Susan. And I do want to talk to you
about it, but not now… please. I can’t get into all that now… after we finish recording the album. I promise.”

“Okay,” she says to me, “don’t worry about it now. Let’s get this album done! Finally!”

I take a breath of relief appreciating that she had cut me some slack, “yes let’s do it!” I say excited.

For our brand new session, the first song
[6]
we decide to record is the one I composed up in the Lake Tahoe house. It’s a perfect example of our new sound with a piano and string section added at the end of the song. It’s quite different from our previous songs but then again, that was the point.

We finish recording the
strings session at the end of the song and wait for the recording light on the studio wall to go off holding our breath quietly.  The band is pumped. There is this certain magic feeling in the air… something you get during the creative process when you know you got something good going. Martin, the sound engineer, comes on the intercom in the studio. “Is this the same band that was here last?” I can see him smiling in the recording both. We can also hear Susan respond excitedly. “No it is not! It’s definitely not.”

Once this first song is done, r
ecording of the remainder of the album goes the opposite way from the last time we were here. Instead of being laborious and difficult, it all goes smoothly and effortless. The sounds just seem to flow out of us naturally and quickly the songs are born and an album we are very happy with starts coming into shape.

When we wrap up recoding and the album goes into the final production stages, the pace of our schedule picks up dramatically.
Grammy nominations had come in and we were nominated in the main categories for the album we had put out the previous year. That resulted in many public appearances on TV and radio. Added to the work, we were also starting rehearsals for our new tour that was due to launch a couple of weeks following the Grammy’s, with one preview show happening in LA the day after the Grammys. It’s a publicity move since we are pegged to be the big winners of the night. Promoters wanted to create a lot of buzz for the tour and there would be no better time to do it than when the Grammy spotlight was on us. We hardly have time to breathe. There is no time for personal lives and no time to think about anything else other than work. Before we know it, the Grammy day is upon us, unfortunately for me the ceremony coincidentally fell on the very same date of the anniversary of my sister’s death.