Categories > Celebrities > Panic! At The Disco > Take A Chance On Me
Chapter Five: I Notice
“As far as I know you could already be somebody else’s honey But I can’t stop looking at you Supposed to be ill be singing about love When your gauze distracts my every strum” Juliet Simms
I woke up the next morning feeling hung over. I had waited up the night before for Harper to get home so I could tell her about my date with Bryan and my run in with Ryan. Her solution? Tequila. Lots and lots of tequila. Big mistake on my part. I managed to drag myself out of my sheets and ran the coldest shower I could. That woke me up. I made some coffee and drank two glasses and filled up my thermos before slipping into my work clothes and left for the day. It was Wednesday, a day I had been waiting for, for the past week. It was the day we intern composers got paired with a full time composer to work with a musical ensemble from the beginning to end of a piece (if working with orchestras) or a few songs (if working with a band).
I ran into the huge office building, ten minutes late for the day. I fumbled with the doorknob after I got off at the fifth floor from the elevator and power-walked to my cubical. I checked the time, the announcements would be sent out any minute via email and I was waiting in anticipation. About the thirtieth time I refreshed my email, a voice called my name behind me, almost causing me to jump out of my chair, “Hey there Addy.”
I spun in my chair to see Bryan leaning against the corner of my cubical, “Hey there,” I said with a grin.
“Seen the announcements yet?” he asked with a smirk.
“No!” I said and turned to refresh my email once more. Nothing, “Why? Have you?”
“Of course I have,” he said crossing his arms.
“Well..?” I said, “Don’t tease!”
“The list was posted up in reception about twenty minutes ago. Which you would know had you been on time,” he said with a grin.
I jumped out of my seat, “Well maybe if I hadn’t gone out last night I would have been here on time.”
“Oh well then,” he said, “Maybe you shouldn’t go out with anyone else, at least I’ll know your work schedule from now on.”
I laughed a little and pushed past him towards reception. I snagged a copy of the list from Theresa and scanned it for my name. Bryan had followed me, “When was this made up?”
“About a week ago. Jim just wanted to keep you guys in the dark.” He grinned.
I found my name, “Let’s see,” I said and used my finger to follow the line of my name, “Adalae Stevens, working on contemporary pop, with…” my voice trailed off, “Bryan DeLoach.” I turned and grinned and took a step closer to him. I lowered my voice so Theresa wouldn’t hear me, “Did you have anything to do with this?”
“Not at all,” he said, “Jim paired people based on skill and strengths in music. You know I work mainly with contemporary orchestra music and pop artists, I guess he thought your work reflected that as well.”
It was a huge compliment to my skills to be paired with Bryan. He was one of the best and most flexible composers that ReClast Studios employed. I had always admired his work and it was the fact that people like him were the hired composers that made ReClast my number one choice to work at. “So when do we start?” I asked.
“In about an hour the band we are working with will be here. We’ll meet with them and discuss what we expect from each other. They get some input. This assignment is about working with not only another composer but with other outside parties. Like if someone contracts you out to write something,” he explained.
“Awesome,” I said quickly. Theresa’s cell phone rang and she left hurriedly, she was always on her damned Blackberry doing everything but her job – leaving me and Bryan alone and out of sight of everyone else. “I should go prepare a little,” I said. Bryan gave me a smile and wrapped his arms around my waist, “I had fun last night,” I said, “We should do it again sometime.”
“Me too,” he grinned. He leant down and gave me a kiss – it felt like it was a habit. Just something that felt right. “I guess fate wants it,” he began, “I never really believe in that stuff but getting paired with you and now working with you… I didn’t even find out until after I made the decision to finally ask you out. It’ll be long nights working together, tonight for example. Why don’t you come over to my place and I’ll make dinner while we work. I’ve got all the programs and things we need to work.”
“Deal,” I said and returned him with another kiss, “See you in the meeting room in an hour?”
“Yes ma’m,” he said.
I walked away and opened the door into the offices but turned last minute to face him, “Do you know who we’re working with yet?”
“No idea about that,” he said shrugging his shoulders, “Jim only finalized the clients this past weekend and paired them with us late last night. It’ll be a surprise I guess.”
I grimaced a little for having no information on what to prepare for, “Fine,” I said, “I’ll just put a bunch of different things from my portfolio together and send them to your email for you to go through for the meeting. I’ll leave it to you.”
“Good,” he said, “You anticipate what I’m going to ask you to do,” he grinned. “This will make working so much easier if you keep taking the initiative.”
“Thanks,” I said. I wanted to stay and just talk with Bryan more but couldn’t, so much to do in the next hour for a meeting I had little information about. I stepped through and got to my cubicle, the last one in the back, and plopped down into my chair, “Oh joy… I love not having the facts… not.”
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
“My associate will be here any moment,” Bryan said letting his new clients into the large meeting room. “She’s just copying some forms and papers for you guys.” Bryan took his seat at the head of the long table and the band members filled in the others, leaving the one on Bryan’s right empty for his associate, “Anyways, I’m Bryan DeLoach,” he said smiling, “I’ve got the names of you guys down here but I don’t know who is who…” he said trailing off at the end of his sentence.
“Brendon Urie,” said the guy sitting on Bryan’s left, “Singer.” Brendon held out his hand and Bryan shook it. They went around the table introducing themselves. Sitting next to Bryan was Jon Walker and across from Jon was Spencer Smith, and sitting next to the empty chair on Bryan’s right was Ryan Ross.
“Nice to meet you all,” Bryan said. Before he could speak anymore, the office doors opened and in came his associate. “Bryan stood and pulled out her seat, “This is my associate, Adalae Stevens.”
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
“Sorry I’m late,” I said and took my seat, placing the six portfolios onto the table, “Technology seems to hate me today.”
“That’s okay Addy,” Bryan said with a smile and took his seat. He handed out the portfolios, one to each of us, “Adalae meet our new clients. The band Panic! At the Disco. This is Brendon, Jon, Spencer, and Ryan.”
I smiled at each of the guys in acknowledgement and when I turned to see Spencer, my eyes froze on Ryan, who was seated next to me. My mind began filling with profanities but I managed to pull through, “Hi,” I said and quickly turned my seat forward to where I was looking mainly at Bryan and Brendon.
“So what you have in front of you is a basic outline of what our plans are,” Bryan said flipping open the portfolio. As Bryan went through all of the details I was thankful my hair was down because it acted like a shield between me and Ryan. I could feel him staring at me and it made me uncomfortable. “Addy?” Bryan asked, “You okay?”
I blushed in embarrassment, “Sorry,” I said tucking my hair behind my ears. I had zoned out. “I was just thinking of some ideas, for the project..”
Bryan grinned, “Anything to share?”
“No,” I said hesitantly, “Not quite yet.”
“Anyways,” Bryan said, “I’ll have Theresa set up an appointment with you guys to come back tomorrow afternoon. We’ll listen through your music and see what we come up with for a starting point and we’ll go from there.” Bryan must have sensed my uneasiness because he ended the meeting somewhat abruptly.
I stood as everyone made their goodbyes. I shook hands with all of the men and when it came to Ryan, who waited until everyone else was on their way out, he extended his hand. Hesitantly I took it, “I look forward to working with you Adalae,” he said. Then he left.
Bryan escorted them out to reception and I sat back down in the conference room and laid my head down on the cold table. Moments later he returned, closing the door behind him. “Well that was fun, interesting group don’t you think Addy?” he asked. I grunted in response and he sat down next to me, “You gonna tell me what’s up?”
“Do you really want to know?” I asked rhetorically. I turned my head to the side to see him. He cocked his head to the side, “Fine,” I said. I sat up and ran a hand through my dark chestnut hair. “It’s not really even that big of a deal its just…” my mind searched for the right word, “not ideal,” I said simply. Bryan said nothing but looked very confused, “Short version is that I had a random meeting one day with one of the members, Ryan, and then we ran into each other again the same night, I gave him my number and he walked me home. We went up to the apartment,” Bryan looked concerned, “Don’t worry,” I said reassuringly, “Nothing ended up happening… then when you left last night, I ran into him in front of the restaurant and he tried to explain why he didn’t call and I said I didn’t want to hear from him and.. I may have slapped him.. tequila ruins my memory.” I was rambling again.
“Tequila?” Bryan asked, “Did you go drinking with him?”
“No,” I said, “No. No. No. No. No way in hell. Afterwards I was just so angry because I really did have this amazing time with you last night and then he showed up and fucked it all up for me… I went back to my apartment and me and Harper drank to distract me. Hence why I was late…”
“I see so…” Bryan said thinking aloud, “Look if you can’t stand being around him, I can trade. I mean, I’m sure there’s some empty projects. There are less interns than composers-“
“No,” I said, “I want to work with you.” I said. This made him smile. He placed his hand on top of mine on the table, “You are one of the best, in all seriousness, I need this. It’s just going to be awkward for me.”
Bryan smiled, “Well thanks,” he said, “But you know. He’s the writer for them which means we’ll be working with him more than anyone… but then again you don’t always get to pick your clients. Well not until you are well published and such.”
“Exactly,” I said, “I’ll just keep reminding myself of that.” I stood and gave him a kiss on the cheek, “So dinner tonight?” I asked.
“Be at my place at eight. I’ll text you my address.”
~!~!~!~!~!~
Hint to next chapter:
Chapter Six: Falling For You: “these empty feelings question me of who i think i’ve become mind is ticking life away asking if you are the one” Taking Back Sunday
Dinner plans go awry when work intervenes. Dinner for two becomes a dinner for one which becomes a dinner for three. Addy and her friend get to know their surprise guest a bit better and has Addy thinking that maybe there’s something more.
“As far as I know you could already be somebody else’s honey But I can’t stop looking at you Supposed to be ill be singing about love When your gauze distracts my every strum” Juliet Simms
I woke up the next morning feeling hung over. I had waited up the night before for Harper to get home so I could tell her about my date with Bryan and my run in with Ryan. Her solution? Tequila. Lots and lots of tequila. Big mistake on my part. I managed to drag myself out of my sheets and ran the coldest shower I could. That woke me up. I made some coffee and drank two glasses and filled up my thermos before slipping into my work clothes and left for the day. It was Wednesday, a day I had been waiting for, for the past week. It was the day we intern composers got paired with a full time composer to work with a musical ensemble from the beginning to end of a piece (if working with orchestras) or a few songs (if working with a band).
I ran into the huge office building, ten minutes late for the day. I fumbled with the doorknob after I got off at the fifth floor from the elevator and power-walked to my cubical. I checked the time, the announcements would be sent out any minute via email and I was waiting in anticipation. About the thirtieth time I refreshed my email, a voice called my name behind me, almost causing me to jump out of my chair, “Hey there Addy.”
I spun in my chair to see Bryan leaning against the corner of my cubical, “Hey there,” I said with a grin.
“Seen the announcements yet?” he asked with a smirk.
“No!” I said and turned to refresh my email once more. Nothing, “Why? Have you?”
“Of course I have,” he said crossing his arms.
“Well..?” I said, “Don’t tease!”
“The list was posted up in reception about twenty minutes ago. Which you would know had you been on time,” he said with a grin.
I jumped out of my seat, “Well maybe if I hadn’t gone out last night I would have been here on time.”
“Oh well then,” he said, “Maybe you shouldn’t go out with anyone else, at least I’ll know your work schedule from now on.”
I laughed a little and pushed past him towards reception. I snagged a copy of the list from Theresa and scanned it for my name. Bryan had followed me, “When was this made up?”
“About a week ago. Jim just wanted to keep you guys in the dark.” He grinned.
I found my name, “Let’s see,” I said and used my finger to follow the line of my name, “Adalae Stevens, working on contemporary pop, with…” my voice trailed off, “Bryan DeLoach.” I turned and grinned and took a step closer to him. I lowered my voice so Theresa wouldn’t hear me, “Did you have anything to do with this?”
“Not at all,” he said, “Jim paired people based on skill and strengths in music. You know I work mainly with contemporary orchestra music and pop artists, I guess he thought your work reflected that as well.”
It was a huge compliment to my skills to be paired with Bryan. He was one of the best and most flexible composers that ReClast Studios employed. I had always admired his work and it was the fact that people like him were the hired composers that made ReClast my number one choice to work at. “So when do we start?” I asked.
“In about an hour the band we are working with will be here. We’ll meet with them and discuss what we expect from each other. They get some input. This assignment is about working with not only another composer but with other outside parties. Like if someone contracts you out to write something,” he explained.
“Awesome,” I said quickly. Theresa’s cell phone rang and she left hurriedly, she was always on her damned Blackberry doing everything but her job – leaving me and Bryan alone and out of sight of everyone else. “I should go prepare a little,” I said. Bryan gave me a smile and wrapped his arms around my waist, “I had fun last night,” I said, “We should do it again sometime.”
“Me too,” he grinned. He leant down and gave me a kiss – it felt like it was a habit. Just something that felt right. “I guess fate wants it,” he began, “I never really believe in that stuff but getting paired with you and now working with you… I didn’t even find out until after I made the decision to finally ask you out. It’ll be long nights working together, tonight for example. Why don’t you come over to my place and I’ll make dinner while we work. I’ve got all the programs and things we need to work.”
“Deal,” I said and returned him with another kiss, “See you in the meeting room in an hour?”
“Yes ma’m,” he said.
I walked away and opened the door into the offices but turned last minute to face him, “Do you know who we’re working with yet?”
“No idea about that,” he said shrugging his shoulders, “Jim only finalized the clients this past weekend and paired them with us late last night. It’ll be a surprise I guess.”
I grimaced a little for having no information on what to prepare for, “Fine,” I said, “I’ll just put a bunch of different things from my portfolio together and send them to your email for you to go through for the meeting. I’ll leave it to you.”
“Good,” he said, “You anticipate what I’m going to ask you to do,” he grinned. “This will make working so much easier if you keep taking the initiative.”
“Thanks,” I said. I wanted to stay and just talk with Bryan more but couldn’t, so much to do in the next hour for a meeting I had little information about. I stepped through and got to my cubicle, the last one in the back, and plopped down into my chair, “Oh joy… I love not having the facts… not.”
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
“My associate will be here any moment,” Bryan said letting his new clients into the large meeting room. “She’s just copying some forms and papers for you guys.” Bryan took his seat at the head of the long table and the band members filled in the others, leaving the one on Bryan’s right empty for his associate, “Anyways, I’m Bryan DeLoach,” he said smiling, “I’ve got the names of you guys down here but I don’t know who is who…” he said trailing off at the end of his sentence.
“Brendon Urie,” said the guy sitting on Bryan’s left, “Singer.” Brendon held out his hand and Bryan shook it. They went around the table introducing themselves. Sitting next to Bryan was Jon Walker and across from Jon was Spencer Smith, and sitting next to the empty chair on Bryan’s right was Ryan Ross.
“Nice to meet you all,” Bryan said. Before he could speak anymore, the office doors opened and in came his associate. “Bryan stood and pulled out her seat, “This is my associate, Adalae Stevens.”
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
“Sorry I’m late,” I said and took my seat, placing the six portfolios onto the table, “Technology seems to hate me today.”
“That’s okay Addy,” Bryan said with a smile and took his seat. He handed out the portfolios, one to each of us, “Adalae meet our new clients. The band Panic! At the Disco. This is Brendon, Jon, Spencer, and Ryan.”
I smiled at each of the guys in acknowledgement and when I turned to see Spencer, my eyes froze on Ryan, who was seated next to me. My mind began filling with profanities but I managed to pull through, “Hi,” I said and quickly turned my seat forward to where I was looking mainly at Bryan and Brendon.
“So what you have in front of you is a basic outline of what our plans are,” Bryan said flipping open the portfolio. As Bryan went through all of the details I was thankful my hair was down because it acted like a shield between me and Ryan. I could feel him staring at me and it made me uncomfortable. “Addy?” Bryan asked, “You okay?”
I blushed in embarrassment, “Sorry,” I said tucking my hair behind my ears. I had zoned out. “I was just thinking of some ideas, for the project..”
Bryan grinned, “Anything to share?”
“No,” I said hesitantly, “Not quite yet.”
“Anyways,” Bryan said, “I’ll have Theresa set up an appointment with you guys to come back tomorrow afternoon. We’ll listen through your music and see what we come up with for a starting point and we’ll go from there.” Bryan must have sensed my uneasiness because he ended the meeting somewhat abruptly.
I stood as everyone made their goodbyes. I shook hands with all of the men and when it came to Ryan, who waited until everyone else was on their way out, he extended his hand. Hesitantly I took it, “I look forward to working with you Adalae,” he said. Then he left.
Bryan escorted them out to reception and I sat back down in the conference room and laid my head down on the cold table. Moments later he returned, closing the door behind him. “Well that was fun, interesting group don’t you think Addy?” he asked. I grunted in response and he sat down next to me, “You gonna tell me what’s up?”
“Do you really want to know?” I asked rhetorically. I turned my head to the side to see him. He cocked his head to the side, “Fine,” I said. I sat up and ran a hand through my dark chestnut hair. “It’s not really even that big of a deal its just…” my mind searched for the right word, “not ideal,” I said simply. Bryan said nothing but looked very confused, “Short version is that I had a random meeting one day with one of the members, Ryan, and then we ran into each other again the same night, I gave him my number and he walked me home. We went up to the apartment,” Bryan looked concerned, “Don’t worry,” I said reassuringly, “Nothing ended up happening… then when you left last night, I ran into him in front of the restaurant and he tried to explain why he didn’t call and I said I didn’t want to hear from him and.. I may have slapped him.. tequila ruins my memory.” I was rambling again.
“Tequila?” Bryan asked, “Did you go drinking with him?”
“No,” I said, “No. No. No. No. No way in hell. Afterwards I was just so angry because I really did have this amazing time with you last night and then he showed up and fucked it all up for me… I went back to my apartment and me and Harper drank to distract me. Hence why I was late…”
“I see so…” Bryan said thinking aloud, “Look if you can’t stand being around him, I can trade. I mean, I’m sure there’s some empty projects. There are less interns than composers-“
“No,” I said, “I want to work with you.” I said. This made him smile. He placed his hand on top of mine on the table, “You are one of the best, in all seriousness, I need this. It’s just going to be awkward for me.”
Bryan smiled, “Well thanks,” he said, “But you know. He’s the writer for them which means we’ll be working with him more than anyone… but then again you don’t always get to pick your clients. Well not until you are well published and such.”
“Exactly,” I said, “I’ll just keep reminding myself of that.” I stood and gave him a kiss on the cheek, “So dinner tonight?” I asked.
“Be at my place at eight. I’ll text you my address.”
~!~!~!~!~!~
Hint to next chapter:
Chapter Six: Falling For You: “these empty feelings question me of who i think i’ve become mind is ticking life away asking if you are the one” Taking Back Sunday
Dinner plans go awry when work intervenes. Dinner for two becomes a dinner for one which becomes a dinner for three. Addy and her friend get to know their surprise guest a bit better and has Addy thinking that maybe there’s something more.
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