Power & Control

42: Snow On The Beach

~A

I couldn't decide if the following two days dragged on or went by incredibly fast because of how hectic they were. But here I finally was, in a fluorescent lit meeting room on Thursday afternoon, Louis sitting on my left and Carol, the head of my label's managing department -and Louis' boss- sitting on my right as we awaited the movie representatives. Niall was here too, sat on Louis's other side out of my reach and sight. Louis claimed it was so both of us would remain focused on work, but work was all I could think about as I kept searching for any sign of anyone coming towards the room from the other side of the door.

Today was the big day. Today, I'd have to present the song Niall and I had spent the last three days working on to the movie producers. Today I'd know if I got the job or not, if I'd done what they asked and managed to get my song on what is said to be one of the most anticipated releases of the year. What scared me was that the movie was ready. It was shot and edited and announced to come out right at the end of next month. What worried me is that I had no room for mistakes. They had already rejected their previous artist last minute because of 'creative conflict', which was what even gave me the opportunity to be here. But if they didn't like the song, all the hard work would be for nothing.

"Stop that." Louis warned in a hushed voice, sharply nudging my arm with his elbow. I realised I had been fumbling with my ring, so I forced myself to stop and interlaced my hands as I glanced at him with a forced smile. Niall leaned forward, giving me a quick examination with his eyebrows furrowed. I gave him a subtle nod, taking in a deep breath that got caught in my throat once I heard the door opening.

The movie executives walked in, two middle aged men and a woman in her late thirties. All of us rose from our seats to greet them, and Louis introduced Niall as the producer to the song we were about to show them. I wasn't expecting he'd be expected to join the meeting at all, but Louis insisted he attended in the case we needed to talk about changes in the production of it.

I didn't partake in the small talk that followed for the next few minutes, formalities and efforts from Carol to break the ice in the room. It didn't last long, and I was both grateful and dreadful for that. The executives were in a rush, and they made that very obvious when one of the two men asked to get started. It was Niall who pressed play on the song, having set up his laptop and connected it to a speaker in the middle of the table between the two sides, the file ready to play in an instant after he was asked to do so.

That guitar riff, that distinguishable first set of notes accompanied with a dark synth and a quick drum beat echoed around the room, the sound so deep and dark it felt like it was seeping from the walls instead of a device on the table. And then my voice came in, low and sultry and so rich, but I could tell it was filled with vocal exhaustion and tiredness from tour and the long hours of recording. But it didn't sound like that. Instead, it came out like the song of a siren, luring its victims closer and closer as it sang each word. I realised that was what Niall had been chasing after every time he made me sing the same line over and over, every time he told me we needed to add another harmony. Because when those came in at the prechorus, it gave the song a whole different life and dimension. And when the melody unexpectedly changed at the chorus and the tempo slowed to half of what it was, I knew we had written an incredible song, no matter what the executives thought of it.

It sounded so different when playing in a big empty room than what it sounded like in my headphones. The executives kept glancing at each other, writing things down and comparing notes in silence. I looked at Louis, my heart beating out of my chest. With a faint, reassuring smile as he took my hand that was resting on my thigh, giving it a light squeeze before holding it there. I breathed out, turning my attention to the three people across from me as the second chorus played, a completely new melody played on heavily distorted synth being introduced that evidently captured everyone's interest. I was torn on adding that in, but Niall insisted it was important that we did. So I agreed, but I was starting to worry that was the wrong choice when the woman whispered something to the man sitting in the middle. I was too nervous to recall any of their names, and I honestly didn't care doing so.