The Little Blue Pitcher

Moments in the Studio

Before I knew it, I was crying in Orion's shoulder, and he was combing his hand through my hair, which I could not get enough of. I don't know why I was comparing the way Orion reacted to the way Dean reacted when I told him.

When I told Dean, he was about to have me film this girl and him, and his only reaction was, "Oh, that's cool, now go get set up." Orion was nothing like Dean, and I was glad for that. Orion and I may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but so far, he's done nothing but help me.

"Orion," I started, letting his name slip from my mouth for the first time. He looked at me, halfway breaking our embrace, and I continued earnestly, "I'm sorry for being so mean to you. Given, I was freaked out that you were following me everywhere, but I mean I could have eased up sooner-"

"That's enough, now. I would have been creeped out, too, if some guy followed me across an ocean and around a town for almost a week. It's okay." Orion assured me. I chose now of all times to notice how he dressed. It, in no way, matched his vocabulary. He wore mostly skater attire, a leather jacket with black skinny jeans and vans, and a plain shirt under. He had a really pleasant vocabulary, though, which was a welcome surprise. He was a genuinely nice guy. "I still don't believe a damn word you say about being a genie, but I am done being mean like that." I said, completely ruining the serene mood. He laughed and shook his head, and we both got up, deciding we had work to do.

"Okay, so since we have to work out a whole new routine for you in order to win that $250,000 and that cruise, we better get started. What are the three songs in the set?" He asked in all seriousness, pulling up a table and two chairs, then my notepads and pens out of my bag.

I told him the three songs. The first was "Te Extraño" by Xtreme, the bachata version, then "Come to This" by Natalie Taylor, then "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. He nodded, writing them all down. He asked to listen to them in order, so I played them on my phone, both of us listening while he took notes.

"So," he said, after gathering his thoughts, "I think the first song wouldn't exactly go with the other two. Only because it's more upbeat than the others, and I think to really move the audience, you should maybe find a slower song that would better tell your story."

"I think you're right, I'll start looking for one." I said, looking through my playlists. I asked Orion to look with me but he wanted me to pick. I looked for a while but I couldn't find one that seemed to fit the theme formulating in my head, so I set my phone down and said, "We should just focus on the two songs we have now, and tweak things when we find the third song." Orion nodded, and took my hand with his inexplicably soft hand and, consequently, my breath along with it.