Sketch

55 - Sam

Dedicated to HarrietElias for the lovely votes and comments :)  Song on the side is the one Emmy sings.  Enjoy!

I'd picked up my old black and white acoustic guitar the minute we'd entered the rehearsal studio.  Now, ten minutes later, I'm still plucking the strings with the familiar rhythm of 'Seven nation army' by The White Stripes.  It's keeping my mind on track, focusing on making sure my fingers play the strings the right way.  The guitar is a comforting weight in my lap.  Ollie and Vince are talking to Stan at the mixing desk and it's when Todd enters the room, fluffing the pillow in the chair next to me before he sits down, that my nose fills with a familiar scent that makes my stomach twist.  I blink and turn to look at him.  He's sitting back in the seat, a magazine open in his hands.  He doesn't notice me looking at him and I blink again, my fingers still moving against the guitar.

It's Emmy's perfume that I can smell.  I don't know if it's my brain playing tricks on me, teasing me with the longing that's making me ache with every day that passes without Emmy, but I'm pretty sure the smell's actually in the room.  I shake my head.  There's no way Emmy would have been here recently.  Tanya's said she's coming back into the band, though I'm hesitant to believe it until I see Emmy's brilliant smile in person again.  Emmy wouldn't have been at the studios though.  How can she practise our song without us?

"Sam."  Ollie flicks my head and I look up at him, my fingers stilling against the strings.  "I said are you going to sit around playing the same part of that song over and over again, or are you gonna help us rehearse?"

I close my eyes against the room for a moment, breathing in the perfume that smells so real and present, before I set the guitar next to my chair and stand up.  "Sorry.  Got lost in my thoughts."

Vince smiles.  "Daydreaming again, huh?"

I shrug but nudge into him as I pass, making him drop one of his sticks. 

He curses into his shoulder as he bends to pick it up.  "Not cool."

Even though Emmy's not back yet, Tanya's expressed a deep desire for us to start recording the music to our song.  I don't see what the rush is.  We've still got five months left of our six month deadline, so it's not like we're running out of time.  Still, I'm not going to question Tanya.  She's our manager.  Besides, music is almost everything to me, give or take a blonde haired girl, so it's not like I'm being forced to do something horrible.

I take my place behind the microphone in the rehearsal side of the room and pick up my red electric guitar.  I'd abandoned it in favour of my acoustic earlier but recording requires something a little more suited to the punchy and frantic scene of the song.

Vince settles himself on the drum-kit kept here at the studios and Ollie plugs in his blue bass, offering me a smile as he rights himself.

"I wanna hear a run-through of what you've got so far.  Sam, you sing all of the lyrics.  You can pick out Emmy's parts when I play back after."

I nod and when Stan holds his thumb up, we all put on our earphones and play the song that's becoming so familiar to us all.  I can't help glancing to the spare microphone next to me, wishing Emmy was there, thrashing about enthusiastically to my guitar playing and making me smile at the sound of her voice.  It feels almost empty without her here but I push through my feelings to sing my heart out.  When we're done Stan calls us back into the other room and we listen to the playback.  I smile at the sound of my voice.  I sound rough and edgy, but without Emmy there to settle it with her childlike but strong tone, I don't sound complete.  Stan notices. 

"Vince, I'll record your parts first."

Vince gives him a mock-salute before he returns to the drum-kit.  I watch him crashing against the symbols through the glass window but my mind's on Emmy.  I just want her back here.  Any little sign that my hopes may turn into a reality would do to settle my worries.  I trust Tanya's assurances to be true; why would we be practising if Sketch is done for?  But still, just seeing Emmy would help.