“What were you doing?”
“Vocals for Working Title.”
“Ooh. Can I help?”
I wanted this to be a surprise for Kristen, but as she was a member of the House Band, she was going to hear the words I wrote sooner or later. I shrugged, and then realized that Kristen would never be able to see me shrug over the intercom.
“Sure. Bring Lynette.”
“Cool. Be right down.”
It wasn’t long before the two girls entered. Lynette was nude, and wore a ribbon around her neck attached to a longer ribbon that Kristen was holding.
“We were into something when you called back,” Kristen explained.
I shrugged. Lynette didn’t seem too embarrassed, actually.
The recorder was all cued, so I turned on the three tracks and hit “play.”
As the girls heard the words, Kristen cringed as she realized I was singing about her. Lynette wore a big smile on her face.
After the second stanza was done, I stopped the tape.
Lynette spoke up first. “That’s wonderful, Oogie! It’s better than some songs I hear on the radio.”
Kristen, on the other hand, had fire in her eyes. “You are NOT going to be singing love songs written especially for me!”
“Oh, come on, Kris! I was inspired!”
It took a few minutes for Lynette and me to calm Kristen down. Finally, she said, “OK. You can keep the lyrics. Are there more?”
“Not yet,” I admitted. “I did those two verses and then noticed the light flashing.”
“Oh.”
We talked for a bit, and then went upstairs where Lynette donned an apron and made us some Salisbury steaks with gravy.
“What do you have planned for the rest of the weekend?” Kristen asked over dinner.
“Chris Henderson is coming over late tomorrow afternoon. I’m going to teach him how to direct.”
“Direct what?”
I smiled. “The marching band. I was thinking that they need a drum major and he’d be perfect. He used to play the clarinet and I know he plays the piano, so directing shouldn’t be that difficult for him. I just need to start with a single song.”
We made more chit-chat, and Lynette brought up how impressed she was about the song that I co-wrote with the rest of the band.
“That song really sounds great!” Lynette insisted.
“Thanks. It’s everybody’s song. I started with a bass line that Kristen helped me realize, so I started putting other beats against it. The lyrics could probably use some work, and I need to come up with some sort of chorus for it.”
Kristen didn’t look angry anymore as we talked about that song. This worried me a bit, since I still couldn’t always read Kristen’s moods perfectly. However, she seemed happy.
After dinner, I washed the dishes and Kristen and Lynette told me that they were going downstairs. That term, “going downstairs” was usually a euphemism for using the communal shower, although Kristen sometimes used the expression to mean she was going to play pool in the billiard room.
After giving all the dishes a thorough rinse, I put them into the dishwasher and turned it on.
I debated going back downstairs to finish my song, but figured that I’d sleep on it, and work on it tomorrow morning, refreshed.
The intercom buzzed. “Kristen?”
It was Harry’s voice.
I pushed the button. “She’s downstairs with Lynette. Is it important?”
“Not really,” Harry answered. “Please tell her that Daniel was able to secure the Legion Hall for next weekend.”
“Oh, that’s great!” I said. “That’s for Merry’s birthday!”
“I assumed so.”
“You’re invited, Harry, and as a guest, not as help!”
Harry laughed. “Thank you, Jim. Kristen already said the same thing.”
“Two brilliant minds come up with the same idea,” I answered. “What do you expect?”
“Daniel has also invited the three of you to lunch tomorrow on the patio. Bratwursts and Italian sausages.”
“I’ll pass the invitation to the girls when I see them.”
“Thanks, Jim. I’ll talk to you later.”
I decided to mosey on downstairs to see if the girls needed any company in the shower. If not, I could always work on those sucker shots that Camille taught me on the pool table.
When I got downstairs, I was surprised to see the DND light on outside the studio. I shrugged, and walked down the hall toward the billiard room, and confirmed that the shower was empty and hadn’t been used.
I worked on my shots for about an hour before the intercom went off again. “Oogie?”
“Yeah, Kris. What’s up?”
“Can you come to the studio?”
“Sure thing, Goddess!”
I put the cue away and walked back down the hall. The DND light was no longer lit. I knocked anyway.
Lynette answered. She was still nude.
“Hi, Oogie,” Lynette said, giggling. “Kristen has a surprise.”
“Does she?” I asked, smiling.
Kristen was by the open reel, and pushed the play button.
I heard the intro to the Working Title song, and was surprised to hear my vocals were replaced when the first verse began:
Kristen recorded over my vocals, and redirected the song as a love song to me!
I was about to say something when the second verse began. Once again, it was Kristen singing about me.
When the third verse came on, it was my original words about Kristen. The transition in voices was noticeable and sounded great. I wondered how Kristen managed to time-shift my vocals to a different verse, though.
Before the chorus began, Kristen stopped the tape. “That’s as far as I got.”
“It’s no longer my song to you!” I complained.
“That’s right, Sugar,” Kristen said, smirking. “It’s our love song to each other now.”
I nodded, and then realized that I actually liked it that way! Kristen also saved me the effort of having to write additional verses as well!
“That’s great, Goddess! The song is better!”
The three of us listened to the song a couple of times, and we started working with each other on something suitable for a chorus. We agreed that it would have to be the two of us singing together.
Surprising, Lynette was the one that came up with a solution. She handed us a piece of paper where she was doodling. However, it wasn’t doodles, but words that fit the beat of the chorus that I came up with earlier in the day.
Lynette stood by the open reel and played the first part of the song, and switched the vocal track to record right before the chorus.
The two of us sang:
Lynette stopped the tape once the chorus was over.
“Lynette, that works fantastic!”
“Thank you,” Lynette said, shyly.
I made up my mind that I was going to have to do something special for Lynette. She was pretty creative, actually.