“Megs!” a voice called out, and she spun on her heel. It was Colleen, looking as elegant as ever, with her gray hair coiffed and a scarf in autumnal hues draped around her neck.
Megs smiled and walked toward her. “Happy Sunday, Colleen.”
"I almost missed you." Colleen held the Sugar Creek Star folded in her hand.
Megs’ brow furrowed. “You came to see me?”
“Of course I came to see you.”
Megs stifled a laugh. When had Colleen ever come to Green Mountain Grinds to visit her? She’d come to her shows, but so did all the Sugar Mamas. “Well, what can I do for you?”
Colleen unfolded the paper and pointed at the headline article.Autumn Romance Heats Up.“I’d like you to introduce me to the Oscar Calloway.”
Megs looked closer at the article, then took it from Colleen’s hands and started to read. It appeared Miss Julie Bee had some insider information and had all but announced to the entire town that Oscar was going to be at the fall festival Tuesday night.How did she know about that?Had Oscar leaked it for one last blast of publicity?
“I’m sorry, Colleen, I don’t think I’m allowed to bring guests.”
Colleen snatched the paper back. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“It’s not like Oscar and I are friends, he—”
“You’re a finalist! You could pretend I’m your ailing grandmother or something.”
Megs laughed and threw out her hands. “You don’t look even close to ailing.”
“So you don’t want to do it?”
“Y-no, I’m not—” Megs snapped her mouth shut. She couldn’t bring a guest to the event, could she? She didn’t know much about cavorting with celebrities, but even she understood you shouldn’t parade them around like show ponies.
Colleen pouted. “You’re telling me that I’ve styled the hair of a beautiful young woman from the time she could walk and the one time I ask for anything, you don’t want to help?”
Megs’ jaw dropped. “It’s not that I don’t want to help, but . . . ”
“But what?” Colleen watched her like a hawk circling a field mouse, and Megs took a step back. "I need to meet him, dear. Just imagine, a picture with Oscar Calloway! Tommy would be beside himself with jealousy, and the other Sugar Mamas . . . ” She clapped her hands together. “They'd be green with envy!"
Megs’ eyes widened. “Let me get this straight. You want me to risk ruining Oscar’s opinion of me so you can make other people jealous? And who’s Tommy?”
“Never mind that, dear, and no. That would all just be fortunate side effects, I truly would love to meet the man. I even have his book in my handbag . . . ” She trailed off, slipped her purse off her shoulder, and began to rifle through it.
“Fine, Colleen! I’ll introduce you, but it has to be a chance meeting. I’m not going to drive you there and admit we planned this ahead of time.”
“Excellent. I’ll be there around seven.” Colleen folded the paper under her arm, replaced her purse on her shoulder, and sauntered past the fountain toward the shops.
On Monday,a knot formed in Gideon’s chest as he sat at his desk waiting while his students prepared for their midterm presentations. The assignment was simple. Create an original three-minute audio piece, demonstrating their understanding of sound editing and mixing techniques they'd learned during the first half of the semester. He hadn’t given them any guidelines, which he knew would make things more difficult for some students, but he didn’t want to take the fun out of it. The joy of exploration. Recording was technical, yes, but it didn’t have to quash their creativity.
"Alright, everyone. Please take your seats," Gideon announced, hoping his voice sounded normal. Internally, his voice box felt like it was sitting inside a clamp. Now that he knew Megs was watching him, he was hyper aware of himself. His mouth felt dry, but every time his tongue grazed his lower lip, he couldn't help but wonder if Megs was watching. He snuck a nonchalant glance her direction, but found her focused on helping Erik set up for his presentation.
"Remember, you'll be graded on your ability to capture clear, high-quality sound and how you've manipulated it creatively in post-production." Gideon scanned the list of names, noting with a mix of relief and dread that Megs was scheduled to present last. Reverse alphabetical order. That gave him time to settle in at least.
"Okay, Erik, looks like you're up first," Gideon announced. Erik took a deep breath, picked up his laptop, and stalked to the front of the room. Megs walked with him and helped adjust the stand so he wasn’t blocking the image from the projector.
Erik flexed his hands. “Thank you for attending my presentation today.” An image of Erik’s digital audio workstation appeared on the screen. “I call this, Hex on the Beach.” Erik pressed play, and the room filled with a low bass hum. Tones layered over each other and then were joined by a cacophony of bird calls building above a pulsing electronic beat.
When the song finished, the entire class stared at Erik, dumbfounded. Megs was the first to start clapping, and then the room erupted. Hoots and hollers echoed off the cinder block walls. Erik’s cheeks were pink as he collected his things and went back to his seat.
"Wow, Erik. That was unique," Gideon managed, trying to suppress a smile. Sometimes he wished he could be a fly on the wall of that man’s brain. “Jennifer?”
He’d barely gotten her name out before Jennifer leaped up and strode to the front of the room. Her presentation was a personal piano piece, and he had to admit, he was impressed. Jennifer kept glancing his direction as the music played, and he tried to give enough of a reaction without giving her false hope.
