He had Colton speak the word ‘hey’ into the microphone and dragged the audio file into the DAW. Then, using the keyboard, each note played was a different sound of Colton’s voice…low ‘hey’, medium ‘hey’, high ‘hey’, even super helium-high ‘hey’. Colton was amazed at the technology at Dean’s disposal, and at how awful his voice sounded with each note on the keyboard.
After a few guitar sessions, and a few breaks, not landing on any solid ideas, they strolled out to the kitchen to grab another beer.
“Does it always take this long to come up with an idea?” Colton hopped on a stool at the kitchen island, taking a beer from Dean.
“Oh yeah. Sometimes it takes me a solid week, sometimes weeks, to land on a good idea for a song. You just have to keep at it, until you eventually find it.” Dean cracked open his beer and hoisted himself up to sit on the counter facing Colton.
“Doesn’t it get frustrating?” he asked, sipping his beer.
“It can. But that’s kind of the part I love most. It’s exciting, like searching for buried treasure.”
“That’s a very positive way of looking at it.” Colton chuckled with yet another smile.
“Well, I find nothing good usually comes from getting frustrated or aggravated. It’s all about perspective.”
“I’d like to keep trying, if it’s ok with you. It would be really cool to make a song with you.”
“I’d love that. But we’re going to have to cut it soon. It’s getting late.”
Colton looked at his watch, surprised to see he’d been at the loft with Dean for four hours. Where had the time gone?
“Shit! I didn’t realize the time. I’ve got practice at six am tomorrow.”
“Alright, just let me know when you want to get together again to work on the song. And, if I think of any ideas, I’ll shoot you a message.”
As Dean walked Colton to the door, he proclaimed, “Ooh, I almost forgot. I’m doing a show here in town next Saturday night. Would you like to come? You can bring Sophie.”
Because of her busy schedule, Sophie and Colton didn’t see one another as often as they liked. Sophie loved the club lifestyle and often posted pics and videos of her partying in clubs around the world. She'd be in town next weekend to visit Colton. He knew she would enjoy the show.
“Sure, we would love that, but I’m not sure if I’ll ‘get’ the show.”
“You’ll have fun, I promise.” Dean winked. “I’m glad you reached out. This was fun.”
Colton smiled. His cheeks were gonna be sore for a week from all this smiling. “Me too. I learned a lot about music tonight. Maybe I can teach you about football sometime?”
“I’d love that.” Dean gave Colton a pat on the shoulder. “Let’s get together soon.”
A few days later, Dean sent Colton a message…
Dean: Hey! This idea popped into my head last night. It’s not a new song, but maybe we can remake it?
He had attached a video of himself playing piano, singing “Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce.
Colton watched the video, marveling at Dean's beautiful voice and impressive skills on the piano.
He was singing his own version of the song, which had a slightly different rhythm and melody from the original. It was a moving rendition and Colton felt another small stirring in his chest.
Colton: OMG, I fucking love it! That's my mom's favorite song!
Chapter 5
Colton
With Sophie in town, Colton had an entire evening planned for the two of them. First, he took her to a posh new downtown restaurant for dinner. Sophie was dressed in a flowing black Christian Siriano gown, with Colton in a matching black Calvin Klein suit, and a hush fell over the restaurant as the couple were shown to their table.
They had movie-star looks and a wardrobe to match. They were a devastatingly beautiful pair, and the mere mortals in the restaurant stopped and stared, basking in their beauty for a few precious moments.
They were seated in a corner in the back, to maintain some privacy from the prying eyes of the other restaurant guests.
