Page 61 of Conquest
Jesse sat at the piano, doing his vocal stretching exercises by matching his voice to the notes he played.
“Let’s start off with ‘Shattered,’ Jess,” Greg said through the control room P.A.
Jesse nodded and continued warming up while Kenny finished perfectly tuning a borrowed Fender Stratocaster.
Greg turned to Tim. “I forgot to tell them they could help themselves to what’s in the fridge. Would you go get him a bottle of water so he can wet his throat?”
“Sure.” Tim shoved his chair away from the control desk. He managed to keep his cool until he stepped out of the control room, then allowed rage to contort his face, and his hands to clench into fists at being the one who had to cater to Jesse. He stomped down to the chill-out room, rounded the corner of the doorway, and stopped in mid-stride at who he was confronted with.
Evan stood by the refrigerator taking a drink from a bottle of water. He lowered the bottle, twisted on the cap, and raised his gaze to Tim.
The lethal glare that greeted Tim forced him to stumble back half a step before he realized he had done so. He caught his reaction and straightened his posture, reminding himself of what Evan was, and almost laughed aloud at being unnerved by one of his kind, but the urge to laugh died quicker than it arose when he saw Evan advancing toward him in long, stalking strides. He stuck out his hand under the pretense of wanting to shake Evan’s, but more to keep distance between them.
“This is a surprise. It’s great to see you again, Mr. Arden.”
Evan smacked Tim’s hand aside with a loud crack and stepped forward until they were inches apart. He lowered his voice to a growl. “Don’t you dare offer your hand to me as if we’re friends.”
Tim swayed backward as though his will battled his body to not back down. “Is there a problem?”
“Yeah, there’s a problem. Did you really think he wouldn’t tell me what you accused him of?”
For an instant, Tim forgot the threat standing before him and let his repulsion slip through. “I knew it. He didn’t confirm it that day, but I knew it.”
“You don’t know shit!” Evan roared.
Tim flinched at Evan’s booming voice and fell back a step.
Evan moved forward. “I’m going to make this real clear, and you should consider yourself blessed that you’re getting this warning; if you so much as breathe and it offends him, you’ll be shitting your own teeth for a week courtesy of my fist. You got me?”
Tim gave the smallest of nods.
“Now move the fuck out of my way.”
Tim scurried from Evan’s path.
Evan walked past him, not deigning to spare Tim another glance. As he approached Studio B, the sound of piano and electric guitar leaked through the open door. When he arrived at the studio, he peeked in and saw Jesse didn’t have anything to drink. Knowing how he personally needed lots of water when singing, he decided to get some for Jesse. He stepped into the control room with everyone’s back to him and saw who he assumed was the sound engineer bouncing behind the control desk, saying, “I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so excited!”
A red haired woman smiled down at the bouncing engineer. “You’re a happy little fellow, aren’t you?”
“He’s got a great voice. I feel like I’m getting ready to listen to Evan Arden.”
“So that’s why my ears were ringing. And here I thought it was one too many concerts.”
All the heads in the control room turned to Evan.
“Evan,” Greg said, almost too shocked to get his name out.
Trish sprang between them and pushed her hand toward Evan. “I can’t tell you what an honor it is to meet you, Mr. Arden. I’ve always wanted to play with you.”
Evan took her hand and presented her with a teasing smirk. “My my, aren’t we a forward girl.”
Trish’s cheeks flared to crimson. “N-no, that’s not what I meant.”
“Evan, don’t tease her,” Greg intervened. “She’s quite possibly the new drummer for Conquest, Trish O’Connell. And this is Julian Forrester, pianist and prospective keyboardist.”
After introductions, Greg turned to Evan. “I can’t believe you’re here. What made you come down?”
Evan nodded toward Jesse. “Him.”
