By My Side, Always

Selina would be singing in every song, and she asked Gary to play in roughly half of the tracks on the second collection as she believed they needed updating.

"Maybe I could see that contract now?" Gary said to her with a smile.

Benny chuckled and sat down with the two of them to review the contract Selina had procured from her new agent for Gary. He explained anything Gary had questions about. In the end, Gary signed it and shook hands with Selina and Benny, who witnessed it for him.

Dinner that night was another informal buffet, but no one seemed very hungry as everyone was charged with excitement.

They'd be practicing tonight to get through as many of the tracks as they could tomorrow. The remaining ones would be tackled on Monday.

Janice worked out a schedule for which tracks would be recorded in what order based on the availability of the artists. Some guests were leaving the following morning, so two of the second set tracks had to be done tonight.

Gary was sitting with Eric, Benny, and Oscar, the latter two still fishing for a deal on the cassettes, when Emma rushed up to Gary and gave him a kiss. "Mr. Truman, you're needed in the studio downstairs for recording your first track, Glory Days."

Eric smiled. "I like this new notification system. I can't wait for my first call!"

Emma giggled, then gave him a sad look. "I'm sorry, Mr. Gladstone, the kiss service is a bonus available to a very select list of artists. Currently, that list has only one name."

"As it will remain," Gary said with a smile. Then he looked nervously at Emma. "I was hoping to have tonight to review the songs and get familiar with them. I don't know Glory Days."

Emma gave him an encouraging smile. "Ask them to play the song for you first. We're on a tight schedule."

With a cheerful wave, she spun and raced to find her next artist.

"You're a lucky man, Gary," Eric said with a sigh.

"Not arguing with you on that one. Talk to you later," Gary said to the group, then hurried down to the studio.

Selina looked up and smiled, then gave him a curious look at the concern on his face.

"I'm not familiar with Glory Days. Could I listen to it first and get your impression of it?" Gary asked.

Selina smiled and pulled the song up on her cell. They listened to it as the other musicians arrived and got set up.

As the track wound down, Gary was fiddling with his guitar, finding the notes he'd need to play and feeling out the sound, seeing how it felt. He nodded to himself as his mind played with the melody.

Selina looked around the room, seeing she had everyone's attention. "Greg loved this song because it reminded him of his father, who would endlessly talk about his own glory days in high school football. Everyone is familiar with the original, I mean, aside from Gary?"

"He's playing lead guitar, and he's not familiar with the song?" their keyboardist asked in surprise.

"Pete, it's okay. He's heard the tune, and I'd like to hear his spin on it," Selina said to calm him.

The man didn't seem convinced. "I suppose we have all night," he grumbled.

Gary looked at him apologetically, but the man shrugged. He turned back to Selina.

"Your thoughts on the tone?" Gary asked.

"Bright and cheerful during the chorus as he's remembering, a little melancholy toward the end."

Gary nodded. "Okay, how about this."

He closed his eyes and played the song as it originally began in the intro, but when it shifted into the chorus, Gary opened up the sound like a stadium cheering their team's winning play. The energy went way up. He brought it back down for the next verse. He abruptly stopped and looked at Selina. "The second chorus is big like the first, but when the bridge starts, Greg's keyboard solo hits. Back to the final verse, then the outro will be a muted version of the chorus. Is that okay?"

"It changes the tone of the song! That chorus is much too energetic!" Pete complained.

"I may be too young to have had glory days. Maybe these are my glory days! But I've heard my father talk about his high school years and those stories were always bigger than life. Shouldn't the music reflect that?"

"Okay, we can give it a try, but the last chorus and outro should reflect the passing of those days," Selina said, and Gary nodded.

Selina moved into a smaller chamber off the studio to record her vocals separately. Its window looked into the Studio and had a view of the control room's window as well. "We're going to try it," she said into her mic.

Gary took a deep breath as a wave of doubt threatened to drag him under. The reality struck him that this was an actual professional recording with professional musicians. He was also sure Pete didn't like him or his version of the song.

He glanced up toward the control room window, and there was Emma. She was smiling at him as her belief in him was absolute. He could feel his anxiety draining away, as it had on the stage at Rocky's that night.

"I love you," he mouthed.

She said it back to him, and his smile returned.

He could do this.

With Emma's love, he could do anything.

The music was there for him, and he let his emotions speak through it. Acknowledging his inexperience with recalling glory days of his own, he understood Pete's misgivings about the bright tone he'd originally given the chorus. When he played it now, he tempered it with an earnest wistfulness.

Selina's voice was powerful and filled with emotion, giving the song its heart.

Pete's solo in the bridge was inspired, and Gary smiled and nodded to himself as he pulled that tone into his last pass through the chorus and left the outro with a hint of sadness.

When the last note faded, Gary opened his eyes and saw smiles on the faces of the musicians.

The control room mic clicked on. "That was pretty fucking flawless for a first attempt! Selina, come in here and let me know if you think we're good!"

She rushed out of her booth to join them in the control room to listen to the playback.

Pete walked over with an odd look in his eye but a smile on his lips. "You didn't play it the same way this time."

Gary shook his head. "You were right. I think I was focusing too much on my annoyance at hearing my father's glory days stories. Too artificially bright, so I toned it down."

Pete nodded, then looked over at the window to the control room to see the excitement. "Shit, I think it worked," Pete said.

The room's mic went on again as they watched Selina dancing excitedly. The sound engineer leaned closer to the mic. "That's a wrap, people! First track is good to go!"

"Damn! I've never been part of a successful first take!" Julie grinned from behind her drums.

Pete turned back to Gary, who shook his head and held up his hands with a grin.

"Don't look at me. That was just beginner's luck!" he chuckled.

The keyboardist just smiled and nodded before he left.

The other artists who weren't part of the second recording session headed upstairs as Emma rushed off to collect the missing talent.

Selina rushed into the studio. "That was an excellent take! Do you need help with the next one?"

Gary nodded. All he could recall of September's Kiss was that it was one of Selina's power ballads.

She played it for him, but he couldn't really say there was a place for change as it all hinged on the vocals.

"What do you think, Gary?" Selina asked.

He looked at her and shrugged. "I don't see what needs to change here. The instruments are all background to your vocals."

"Yes, but it needs refreshing. A new emotional edge. Like My Soul, Your Sanctuary," she insisted.

"You want to record it at Rocky's?" Gary asked with a grin.

She chuckled, then she froze. She spun to look into the control room window. "Emma!" she called out as she saw the lovely redhead returning there. Emma looked and nodded. "Gary needs his acoustic guitar!"

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Gary waved his hands to stop Emma from rushing away.

Selina looked back at him.

Gary was a little flustered. "I-I think I'm not the answer to this one."

When she frowned and looked like she was about to argue, he held up a hand. "Can you play the song back again?"

She was still frowning, but she played it for him again on her cell. They listened for a moment, then her expression changed, and she smiled at Gary. She looked back at Emma. "Can you ask Pete to come back to the studio?" Emma nodded and rushed away.

Gary smiled in relief. He thought the piano was a better choice as well.

Selina grinned at Gary. "Here I thought you no longer wanted to play with me."

He chuckled and shook his head. "I'm going to be plenty busy tomorrow and the day after. And I'm sure we won't get them all in one take."

The singer nodded. "Yeah, that was just a little cosmic synchronicity shit happening there, but I'll take it!"

Gary grinned. "Totally agree!"

Pete returned to the studio with a questioning look for Selina.

"Would you be up for an acoustic version of September's Kiss with me? Just piano and vocals," she asked.

Pete's delighted expression said it all.

Gary smiled, packed his guitar back in its case, and carried it with him as he nodded to the others on his way out.

He met Emma in the hallway and gave her a hug. "That was fun!" he said.

"It was magic!" Emma replied with a grin.

"You're the magic one, my genie!" he said to her quietly, and her grin widened with a twinkle in her eye.

"Gary! Where are you, man?" a voice called out.

He and Emma looked towards the stairs to see Eric marching down with a determined look on his serious face.

"What?" Gary asked.

"We need to practice for tomorrow! We have a lot of tracks to get through!" Eric insisted.

Gary looked at him in surprise. "I-I thought we'd do that tomorrow."

Eric snorted in scorn. "He gets one track done in one take, and suddenly he expects them all to happen that way?"

"You heard about that?" Gary asked in dismay.

"Pete told everybody. Let's go. We have to practice!" Eric said with a sudden grin.

Emma grinned at Gary's moan, kissed his cheek, then gave him a gentle push. Music waited for no man, but magic would wait for Gary.

-=-

Gary spent Sunday and Monday in the studio playing one song after another. When he wasn't in the studio, he practiced with Eric and Julie.

For the tracks on the first album, the audio engineer used Greg's isolated keyboard tracks from their jam night recording. For the second album, they used three different keyboardists.

While they managed to get two more first take successes in the two days, most of the others required multiple attempts.

On Monday, they were recording the final track and had just finished its eleventh attempt. Selina wasn't feeling the magic in it.

Emma suddenly walked into the studio, plucked Gary's guitar from his hands, pulled him to his feet, and pointed him toward the exit. "Naptime. Thirty minutes," she said firmly. He'd been up late the previous two nights practicing with Selina, Julie, and Eric.

Selina stared in surprise at Emma, who pointed to the door for everyone as she guided her charge out of the studio.

Thirty-five minutes later, Emma brought Gary back, and they spent fifteen minutes just sitting together, talking quietly as the other musicians gradually returned. Selina was last to arrive and smiled at Emma.

"Thank you. That was excellent advice," Selina said to Emma.

"Sleep is a key ingredient in a healthy lifestyle. I could see everyone was lagging," Emma replied.

It only took two more tries until Selina said she was satisfied.

She joined everyone in the studio. "That's a wrap, people! Thank you so much for your extraordinary efforts. This double album is going to be amazing! Before you go, please speak with Janice to confirm she has your name recorded for the songs you participated in. Thank you again!"

Gary was blowing on his fingertips as he'd played more this weekend than he had this year. His fingers were so sore!

Selina walked over to give him a hug. "Thank you for the extraordinary efforts you made for us today. The songs were greatly improved by the emotions you helped draw out of me."

"It was an incredible experience. Not sure how eager I am to do that again," Gary remarked.

She smiled at him. "Normally, we wouldn't have tried to get it all done in one weekend, but the fates were kind, and all these stars were in alignment. You can't pass such an opportunity by." She looked at Emma. "Thank you so much for your efforts in wrangling the talent and your advice today."

Emma grinned and nodded to her. "It was fun!"

Selina turned to Gary. "My agent is upstairs. You should speak to him about representing you, at least for dealing with the Burn recordings. I know Oscar is also upstairs waiting for you. He's most eager to get his hands on those recordings.

"Would your audio engineers be willing to do the transfer of the cassettes to a digital medium?" Gary asked.

Selina smiled at him. "Not for free. Their time is rather expensive."

Gary sighed and looked at Emma. "Here we are with a potentially valuable asset on our hands, but there are upfront costs before we'd see a dime. And we don't have any upfront money."

"Speak with Kevin, my new manager. He can give you options."

"We have to go home tonight. When does the bus leave?" Emma asked.

Selina smiled at them. "The bus already left. Everyone who's left will be catching flights home. You'll be flying with Kevin and me tonight."

Emma's eyes widened in surprise. "We're never flown before."

Gary shared a nervous look with Emma. "I wasn't expecting to do this either."

Seeing their unease, Selina suddenly realized her mistake. "Oh! I'm sorry! I just assumed you'd prefer a one-hour trip back on the jet. I didn't think you might be nervous about flying! I do it so often it's become second nature.

Gary nodded. "We are nervous, but a one-hour trip on a jet definitely sounds better than a five-hour trip on a bus. We'll tough it out. Thanks!" He smiled at Emma, then gestured for Selina to lead the way upstairs.

"Let's go talk to Kevin."

-=-

It was the wee hours of the morning when Gary let them into their apartment. They gently set down their bags and the guitars and wearily walked into their bedroom as all they could think of was sleep.

Their original idea of how peaceful their visit to Martha's Vineyard would be had turned into a much larger adventure than either of them expected, and they were both exhausted.

"Oh! My cell has been off all day!" Emma moaned as she plugged it in next to the bed.

The moment it connected to the network, it began chirping. She had messages.

Many of them.

"I'd better check."

Gary nodded and got ready for bed. When he returned from the washroom, he saw Emma staring at him, wide-eyed. He looked at her in concern. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I received several texts from Nancy. She received an offer from the parent company of the fitness chain. They're offering me Dennis' position running the club with a salary boost. It's hush money," Emma said nervously.

Gary was stunned. "That's... I'm not sure what to call this. Is this something you wanted?"

Emma shook her head. "Maybe... one day. I love what I do now!"

"Still, I can't say I'm not impressed by Nancy's negotiating skills," Gary snorted in surprise, and Emma's smile returned.

"Yes, she's formidable!" Emma agreed. Then she looked back at her cell. "I need to speak to Yvonne before I agree to anything. This all began with the attack on her."

Gary nodded and walked over to pull Emma into his arms. "That's my Emma. Lead with your heart. It will never steer you wrong."

She purred in his embrace, then kissed him sweetly. She pulled back with a smile. "Mmm! Minty!"

"Can't say the same," Gary teased, and she gave him a look of false outrage, swatting his arm before heading off to brush her teeth.

Gary dropped himself on the bed and relaxed after his incredible long weekend adventure.

He fondly recalled how Emma got everyone where they needed to be when they needed to be there, and no one complained. That was a miraculous effort with all those prickly personalities to deal with.

Her smiling face was in his thoughts as sleep pulled him under.

When Emma returned, she smiled as she saw Gary sleeping peacefully. She turned off the light and snuggled beside him, thrilled at hearing his happy sigh.

This was her happy place.

-=-

Emma stood at the foot of Yvonne's bed the morning after their weekend away. The woman leaned back against her pillows, keeping her eye on Emma. This time there was no hostility in her gaze. Emma felt better about that.

"I understand Dennis tried to make a plea deal, but it was refused. He's going to do time for the hit and run. Several people in the club are willing to offer testimony on what they heard him confess over the PA," Emma said.

Yvonne smiled. "Yes, thank you for that." Emma just smiled and nodded.

"The club made an offer to my lawyer. It's too generous. Obviously, hush money," Emma said.

Yvonne nodded. "Yes, they contacted me as well. They offered to take care of all my medical bills."

"Would you... would you come back to the club to be its manager? They offered it to me, but I have no desire to run a business at this stage of my life."

The woman looked at her in surprise, then gave her an evaluating look before nodding slowly. "I might be interested if you'd continue at the club and help me with my rehabilitation. I've heard you have a lot of spirit and are very motivating."

Emma's grin was wide and happy. She knew she wasn't responsible for Yvonne's injuries, but the fact that Dennis did it to put Emma in her position made her feel a little ill. Helping the woman return to a healthy state was just what she needed to extinguish that feeling.

Yvonne would get back on her feet and have a fulfilling life. Emma guaranteed it!

Chapter 9

The summer passed in a whirlwind as good fortune shone down on Gary and Emma as much as the sun did.

Gary's new artist manager, Kevin, worked out a deal with Benny and Oscar, who purchased the entire collection of Casey Burnelle cassettes from Gary. The upfront money was enough to pay for Gary's remaining time at college and allowed him to send his mothers a hefty check, doubling her investment on the money she'd given him for his first year's tuition. That felt really good!

Kevin assured him his deal included royalties on all future releases of the collection. Just five percent, but it was found money.

Emma continued to be a sensation at the club, and her classes were in big demand. The other trainers did their best to emulate her behavior, and the club experience improved for the clients.

Yvonne was managing the club remotely as she was still recovering. Emma was her deputy manager at the club and spent time with her every day, bringing her up-to-speed on the happenings and issues. She also went to see her every day to help her with the physio routines the therapist assigned to her. Yvonne instituted some new policies for the club, making it a much friendlier environment. Less pushy sales pitches, better cooperation between coaches, and better pay made for a healthier environment. They implemented deals with nutrition brands for cross-promotion and to help ease their clients into incorporating healthier diets into their routines. Emma was in heaven.

In the middle of summer, the heat in New York City was like nothing either of them had ever experienced. It was impossible to stay inside their apartment with its lack of air-conditioning during the worst of it, so they'd find shady spots in nearby parks to relax. Gary usually brought along his acoustic guitar, and impromptu but small concerts would pop up as he'd usually gather small audiences once he began to play. His stage fright was gradually easing, but he accepted that he'd never be ready for stadium-sized crowds.