The Singer and Her Arranger

But, alas, eventually the spector of work raised its ugly head.

First, Sid played the version of "See you in Heaven" that Charlie had done.

As it played, there was a complete silence, and when it was finished, they took a deep breath and then they all began to speak.

"Wow!" "I wanted to cry!" "I can't believe how good it sounds!"

Finally, Sid, got them to settle down.

"I take it that, on the whole, we like Charlie's approach. It keeps the sadness of the song, but updates the sound, and I think gives it an uplifting end. And we still don't sound like a band from twenty-years ago."

There was a little more conversation, with members of the band asking if this instrument could be changed for that instrument, and the like, but no major complaints.

Then they listened to Charlie's first take on 'The First Flower.'

"So, what do you think?" Sid asked.

Cat thought for a moment and announced, "I think that Herb steered us right by pointing us to Charlie. You know that I'm a little further out than the rest of you in my personal musical tastes. This arrangement is not what I would do with my own music. But with Sid's songs, I think it will broaden the audience. I do like the jazz influences in his arrangements as well as his use of saxes and trumpets. Almost like the way that Earth, Wind & Fire use their instruments."

"You cut me for talking about an old musical, and then use EW&F as an example?" Sid laughed.

"Hey, they are still playing out there. They were at the Hollywood Bowl about three weeks ago. I went, but I didn't tell any of you, because I thought you wouldn't want to go. But other groups like Chicago used an instrumental section too. And there is a Ukrainian group that is touring the U.S. right now that does covers of EWF and Chicago. Plus, they have millions of followers on social media."

They went back and forth on the music a little longer before coming back to Sid and Charlie.

"So how you gonna hook up with this guy?" Heather asked.

Sid looked a little sad, "I don't know. He says that he doesn't have relationships with clients."

Leslie looked at her, "So? After we finish the album, then we aren't his clients anymore. Right?"

"I don't know," Sid replied thoughtfully, "I think that we will want him to continue to work with us after this album. You know, for when we are on the road. If we compose new music. There are a lot of reasons for staying his clients."

Cat laughed out loud!

"I guess that we will have to help you seduce him, despite being his client!"

Everyone in the room agreed that should be the plan.

Charlie arrived home and began putting his clothes away, looking over the mail that had accumulated while he was absent, and checking out his studio.

When he finally sat down, he found his mind wandering. He felt like there was something he was supposed to be doing, but it had slipped his mind. His mind kept returning to his new client.

Damn, he wished she hadn't kissed him like that. It was getting to be a habit on her part, if you could think of three times as establishing a habit. Worse, he really liked it when she kissed him. He should have let her kiss him properly, so that he could return it.

The pain of it was remembering a time, long ago, when he realized that you don't have relationships with clients, and you don't love someone more than they love you. Obvious. He felt like such a dunce when he thought back on it, which was why he avoided thinking about it. He knew better than to let Sid get under his skin. It would only be pain in the long run.

He sat for a while just thinking about the situation with Sid, until he felt hunger pangs reminding him that he needed to eat. He wasn't in the mood to make anything complicated, so a cheese quesadilla, topped with some salsa and guacamole would fit the bill. See what was in the 'fridge and maybe grab a piece of chicken to have with it.

As he was pulling the fixings out of the 'fridge, his phone rang. Well, the ring tone he had set for Sid, 'La fille aux cheveux de lin' ('The girl with flaxen colored hair') started playing. He smiled at the sound. He always thought of it as Debussy's 'The blond bomb shell.'

"Hey Sid," he answered, "Is everything okay? I didn't expect to hear from you quite yet."

"Hello, Charlie. I was just calling to find out if you made it home all right."

"Oh, I'm fine. Just getting ready to fix some dinner. How about you?"

"I was thinking about dinner too, but I thought I check to see if I could convince you to go out to dinner with me." There was a playful tone in Sid's voice that made Charlie a little curious.

"I'd love to do that, but I don't want to put you to the trouble. I mean, your place is like forty minutes or more from where I am. I suppose we could meet somewhere, or I could pick you up, but it would be a while."

"I don't think it would take that long. Take a look out your front door."

Now, getting more suspicious, but with a smile on his face, he opened his front door, and there in the driveway was Sid, sitting in a last generation Mustang, smiling back at him.

"Come on, Charlie. Can't wait. I'm starving." She revved the engine.

"Okay, just let me get my wallet and keys, and some shoes on."

It only took him a minute to grab his necessaries, before he walked out and got into the passenger side seat.

"Where to?" he asked.

"You tell me. I don't know my way around here yet."

"Well, I know this place about two miles from here. Upscale Italian..."

~~** Quiet night of quiet stars... **~~

After they were seated, Charlie and Sid ordered drinks, and Charlie (after asking Sid if it was alright for him to make the decision) ordered a Paso Robles blended red wine to have with dinner.

"You know, this is not a date. We are just two people who are working together having dinner because we were hungry. Right?"

Sid almost laughed, "Yes, Charlie. As your client I know that we can't date or have a relationship with each other. But, because I asked YOU to join me, I will pay for dinner."

"No, you are the client, so I'm paying for dinner. It's a marketing expense."

"No. If I can't pay for dinner, then neither can you. We'll go 'Dutch'," Sid insisted, laughing at pushing Charlie into a corner.

Charlie sighed, "Okay. THIS time. But in the future, we will decide who pays before we show up at the restaurant."

That seemed to satisfy him

"Sid, I meant to ask, what's with the Mustang? It is a pretty nice car and seems to have a lot of power."

"Oh, it belongs to Cat, our drummer. She let me borrow it tonight."

"Now my turn to ask a question: what is with that house of yours? It's like a castle!"

Charlie's face brightened up at the mention of his house, and after they had ordered their dinners, he began telling Sid about the house/studio, which was his pride and joy.

The house was in Hidden Valley, on the road past Lake Sherwood, and past the entrance to the Lake Sherwood Country Club and Golf Course. It was a well-known course that regularly hosted professional events. In addition, it was surrounded with very pricy houses with famous actors, athletes and highly paid executives living there.

But Charlies house was about a mile further on, on a large piece of land, and had at one time been a convent. When the numbers of Sisters of the order had diminished (as was happening to many of the orders) to a certain point, it was decided to move the remaining Sisters and to consolidate them with another order, this one located in the mid-west.

Charlie and his dad, who was a lawyer and also did land development and custom home building in nearby Westlake Village, heard about the Order thinking about selling the convent from the local Priest after Mass one day. They followed up, and in the end made a fair offer that allowed the Order a good price, but without a lot of the expenses of going through a regular real estate broker. Everyone was happy.

But what do you do with a somewhat run-down building (maintenance had been neglected due to the perineal money problems in the Diocese) and was made up of a lot of small cells, chapels, and offices? The gardens were in great shape because the Sisters took care of those themselves, but they were mostly food and herbs for the Sister's kitchen.

On the other hand, Charlie's mom and dad, whose house was high in the hills overlooking Westlake, were ecstatic at the thought of getting Charlie out of their house (including his studio, that took up a LOT of space,) and into his own place. Charlie was already successful, with multiple Grammy's to his name, could afford to buy the place from his dad, so they made a deal.

Charlie's tale of his house was disturbed by the arrival of their appetizers. When they had finished the first course, the wine arrived and was poured.

Charlie continued, "We decided, under a certain amount of pressure from the county, to keep the façade of the building much as it was on the two lower floors. We pretty much tore the insides down to the bare walls. While everything was exposed, we revamped the electrical and plumbing.

"On the top floor we installed floor to ceiling windows above the roofline and made that the viewing room. We can see our own gardens in the front and the horse ranch across the street. But in the back, we set up my studio. It is where your band and I will work until we are ready to bring in the musicians for the final production."

After that, they got their main entrees and they spent the rest of the time eating, including sharing a dessert.

They drove back to Charlie's house feeling satisfied and mellow.

When they arrived Charlie asked, "Would you like to come in and see the house?"

"Sure, I'd love to!" Sid replied, relieved that she didn't have to find some excuse to invite herself in.

They walked in through the garden but because it was getting dark, Sid mentioned that she would like to see it in the daylight some time.

"You should. We can take some time during the day when your band is here." Charlie agreed.

They entered through a smaller door cut in the two large, dark wooden doors, rounded at the top, but probably nine feet tall.

"We had the windows put into the top part of the doors, but otherwise, these are original from the convent."

As they came in, Sid could see that the ceilings were tall, like 15 feet tall. To the right, where, according to Charlie, the chapel had been, was a large area of common space — the living room, dining room, and a newly refurbished kitchen with a large island separating that space from the others. Sid loved the layout and the brushed nickel appliances. There was a small room off to the side that Charlie told her was the pantry.

To the left, Charlie explained, was a set of glass doors and windows, behind which was his business office.

On the left there was also a wide staircase, with Brazilian Cherry steps and banister that curved up to the second floor. Charlie took her up to the second floor, where, he explained, they had taken out some 20 small rooms where the Sisters slept, and replaced them with the master suite, four smaller bedrooms, two on either side of the hall, and a guest suite (a little smaller than the master) on the opposite side of the house.

Obviously, Charlie was very proud of his place. It had been remodeled as his ideal house/work space. He said as much to Sid. Sid thought she could get used to living in a place like this.

They returned to the first floor, and Charlie went to his beverage refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of white wine — a pleasant Gewurztraminer — opened it and pour two plastic cups (no glass by the pool) and took Sid out back to the pool/spa in the back.

"Charlie, this is quite a place you have here. You must enjoy it a lot!"

"Yeah, it is my refuge. I do my best work here. You haven't even seen the third floor where my studio is. But you and your band will be working up there with me. You'll probably be sick of it before we're done."

"I doubt that," Sid replied, while thinking that she would be happy here for a long time, as long as she was with Charlie.

They sat in the chairs by the pool, drinking their wine and chatting like old friends. They talked about their childhoods growing up, the people around them, their early experiences.

"Charlie, I meant to ask you, what is your college degree in?"

"I don't have one. I've taken a lot of classes, mostly in music, music theory and composition, but I've never tried to fill the requirements for a degree. I mean, I also took some history classes and some English lit, even the odd psych or other classes, but only classes that I wanted to take for my own enrichment."

Sid looked at the spa between them and the pool.

"How hot is the spa?"

"I keep it about 102 degrees (f). That's why I keep the top over it — it insulates it."

"Could you take the top off so I can see it?"

Charlie chuckled, as he got off and pulled the cover off, folded it in half and put aside. Then he turned around.

There was Sid, naked, stepping into the spa.

He froze looking at her.

She had long, muscular legs, slim like a swimmer. Her perky breasts stood right out there, with erect pink nipples on quarter sized aureoles. Her stomach was flat and taut, but not showing all her muscles. She had a small, trimmed patch of dark blond hair on her pubic mound. And when she turned around, her ass, Charlie thought, was a work of art. Lean, but with enough shape to know, even from behind, that she was a woman.

She settled into the hot water and looked up at Charlie.

"Well? Grab a couple of towels and join me!"

Charlie was standing there, repeating to himself in his mind, "I don't get involved with clients, I don't get involved with clients!" But then, just to be practical, of course, he fetched a couple of towels, shed his clothes, and got into the spa, carrying the wine cups with him.

"You know, Sid, I'm not sure how I feel about this. You know I try to keep a professional distance from my clients. Getting naked in a spa with them is not exactly a 'professional distance.' And it is definitely getting dangerously close to you!"

Sid laughed, "I'm sorry. I guess that I'm just a little impulsive at times. But it feels so good! Out here in the spa, enjoying the quiet, looking up at the stars. Hanging with you! It doesn't get much better."

Charlie sighed again.

The problem was that despite his wanting to keep a professional distance, he wanted to get closer to her too.

When Sid scooted closer to him pulled him close enough to kiss, this time a real kiss, he couldn't hide his attraction. It more or less arose between them.

"I'm sorry, Sid. This is kind of embarrassing."

"Oh, don't worry, Charlie. I'd be more worried if you DIDN'T respond like that," laughing as she said it.

"You know, young lady, I am beginning to think that you are trying to seduce me."

"Is that a problem? I mean, we are both consenting adults, neither one of us is married or otherwise tied up. Charlie, you know that no one is telling us we can't. So why not?"

"Two reasons: first, is a business reason. If we are working together, and lovers, what happens if one of us decides not to continue working with the other on a unilateral basis? Do we stop being lovers as well? And on the other side, if we break up as lovers, how could we stay comfortable working together in a business sense?

"The second reason is, that I've been here before, and I won't put myself into that kind of position again."

This statement piqued Sid's interest.

"What happened, Charlie? Tell me."

"No. At least not now. We've been having a wonderful night and I don't want it to end on a negative note.

Sid put a little pout on her sensuous mouth for being told 'no', but then nodded her agreement.

They turned their conversation to other things, and when they both started turning into prunes, they got out of the spa and dried off.

Back in the house, Charlie turned to Sid.

"Sid, I don't want you to think that I am weakening my position, but it is awfully late, and we've been drinking too much. Let's put you in the guest suite tonight and you can go back to your place in the morning."

Charlie and Sid walked up the stairs together to the second floor and went to part, Charlie to the master suite on one side, and Sid to the guest suite on the opposite side.

As they stepped apart, Sid looked up at Charlie.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

Charlie looked back at her with a quizzical look on his face.

"What about my goodnight kiss?"

Charlie was silent for a couple of seconds before acting.

"Have you been listening to anything I've been saying tonight?"

But then he DID step over to her and tried to kiss her on her forehead.

"No, you don't," Sid said, as she grabbed him and gave him a kiss on his lips. No tongue, but a serious kiss, nonetheless.

"Now, wasn't that easy? Now you can go to bed thinking of me!"

Charlie suspected that she was laughing at him.

Lord knows, he was very attracted to her, and there was no rational reason for it!

~~** The Look of Love **~~

The next morning, by the time that Charlie was making it down for breakfast, he could smell coffee, bacon and eggs, and toast! WTF!

There, in his kitchen, was Sid, already dressed, with an apron on, cooking up a storm.

"Good morning, Charlie! This is an important question. A life changing question. I need to know: How do you take your coffee?"

"Black."

"Ooo, manly. Here," she said as she poured him a cuppa joe.

"Okay, sit," she directed, as she brought over a breakfast plate and put it down in front of him. A quick trip back to the kitchen island and she returned with her own plate.

They sat there next to each other at the breakfast table eating and quaffing their morning coffee.

"How did you..like, know what to fix?"

"I am an amazing mind reader. I saw what you had in the pantry, what you had in the 'fridge, and then I found the most worn and used pages in your cookbook. They told me how you liked your bacon and eggs!"

He knew that she was laughing again. He wished he wasn't quite so predictable to this woman.

Sid caught the looks he was stealing of her when he thought she wasn't looking.

"Charlie, I want the truth. Only the truth. Did you think of me last night after you went to bed?"

"Yes, but.."

"No ifs ands or buts. Did you wish I was there in bed with you?"

"Well..."

"Be honest," she chided him.

"Yes."

"And you knew that I was just down the hall waiting for you to knock on my door."

"I was kind of hoping, but it is complicated."

"That's okay. We're moving in the right direction. Now, I gotta go. Cat wants her 'Stang back."

They arranged for a time the day after next for the entire band to come out to his studio, and then Sid departed, blowing him a kiss and waving as she threw up some gravel in the driveway.

He went back into the house with mixed feelings. A woman who got up early enough to make him breakfast — then leaving him to clean up the dishes! A mixed bag, he thought. But he was feeling happier to be with her than he had with any woman for a long, long time.

~~** Ravel's favorite chord was a B-minor add 9 **~~

When the van carrying the band and their equipment pulled up to Charlie's, they were met at the door by an older woman.

"Welcome!" she said, "Charlie asked me to meet you and bring him up to the studio.

"I'm Karen Small, and I teach voice, which is how I know Charlie."

Sid looked at her, "Are you supposed to teach us how to sing, or something?"

"I guess it is the 'or something'." She laughed, "I teach voice to aspiring opera singers. Come in, and let's go up to the studio. Just leave your equipment here in the great room for now. You can get it later."

Sid and the members of the band followed Karen up to the third floor.