A hand smashed the alarm clock to the "off" position. Sly rolled over and groaned. He had to get up and get ready to play at one of Juan's last sessions. That was a relief, since Sly was not into the brand of country pop they were playing for him. He was looking forward to just playing some Wildfire gigs again.
He quickly took a shower and dressed in new clothes, which made him feel better. He slicked his long blond hair back into a ponytail and grabbed his guitars for the walk to L&B. He did not think it would be a good idea to drive anywhere with his wicked hangover.
He observed his sleeping cousin, and left him a note on his pillow that read, "Luck, went to a recording session. Lock up when you leave."
He walked the streets to L&B feeling almost like an old west gunslinger, but instead of pistols, he had a guitar case in each hand. It certainly felt like he was headed to a showdown at the O.K. Corral. He constantly fought with Juan. Sly had to admit that at least part of it was that he was jealous. Sly snorted; there wasn't much to be jealous of, except his relationship with Emily. Sly could not see what she saw in him. To Sly, Juan was a mildly talented pretty boy who was a little too wrapped up in his dreams to see reality. It was like Juan was not concerned about the quality of his demo, but what the demo would do for him. He was getting too far ahead of himself. He wanted to have the demo done quickly at the expense of quality. Sly would have none of it; anything that bore his name must have excellence. That was why he ended up one of the top students in his high school class, why he skipped college to devote himself to music full time, and why every song he wrote was revised many times.
Sly basically took on the gig to get some producing experience under his belt. He hoped that as the demo made the rounds, someone would notice the playing and production. If the tape could be Juan's big break, it could be the band's also.
He walked into the studios of L&B to find the usual chaos. Members of the band were rehearsing their parts for the upcoming sessions, the phone was ringing, and Juan was talking to Nikolas. Nikolas did something at L&B, but Sly didn't know exactly what. It didn't concern him, anyway. Sly felt mostly indifferent towards Nikolas; he tried to be nice to him because he was Lucky's brother, but he didn't really care to get to know him. The Cassadine name was hard to get over.
Jon, the steel guitarist, ran over to him. "Thank goodness you got here; Juan's been driving me crazy!"
"You know me, I like to make an entrance," Sly joked.
Juan walked over to the two men. "Hey, what took you so long? I've been waiting for an hour!" Juan complained.
Sly frowned. "But Ned has been nice enough to give us full reign of the studios, so we don't have to worry about the time."
Nikolas walked over to the group. "I think that Juan's right. As a member of the staff here, it's important that we don't waste our resources and equipment."
"'A member of the staff'? What are you, director of being a pain in the ass?" Sly cracked, still in a bad mood from his hangover and the events of the previous night.
"Why don't you watch your mouth, Eckert," Nikolas angrily retorted.
Jon pulled Sly away from Nikolas and Juan. "Why don't you go into the studio, and I'll give him a talking to," he joked desperately.
Nikolas shot Sly a nasty look and walked away. Juan followed.
Jon took Sly aside. "What the hell are you doing? You can't talk to people like that."
Sly's brow furrowed in anger. "I can say what I want. Nobody can stop me."
Jon sighed; he was used to Sly's mood swings. "Look, just put a lid on it for now. This is one of the last sessions. It'll all be over soon." He sighed. "But I do have some good news. I booked us a gig for Saturday night at the Boomtown Ranch."
Sly's eyes lit up; the Boomtown Ranch was the best club for country music in the county. "Really? Oh, Jon, you're the best." He gave his friend a pat on the back.
"I do what I can." He looked around and saw that the rest of the band had gone into the studio. "Let's go."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Lucky stepped out of the shower wearing a towel. He entered Sly's room and looked through the drawers for something to wear. He selected a pair of black pants and a gray button down shirt, passing over many of the T-shirts that Sly had collected from various concerts. Lucky sighed to himself and dressed.
He took a look in the mirror. Sly was a little taller and heavier than Lucky, so the clothes were baggy. He used the towel to dry his hair, and then he ran his hands through it. He wasn't sure he recognized the man staring back at him.
Lucky wandered about, looking at Sly's collection of guitars. He picked up a black acoustic. He ran his hands up and down the strings. The neck was a little thinner than the one he used to own. He would sometimes think of that guitar; it burned up in the fire with the rest of his life.
Lucky played it a little. Soon his fingers were wandering back to the familiar chords of the song he wrote for Elizabeth.
Elizabeth go to sleep I want to watch you breathe
I want to feel God's peace
All I want is this
Elizabeth
Lucky saw himself in the mirror. Give it up. You'll never get that back again. He picked up the guitar and put it back in the stand. He looked at the dark circles under his eyes, put there from many sleepless nights spent alone.
Alone. It was one of the things he feared most; he would spend the rest of his life without someone, lost to love forever.
Lucky stared at himself. The baggy clothes only served to remind him of the weight he had lost. Stress did nothing for the appetite. His skin looked pale. He had lost much of his muscle tone as well.
He held a hand to his face and traced its outline. The Lucky Spencer that everyone knew was gone. He was replaced by a shadow. Sometimes he wished that Sly had never talked him off that bridge. Stop that, he thought. No turning back now.
Lucky walked to the door and turned off the lights. He squinted at the sunlight outside. It was time to face the real world again.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
The band was set up in the studio, and Nikolas was sitting in with the engineer. Sly noticed that Emily had joined them in the booth as well. She waved to Juan. Sly scowled. "Go to it boys," was all he said.
Jon counted off. "One, two, one two three four…"
A moody, dramatic intro came from the studio.
Nikolas was happy to see Emily. "Hey, I was wondering if you were coming today."
"Yeah, I decided at the last second."
Vincent, the engineer, turned around and made a motion to tell them to be quiet. Nikolas and Emily focused their attention on what was going on in the studio. Juan stepped up to the mike to sing.
Going through the motions
Pretending to be
The man you used to see in me baby
You don't want to hurt me
So you play along
And it don't feel right, and it don't feel wrong
It just feels like a memory
Barely alive
When will we let it die
Emily audibly gasped at the lyrics of the song. Was he doing this on purpose?
Where do you run
Where do you hide
After a promise breaks
Who'll be the one
To say goodbye
And who'll be the one to stay
When love fades
Sly was secretly pleased by Emily's response. It was just what he was looking for. Luckily, Juan had liked the song as well. He didn't realize he was helping Sly in his quest for Emily's heart.
How are we gonna let go
Of something that's gone
Ain't it funny how a broken heart
Just keeps hanging on baby
You watched me walk away
And I set you free
But I come back to you
And you come back to me
I guess it beats being lonely
That's the reason why
We give it one more try
Emily felt pained. The words to the song were hitting too close to home for it to be a coincidence. Then it really hit her. Sly was trying to manipulate her feelings.
Where do you run
Where do you hide
After a promise breaks
Who'll be the one
To say goodbye
And who'll be the one to stay
When love fades
Emily fumed silently. Did he think that by having Juan sing this song, that she would think he wanted to break up with her? It was absurd. She was about to give him a big piece of her mind.
The song ended. Sly's head pounded from the noise, but it had not affected his playing. "Let's take five before we go on," he said.
He walked out of the studio into the hallway and was greeted by a very angry Emily. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked.
Sly was surprised. He hadn't thought that she would be upset. "Look, I'm in no mood to fight with you, so just get to the point," he said.
"I got your little message. You thought that song was supposed to represent the relationship that Juan and I share." She poked him in the chest. "Well, you know what Sly? You're wrong." Emily pushed him again, and had soon backed him up against the wall.
"You want that kiss so bad don't you? It's all you ever want to talk about. Fine. You want it, you got it." Emily grabbed him by the back of the neck and kissed him hard on the lips. Sly was surprised for a second, but soon recovered and kissed back.
Emily soon felt the kiss grow deeper. All of a sudden, it took on a different meaning. She had never had this rush of feelings before. Desire, jealousy, guilt, anger, and passion had all somehow rolled into one. She never wanted it to stop. Then she remembered that Juan was just in the other room. She forced herself to pull away.
"There, satisfied?" she said with just enough emotion in her voice to give Sly hope. She looked him in the eye. "Because that's all you're ever going to get."
Song Credits: "Elizabeth" by Jonathan Jackson, "When Love Fades" by Toby Keith and Chuck Cannon, from Toby's album, "How Do You Like Me Now?!"
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