12 Chapter 12 - Rehearsals and Reverie

When the press conference was over, I went straight home to rest. I needed to be fresh and prepared for tomorrow. Dinner was ready when I arrived, pasta and vegetable salad. I took a shower after and went to bed. I couldn't sleep though, I kept thinking about the gig for tomorrow and Dante Caulfield, the boy who told stories.

Unbidden, memories of my father came to mind. told myself it was his voice, the way he would portray the melancholy and the sadness, the prevalent emotion in the story of Cesare Borgia and Machiavelli. I remembered how my father would tell me stories in the exact same way. When I was a child I would sit down with him in the living room and listen to him tell the tales of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Once And Future King and of Oliver Twist.

*Why am I having these thoughts? Now's not the time to think about the past.*

I couldn't stop it though. The floodgates have been opened. I found myself remembering the storyteller who helped me build my castles in the air. I found myself wishing that he could share my accomplishments in life, that he could see me now, how far his words of encouragement and hard work has propelled the wings he had given me.

Then I fell into the arms of slumber, and began to dream of wastelands, my father, and Dante Caulfield.

Morning brought comfort, there was something reassuring about the sunlight piercing the velvet curtain to wake you up. The shadows were gone, for the meantime.

After breakfast, I headed straight to my agency, Glamour Is Everything to rehearse for the secret gig.

Upon arriving, John, the security at the entrance greeted me curtly. "Ms. King, you're quite the early bird."

"The early bird catches the early worm." I smiled at him.

The band was already inside the rehearsal studio when I arrived.

Michael, one of my guitar players greeted me with a smile and offered coffee which I politely declined. Maxwell, who played the keyboard and has helped me arrange a lot of the songs acoustically waved at me while he was fiddling with his instrument.

"Is everything ready?" I asked him.

"Yup, we've set up everything. We were about to jam but here you are."

"I wouldn't know what to do without you guys."

"We wouldn't know what to do without her." Michael pointed at the girl who just entered the room before I could even notice who it was.

Anita gave me a hug. "Did you sleep well last night?"

Sometimes I think how she seems to notice a lot of things other people overlook. "Yeah, took me a few toss and turns though."

She looked concerned and gave me another lookover.

"I'm fine Annie, it's not like I'm having trouble sleeping again." I assured her.

"If there's something ailing you, you come to me right away, you got that?" Now she was starting to sound like my mother.

"Yes mom." That made her smile. "Now can we go and start practicing? I don't wanna disappoint the fans."

**

The rehearsal went smoothly and judging by Anita's reaction, the song arrangement was artfully done. She couldn't stop complimenting Maxwell and Michael for doing such a good job.

"You guys are the best." Anita almost sounded like a fangirl.

"Well, we had a bit of help." Maxwell looked bashful and Michael was blushing.

"Regardless, you guys will blow the fans away tonight."

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Dante

I knew that she was a good singer, that she's won the hearts of many with her voice, that her presence on stage was something spectacular to behold. But it was one thing to hear the experience of other people with her music and quite another to hear her sing in front of you.

**

We arrived at home late on account of Mephisto forcing me to detour and take a drink with him at the Spectral Circle.

My body felt like a ton of bricks and my visions was spinning, no thanks to Hemingway and that dreadful drink, I fell on my bed yet I couldn't sleep, there was a strange buzzing in my head.

Mephisto meanwhile must've opened his fourth chocolate bar of the evening and was switching channels on the television while looking completely relaxed on the couch.

I wanted to take a hot shower, to wash the filth and bring back some feeling to my numb and aching body but I could barely stand.

*What the fuck is wrong with me, what happened to my alcohol tolerance?*

"Don't force yourself, you might get injured." Mephisto commented while happily munching down on his fucking chocolate bar.

"You got me drunk, can you at least help me get into the shower?" I asked him as nice as my incoming hangover would allow. I thought that he wouldn't get up and that I'd be waiting until I fell asleep on my bed.

To my wonder he came and picked me up though he looked sulky and every bit a little kid about to throw a tantrum. "I'm your guardian, not your babysitter you stupid fuck."

Now I was the one laughing, while he carried me towards the shower. He opened the door, pushed me through and I had to grip on the sink to stop myself from falling over. A few seconds later, a towel flew through the doorway and hit my head.

The shower was refreshing, I felt the numbness disappear bit by bit though the headache remained. *Fuck Hemingway and his drink.*

Mephisto was done brewing coffee by the time I was done. He gave me a cup as soon as I was out of the shower.

"Seriously? It's 1am in the morning." I took the cup regardless.

"So? There are no rules against drinking coffee past midnight." He was unwrapping another chocolate bar.

"Don't you ever get sick of those?" I asked him.

"What? This? This is one of the few things you humans made that has made you tolerable for me." He continued nibbling and sipped coffee.

**

"I told her a story about Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia." I found myself telling him about my day and my chance meeting with Caroline.

"Did he like your story?"

"Well, I think she did."

Mephisto crossed his legs and started to whistle another tune. "Do you think you charmed her?"

I looked at him and I could see that he was merely curious. "It's too early to say that. She complimented me about how I have a knack for telling stories."

"Or she was just being kind to you. You must've looked pathetic in front of her." His eyes were dancing with mischief. "Just kidding."

My mind pondered on it, whether she complimented for the sake of being polite but I remembered her eyes, how they looked, giddy and focused. "I think she likes reading and listening to stories." I said it as if it was fact.

"Well you aren't such a wuss after all." He finished his coffee and carefully stashed his chocolate bars in the fridge. "It's time that you grab some shut-eye. You have a lot to do today."

I glanced at the wall clock. 2:30am.

Something peaked my curiosity though, something I've been wanting to ask him ever since we've started living together. "Hey, do you even sleep?"

He turned at that and I could see him grinning like a madman. "Evil never sleeps. As the world turns so does evil, this is all at once. Does that answer your question?"

"You're going to give me nightmares." I replied and before he could give a retort, I went to bed and forced myself to sleep despite of the caffeine in my system.