The Concert
BEEB BEEB BEEB…
Octavia let out a loud groan as she reached over and hit the snooze button on her alarm for the third time that morning. She rolled over, trying to go back to sleep, when she was hit in the face by a stray beam of light through her window. She shut her eyes tighter trying to keep the intrusive sun out of her tired eyes, but it was no use the sun wouldn’t stop its relentless shining and after a few more seconds of trying to sleep. Octavia relented and sat up in bed. She reached up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before shaking her head hoping to help clear the fog in her mind.
She looked outside and smiled slightly at the sun shining brightly overhead. For some odd reason she could tell that this particular Sunday was going to be a good one, especially since it was her day off. After a few more seconds of sitting in bed she threw the covers off and sprang to her feat.
“Well if I’m going to have this day mostly to myself I might as well get some composing done.” Octavia said to herself out loud before she padded her way out of her bed room and into the living room.
She quickly made her way over to the couch and sat down. She looked at her cluttered coffee table and stretched her fingers in anticipation; she picked up a half-finished piece of sheet music and started writing.
Composing was one of Octavia’s favorite things to do, and even though she didn’t have much time to devote to it, on her days off she would sit for hours and write out complex sequences of notes and dream of the day that a large orchestra would play her music for all to hear.
After what felt like only an hour of writing she stopped and smiled at the neat little stack of paper that sat in front of her. She nodded her head in approval and frowned slightly at the lack of light. She looked outside and to her surprise noticed that the sun was starting to set.
At that moment she heard a slight buzzing sound and looked down at the table to see that her phone was vibrating and the front screen was illuminated in an alert. Octavia reached down and picked up her phone and read the text that was displayed on the screen.
“Hey Tavi I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight! <3 Vinyl.”
Octavia smiled slightly at the text before she looked closer at the numbers at the top of the screen saying that it was six thirty. Octavia blinked twice, slowly realizing something was wrong. Suddenly her eyes grew huge and she jumped off her couch and ran as fast as she could into her bedroom to get dressed.
Six forty-five at the Neon Plaza
Octavia took a brief moment to look at the large club with a puzzled look on her face. She had never been to this side of town before, let alone this particular club. She looked around at all the bright lights flashing different colors trying to garner the attention of potential customers, which while she thought the place was gaudy at best, she had to admit there was a rather large crowd gathered at the front entrance trying to gain entry.
Once Octavia had become slightly more familiar with her surroundings she made her way towards the back of the building, trying her best not to bump into anyone along the way. Behind the building she was surprised to see two large men with black shirts that had white letters that said Security and dark sunglasses standing in front of a large door. After looking at them for a minute she timidly walked toward the two of them.
“Hey lady what do you want?” One of the two large men said in a commanding voice that made Octavia jump slightly.
“Um… well I was told to come back here and that someone would let me in.” Octavia said with a tone of uncertainty.
“Yeah right, get lost if you want in your going to have to go in the front like everybody el..."
“Hey Tavi I’m glad you could make it,” Said a voice from behind the guards. The two men turned and looked before they quickly moved out of the way to reveal Vinyl wearing her usual get up walking out quickly between the two of them. “These two weren’t giving you any trouble were they?” Vinyl asked before giving the two guards an icy glare.
Octavia let out a sigh of relief before shaking her head in response.
Vinyl turned back to Octavia and smiled warmly. “Good glad to hear it, well come on there’s somebody I want you to meet.” Vinyl said as she started to lead Octavia into the club, taking a brief moment to shoot a cold glance at both of the guards before disappearing into the building.
The two guards watched as the doors closed before looking at each other and letting out a pent up breath of relief.
Octavia tried to take in the inside of the building as best she could, as Vinyl quickly led her to a door a little ways down the long hallway.
“Well here we are, I give you my green room of the night.” Vinyl said before she reached out and gave the door knob a slight twist and pushed it open.
Octavia took a step inside and her eyes grew large. While the room wasn’t actually green, it was a very clean white with two couches a few recliners and two nice sized coffee tables each with a bowl of fruit, a few bottles of water and some other miscellaneous items that Octavia didn’t recognize. Finally she noticed that setting in one of the recliners was a man reading a newspaper.
Andy folded down his newspaper and looked up at the two new arrivals and nodded his head in a greeting before giving them a kind smile.
“Sup Andy how are things going?” Vinyl asked as she made her way inside and plopped down on one of the soft couches.
“Well I got the stage all set up how you want it, the lights are all working and set up how you wanted, and I took the liberty of setting your booth up how you like it.” Andy listed off as he folded the paper up properly and set it on one of the nearby tables. “By the way, I’m Andy Vinyl’s cousin and manger. Please excuse my client for being rude and please come in and make yourself comfortable.” Andy said as he made a motion with his hand bidding Octavia to come in.
Octavia nodded and stepped inside before softly closing the door.
“And please excuse my manager for being a know-it-all prick.” Vinyl said as she stretched out on the couch and laid her head down on her hands.
Octavia blushed slightly and sat down in the other recliner. “I’m Octavia it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“So you’re the famous Tavi that Vinyl has told me so much about.” Andy said before a sly grin came across his face. “She’s pretty and polite; I think you could learn a thing or two from her Vinyl.”
Vinyl scowled at Andy, which he only returned with a smile. “Yeah, like I said, Andy is a complete know-it-all prick.” Vinyl said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned away.
Andy shook his head and glanced over at Octavia. “So, miss Octavia why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself.”
Octavia blinked in surprise from suddenly being included and gently reached up and scratched her chin in thought. “Well there really isn’t much to tell. I play cello at a local bar, and I compose music in my spare time.”
Andy nodded his head in response. “Yes, Vinyl told me that much. What did you do before the bar gig started? Have you always live in here in New York?”
Vinyl quickly flipped over onto her stomach and intently looked at Octavia.
“Oh well no, I grew up in San Francisco. You see my father was the conductor for the San Francisco Harmonics Orchestra and my mother was the first chair violinist.” Octavia explained with a slight reminiscent smile.
“So you’ve spent your whole life around music?” Vinyl asked with a as she propped herself up on a small pillow.
“Well yes I suppose I have. My mother taught me how to play all of the string instruments, violin, viola, bass and cello when I was very young. But after I learned to play all of them I fell in love with the cello, its meditative sounds, and the way it moves the soul.”
“But didn’t your mother want you to play the violin like her?” Vinyl asked with a tilt of her head.
“At first yes, but after a while she decided to let me choose my own instrument. I practiced six to eight hours a day after school and I loved every second of it.” Octavia said with a happy sigh.
“Wow eight hours a day. No wonder you’re so good Tavi.” Vinyl replied with a big grin.
Octavia returned the smile and blushed slightly at the compliment. “As a matter of fact at the age of fifteen I auditioned and became the youngest member of the Orchestra my parents were in.”
“Oh my, a member of the San Francisco Harmonics Orchestra at fifteen, that has to be some kind of record.” Andy said with a raised eyebrow and a thoughtful smile on his lips.
Octavia nodded her head in reply. “Yes it was, and those were the three happiest and most stressful years of my life. Until the accident…” Octavia suddenly trailed off and looked down at her folded hands in her lap, her happy expression suddenly changed into a mixture of grief and pain.
Vinyl and Andy both glanced at each other before turning back to the sad girl sitting in front of them.
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence Vinyl asked the question that was on both of their minds. “What happened?”
Octavia let out a heavy sigh and thought about what she should say. She had never told anyone the full story of what had happened and she wasn’t even sure why she was considering telling it now, but for some reason she felt like the time was right and that even though she had just met these two she felt like they really did care.
“It happened about a week after my eighteenth birthday. My parents were on a trip to Europe to set up a possible concert in Paris, when the taxi they were in was hit by a drunk driver. They were rushed to the hospital but there was nothing they could do, and they both died from their injuries shortly afterward.” Octavia said before she stopped as a few fresh tears fell down her face and landed on her hands.
Without missing a beat Vinyl jumped up and quickly walked over to Octavia and wrapped her arms around Octavia in a comforting hug.
Octavia tensed up at the sudden contact but once Vinyl gave her a slight squeeze Octavia let the dam break and pushed her head into Vinyl’s chest and continued to cry softly.
Vinyl gently rubbed Octavia’s shoulder and whispered comforting words into her ear to help try and calm her down.
Andy looked at the two with a pondering frown on his face piecing together all that he had just learned. On habit Andy looked down at his watch and swore to himself. He looked back up at the two girls and shrugged philosophically. “The crowd can wait, Octavia needs someone right now and I’m not getting in the way.” Andy thought to himself as he leaned back in his chair.
After a few more minutes Octavia was able to calm down and she started wiping the tears off her checks. “Thank you Vinyl, I really needed that.”
Vinyl smiled and waved her hand. “Ah it was nothing, besides what are friends for anyway.”
Octavia looked at her and blushed slightly before she smiled back.
“Not to be a buzz kill but aren’t you forgetting something Vinyl?” Andy asked from his spot tilted all the way back in his chair with his hands threaded together behind his head.
Vinyl looked at him confused for a brief moment before she caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall. “SHIT! I’ve got to go I’ll talk to you after the show Tavi.” Vinyl yelled as she ran over to the table grabbed her sun glasses and then ran out the door.
Octavia blinked in confusion as the door slammed behind the sprinting DJ.
“Sorry to cut that short, are you OK?”
“Yes I think so, but is she going to be okay? I mean in my experience it’s never a good idea to keep the audience waiting.”
“Don’t worry she’ll be fine,” Andy said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Tell me Octavia have you ever been to a dub step concert?” Andy asked while raising a questing eyebrow.
Octavia shook her head which brought about another smile from Andy. “Well then you’re in for a treat.” Andy said as he lifted himself up out of his chair and made his way over to the door.
Octavia took the hint and got up and started to follow him through the back halls of the club dodging a few stray stage hands and other workers as they made their way to their stations. Even though they looked different than what Octavia was used to, it all felt so familiar in so many ways, they continued down the halls till they came to the side of the stage.
“Alright good we haven’t missed anything yet; it looks like they’re just about to bring her out.” Andy said as he took a quick look around from the left side of the stage.
Octavia looked around and let out a small gasp as she saw how many people were in the building, the floor was packed full of people all of which had some type of glowing stick somewhere on them, and then she noticed the bar off to the side was also full of people ordering drinks and enjoying the small show that the three men behind the bar made of making their drinks.
Before she could say anything to Andy, a voice came over the sound system. “Ladies and Gentlemen are you ready!”
The crowd responded in a wordless roar of cheering.
“Well then let me introduce to you, the one, the only…DJ PON3!
The crowd once again erupted, cheering loudly as a slow, continuous thumping bass started coming through the speakers as the lights on stage started to turn on and flash in time with the beat as if from out of nowhere Vinyl seemed to appear behind her tables and started to add different sounds to the beat with her keyboards.
At first Octavia wasn’t enjoying it much but after a few minutes and after Vinyl started adding in some complex riffs into the mix. She started too really like it and she even started bobbing her head in time with the music.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK?” Andy had to yell so that Octavia could hear him over the music.
Octavia looked at him and nodded her head a wide smile spread across her face. She wasn’t sure why but she was really starting to like this style of music.
Octavia looked across the stage at Vinyl, her hair was almost glowing as she bobbed her head and pumped her fist in the air. The whole crowd mirrored her actions and cheered in loudly in excitement.
All at once Octavia found herself being caught up in the music and her heart swelling with a wonderful feeling for this woman behind it all.
Much like Vinyl had felt the night before when she was listening to Octavia in the bar, but was it just the admiration of another talented musicians work or was it something more?