Page 66 of Deliverance

However, Jacob somehow landed on his feet. This gig probably pays more than what his own enterprise ever made him. If that.

Naturally, Leo and Toby are the ones running the show. Have been for a while now, ever since the classic line-up started going through multiple changes. Jacob and Stevie are here only as a courtesy.

To see who they’ll be stuck with in a studio over the course of the next three weeks.

I’m sweating.

My T-shirt sticks to my chest and back, my heart pounding along with the phantom beat of the song I’ve been playing for Leo’s crew all morning. We spent the first two hours setting up and discussing the tracks.

Julian, like the ghost he is, hovers nearby, ready to do my bidding. It’s almost noon now and I’m exhausted. Mostly mentally. My body is in great shape but my head spins like a motherfucker.

Unwillingly my mind wanders back to Friday night. I sift through the memories one by one, bathing in each heated moment, trying to understand where the hell shit went wrong.

Was it something I said?

Or was it something I did?

Please. Leave.

A cold shiver rolls down my spine and settles into a rock below my stomach. No matter how often I relive that dreadful moment, I don’t understand why Drew freaked out.Don’t want to.And if I could travel back in time and do it all over again and ask her the right questions, I would. No doubt.

“Can you play the last part again?” Leo’s voice coming through the intercom shatters the walls my turbulent thoughts have built around me and I’m snapped into reality, to the studio, to the world I know like the back of my hand, the world that’s clear and doesn’t hold any secrets. Not after so many years.

Several sets of eyes drill into me from behind the glass partition. Waiting.

Fine.

I’m happy to give them what they’ve come for.

“Want me to start from the bridge?” I ask, picking up my sticks. My back and shoulders tighten, my lungs full, my pulse quickens.

Thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump.

Leo nods.

The animal in me is ready to crawl out and take over, and as it does, all my worries fade into nothingness. All my problems are gone. All my heartaches are forgotten.

Vision blurred and concentrating only on my kit, I knock out the section with extra ferocity, and when I’m finished, the animal is sated and hides back into its hole, leaving me drenched, with remnants of adrenaline rushing through my blood.

Breathing heavily, I flick my gaze to the crowd in front of me and note everyone’s heads bobbing in approval.

“That’s good!” Luca gives me a thumbs-up and for a brief moment, I feel great.

Originally from Sweden, he’s a big guy with typical Scandinavian looks—blond hair and blue eyes. Although no one knows Luca’s real age because outside his studio work, he’s an extremely private person, my guess is he’s in his late fifties. He doesn’t look it. Not a single bit. But then again, it’s hard to tell behind all that beard he’s had for decades. And I honestly don’t remember any other version of him.

“Lunch break, dude?” Leo shoots me a stare first since I’m the only one putting in real work today.

“Sure.”

He looks satisfied. So do Toby and the rest of the guys. They seem to know exactly what they want and vice versa, which I like.

We’ll get along. Fucking splendidly.

After lunch, I play through the rest of the songs. All nine of them. I know Leo’s been working on the final tracks and promised the demos over the weekend, but held out, so I don’t press since it’s not why the band hired me. I simply make a mental note to ask him tomorrow.

Once we come to an agreement on how we want to move forward with the material, I switch from in-ears to cans and go through every track again. It’s a trick I’ve been using for years to make sure the sound is on point.

Luca is impressed with my impeccable attention to detail. As I fine-tune my parts, he’s hunched over the console board, expression somewhere between bland and serious with occasional bursts of respect.

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