Page 24 of Dark Room Junkie

After a while, I understood how this entire process worked, and I felt more comfortable in the sound booth. I even started to enjoy it, and soon, the mistakes I made were causing laughter both inside and outside the booth.

I was unaware of the time passing until I heard Marco greet Chris on the headphones. Shortly after, Chris appeared at the small glass window with a wide grin and waved.

“Let’s take a break,” Marco said, gesturing for me to step out.

I took off the headphones and exited the booth. After a quick stretch, I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Chris said, taking off his cap and running his hand through his light brown hair. “Damn, it’s gotten cold. And it’s only October. I am so not ready for winter. So, how’s it going?”

“Fantastic,” Marco replied monotonously, still highly focused on typing something on his laptop.

Chris held up a plastic bag. “I brought some food. You guys must be hungry.”

I sat down on the couch and grabbed a sandwich. “Thanks.” I had felt the pangs of hunger in my stomach and couldn’t wait to eat. Singing made me hungry.

“The first song is in the bag,” Marco said, still behind the computer.

“I may have found a bassist who could fill in for you with the Lighteners when we’re on tour,” Chris said.

“Oh yeah, that sounds good. I told the guys during rehearsal yesterday. Tom is already getting nervous about it.”

“Can’t blame him.” Chris laughed and sat down in the chair. “It all happened so damn fast.”

“Don’t you have to work?”

“Yeah, but I worked through lunch and left early. It’s already half past two.”

I glanced at my phone and was surprised how quickly time had passed. Plus, I had a few messages. One was from Steffan.

“What about tonight? Is it on?”

“It should be c…”I started to type a response when Chris spoke up.

“You’re meeting Robert tonight,” he said and opened a can of soda. “He heard the rehearsal room recordings and he’s impressed. We’re meeting him, Lukas, and Ramon at Gallo. He’s treating us to dinner. There might be some things you might want or need to know. And he’s bringing the contract.”

I deleted my response to Steffan’s text and nodded. Eating with the guys sounded good. Eating always sounded good. Although Steffan's bed wasn’t to be despised either. But the music took priority—always.

“Could be late. Is it okay to go spontaneously?”I wrote back and put the phone away. Then I finally bit into the salmon sandwich.

Marco joined us and also grabbed one. “The kid’s a pro,” he said to Chris. “All those years with Manu ... what a waste.”

“You’re mean.” Chris couldn’t help but smirk.

I was relieved I made a somewhat professional and composed impression, but I hadn’t fully grasped the situation yet. The fact that a European tour was coming up in a few months hadn’t even registered in my mind. And tonight, I was supposed to sign a contract that could change my life. I had reached a point where I could no longer afford to make any mistakes.

Eventually, we got back to work and recorded the second song. Chris became nervous and mentioned for the umpteenth time that it was getting late. But it was Marco who ultimately decided when enough was enough.

“Okay, I think we’re good for today. We don’t want to strain your voice too much. Rest up until tomorrow. If we record two to three songs per day, we’ll finish by next week. Then I can send it straight to Ralph for mixing,” Marco said.

“Will he be able to do it by the album release?” I asked as I slipped into my denim jacket and then into my leather jacket.

“Yeah, no problem,” Marco said confidently, closing his laptop and sliding it into his backpack. “Ralph just needs to mix in the new vocal track. And Xavier will master it within a week as well—depending on how busy he is. But he knows it’s urgent. So, we don’t need to worry. Our deadline is the weekend before the warm-up concert because we still have the songs from the first album that you need to learn.”

“I already know those,” I replied.

“Yeah, good, but at least one rehearsal should still be in there.”

“Finally!” Chris exclaimed impatiently. “Let’s go eat. We’re already late.”

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