So usual disclaimer, I do not own the SoN characters
Here is another fic I started over Christmas and New Year, hope you like it.
You Had Me At Um
Chapter One – So It Begins
Spencer's POV
I straightened my black silk shirt for the umpteenth time and ran a hand through my long blond hair before getting out of my midnight blue Jeep and walking hurriedly towards the building that housed Marks Records. All the while trying to focus on the sound of my high heels on the concrete to help me fight the urge to vomit from the nerves I was feeling. My name is Spencer Carlin.
"Hey Carlin, you wanna wait for me? We are like ten minutes early so just chill would ya?" Eva Reynolds called after me, Eva is my business partner and best friend, as she jogged to catch up with me. I paused to let the shorter blonde catch up and flashed her a glowing, but terrified smile.
"Sorry Evie, I guess I just want this to go well. We get so much work from the artists that are produced by Marks Records that I don't want to blow this meeting. I hear the CEO is a huge fan of the artist they want us to make this latest video for, apparently he was friends with her Dad or something so if we screw up her debut video we will never work in music videos again and then you can kiss goodbye to like seventy percent of our companies income," I rambled in an extremely anxious tone.
Eva chucked to herself and shook her head, sending her shoulder length, ash blonde hair flying around her face, "Carlin you worry too much! This meeting is going to go great. You always get so nervous before these things then you go in there and they all fall instantly in love with you and, of course, me. You and I are so freaking amazing that we will single handedly make this singer chick loved all over the world, such is the power of our music videos."
I threw back my head and laughed. Eva was always able to make me feel better and was one of the few people who could calm me down when I was so nervous, it was true that I could be rather high strung at times. I had met Eva during our first ever college class and we had been best friend ever since, so almost nine years now. It was safe to say Eva was used to having to calm me down, "Ok Evie, let's go dazzle them with our brilliance!" I said with more confidence than I was feeling.
"That's the spirit Carlin!" Eva looped her arm through mine and led me into the imposing building.
Eva and I owned a production company, called Worlds Away Productions, that specialized in making music videos and commercials, the proceeds from which were used to produce our real passion, which was documentaries and indie films. I was particularly known for writing and directing films and documentaries portraying gay and lesbian people in real and meaningful ways. I was considered the creative talent, while Eva was better with the business side of things and was a master in the edit bay. We complimented each other well.
We had done a lot of work with Marks Records in the past, which was why I was so anxious for this meeting to go well. It had to, or we could kiss goodbye to a lot of our income.
Once we had checked in with reception we were ushered along the halls to the large conference room in which we were scheduled to meet Ethan Marks Jr, who was the producer working with the artist we were being tasked to make a video for. The artist herself would be joining us a little later.
Once inside we settled ourselves in the plush leather chairs and waited for Ethan to join us. Ethan had become a good friend of both Eva and I and we all worked well together. Ethan worked hard, he felt the need to prove himself seeing as his father, Ethan Snr, was the president of the label and he coped a lot of slack from people who assumed he only got where he was because of his father.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Ethan had started at the bottom as a gopher and had worked his way up through the ranks to the position he now held. If I'm honest I admired him a lot and was looking forward to working with him again.
I was reading through my notes and ideas for the meeting when the door flew open and Ethan came striding in. With his boyish good looks and great dress sense Ethan was definitely sort after, a fact he seemed oblivious to. He was cool and confidant when it came to work but shy and uncomfortable when it came to meeting girls.
I got to my feet and let Ethan pull me into a warm hug. He was a little too obvious about the crush he had on me. His unrequited infatuation was rather humorous given the fact that I was a well-known lesbian and publicly out. My sexuality was not something I ever felt the need to hide.
"Hey Spence, Hey Eva! I'm so glad you guys are here, this artist is really something special, not the usual crap you get from the kid of a rock star," Ethan rambled excitedly as he gave Eva a quick hug, much less enthusiastic than the hug I had received, and took a seat a the table.
I resumed my seat and flashed Ethan a blinding smile, "Kid of a Rock Star huh? Which one? And while we're at it what's the artist name? Ethan this is a bad start you hire us for a job and don't even give us the artist name, tsk tsk!" I teased.
Ethan blushed like a schoolboy and replied, "Well her father was Raife Davies, the front man from Purple Venom and her names is Ashley. She has a pretty fresh, kind of alternative sound. You got the CD of the single right?"
"Yeah Ethan we did, at about 9pm last night! We jotted down a few ideas and concepts but really want to meet with Ashley before we go further. This is her debut so we want her to have a lot of input into it." Eva explained with a slight smirk.
"Yeah exactly, seeing as its her debut we want to make sure the image we portray in her video is true to her as an artist. If you fuck up the debut then it can be tricky to move past that," I elaborated dryly.
"Well that would be why we hired the best," Ethan said with a grin, causing me to roll my eyes.
"Ethan, flattery will get you nowhere. So do you have any idea what your artist wants for her video?" I asked as I slipped on my black-framed glasses and pulled out a pen.
Just then the door to the conference room opened and in walked a petite brunette with luscious curls that fell just past her shoulders. She had a cheeky smirk on her lips and her soulful chocolate brown eyes were twinkling with excitement. She was dressed in dark blue skinny jeans and a black waistcoat that showed off the black and champagne coloured bra she was wearing underneath.
I couldn't help but drink in the sight of this gorgeous woman who I was desperately hoping was Ashley. I looked up and their eyes met, blue crashing into brown. Neither of us could seem to look away. This woman was stunning.
Ethan got to his feet and stepped towards the new arrival, "Well Spence why don't we ask Ashley herself. Ashley Davies this is Eva Reynolds," Eva and Ashley shook hands, "And this is Spence…"
Ashley cut him off as I got to my feet and slid off my glasses, "This is Spencer Carlin. It's a pleasure to meet you Spencer, I'm a big fan of your work," Ashley said with a nose-crinkling smile.
I grinned and took the other woman's offered hand, enjoying the warmth and tingles that Ashley's touch made me feel. "Um…um…uh…well," Eva subtly elbowed me in the ribs to snap me out of my stupor. I blushed pretty spectacularly and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you too Ashley, you've seen some of our other music videos I take it?"
Third Party POV
Ashley smirked, it was kind of thrilling to see one of the women she really admired getting a bit flustered by her, "Yeah I have but that's not why I'm such a fan of yours. I am actually a huge fan of your documentaries and films. I especially loved the film you did, Love In The Minority, it was so powerful."
That film had been about growing up in small town USA as a lesbian. It was pretty autobiographical. Spencer had written, directed, acted in and produced that film herself. It was probably the one of her pieces of work that she was most proud of. She was actually really surprised that Ashley had seen it, very few people outside of the gay and lesbian community had seen that film.
"Wow thank you Ashley, that means a lot. That film has always been pretty special to me," Spencer smiled warmly and took her seat, missing the smirk Eva was throwing her way. Eva was predicting a hook up, and she thought it was about time Spencer got some. Spencer had been single for almost a year now.
"Well Ash we were just starting to talk about the video, you know throw some ideas around. Have you had any thoughts on the way you'd like the video to go?" Ethan asked bringing the singer and director back to the reason they were there.
Ashley leaned back in the chair she'd just sat in and looked thoughtful, "Yeah I have, um I really liked the videos you guys did for Anberlin's new single and the ones you did for Jack's Mannequin's last album, coz you did all the videos for that album didn't you? And the making of DVD if memory serves?"
Spencer smiled modestly, "Thanks and yeah we did all the videos for Jack's Mannequin's latest album and the DVD. Andrew and the guys were brilliant to work with. So you want something like what we did for them and for Anberlin? I mean the Anberlin video was really a mini movie, as was a few of the Jack's Mannequin ones. We could do that, come up with a story that fits the song and then do the video as a mini movie with you acting in the story and/or performing the song."
Spencer slid her glasses back on and began jotting down notes quickly, once she started coming up with ideas they would come hard and fast so she knew she had to get them down. Eva looked on amused while Ashley just looked impressed.
"Spencer, that sounds awesome actually. I love the idea of their being a proper story in the video as opposed to just me singing on a stage or in some random location like so many videos. And thank you for not suggesting that I get into some tiny outfit and shake my ass!" Ashley smirked.
Spencer laughed and paused in her note taking, "No problem Ashley, you didn't strike me as the shake your ass like a Pussy Cat Doll type." Everyone laughed and Ethan got up and grabbed a portable CD player.
"How about we listen to the single again and try and come up with some idea for the video?" He suggested.
"Good idea, do you also have a written copy of the lyrics I could have, it helps to have the words in front of me while I'm trying to decipher a story in the song," Spencer asked.
Ashley opened her bag and pulled out a copy of the lyrics and stood up to pass them over. As Spencer took the pages in her hand her fingers brushed Ashley's and both women felt a slight jolt go through them. Neither woman had felt anything like it before and neither knew exactly what to make of it.
Spencer smiled shyly and looked down at the lyrics in her hands, giving them her full attention and a thorough read while the others waited patiently, Eva with a few good natured eye rolls. Spencer fell instantly in love with the words on the page as her eyes drank them in.
Common Ground – Music and Lyrics by Ashley Davies
If I give up on us
Then I give up on me
In the search for what's true
Can we ever just be
Even love itself
Can't disguise my fear
But that shouldn't hold me back
Wish it didn't keep me from here
Show me, by holding out your hand
You can leave me or take me as I am
We live our lives on different sides
Always struggling to find our common ground
Can we keep together you and I
I can feel my blood
Flowing through my veins
When I see your hurt
Making me insane
Each and every moment
Every minute of the day
For all the solitary nights
That I weep and pray
Show me, by holding out your hand
You can leave me or take me as I am
We live our lives on different sides
Always struggling to find our common ground
Can we keep together you and I
Can we keep together you and I
Are we gonna live our lives
On these different sides
Always fighting for more
Or can we find our common ground
Show me, by holding out your hand
You can leave me or take me as I am
Always struggling to find our common ground
Can we find our common ground.
Spencer finished reading the lyrics and nodded at Eva with a subtle smile on her lips. Eva knew that smile meant that Spencer had an idea brewing.
"Ok Ethan hit play," Eva said. Ethan hit play and the opening cords of the song flowed out of the speakers. Spencer closed her eyes to let the music take her over. Ashley watched Spencer curiously, she would never admit it but the blonde woman's opinion of her music really mattered to her, which was odd seeing as they had just met. Ashley tried to convince herself it was because Spencer was someone whose work she admired so she wanted her songs to impact Spencer the same way Spencer's films and videos had impacted her.
Spencer remembered the first time she had listened to the song that was playing. The melody had enchanted her and made emotions swell up inside her, it had been an intense experience. By right then in that conference room with the artist herself looking on, Spencer really focused on the lyrics.
They were beautiful and heartfelt and really spoke to Spencer in a way that few songs had the power to do. Ashley voice was rich, husky and full of emotion. Spencer had an instinct about these things and she was certain that they had a hit on their hands.
Everyone stayed respectfully silent as the song played, with Spencer keeping her eyes closed the entire time and Ashley unable to tear her eyes away from the blue eyed blonde, which was noted by Eva with pleasure and Ethan with concern.
As the last note played Spencer opened her eyes and fixed them on Ashley who was waiting on bated breath to hear the director's reaction to her music. It was almost alarming to Ashley how much this woman's opinion mattered to her. Ashley nervously bit her lower lip and waited to hear what Spencer had to say.
Spencer began to smile, her grin spreading slowly across her face and reaching up to make her eyes twinkle, "Ashley that song is amazing. The lyrics are beautiful and so real. The song has real emotion behind it so it should be easy to pull a story together from the song. I am really looking forward to working on this music video with you."
Ashley positively beamed at Spencer's words, her nose crinkling in the most adorable way. "You have no idea what that means to me," Ashley cringed at how dorky and clichéd her words sounded, "Um I mean I'm looking forward to working with you on this video too."
"Great well, why don't Spencer and I hit the drawing board tonight and meet with you both again tomorrow to go over concepts and ideas so we can get the ball rolling?" Eva suggested. She so wanted to get Spencer alone so she could start grilling her about the sparks she had seen flying between Spencer and Ashley.
Ethan grinned, "Sounds good to me, does 11 tomorrow morning work for everyone?"
Everyone nodded but Spencer who was glancing down at her blackberry, "Sorry guys but I have to meet a client at our office at 10 so there is no way I can get here for 11, unless you and Ashley don't mind coming down to our offices for the meeting?" Spencer suggested.
Ethan glanced over at Ashley who nodded her agreement, "No worries Spence we'll come to you."
Ashley was secretly bursting with excitement inside, she was intrigued by Spencer and thought that seeing the place where she did most of her creating would give her some insight into the woman in front of her.
"Thanks so much, I guess we'll see you at 11 tomorrow then," Spencer rose to her feet and placed her belongings back into her bag. Eva stood next to her and they walked around the table to say their goodbyes.
Spencer's POV
Ethan immediately grabbed me and pulled me into a hug that was a tad too intimate for the workplace. I wriggled free as quickly as I could without seeming rude. I really didn't get how Ethan could think he had a chance with me when I was so open and public about my sexuality. Eva was pulled into a much more appropriate hug as I stepped closer to Ashley.
"Well it was a real pleasure meeting you Ashley," I smiled warmly as I took the shorter woman's hand in mine.
"You too Spencer, it was a pleasure and an honour. I'll see you tomorrow." Ashley murmured with a grin. Our handshake was going on a bit longer than was necessary but neither of us seemed to mind, I know I didn't.
"Right ready to go Spence?" Eva said with a smirk. I gave Ashley's hand a quick squeeze and let it go reluctantly.
"Yeah let's head out, see you both in the morning," I smiled and led the way out of the conference room with Eva hot on my heels. As soon as we were in my Jeep Eva turned to face me and began with the inquisition.
"So what was that with you and Ashley?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
I looked innocently over at my friend and said, "What are you talking about Evie?"
"What am I talking about? Are you serious Spence? There was enough sexual tension between the two of you to power the whole of downtown L.A.!" Eva exclaimed incredulously.
"You have no idea what you're talking about Evie! Firstly I'm not looking to meet anyone, secondly I do not date people I am working with and thirdly Ashley is probably straight," I said as I reversed out of the car parking space.
"And that Carlin is what we like to call denial. To counter your rather stupid three tiered argument, firstly you so need to meet someone before you become a virgin again, seriously I'm scared for your health if you don't get some soon! Secondly just because the last chick you dated, who granted turned out to be the biggest, craziest whore ever, was someone you were working with doesn't mean you shouldn't let yourself be open to the possibility of meeting someone else through work and thirdly if you think Ashley is straight then you need to get your gaydar checked because that girl was checking you out the entire time we were in there. Oh and did I mention the fact that you two were totally flirting with each other the whole time?" Eva declared with a self-satisfied nod.
I rolled her eyes, "Fuck did you breathe once during that little rant of yours?" Eva just stuck out her tongue, "Mature Reynolds, really mature. Look we have to work with Ashley so can we please just drop this little theory of yours?"
"Ok Spencer I'll drop it when you admit that you think the girl is hot," Eva said with a smirk.
I groaned in frustration and shook my head knowing full well that Eva was not going to let this drop until I answered, "Fine! Oh course she's hot, anyone with eyes could tell you that Evie. You happy now? I admitted it, Ashley Davies is hot."
Eva just grinned and nodded. I had a feeling that the next few weeks while we were working with Ashley were going to be rather interesting to say the least.
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Song used in this Chapter:
Common Ground written by me (sorry it might suck a lot)