Asmo's Love

Tempo

COLIN's POV

“I’M WAYNE.”

The sleek, thin, and immature-looking kid stood before me, holding his hand out like a respective man meaning business. He leveled his gaze with mine and waited for me to acknowledge his gesture in a patient stance. I could only bite back a smile as I took it with pleasure and shook his hand with my firm grip. He looked like he completely knew what he’s getting into, and that’s what I was thinking as I skeptically watched him under my nose.

“Nice to meet you, Wayne,” I told him, merely smiling, “I’m Colin.”

“Yeah,” The kid nodded back, “Evangeline already told me about you.”

“So, you play like a pro?” I asked with a raised brow, prompting a challenging demand. The moment I spoke the words at him, a spark of pride passed over his face and Wayne smirked back at me.

“I’ll let you be the judge of it after you hear me play,” he only said.

The arrogance in his tone didn’t put me off and instead, it impressed me on another level. This kid knows what he’s up to. And his confidence just added a notch to my expectations.

“Let’s see,” I said sharing a knowing look with my bandmates. “You guys think this is our man?”

Sam, Eric, and Steve just pasted smiles on their faces as they watched the kid moved to take the seat in front of the drums.

“What’s your piece?” I then asked Wayne as he settled himself on his throne.

“Anyone knows how to play ‘Birdland’?” he asked us, boastfully twirling the sticks through his fingers as if he’d already done it so many times before. Sam only snorted back, indicating that she knows it. Eric gave him a blank look. I smiled at his cockiness.

A jazz piece, how peculiar.

It’s rare for me to meet someone of his age with that kind of taste. Playing jazz requires a lot of control and discipline. It’s not just a provocative play, jazz has so many sides that only people who are adeptly attuned to music can definitely play with pride. I suddenly started to believe that the kid was really no joke. And I could only smirk at the music piece he just said.

“I can play the keys, Sam can strum the bass and Eric can do an adlib to the tune,” Steve immediately nodded with apparent interest. Steve is a jazz musician so I could very well be pleased to hear how this kid can play against Steve’s professional expertise. And as I stood and watched them plan how to do it, I waited for their first beat to come. Immediately, Wayne did a quick run-through to the tempo he wanted, tapping a few beats on the barrels and the cymbals.

“I’ll catch on the temp after the first four chords,” he told Steve. My bandmate only smiled with delight and nodded again. As the cue of his sticks began to play, the song started in a repetitive playful sound. Sam began the basic intro with her bass guitar and Wayne jived in so naturally. He coursed through the beat of Buddy Rich’s style, letting Steve lead the song with the piano. It was an interesting demonstration. It’s like the music moved in his soul and he did not need the adjustments from Steve to guide him along. He just quickly laid off on the hooks and bounced down on the beats.

As the tempo moved so fluidly into the atmosphere, I found myself nodding my head while I enjoyed the tempting sound of every stop and note of their piece. It was really engaging and I only observed with pure awe as Wayne lost himself to the sound. He closed his eyes, his mouth mumbling some words I couldn’t decipher and my bandmates carried on with him as they continued playing with smiles on their faces.

‘It is him. He is my drummer now,’ I told myself.

The moment it ended in the middle of the piece, my bandmates started cheering and threw encouraging words at Wayne.

“You’re not so bad,” I commented at him but we all knew it’s not just that good. It was excellent.

“How’d you learn to play like that?” I asked him, not trying to hide my sudden interest.

“My old man played horns before and he used to run classic jazz pieces on our cassette every day since I was born,” he said to me, “It stuck and I started playing drums over it. It became a hobby.”

Well... A driven old soul playing in such a youthful shell. I can’t believe Evangeline would really find me a person who would fit my standards. I'm giving her the credit for this. And if we ever really make it big someday, I’d keep a mental note to never forget thanking her.

“So, Wayne,” I told him, my voice uttered with obvious satisfaction and arrogance as I stared at those brown eyes that met mine with hopeful desperation, “Ready for a live show tonight?”

It’ll be the very first one to date. And to make a debut with the band even when I knew we’re still grasping on adjustments with the songs I’ve made to fit our music, I still wanted to take this risk. After all, we will never make any progress if we don’t face it anytime soon.

“Do we already have a song?” Wayne just asked me, his face filled with determination and confidence.

“Yeah.” I nodded at him, smiling. “Wanna hear it now?”

“Bring it on,” he grinned back. And for the first time in my entire life, I felt an enormous surge of passion. My official bandmates all gave me an approving look. Then they waited for my signal to play the music of our band. I moved to pick up my favorite guitar resting above the speaker behind me. And as I adjusted the strap around my body, I turned to look at them again.

“Ready?”

They just nodded at me. And as I cued them to start playing… I only have one running thought in mind.

Tonight, we’ll definitely make it happen.

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IT’S REALLY HAPPENING.

“Tonight is going to be a hell of a night,” I heard these words booming from the speakers as I let the dimmed lights surround me and I was forced to tune out the noise into silence. I pushed off the muttering voices of the crowd in front of me while I stood my ground on the stage with my electric guitar dangling across my body. There’s a heavy feeling weighing in the pit of my stomach and it’s making me feel nauseous. Some last-minute jittering nervousness has been gradually poisoning my whole body for a while now, and I tried to brush it away as I took a deep breath.

Eventually, I heard Sam muttering words beside me.

“Get a grip, Cole,” she softly told me under her breath, and she seemed to notice my apparent hesitance. I briefly smiled back at her words, trying to keep it cool. I nodded as a response to reassure her and gripped the neck of my guitar in a tighter hold.

THIS IS IT. I could only talk myself over it the minute I heard the cheers from the crowd. KEEP IT COOL… Keep it cool… Keep it cool…

“Give it up for…” The host finally spoke over the noises, awakening me from my clouded thoughts, “The band LIBRA!”

The second our name got shouted from the microphone, I heard sticks clicking behind me. It was Wayne cueing us to begin the intro. And as it cut into silence, I smoothly strummed the first slide of the chord. Bringing the soft mellow introduction into life, the hum of the gliding melody was immediately supported by the rhythmic bass and the run of keys from my fellow bandmates. I let my soul got swallowed instantly by the imprinted memory of the song from the tips of my fingers to the languid sway of my body. Music began to bring me to absolute oblivion as I soon forgot the crowd in front of me and the only thing I could see was my guitar and the blurry visions of the lights directed at us.

For a moment, I felt insanely infinite. As if I’m no longer human and the nervousness that had once threatened me, immediately dissipated into a drunken intoxication of the sound filling my entire existence.

“GIVE ME YOUR KISSES,

CONSOLE ME WITH LUSTFUL LOVING,

BRING ME TO DEEP INSANITY,

AND LET ME BE SWALLOWED BY YOUR DARKNESS…”

The words flowed in a smooth motion, letting me succumb to the harmony of hazy passion. I was continuously being driven by the fluidity of the music and I almost lost the sense to even think more about it…

“CRAZY… YOU AND I… SO BAD…

THERE’S ONLY ONE THING THAT COUNTS…

AND IT’S THE ABSURDITY…

THE ABSURDITY OF THIS FORBIDDEN LOVE…”

Not long after I soon got distracted by the cheering noises from the people. I immediately adjusted my eyes and first caught a glimpse of David’s face smiling at me. The moment our eyes met, I was instantly lifted with intense passion as the music went on towards the bridge.

“CARESS ME…

CARESS ME INTO A SEA OF REBELLION…

I WANNA BE LOVED…

AND ONLY BE LOVED BY YOU…”

When the song finally ended in its last few chords, our band instantly got warmed up by the loud cheers from the crowd. They started to shout our name, LIBRA, sending whistles into the air and the feeling of acknowledgment gave me an incredible hit of goosebumps. We were eventually pursued to play another song and we obliged the crowd for yet another round of new music. The second we had finally finished the encore, I felt an immense satisfaction overwhelming me as I turned to share the happiness I’ve been feeling with my bandmates. They were all looking at me with the same blissful expression.

We soon emerged down the stage, letting new fans shook our hands and made some of them approached and showered us with their own words of praise. It was an epic feeling and I walked my way towards David with the heavenly euphoria of that moment filling me with supreme pleasure. He instantly welcomed me into a warm hug and I basked in it with utter delight.

“You did it,” he whispered to my ear and as I backed away from him, he immediately pulled me back only to be indulged in a short kiss.

“That’s a loving way to congratulate me,” I uttered just as we pulled apart. David grinned back at me and brushed my hair with his hand.

“You made it happen,” he said, “Our dreams are finally coming true.”

“Still have a long way coming though,” I reminded him and I turned around as I felt the presence of my bandmates behind me.

“So,” I heard David spoke beside me as he looked at my bandmates, “Is this the new guy?”

He was referring to Wayne. David already met the other members long before we had started rehearsals for the band. And Wayne was only a recent addition today. Dave still hasn’t been formally introduced to him. So, this is the first time he’s meeting the kid in person.

“Yeah,” I replied to David and wrapped an arm around him as I turned to look at Wayne, “Wayne this is David. David this is Wayne.”

“So you two are…” The kid trailed off as he stared at us with those widened eyes as if he’s still not believing what he just saw. David and I only shared a knowing smile at each other and I chuckled at the expression Wayne was giving us.

“Yeah, David’s my boyfriend,” I told him, “Obviously.”

“Oh,” Wayne’s eyes flickered back, and the sound of surprise from him came out like a jolt and it made David and I laugh.

“Seriously,” I heard Dave spoke beside me, “It’s the 21st century. It’s no longer a big deal, right?”

The unmentionable subject came like a breeze of chilly air in the atmosphere as Wayne and the rest of our gang froze in awkward silence. I tried to avoid my gaze, biting back a grin. Dave was still chuckling until Eric broke off the ice.

“They’re cool,” he cheerfully told Wayne, dropping an arm around the kid’s shoulder to ease the awkwardness. “You know Colin’s cool, right? The crowd loved us and I swear you’ll gonna like Davey too. He’s an amazing person.”

“Y-yeah,” Wayne responded, sheepishly smiling.

"Well, then why don't we celebrate tonight?! Shall we?" Eric exclaimed at us and I grinned as he dragged the kid to the corner with Sam following them behind. Steve only gave us a helpless smile and Dave casually patted him on the shoulder.

"Hey, no hard liquor for the underaged," I warned Steve just before he stepped away. Steve just snorted back and smirked at my words.

"A little sip can do no trouble," he just said, shrugging. And I chuckled back, watching him approach the table that our other bandmates had taken.

“Your band’s nice,” David soon spoke beside me.

I turned and smiled back at him, wrapping an arm around his body. "Yeah. They're one of a kind."

He was right. They’re really nice. And as I glanced towards their group exchanging laughter and conversations at a table nearby, I felt something incredible inside my chest. I'm actually starting to feel that our future is beginning to get better.

My dreams... I could feel it now. This band will certainly be my biggest stepping stone.

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