Theirs To Desire

EIGHT | EMBER

"Good morning, Ember."

"Hi, Trisha. How is it going for you today?" My eyes met the excited face of the head assistant of the Scarred Knights band. It was still early for the start of office movements but I didn't want to risk my new journey to the hands of a new tag of late-comer.

"Just usual, as always. I am so glad you moved here to Chicago. Hope everything is going well?" Trisha glanced around the glass cubicle to give me a genuine smile and then without giving me a moment to answer her query, she jumped out of her seat after looking at her watch. "Oh sorry, I forgot Mr Adrez had called in an appointment with you. If you wait here, I will let him know that you are here already."

I nodded at her and stepped aside as she brushed past me in a hurry. "That would be great."

I couldn't remember, how long it had been since I last gave an interview for acquiring a position. Mostly, my name along with my mysterious fame was more than enough to secure a position for me in a band or a dance group.

The moment I realized I needed to leave the small abyss of Seattle, I had placed my name for the lead dancer through one of the hiring agents; Trisha. She had been working with the band as a backstage crew member for years and hence was responsible to find the dancing gem for the band. Neither was she a stereotypical scrunched-faced secretary, nor she was hard to befriend.

I had thought Trisha would somehow manage to convince Mr Adrez to give me this position in his band but being a strict follower of rules and regulations, he asked for a face-to-face appointment. And that's what led me here, in the office of Scarred-Knights band.

I took in the decor of the reception area which was built in a swank of modern-posh with a tint of medieval carvings thrown in. In the very first look, one could have stated that a middle-aged person had designed the area and most probably, was a believer of strict discipline. Almost all the furniture around the cubicles were a deep shade of grey in appearance with workings of brown on their outer surface. Initially, I had thought of it as a gloomy environment but after assessing and linking the shade of interior grey to the contrast of exterior black, I found it complementing.

Although I was confident about acquiring the lead show opener's position, a minuscule voice inside my head, which belonged to the small area of Kansas, had been constantly mocking me about my solitude state; like a wanderer.

I had been working with one of the leading musical bands 'Glimmer Recs' for about 2 years, but never once I had been gifted with an ounce of satisfaction. I had been craving for a chance when I would be able to let my steps move on the melody of a song, without fear of revealing my face. For years, I had been opening the shows for numerous bands as their lead dancer but now, after riding this ladder of unmatched success, I wanted the world to know the face behind the night dancer's fame. I wanted the world to know me as Ember Rose and not as the secret conqueror of night.

And more than wanting the freedom to let my real self come under the spotlight, I had been craving to prove to those voices of Kansas, that I was no more that naïve girl whom they had broke in pieces but an independent woman, who knew how to manage her name and walk on those shimmers of the glamorous world.

"Ember, Mr Adrez is ready for you."

"Thanks, Trisha." I picked up my bag and head across the cubicle area toward my to-be boss's office.

My steps faltered slightly as I noticed the closed door while my hands clasped around my purse in hesitation. I was almost tempted to pace across the greyish floor when Trisha peered around her cubicle and gave me an encouraging smile.

"Go ahead, he is waiting to meet you," she told me with a smile in her voice and I knocked gently, after contemplating some more.

"Come in, Miss Rose." I heard a soft yet authority filled voice from the other side, which encouraged me to open the door and peek my head in. "Hello, Ember. Come in." I clutched the file tightly in my hand and pushed open the door while stepping inside. "Would you mind closing the door behind you?"

I had seen Mr Joseph Adrez in headlines and Music events' news few a times but he was nothing like the paparazzi captured photos. Instead of looking like a brooding alpha, he appeared to be a soft-natured old man who was sitting there, in his black and grey crisp suit, to give a beginner the lecture before starting a new day.

He was bald, as always, and I could see the traces of inks peeking out of the open collar of his white shirt. The innovation in his dressing style, even though belonging to the category of mid-fifties, wasn't lost on me either.

"Take a seat." His deep blue eyes twinkled with a spark of amusement as he gestured toward the chair, across from him. "You must be wondering why I called for an in-person interview, instead of via-mode hiring."

Suspicion clouded my mind as I took my seat and stared at him, silently urging him to get this interview thing over with. "It's great to have you here, Ember. I am glad that a talent like you decided to opt for our band as her next big project."

I looked over the glass window and then back to him. "It's a matter of pride to work with you, Mr Adrez."

"Call me Joseph." He corrected me with the same smile on his face. "Without beating around the bush, I would like you to know that you have already been added as the lead show opener for our band and the lead dancer. I do not know if this journey will give you the name, for which you have been shying away from settling in one place, but I wish you a fruitful journey."

I wasn't sure if my face was more red or the strips of carved designs over the beige walls of the ceiling. I didn't know how he knew about the exact reason for my arrival in Chicago but I couldn't give him the ultimate satisfaction of being correct by nodding at his derived theory. Before I could have opened my mouth to place a cover-up response in front of him, Joseph waved his hand in the air between us and let out a small breath.

"This is not the reason for which I have called for an in-person meeting," his gaze darted towards the leather file on the table, between us but he dismissed it with a minuscule shake in his head and refocused on my face. "We had a last moment change in our schedule and upon some discussions with my band and board members, we have mutually decided to cancel the band's upcoming Dallas concerts and further shows."

Oh no no no, they wouldn't...

"Why don't we discuss further details while a walk to the practice area?" Saying, Joseph placed his thickly framed spectacles on the bridge of his nose, after picking it up from the glass stand and strolled around the table towards me.

That man had serious issues with conversation skills. Since the moment I had stepped inside his office, never once he had let me open my mouth. Even while asking a question, before I could have got a chance to place my answer, he had already laid the answers, alongside a variety of examples.

I didn't try to cross-question him –– not that I got a chance! –– and followed him silently as he led the way towards the practice area. I couldn't remember when was the last time I had willingly complied with someone's order and didn't snap back. I didn't give a momentary thought about it. All I could think at that moment was, the negative scenarios of various what ifs...

"Mr Ad- Joseph," I bite my tongue slightly as he gave me a side glance, followed by a small shake in his head. "You were talking about some last moment changes-"

"Yes Yes, I was, wasn't I?" Joseph passed a small smile to Trisha, in the answer of her polite nod, just as we walked past her cubicle. Aside from her, there were only three or four staff, who all were working in an oblivion state. "You might be aware of the final results of the Grand Sparkle-Band global battle. Aren't you?"

I was. But I chose to keep my mouth shut. No one was ignorant of the defeat of Scarred-Knights band in the global musical battle. Despite giving the blockbuster solos, the band couldn't enter the top two spots in the finals, which not only caused chaos among the fans but also inside the band. The news and articles showed the disputes rather well.

"By the abrupt shift on your face, I assume you are not unaware." We stepped inside the elevator while the lift started descending with a sudden jerk. "Even if my boys are back in their practising shell, I can see the effects of this loss on their faces. I don't give a single flying s**t about those paparazzi captured news or secret resources' articles. The only thing I care about is the stability, practice and happiness of my boys. And that is why, my dear, I had to take this decision."

I failed to pick my dropped jaw from the floor as Mr Adrez gave me his signature genuine smile and for the first time, under the gleaming lightning of the lift, I noticed the visible traces of ageing on his face.

I didn't know how to respond to the way he had shown hidden concern for the band members, and so I kept gazing at him.

"The band is going on a 20 week long road-tour. The first half of the tour is in the US only. The second half in the UK." The door to the ground floor opened with a shrill ping while I followed Joseph as he stepped outside and kept walking towards the large glass door.

If I hadn't been distracted by the rising set of questions, I might have done a videography session of the simplistic yet aesthetic look of the band's main office. I caught up with Joseph and shot the Navy dressed guard a smile in return for his bow.

"Will I be going too with-"

"Did I not say that you are a member of Scarred-Knights band? If still, you need a verbal clarification, then yes you need to pay the final instalment to the hotel in which your belongings are and join the band on the bus tomorrow, early in the morning. You are the lead show opener for the band-"

"I apologize for cutting mid-way into your statement but I need to ask you something." I curled my palm over my green and black cargo pants, which I had been wearing over the black shirt and complementing it with black stilettos.

"Go ahead." Joseph nodded in my direction and offered me to enter first while opening the giant glass door. I could hear the swarming melodies from across the hallway.

I waited for him to close the door behind and join my steps. "Why this new addition to the band?" I rushed to clarify my point as he stumbled slightly upon hearing my statement. "What I mean is, the band has already acquired higher positions in the music industry, along with billboard worthy solos and albums. Then, where was the skip which led you to believe that the band is incomplete?"

That was a genuine question which was conquering my mind since the moment my agent called to inform me regarding the required position in the insanely rich and famous English Band. Not that I was complaining about this opportunity but it was a piece of shocking news for anyone who had at least a mere knowledge about the music industry.

"The band was not incomplete, Ember. As I said, don't pay single attention to those paps spread news, they are more inclined towards fictional imagination rather than the truth." I slowed down my pace, mimicking him just outside the second door inside the giant glass one. "Sparkle-Band competition always demands something new and innovative. We failed to deliver that aspect in our performance and for that purpose, you. . . the conqueror of night, are here."

I felt the rush of blood across my neck, rising to my cheek but he didn't give me a moment to snap shut my fish-caught-in-a-crossfire expression.

"There are hardly any cases where a dancer is included in a pop band. But we are going to do it. Next grand battle is exact eighteen months away and this time the band has not only fame to acquire but that 'champion' prefix too." Joseph stepped ahead of me and in a flash pushed open the practice area's door. "For the first time in music history, a ballerina will be performing on the fused melody of a pop band."

I stay rooted in my spot while he strolled inside the room. What could I have said? I was dumbstruck and blank to even think properly.

I, the one who always craved control and dominance, was going to twist and leap along with the melody of a high beat pop songs.

I, the faceless dancing sensation, was going to achieve those heights which once I had yearned for.

And I, the newly added member of the Scarred-Knights band, was going to work with the devilishly handsome hunks of five rockstars, one of whose mouth, I had already ravished. . . the night before!