Chapter Text
The thing about Lara is that she treats every situation in life as though it was designed specifically for her entertainment, and this is no different. She has been treating this one — the queue, the wristband, the laminated sign at the entrance that reads FAN SIGN EVENT: DOORS OPEN 2PM in a font that is trying very hard — with a level of grandiose excitement that Sophia finds both touching and faintly ridiculous.
"You're doing that face again,” Lara points out.
Sophia frowns. "I'm not doing a face."
Lara hums, unconvinced. “You've been doing it for twenty minutes. Relax, girl.”
"I am relaxed."
"You've straightened your lanyard four times,” Lara says flatly. “Look, you’re doing it even now.”
Sophia looks down.
She is, in fact, straightening her lanyard again.
She drops her hands and leaves it crooked on principle.
The queue moves. They shuffle forward — not quite walking, not quite standing still, just waddling very slowly toward their final destination.
Sophia thinks about the fact that she’s been a fan of Dani since the first album three years ago, when she was twenty-two and living in an apartment with no heating and a broken doorbell. When the album first came out, she listened to it in the car every morning for three months straight. She's been a fan through the controversial EP, the commercially successful second album, the opener tour she couldn’t get tickets to, and the subsequent headlining tour where she did.
Sophia isn’t nervous. She just wants it to go well. She’s been a fan of Dani for a long time, and she wants Dani’s impression of her to be, at the bare minimum, pleasant.
There’s a distinction, she thinks, between nervous and careful. She’s being careful the way she's careful about things that matter to her — like the way she reads a contract twice, or the way she thinks through the gifts she gets for her close friends and family.
It’s not anxiety. Not really. Just attention.
"What’re you going to say?" Lara asks.
"Hello, probably."
Lara snorts. “Bitch, I mean after that generic greeting.”
Sophia shrugs. "I'll figure it out."
Lara arches a brow. She watches her with curious interest, like she knows something that Sophia doesn’t.
"Can I come in with you?"
"No."
"I'll be quiet, I swear.”
"Lara."
"I just wanna watch,” she whines. She sounds like she means it, which is the problem — Lara always sounds like she means it, and then things happen at Sophia’s expense.
"That's not any better."
Lara sighs dramatically. "Fine.” Her tone indicates she’s far from fine with it. "I’m gonna watch you from afar. And lip read. So if I assume some crazy shit from my lip reading that’s all on you.”
The corner of Sophia’s lips quirk up. “Okay, sure.”
The queue moves again.
They're close enough now that Sophia can see through the doors to the long table, the banner behind it, and the staff moving in efficient loops between each seat. The crowd has the particular quality of people trying very hard to behave normally but not quite managing to. It feels like a room full of people collectively holding their breath, pretending they aren't feeling the same vibrating anticipation from meeting someone they like, admire, idolize, or all of the above.
Sophia can understand it. She doesn't share the same feeling exactly, but she can understand it.
What she feels is more like the quiet acceptance before doing something you've been waiting a long time to do. It’s not a sense of urgency. It’s a calm sense of groundedness, like she’s finally arrived where she’s meant to be.
She straightens her lanyard, realizes she’s doing it, and leaves it alone.
The line moves again.
–
The table is longer than she expected and more chaotic in the way events always are — staff everywhere, cheerful and professional, moving people through with the practiced energy of having done this many times before and making sure it all goes perfectly. The speakers are playing music from Dani’s most recent album loudly, and the room smells like too many bodies stuffed in one room.
Dani is mid-sentence when Sophia gets there. She’s saying something to the staff member on her left, hand raised, the gesture of someone making a point they've been making for a while. She glances over, notices Sophia, holds up one finger — not dismissively, just actually in the middle of something — and finishes the sentence. The staff member nods, bows politely, and walks away.
"Sorry," Dani says, turning to her. "They keep moving the —” She shakes her head, probably realizing what she’s about to say is irrelevant to a fan. “Anyway. Hi."
"Hi," Sophia smiles.
Dani reaches for the cup of water beside her, misjudges the distance, and her hand clips the side — not enough to knock it over, just enough to make it wobble. She reaches to catch it. She fumbles a little clumsily to set it straight, but after a moment, she eventually she does.
She looks at Sophia like she's deciding whether to acknowledge what just happened.
"Three hours," Dani finally says.
Sophia furrows her brows.
"Sorry?"
"I've been sitting here for three hours. My hand-eye coordination is basically shot." She’s staring at Sophia blankly, like her tank is nearing empty, if it isn’t already. "I signed someone's arm earlier and wrote my name wrong."
"How wrong?"
"Wrong enough that I noticed halfway through and had to just… commit." She pauses. "She was very nice about it."
Sophia tilts her head. "What did you commit to?"
Dani sighs, looking slightly embarrassed. "'Dami.'"
Sophia purses her lips, trying not to laugh.
A faint blush appears on Dani’s cheeks as she rubs the back of her neck. "Yeah," she says sheepishly, like she knows how stupid it is.
Something warm curls in Sophia’s chest at the way Dani looks in front of her. Unpretentious. Charming in her authenticity. Endearingly down-to-earth.
Cute.
"She kept it?"
"She seemed thrilled, actually," Dani chuckles, sounding half-surprised, half-grateful. "Which — I don’t know. Either she feels really bad for me, or she can’t read very well.”
“If I were you, I’d hope for the latter.”
Dani laughs, short and real. “I don’t know if I’d hope for a fan of mine to be illiterate.”
Sophia shrugs, grinning. “Difference in opinion, I guess.”
Dani watches her for a second, her energy much brighter than a minute ago. Her dimple is still poking through, like she’s amused by this entire conversation.
She uncaps her marker. “What’d you bring me to sign?”
Sophia holds out the album. Dani takes it, opens to the first page.
“Who should I make this out to?”
"Sophia."
Dani writes. The marker moves in quick, practiced strokes. She pauses when she finishes, still looking down at the page. She doesn't close the album.
"You're not going to ask me anything, are you?"
Sophia blinks. "Sorry?"
"Most people have something." Dani glances up. "A question, or something they've been waiting to say. You sat down like you were just —" a small gesture, "— sitting down."
"I mean —" Sophia tilts her head slightly. "I am just sitting down."
Dani looks at her, her expression less guarded as the corner of her mouth lifts. "Yeah. I know. It's—" She doesn't finish the sentence, just looks at Sophia for a moment longer than she needs to.
"Did you come far? For today."
Sophia shakes her head. “No, I actually live twenty minutes away. My friend drove us here.”
"And you've been a fan since —"
"The first album."
Dani caps the marker slowly. She closes the album, but doesn’t hand it back yet. She leans forward, elbows on the table. "So you've just been —” She gestures vaguely. “Around. This whole time. Twenty minutes away."
Sophia smiles a little at that. "Yeah. Is that weird?"
“And you choose now to visit me? Three years after my first album?” Dani teases. “Some fan you are.”
Sophia’s jaw drops. “Your tickets are really hard to get, okay?”
“Uh huh,” Dani says, unconvinced, though the smile on her face tells her she’s still being playful.
Sophia crosses her arms. “I swear, if your tickets are easier to get I’d come to everything you do. But it’s a bloodbath out there, Dani. No one is just handing me tickets.”
“Maybe I will,” Dani mumbles under her breath.
Sophia furrows her brows.
Did she just—
“What was that?” she asks, unsure if she heard her right.
“I asked if you do anything else besides virtually fistfight my other fans to see me.”
The corners of Sophia’s lips twitch. She’s pretty sure that’s definitely not what Dani said just now, but she’s not going to press.
“I read a lot, helps me destress.” Dani nods at that. Then Sophia tilts her head, remembering something. “Actually, did you finish the book you were reading?”
Dani blinks.
"What book?"
"You posted about reading something in February. Then you never mentioned it again."
Dani’s eyes widen like she’s been caught.
“I, ah,” she stumbles. "I'm still working on it."
"How far?"
"Page—" She stops. "A decent number of pages."
"Page forty?"
Dani points the marker at her, blushing hard. "I have been busy."
Sophia nods sagely. "It’s okay. A lot of books have died around page forty. There’s no shame."
Dani pouts. "I'm gonna finish it."
"Uh huh," Sophia grins, which is generous to say and also clearly not what she thinks.
Dani seems to understand that because she laughs again — the same real laugh, a little more helpless this time, like Sophia keeps doing something she didn’t plan for.
The staff member arrives at Sophia's shoulder for the first time.
Dani doesn't look at her. "One more minute."
Sophia glances at the line. "You don't have to—"
"Do you have Instagram?"
It comes out quickly. Like it got out before she even had a chance to second-guess it.
"I might follow you," Dani adds, her tone easy and light.
Sophia rolls her eyes. “You don’t have to follow me, seriously.”
Dani grabs Sophia’s hand and places the marker in it as she extends her other forearm. “Humor me.”
Sophia arches her brow. “You do realize this is a permanent marker, right? It’s not going to wash off for a while.”
“Oh my god, just write it already.”
“Okay, bossy.” Sophia uncaps the marker and writes her handle on Dani.
Her skin is warm. Soft.
When she recaps the marker and looks up at Dani, something moves across Dani's face. Quick — there, then gone.
Dani hands the album back to Sophia while Sophia hands back the marker. Then the staff member taps her shoulder again and Sophia knows it's really time to leave now.
She stands. "It was really nice to meet you."
"Yeah," Dani says. And then, quieter, like she’s saying it to herself, "Really nice."
The next person sits down, and Sophia turns and goes.
She is aware, as she’s walking toward the exit, that something quiet and certain settled in her chest. Like something clicked into place.
She just isn’t sure what exactly, yet.
She goes to find Lara, who’s waiting just past the doors. She’s looking at Sophia with mischief in her eyes, which is never a good sign. They start walking side by side towards Lara’s car.
"Well?"
"It was good.”
“Good?”
“Yeah, it was nice to finally meet her in person, as a fan.”
Lara’s face falls. “Girl, are you being purposely dense?”
Sophia looks at her, confused. “What?”
“This — what you just experienced? That’s the start of some romcom fanfiction.”
Sophia rolls her eyes. “You read too much of that.”
“I’m telling you,” Lara says, unlocking her car as they near it. “I saw sparks fly.”
“And I’ll never be able to get that close to her again,” Sophia shuts down, opening the passenger door and getting in. “So there you go.”
Lara gets into the driver’s seat, looking at her like she knows something Sophia doesn’t, then she shakes her head and sighs. “Maybe the lesbian population should be glad you’re this dense.”
“I’m not dense!” Sophia defends, putting on her seatbelt.
“You are. But it’s a good thing. If you knew how quickly women fell for you and used that to your advantage I wouldn’t doubt you’d somehow knock them up. Even without a dick.”
“Oh my god, Lara. Just drive already!”
–
She gets home at half past seven.
Keys on the counter, jacket on the hook, shoes by the door. She puts the album on the shelf — first album, EP, second album, in order, the way they've always been. She stands there looking at it for a moment. Dani's handwriting is neat, slightly tilted. To Sophia and underneath that, smaller, thank you for coming.
Normal. Everything is normal.
She turns the kettle on to make tea.
Her phone has been on silent since the queue. She checks it now: ten messages from Lara — now eleven, sent at intervals that suggest she started typing about thirty seconds after dropping Sophia off, and again, just now. Two from Yoonchae asking how it went.
She answers Yoonchae first.
[Sophia: 7:32pm]
Good
She was exactly how I expected :)
Which is true, but also —
She puts her phone down before she thinks too deeply into it.
She stands at the counter while the water boils and thinks about nothing in particular. The apartment. The light outside, gone from gold to grey. Whether she has anything worth eating, or whether she has to order out again.
She attended a fansign. To meet an artist whose work she’s been following for years. And she did. She finally did. And it was nice.
Really nice.
Her phone buzzes.
She looks at it to check what it is.
It’s Instagram. Not a like, not a comment.
A follow. Verified account. Daniela Avanzini.
Sophia picks up her phone and stares at the notification for long enough that the screen dims.
She wakes it.
Nope. Still there.
She taps through to the profile — eleven following, an odd number, which most likely means it wasn’t automated or a glitch.
She knows what that would look like. She follows enough people to know the difference between an account getting hacked and going on a massive follow spree, and a person who opened an app and typed a name into a search bar on purpose.
She puts the phone face-down on the counter.
She picks it back up.
Eleven following.
She debates whether she should text Lara for advice. Not because Lara gives terrible advice sometimes (which is true), but because she’ll most likely drag Sophia for the situation she’s found herself in.
Sophia sighs.
Fuck it. She’ll deal with her teasing.
She texts Lara.
[Sophia: 7:52pm]
Hypothetically
If a verified Instagram account followed you
How would you know if it was really them
The response arrives before she's even had a chance to put her phone down.
[Lara: 7:52pm]
oh!
[Sophia: 7:53pm]
I said hypothetically
[Lara: 7:53pm]
hypothetically my ass
we’re just out here lying to each other now?
[Sophia: 7:53pm]
It could be a hypothetical situation!
[Lara: 7:53pm]
sophia
it’s real
[Sophia: 7:54pm]
So what should I do
[Lara: 7:54pm]
you useless lesbian
following her back would be a start
and also maybe acknowledge that you’re not just a regular fan who had a regular fan interaction
[Sophia: 7:55pm]
I am though?
[Lara: 7:56pm]
i will actually hit you
you wrote your instagram handle on her arm
[Sophia: 7:57pm]
She asked me to
[Lara: 7:57pm]
.........
you’re so stupid
i love you but goodnight
Sophia puts her phone down on the counter and looks at it. The screen is face-up this time.
She exhales.
She’s not going to make this into something it isn't. It's a follow. A nice thing after a conversation that was unexpectedly, genuinely good. She is one of eleven people who have some version of a connection to Dani, and she’s not going to construct something out of a single notification just because she can't stop looking at the follower count. She’s not going to make this more than it is.
She opens Instagram.
She looks at Dani’s profile for what she will later describe to Lara as a completely normal amount of time as a fan. There's a new photo from tonight — the fan sign. A wide shot, warm light, the banner visible in the background, a lot of happy faces. The caption thanks everyone for coming, says she means it, says she’ll see them at the next one.
She smiles to herself, is about to scroll past it, when she notices something.
She zooms in.
Dani's forearm is visible at the edge of the frame, resting on the table. There's a bandaid on it. Neatly placed, slightly too large for whatever it's covering, though there’s smudge marks on the edges of it, which means someone tried to rub whatever is under it off.
Sophia stares at it.
Then she laughs — short and quiet, mostly to herself, the kind that escapes before your brain has processed the joke. Because of course she put a bandaid on it. For privacy, probably, for the photo, for any number of sensible, practical reasons — but also because it hadn't come off.
Just like Sophia said it wouldn't.
That’s the thing that does it. Without another thought, Sophia presses the ‘follow back’ button, still grinning.
The kettle clicks off. She puts her phone down to pour the boiling water into a mug, and places a tea bag in it.
She’s waiting for it to steep when her phone buzzes.
[Lara: 8:14pm]
she liked a photo
from last month
the one you tagged me in
im fucking calling it
it’s romcom fanfiction
stop being dense
anyway i'm going to sleep
goodnight dumbass
Sophia sets her phone down.
She doesn't move for a moment.
She didn’t come to the fanmeet expecting any of this. She'd come because she'd been a fan for three years, because the tickets had finally, mercifully, been obtainable, because Lara had said obviously I'm coming with you before Sophia had even finished the sentence. She'd come to meet someone whose music had been in the car with her every morning for three months at twenty-two, in an apartment with no heating and a broken doorbell.
She'd come as a fan.
She watches the steam rise from her cup. Tries not to think about what a month back means, or bandaids, or any of it.
She fails terribly.
She picks up the mug, blows on the tea, and sips slowly.
She smiles to herself the entire time.
–
Sophia wakes up smiling.
Today is going to be a good day. One of the up-and-coming artists she’s been working with will be in the studio today, they’re going to finish production on the lead single, and—
Sophia checks her phone. Her smile widens.
Dani’s still following her.
It definitely wasn’t a mistake.
She goes to the bathroom to get ready for the day, humming.
–
The session goes well. Really well.
Normally there are kinks and bumps to iron out here and there — there’s always some in sessions, even the good ones — but today, everything goes smoothly. She doesn’t know if it’s because they’d worked through all the recording issues in the last session, or because this song in particular was close to perfect to begin with, or they’re just that good, but this one feels like it flew by.
They finish the lead single by half past one, two hours ahead of schedule.
When the artist comes out of the booth, she tells Sophia, almost offhandedly, “You’re in a good mood today.”
Sophia’s mouth twitches. “Am I normally not?”
“You are, but today you’re like, in an extra good mood. Something happen?”
One of my favorite artists followed me on Instagram.
“No. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
The artist hums, sounding unconvinced, but she doesn’t push further. “See you next week?”
“Yeah,” Sophia confirms. “Same time, different song.”
“Hopefully it goes as smoothly as this one,” the artist says behind her shoulder, and she closes the door behind her.
–
Sophia’s out of the studio, heading to the café to grab a quick lunch, when she feels her phone buzz in her pocket.
She doesn’t immediately look at it. She assumes it’s just Lara sending her a meme, or something that happened during her day, like she always does. Nothing urgent enough for her to respond right this second.
When she finally sits down with the food she ordered, she checks her phone.
It’s a notification. On Instagram.
Sophia’s face scrunches in confusion. She hardly has any followers on Instagram. Why is she getting a notification?
She has a forkful of salad halfway to her mouth when she finally sees it.
[daniavanzini: 1:47pm]
hi
She lowers the fork and stares at the message for a little longer.
Hi.
That's it. That's the whole message.
Sophia’s immediate thought is that this was a buttdial. Or whatever equivalent Instagram has to a buttdial. Dani following her account is one thing, but messaging her? That feels absurd.
But the number of steps it takes for her to message Sophia’s account specifically — that couldn’t have been fat-fingered.
This wasn’t a mistake, right?
She decides to take a chance and message back.
[sophia.laforteza: 2:03pm]
Hi
She puts the phone face-down on the table and attempts to eat again. She doesn’t even get the forkful in her mouth when her phone buzzes again.
[daniavanzini: 2:04pm]
how’s your day been
[sophia.laforteza: 2:04pm]
Good
Finished a session and it went really well
How’s yours?
[daniavanzini: 2:05pm]
oooh session
what of?
mine was fine
i'm procrastinating
guess what i'm supposed to be doing
Sophia smiles at her phone, holding it with both hands as she types back. She’s given up trying to finish her salad.
[sophia.laforteza: 2:06pm]
Music session
Hm
I’m going to guess
Reading?
A pause. Long enough for Sophia to know she got it right.
[daniavanzini: 2:07pm]
hate you
how did you know
[sophia.laforteza: 2:07pm]
Don’t let the book die at page 40 Dani
A longer pause.
[daniavanzini: 2:09pm]
[GIF.sent]
It’s a mocking Spongebob gif. Sophia bursts out laughing in the middle of the café and it causes other patrons to turn and look at her with odd expressions on their faces.
She ignores them.
[daniavanzini: 2:09pm]
you think you’re SO funny
Sophia grins.
[sophia.laforteza: 2:09pm]
I made you laugh yesterday didn’t I?
[daniavanzini: 2:10pm]
i remember
anyway
i wanted to say hi
i'm gonna go pretend to read
🤍
Sophia stares at the white heart.
She types something back.
[sophia.laforteza: 2:11pm]
Tell me how it goes
A response immediately.
[daniavanzini: 2:11pm]
i will
She puts her phone down. She grabs a forkful of salad that she’s pretty sure has gone soggy from how long it’s been left sitting, but she can’t bring herself to care and takes a bite.
Yeah. It’s gone soggy, but it somehow tastes great anyway.
-
The rest of her day at the studio passes uneventfully – she gives an artist notes on their lead melody, rearrangements of chords, she gives another artist suggestions on lyric changes, which the artist accepts gratefully.
By the time she gets home, it’s half past six.
She drops her bag, takes off her shoes. The light seeping into her apartment has gone soft, and the noise from the street below has quieted by the fact that everyone is in their commute between work and home.
She debates between ordering takeout and making dinner, and after thinking about it for a long ten seconds, she opts for takeout.
She orders pizza on an app, then remembers she still hadn’t responded to Lara’s texts earlier.
She opens her chat with Lara, who, by this point in the day, sent her three things. A meme. A photo of a dog she’d seen on the way to work. And screenshot of an email Lara was in the middle of writing, captioned with help.
[Sophia: 6:42pm]
Meme is 5/10
Dog is cute
Email is fine
Just send it
How was your day?
[Lara: 6:42pm]
boringgggg
i alr sent the email
they haven’t responded yet
but i’m ready to cc their manager
AND their manager’s manager
if they don’t quit being a bitch about this
anyway what's new with you
[Sophia: 6:43pm]
😭 😭
Finished the lead single
Two hours ahead of schedule
[Lara: 6:43pm]
oh sophia you ICON
how do you do it tell me your secrets
[Sophia: 6:44pm]
The artist is good
The song was already off to a great start
That's most of it
[Lara: 6:44pm]
modest queen
what else
Sophia thinks about this, recounts what else happened in her day.
Oh!
She types.
[Sophia: 6:44pm]
Dani DMed me
There’s a pause.
Then, an onslaught.
[Lara: 6:44pm]
bitch wtf?
WTF
WTF
are u fr???
you couldn’t lead with that?
[Sophia: 6:45pm]
It happened second!
I went in chronological order
[Lara: 6:45pm]
are you actually autistic omfg
[Sophia: 6:45pm]
No?
[Lara: 6:45pm]
DANI DMED YOU
[Sophia: 6:45pm]
Yes?
[Lara: 6:45pm]
SOPHIA
oh my god i’m calling you
True to her word, she calls. Sophia picks up immediately.
“Hello?”
“Dani DMed you?!”
Sophia winces at the volume. “Yes okay?! She did! Don’t blow out my ears, I need them for work.”
“Okay, okay,” Lara says, her voice now closer to normal. “What’d she say?”
“Hi.”
“And then?”
“We had a conversation.”
“Send me the screenshots.”
Sophia groans, but does as she asks and sends it.
It takes a second for Lara to read everything, but when she does, the first thing that comes out of her mouth is, “Girl, she is flirting with you.”
Sophia rolls her eyes. “She’s just being nice!”
“Sophia, it was cute before but now I need you to get your head out of your ass or I’ll actually drive over to your house and fucking hit you.”
“You’re welcome to come over, I have pizza coming,” Sophia jokes, trying to lighten the mood.
“Celebrities aren’t ‘just being nice’ in DMs. Especially when they’re the one messaging you. God — and she sent you a heart!”
“Yeah, I did think that was kind of odd…”
“See?”
Her doorbell rings. It must be the pizza guy. She walks over to buzz them in.
“Lara, I know what you’re trying to say, but seriously. It’s probably nothing. I don’t want to make it bigger than it is. She’s been one of my favorite artists for years. I’m happy just talking to her.”
“Sophia…” Lara says softly.
“It’s nothing, okay?” Sophia says firmly. “My pizza’s here, I gotta go — love you, Lara.”
“Okay, okay. Love you too, Sophia and — it’s okay to hope for things, too, okay?”
Sophia hums in acknowledgement, though it’s clear she’s not absorbing what Lara’s saying.
“Goodnight, Soph.”
“Night, Lara.”
-
The conversation with Dani does not, in any official sense, end.
That’s the thing Sophia notices over the course of the next few days. She and Dani had texted on Tuesday afternoon, and the conversation had wound down, and then on Wednesday morning Dani had texted again, like the conversation had just been on pause overnight.
[daniavanzini: 9:14am]
morning
the book is winning
Sophia is in her kitchen making coffee. She doesn’t respond right away — she waits for the coffee to brew, drinks half of it, gets ready for work. She types something back at the door, just before she leaves.
[sophia.laforteza: 9:34am]
Page count update?
[daniavanzini: 9:34am]
42
Sophia purses her lips, trying not to laugh.
[sophia.laforteza: 9:34am]
Dani
[daniavanzini: 9:35am]
it’s progress!
i’m almost out of the 40s hell hole
Sophia properly laughs at that. She closes the door behind her and heads to the car, typing out a message as she does.
[sophia.laforteza: 9:35am]
I’ll give you a prize if you finish the book
[daniavanzini: 9:35am]
oh?
and what’s that
[sophia.laforteza: 9:36am]
Winner’s choice
[daniavanzini: 9:36am]
oh i’m SO winning
Sophia frowns. Why did that sound like she’s—
Sophia shakes those thoughts away.
She isn’t. It can’t be.
She unlocks the door and settles into the driver’s seat. She’s about to start the car when she feels something nag at her.
It’s odd if she lets the conversation end there, right?
She sends a message to Dani.
[sophia.laforteza: 9:37am]
What’re you doing today?
[daniavanzini: 9:37am]
press all morning
boring
in atlanta
will be in nashville tomorrow
😴 😴 😴
you?
[sophia.laforteza: 9:37am]
Session at 10
Then another at 2
Long day
[daniavanzini: 9:37am]
good luck
🤍
Something in her chest loosens.
She puts her phone in the center console, starts the car, and drives.
-
The first session of the day is off to a rough start.
The artist she’s currently working with is going through something in her personal life — which Sophia understands, people go through things, people are allowed to have emotions. But it’s also made it impossible for her to sing anything without full-on sobbing.
The woman apologizes, repeatedly, which only serves to make her cry even harder, and…well.
It feels like they’re on their hundredth take when they finally get something recorded that doesn’t have a voice crack or a sniffle. It’s not the best take she can get from her, not by a long shot — she knows this artist can do better. But unfortunately it’ll have to do.
By the time the session ends, she has ten minutes to grab something quick to eat and use the restroom.
Her phone goes unchecked.
-
The second session of the day is, by all measures, better.
She doesn’t know if that first session lowered her expectations immensely, but every take with this artist feels like a godsend. She hits her notes correctly, takes the feedback and adjusts her phrasing, and most importantly, isn’t sobbing in the middle of the recordings.
Every take is usable, and Sophia is grateful for that.
They wrap up their session quickly, and before she knows it she’s done for the day and is heading back to her car.
It’s only then that she remembers to check her phone.
[daniavanzini: 12:03pm]
do you think dogs experience time the way we do
Sophia’s brows furrow.
[sophia.laforteza: 4:02pm]
What?
[daniavanzini: 4:02pm]
hi
so you know how dogs wait for their humans to come home
do they think it’s a short time
like for us an hour is an hour
but for them is an hour really an hour?
or do they think it’s super long
That still answers nothing.
[sophia.laforteza: 4:03pm]
Hi to you too
Are you okay?
Are you having a medical emergency right now?
[daniavanzini: 4:04pm]
stop
i can’t laugh right now
my makeup artist is touching up my lipstick
she’ll kill me if i move wrong and mess it up
A small laugh escapes her.
[sophia.laforteza: 4:04pm]
How’d press go?
[daniavanzini: 4:04pm]
fine
boring
they ask the same five questions
i give the same five answers
also i’m tired
but i have one more to do
[sophia.laforteza: 4:04pm]
:(
Truly God’s strongest soldier
[daniavanzini: 4:05pm]
stop making me laugh omg
the dog question still stands
Sophia considers this.
[sophia.laforteza: 4:05pm]
I don’t think they understand weekends
But otherwise they probably think about time the same as us
[daniavanzini: 4:05pm]
that’s the right answer thank you
okay it’s about to start soon
talk later
🤍
Sophia shakes her head, smiling, and before she can think too hard about it, she sends it back.
[sophia.laforteza: 4:05pm]
🤍
She puts her phone in her back pocket, and looks out into the parking lot.
The sun is at the angle it gets in the late LA afternoon, where it’s bright on her eyes regardless of which way she turns.
Even still. Today, she can see perfectly fine.