Chapter Eight :

Interlude of texts, voicemails and emails received by Blaine on Friday

From: tina.c-chang@yahoo.fr

To: b.anderson@gmail.com

Little favor for your oh so beloved friends ;)

Hey Blaine,

I’m not sure if Mike has told you already but we have plans tomorrow for the whole day. The in-laws are coming… Mike will probably call you later to ask but, just in case he forgets, can you please buy the paint needed for the set? Sebastian said that he would need it for tomorrow afternoon. Not sure why, since he’ll be busy and Mike will be unavailable but better not anger the beast, he’s already a real pain each time I try to talk organization with him.

Anyway, be a dear and do us this favor, please.

I’ll owe you ;)

Tina J

P.S.: How did things go during your date?? Jeff told me that Kurt seems really nice and he also added that he was hot :P When will I get to meet him?

**

From Jeff – 11h35

Hi lover boy! How come have I not heard anything from your date yet? Me and you, coffee later today, same place as usual? I need details ;)

**

From: s.smythe@gmail.com

To: b.anderson@gmail.com; tina.c-chang@yahoo.fr ; niff@gmail.com ; christa.l@yahoo.fr ; p.lebel@voila.fr ; eric.b@gmail.fr ; trick.dress@yahoo.fr ; Clarisse.meli@hotmail.fr; damien.j@gmail.fr

Rehearsals

Hi everyone,

Reminder: Blaine and I are going to present the project of the show to Mr. Wethils and his team on Saturday the 14th.

If all goes well, we’ll start our first rehearsals the following week. From this, we’ll be able to see how we’ll schedule the rest of the rehearsals. I count on you, Tina, to come prepared with ideas of a schedule that would work for everyone. I think that it would be great if you could have a dance rehearse every other day during the first two weeks at least. I know that most of you already have the different routines down but practice makes perfect!

I suggest that Blaine, Mike and I discuss casting right after the presentation. If you know talented dancers or gymnasts, please tell them about the show and ask them to come to the auditions.

Things are not set in stone yet but it’s better to be prepared in advance.

Blaine and I will let you know how the presentation went as soon as possible.

Have a good day everyone!

Sebastian.

P.S.: Tina you really need to give me Mike’s new email, I trust you to forward this mail to him for now. Also, remind him about the paint!

**

From: thadeus.clarcks@ericksen-art-divertissement.fr

To: b.anderson@gmail.com

Meeting

Blaine,

I need to see you this afternoon. I’m aware that you usually don’t work on Friday but this is important. Even if you can’t come to the office, call me and we’ll arrange a meeting at your place instead.

Please answer as soon as you’ve read this email.

Thadeus Clarcks – D�partement Divertissement

Ericksen – Art Et Divertissement

18 Bvd Haussman

75009 Paris Cedex

01 87 58 12 00

**

New voicemail from 0658974236 at 12:58 a.m.

“Hi Blaine! I guess that if Jeff gave his seal of approval; the guy must be a good one. Hang on to that one.”

“Tell him about…”

“Oh, I have to tell you that Jeff wants all the detail when you meet up later.”

“Also, ask when we should meet.”

“Do it yourself then.”

“Hey Blaine, just wanted to ask if you got my text because I did not get the confirmation and you didn’t text me back. Anyway, let me know when you want to meet. If I don’t get a reply by 2 p.m., I’ll assume you’re still at Kurt’s and will leave you alone you sex-fiend!”

“Shut up… Sorry about that Blaine, Jeff is just being his stupid self right now.”

“You still love me!”

“Not sure right now. Ok, call Jeff as soon as you can to let him know about this afternoon. Bye.”

**

From: cooper.anderson@gmail.com

To: b.anderson@gmail.com

Coming over next week for some needed Bro-time!

Hey B!

You remember how I told you it was possible that could get a week off during July? Well, I just spoke to the director on the phone and he said that I wasn’t needed for two weeks of shooting so I decided to fly over to you and mom.

We definitely need to save some time for just the two of us. When was the last time we had an Epic-Anderbros-Extravaganza-Day?? Well, it’s so long ago that I can’t even remember and that is why, Squirt, we’re going to spend a whole day together. Don’t even try to get out of it. And I already asked Sebastian to give you a full day free of rehearsal, talks about the show and other things that he could have asked you to do. Also, I convinced mom to sweet-talk Thad and if you’re lucky you’ll even get two days off- she is THAT good ;)

We’ll have to discuss what we can do during the day because it’s been too long since I last came to Paris (yeah B, a year feels like an eternity when you’re a busy actor like I am). We could race up the stairs of the Eiffel Tower! I so want to try that since Nick mentioned it while he was drunk a few years back. Can we do that B? Can you imagine if paparazzi show up and it all gets covered? It would be awesome!

Crap, I have to go but I’m calling mom tonight to tell her when she needs to come pick me up at the airport.

See you soon, Squirt!

P.S.: Mom said that you seem to have a new beau, not just a one night stand this time??? I’m shocked B but also excited and I want you to tell me all about him as soon as we get our day of awesome Bro-ness!

**

From Jeff – 14h16

Get some you sex-fiend!

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Slow music began to fill the loft as Blaine resumed playing. He had been sitting at his piano for hours now, only stopping when he felt unsatisfied to add changes to the sheet music. He had been trying to improve this segment of the piece for almost two hours now, constantly replaying this same part. He had allowed free reign to his emotions, a far cry from his usual habit to keep everything bottled up.

Vulnerability; something he had not shown since his father’s death. As a teenager, he had always felt so fragile and breakable. After the terrible events of his first school dance, Blaine had felt so small. The fear had been overwhelming and constant. He could not sleep, too scared of re-living everything through vivid nightmares. He had felt lost and often wondered why he had survived. Why did he have to go through such a traumatic experience and not be allowed the peace that death would have brought him? But as time went by, he understood that he had been lucky. When his father had come back from his tour at the time, Blaine finally saw that the man he had sometimes feared and resented was maybe just as vulnerable as he was. Of course, the two of them never showed this side of themselves after that. It was only during his father’s funeral that Blaine had allowed himself to break down for a day. Afterwards, he pushed this vulnerability deep inside and pretended to be much stronger than he felt.

Loss; sometimes he wondered about all the things that he had lost. He was not really sure what it was but this nagging feeling that so many important things in his life had passed him by never left him. It had become stronger over the past few days. And Blaine knew that it was because of Kurt. A man like he had once hoped for, many years ago, when he was so na�ve about love and life. A man that he could have but he was too scared to keep. Being with the other man felt like it was too much. But losing him was even worse. And yet he could not lose Kurt because he never really had him in the first place.

The young musician let his fingers caress the ivory keys in a graceful dance. The rhythm then picked up and Blaine felt himself be transported through the force of music. A smile started to tug at his lips and his eyes began to fill with tears.

Hope; another feeling he had not experienced in a long time. He usually felt excitement or enthusiasm about a project or something good happening in his life but never hope. He always feared that something terrible would happen and everything he had accomplished would amount to nothing in the end. Blaine ignored why or how he could feel hope as he played. Music tended to make him feel like he was living the life he could never attain. Music was like magic to him, always generous in her gifts.

A single tear got caught in his eyelash as he blinked. Blaine’s mind had drifted far from his loft. He was so far away from there, in a world where everything was so overwhelming and left him in complete awe. His whole body was vibrating, his senses ignited.

The young musician did not notice the sound of a key turning in the front door’s lock. He remained blissfully oblivious as someone came inside. Soft footstep could be barely heard over the beautiful music that filled the place. As if in a trance, Blaine was standing now, his whole body moved to the frantic rhythm that the piece had turned into. Laughter escaped the musician followed by a choked sobbing sound and an almost angry jerk of his head. The music started to slow and Blaine sat back down, letting his whole body relax as the piece came to an end.

The musician nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a clapping sound behind him. He wiped the tears from his face and attempted to compose himself a little before turning to see who the intruder was.

Sebastian was smiling, his eyes wide, giving away how impressed he was.

“Seb, you scared me!” Blaine’s heart was racing, his fingers still tingling from his intense playing. “Never do that again! I could have a stroke or something.”

Sebastian’s only answer was to come closer and hold him tight. He murmured in Blaine’s ear, �You transported me, Blaine. You truly are magical.”

He broke off from their embrace, pecking Blaine on his still damp cheek. “Just wow, Blaine! Goosebumps all over my body; look!” He pulled his sleeve up to show Blaine his arm where all hairs were still up.

Blaine laughed softly, feeling a light blush cover his cheeks at the praise from his best friend.

“It this a piece you planned to have on the show? Because if it is, we have to present that one on Saturday!” Sebastian continued enthusiastically.

“I’m not sure yet,” Blaine answered a bit timidly. He felt like this piece should not be shared, it was so deep and personal. But he knew that Sebastian would disagree and have him perform it in front of Mr. Wethils in the end. “It’s not really completed yet, it needs a bit more work…”

“Well, even if you can’t have it completed by next week, we definitely should consider presenting at least a part of it.” Sebastian guided Blaine back to the keyboard and sat next to him. “You just blew me away, Blaine,” he gestured with his hand near his face, mimicking a small bomb going off.

“I’ll see if I can manage to edit a short part out of it, in case it’s not finished by next week,” Blaine finally said, looking down at the ivory keys. He still felt on edge, trying to recover from the intense emotions he had been pulled from so abruptly by the interruption of his friend.

Sebastian put his left arm around the other man’s shoulder and squeezed a little, unaware of how Blaine was feeling at the moment. It was only when he heard his best friend sniffing that he turned to face him and asked,

“Is everything okay?” he searched Blaine’s face with eyes, trying to read there what was wrong.

“Yeah,” Blaine answered, a bit weakly. “It’s just music; it does that to me sometimes.” He looked down avoiding his friend’s penetrating gaze.

“You’re a real artist, Blaine, that’s why you feel so overwhelmed when you play,” Sebastian told him; a small smile tugged at Blaine’s lips but his head remained lowered. “You’re sure there’s nothing else going on, though?” Sebastian pushed.

“I… it’s nothing really. It’s stupid,” Blaine started dejectedly. “I don’t do that, I never do.”

“You lost me there, man.” Blaine looked up and saw confusion on Sebastian’s face.

“Just that guy I was seeing…”

Understanding flashed through Sebastian’s eyes.

“You mean that Kurt guy, right?” he asked his friend, who had lowered his eyes again. Sebastian had known about Kurt since Tina had not stopped bragging about the man.

“Yeah, I really liked him but it couldn’t work between us,” he continued in a small voice.

“His loss!” Sebastian patted his best friend on the back.

Blaine did not agree with that statement. If anything, it was he who had truly lost something good.

“But don’t worry Blaine, if you keep playing like that, men will stand in line to get you, not that they don’t already do. Seriously man, I’m kind of glad you ended this thing you had with that guy.”

Sebastian had felt an instant dislike of Kurt. He had never met the other man but he could not help but notice how Blaine looked each time he talked about him. Sure, he loved his best friend deeply and wanted to see him happy but Kurt was bad news. He was too much of a distraction for Blaine who had to focus on their show. Sebastian was glad to find out that things had not worked out between the two men. At least Blaine was now fully back on track.

“I’m not sure this is what I want…”

“Then just keep going the way we’re both used to,” Sebastian interrupted him. “Fuck’em and leav’em. Nothing’s more complicated than love in life.”

Blaine only nodded half-heartedly. His best friend hugged him tight and whispered in his ear, “It was good for you to have fun for a few days but it’s better this way, you’ll see.”

Blaine was the one to break his embrace, looking hurt at Sebastian’s words. He tried not to let it show though, but it barely mattered, as his best friend was now flicking through the pages of his sheet music.

“You should play it again for me, Blaine” he turned to his friend, completely ignoring the forlorn look on his face, “I only got to hear the end when I arrived.”

“Sure,” Blaine said as he let his fingers fall back on the ivory keys.

When Blaine starts to play again, he doesn’t feel overwhelmed anymore. His walls are back in place, hiding away his emotions and vulnerability. Sebastian does not notice a significant change, for him the piece still sounds amazing. The rhythm is enthralling and slower parts of the music are like soothing magic on his heart.

Blaine remains focused on his music, simply playing and not feeling.

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Thad checked his emails one last time before leaving his office. He also took his phone out to see if he had any missing messages. Nothing. He went to Brittany, who was replacing Sylvia, his usual secretary, for the day, to ask if maybe she had received a call from Blaine and if he left any message for him. But the blond woman informed him that the musician had not called. Thad sighed in frustration. He dialed Blaine’s mobile number.

Hello, you’ve reached Blaine Anderson. I’m not available at the moment. Leave a message with your phone number so I can call you back as soon as possible. Thank you.

It took all of Thad’s self control not to throw his mobile on the floor. Brittany eyed him with curiosity as he rushed past her desk and down the corridor.

Thad decided that he would try Blaine’s place. Maybe the musician had a connection problem and could not read his emails, or the battery of his phone died and could not answer any calls. Or the other man was just plain ignoring him. Thad liked Blaine, even though he thought that the musician could be lazy and uncooperative some of the time, he still believed in Blaine. He may not be as talented as his late father but there was definitely something there. And with this new opportunity, Thad hoped to give Blaine a chance to get his first real break. Also, if Blaine were to succeed at the festival, Thad would get the most important promotion of his career. That is why the man had to convince the musician to accept this new project.

It took around ten minutes for the taxi to drive him to Blaine’s loft. He walked to the main door and opened it. The lock system had been broken for years allowing anyone to come inside. More than once, Thad had told Blaine to see the landlord to get it fixed. Right now though, it was working in his favor since he doubted that Blaine would have buzzed him inside. He climbed the stairs that led to the loft and knocked three times on the door. A muffled sound of footsteps was heard from inside and then a loud bang sound followed by “Fuck!” until the key in the lock turned and Blaine appeared in the doorway. He was in sweats and a simple white t-shirt, a towel around his neck, his hair damp and sticking up in every direction.

“Thad, what are you doing here?” Blaine was surprised to see the other man. Was he supposed to meet his boss today? He had not checked his schedule since the day before.

“By the look of surprise on your face, I can conclude that you have not checked your emails today,” Thad said as a greeting.

Blaine’s only response was to shake his head and allow Thad to come inside.

“It’s alright, Blaine,” Thad sighed, as he sat on the sofa near the door.

“I’m sorry, my mind has been elsewhere all afternoon. Then Sebastian arrived and we got caught up talking about the show and other things. I hope you can understand.” Blaine looked up at his superior with pleading eyes.

“It’s fine, I guess. And this was not scheduled so it’s not your fault; just check your emails more often, okay?” He looked through his messenger bag and pulled a bright red file from it. He then handed it to Blaine. “Read this.”

Grand Festival du Film � Paris le 17 novembre 2012.

(Great Film Festival, Paris November 17th 2012)

Artistes, jeunes cin�astes de l’ombre, sc�naristes et musiciens venez nombreux vous pr�senter au grand concours qui aura lieu le 17 novembre 2012. Huit grandes cat�gories, un grand prix et de nombreuses r�compenses pour tous les participants. (Whether you’re an artist, a young a director in the making, a script writer or a musician, you can all take part to the great contest on November 17th 2012. There are eight categories with one big prize and many consolation prizes for all participants.)

Les participants devront travailler sur deux projets qui seront � pr�senter le matin du festival. (The morning all participants will present in front of our jury the two projects that they’ll have worked on in preparation of the contest.).

Si vous faites partie d’une entreprise de divertissement, une maison de production de cin�ma ou de th��tre, veuillez nous contacter rapidement afin de nous pr�senter la ou les personnes que vous avez choisies pour repr�senter votre entreprise. (If you are part of a company in the entertainment industry, please contact us to tell us who is/are the person(s) that will represent your company).

Blaine stopped reading, looking up in interrogation at Thad who just smiled. The musician had heard of this film festival a while ago. He had even tried to find a way to present a piece, but had given up on that idea once he had called and the organizers had explained that he could not be an unsponsored candidate. You had to work on two projects that were given by the judges of the festival. You also needed to be part of a company that dealt with entertainment, film production, music or an editing house. It had not crossed Blaine’s mind to ask Thad if Ericksen: Art et Divertissement planned on taking part in the festival. But now that Thad had given him this promotion slip for him to read, he was curious to know why his boss had brought it to him.

“I don’t really understand why you’re showing me this,” Blaine said, not daring to hope yet.

“Well my dear Blaine, it happens that Mr. Ericksen was quite impressed with your new music piece and said that you were talented. We haven’t found anyone to present at the festival yet and Mr. Ericksen suggested that you could try to work on the first project that was assigned and then we’ll see if you’d be up for the bigger challenge.” Thad took a deep breath and looked expectantly at Blaine, waiting for a reaction. “So, what do you think?” he prompted as the musician remained silent.

“I’m flattered but are you sure that I’m the right person for the job?” Blaine was not really confident.

“Of course you are!” Thad exclaimed as if it was obvious. “One of the eight categories is ‘compose an original soundtrack.’ Don’t you remember what you told me when you first interviewed for the job at Ericksen: Art et Divertissement?”

“That I wanted to work on original soundtracks for short movies,” Blaine said with a small smile finally breaking through.

“Exactly!” Thad said enthused. “And now you can actually work on a project that you’re excited about. This is your chance, Blaine.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say. This is all so soon, why wasn’t I told before?” he had a hard time wrapping his mind around his luck.

“I don’t want to sound mean but it’s mainly because you usually never show real interest in what you do for the company. And I’m aware that writing songs for stupid commercials can be boring but at least you’re not the guy who wrote the pieces for the tramways and train stations.”

Blaine winced a bit at that because he knew that, had he not gotten the job at Ericksen: Art et Divertissement, he would have ended up doing exactly that.

“So, what do you think Blaine? Are you up to the challenge?” Thad asked him.

Blaine thought for a moment about this. A project like that would take much more of his time. This meant longer hours of work and less freedom. But this was what he had always wanted to do since he started playing music. When he was still a little boy, he used to mute the TV during his favorite cartoons and would play little tunes to go along the actions of the characters. Later, when he was in junior high school and had become much better at the piano, he would put the Harry Potter movies and play along the original soundtrack composed by John Williams.

Blaine did not like working for Ericksen: Art et Divertissement, this was no secret to anyone. But he could not pass such an opportunity.

“Yes, I’m interested in working on this project,” he finally said with a smile.

“You won’t regret this Blaine, I promise you.” They both stood and Thad shook Blaine’s hand with enthusiasm. “I think we should meet on Monday morning so I can give all the guidelines of the project that has been assigned to you. I think you’re going to love the little movie they’ve given you.” He did not add more, not wanting to spoil the full surprise to Blaine. “Also, you’ll meet the team you’ll be working with if you’re to take the assignment, Mr. Ericksen-Hummel and Mrs. Weber who will join us on the project.”

“I’ll be there at 8:30 if that’s alright with you,” Blaine said.

“That’s perfect Blaine, thank you. I‘ll call you if there’s any change.”

“Okay, thank you, Thad, have a nice weekend.”

“You too ,Blaine,” Thad said as he walked to the door and left.

Blaine looked back at the red file still on the table and smiled to himself, feeling really excited and hopeful about this new project. Then he groaned a little as he thought back to what Sebastian had told him earlier.

“You can’t let yourself be distracted by anything now Blaine. I need you 110% on this with me, okay?” his best friend had said as Blaine had walked him to the door.

Blaine sighed. Sebastian did not need to know. The musician was not about to pass such a great opportunity. He would pretend to his friend that he got promoted, hence more work hours. He was sure that no matter what, Sebastian would always find something about Blaine that annoyed him. After all, that was the main dynamic of their friendship.

Blaine was also looking forward to how great a distraction working on this project would be. His mind had wandered while he had played earlier and a good portion of the piece he had finished composing was inspired by Kurt. If he had something specific to work on, he would be able to focus all his energy and thought into it. Blaine smiled to himself.

This was exactly what he needed.