Independence Day
by Scotty

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JC pulled off the headset and dropped it on the counter next to the console, stretching his back as he stood up.

"OK, I'm done. How much honesty do you want?"

It took a moment for Justin to respond. Actually it took a lot longer than that because for at least thirty seconds he'd waited for JC to laugh. Or to throw something at him. Anything that said he was kidding.

Instead JC had taken a pencil from behind his ear and started scribbling. On the edge of a napkin. Licking the tip of the pencil repeatedly so it wouldn't tear the paper.

Justin was amazed by how quickly he'd been dismissed.

"What are you doing?"

"Hold on a minute. Let me finish this."

He was humming now. The same melody a few different ways. Then more scribbling. He pushed once at the bridge of his nose, adjusting glasses that had not moved. An affectation he had acquired sometime in the past year. He nodded his head a few times. Then folded the napkin and stuck it in his pocket. He pushed the pencil back over his ear then looked up. Startled. As if he had lost track of Justin. And was surprised to find him there.

"So, what? You want to talk about it? Or do you want to hear what I think?"

Justin lifted his chin slightly. Then nodded.

"You."

"How much?"

"All of it."

JC leaned over casually, dropping the remaining sheets of music on the table.

"I'm not really feeling it."

Justin stood perfectly still. Aware for the first time since they'd entered the studio, that JC was not simply distracted. Something he'd learned to deal with over the years. Factored in. Like no one else on earth, JC could just get lost. A set of headphones, some new sounds, and he was gone. This was different.

"The bridge is good. I like it. I do. I'm a sucker for ballads. You know, like Angel Baby. That was perfect. The whole fifties thing. . . ."

Justin turned his head when JC stopped suddenly. Only to find him picking at a loose thread on his sleeve. Obviously displeased at the imperfection in his otherwise perfect appearance. He looked up at Justin, then continued on. As if there had been no careless interruption. But in a tone that no longer masqueraded as interest.

"There was another part. I'm working on something like it myself. I don't know where it was."

He wasn't even bothering to pretend.Somewhere in the sheaf of papers was something he'd liked. But not enough to look for it. To move it out to the margin. To save it. Like they'd always done. In case the whole song got scrapped. Not enough for that.

Justin felt his face redden. No one had heard these songs. The four he'd been allowed on the album. The rest a series of arranged marriages with other artists. To broaden its appeal. Not quite what he'd expected, but okay for his first time out.

A bead of perspiration was finding its way down his back as he waited. To hear that it needed more sharps or flats. Was off a sixteenth here or there. It never came.

JC took a call as he spoke.

"The rest I'm not really comfortable with."

• • •

Justin slipped the disk into his pocket and rolled the pages of music gently, enough to fit inside his zippered jacket. He pulled a key off his ring and laid it quietly on the table. It's not like he'd be needing it again.

He'd planned to give it back anyway. Sometime.

It had been months since he'd spent the night in LA. The last one had felt out of joint. Somehow wrong. And now he itched inside a skin that no longer fit. Anxious to shed it. Like a snake who knew that summer had come.

In the parking lot, he took a deep breath. To simply smell the ocean air. Not to feel his chest fill up with pain and regret.

He started the car then looked back. There was no movement by the door. JC still on the phone. Not yet aware he was gone.

Taking his naked soul with him.