Читать книгу Circle - Elina Wainwright - Страница 12

«Hello, everyone!» a new message flew into the conversation. I looked closely at the name and didn’t recognise it. Some Caleb. Who’s that?

«Hi», – Dan.

«Hey!» – Andrew.

«Welcome!» – I typed.

«Guys, this is our new intern. His name is Caleb. He’s going to be writing beats. Works with Hirom», – came a message from Chris.

Who Hirom was, I didn’t know, or rather, all I knew was that he trained DJs.

«Listen, I don’t know anybody here, and I’d like to get to know all of you. Would you mind getting together one evening?» – Caleb asked.

«Great idea!» – typed Andrew.

«I’m in, too», – Diana.

«Why not», – Richard.

«Just not at our place,» – typed Dan. – «The neighbors already complain about the constant noise in our apartment. I don’t want to fight with anyone».

«It’s not like we’ve ever been rowdy», – Chris.

«But we’ve been making noise. Let’s give our house a break», – Dan.

«I suggest we gather at my place», – Henry.

Unusually.

«Yeah. You’ve got enough space, too. We can fit in», – Richard.

«Okay. Please write down the address», – Caleb.

***

«Hey, Henry and Andrew and I will stop by to buy some drinks. Write down what to get for who», – Richard.

«Di and I will have a beer», – Chris typed.

«I’ll have a beer, too», – Danielle.

«I don’t need anything, thank you», – I typed and went on to choose my outfit for the evening: what should I choose, an orange or a brown sweatshirt?

To be honest, I wasn’t particularly eager to meet the guys. When we did get together, we mostly talked about things I wasn’t interested in, from stupid jokes about vegans to work. I hated it when we started discussing work. Don’t get me wrong, but I immediately had a bad time with this internship and the studio. I dreamed of going back to New York, where I had lived for the past three years, and getting back into my usual field of teaching. I was giving private lessons on various musical instruments. I loved it, but I wanted more. That’s why I went for this internship. I needed to sit still and keep my head down. I wouldn’t have had to miss my friends in New York and get worked up by Armie and his stupid assignments.

But there was nothing to do, and somehow I had to survive in the new society. So every two or three weeks I met up with the guys and just spent time playing some game. At least one kind of entertainment.

I was distracted from my thoughts by a new notification:

«Listen, there’s a store just opened around the corner and they have amazing snacks for beer and other alcoholic beverages. I got myself some a couple of days ago. Homemade. Why don’t we get some? You sure won’t regret it!!!» – Daniel.

«Sounds cool!» – Diana.

«I can grab you some craft beer, too», – Dan continued to offer his ideas.

«Get us all a bottle. We’ll give it a try. We’ll drop the money off to you later», – Henry.

«No problem. But I need help. I can’t carry it all in two hands, I’ll break it. Who’s going to help?» – Dan.

«Di and I planned to come straight to Henry’s», – Chris.

«I’m with guys in the car. We can drive to your house, of course, but we planned to go straight to Henry’s, too», – Andrew typed.

Apparently, God meant it.

«I’ll stop by your place, Danielle,» – I sent. «You can walk me to the rendezvous point, too. I haven’t been to Henry’s,».

«Waiting!» – Dan.

***

I knocked on the door three times. A minute later, Dan opened the door, bare-chested. That’s pretty epic.

«I’m sorry, I was working too hard, and I forgot about the meeting. I’ll get dressed and be right there. Just wait here,» he said quickly, and ran back to his room.

«Whatever you say,» I stretched out.

I looked around the place. Andrew and Dan shared this apartment with each other. I’d been in Dan’s room many times-we always met at his place, since he owned the living room. It was always clean and tidy. It was obvious that he is a cleaner, which is commendable.

As for Andrew’s room, it was purely a man’s cave. I’d only been there once, but I could picture the big picture: coins all over the room, socks, and cookie wrappers. In general, the contrast of this apartment was not inferior to the streets of New York.

«That’s it, I’m ready!» Dan ran from his room and began to put on his shoes.

«How far to Henry’s house?» I asked, stepping out of the way so I wouldn’t disturb him.

«Fifteen minutes away,» he said, letting me go ahead of him so we could leave the apartment.

«Are we all in the same neighbourhood?» I wondered.

«Yeah,» the guy said, and locked the door.

«What a coincidence,» I stretched out.

«Actually, it’s not. The apartments were chosen specifically for us interns in the same area so we wouldn’t get bored. Jerome was in charge of the apartment search. Richard flew here for the construction of the building, and he took Henry with him. He was in the middle of a job search. So Richard asked Jerome to find him and his brother an apartment. Jerome took it easy and got them all apartments in the same neighbourhood,» Daniel explained.

It’s all clearer now.

«Why do Chris and Di live out of town?» Dan and I went outside.

«They got here two months before we did. There were no apartments in the area back then. At least that’s what Jerome told me.»

«Makes sense,» I agreed.

«How are you doing? What’s up with Armie?» Dan asked.

I rolled my eyes.

«Don’t even ask. I don’t like talking about him,» I admitted. «How’s it going with your mentor?»

«Not so hot either,» the boy breathed out. «I’m working hard. He’s shaking new ideas and tunes at me every day. And controls every note and every word.»

«I don’t know what’s worse: the total disregard from the mentor, like mine, or the total control, like yours.» We turned the corner.

«Do you want to stay here after the internship?»

«No,» I answered honestly, «I want to go back to New York. Or stay in LA, but not with this label. I don’t really like it here. What about you?» I asked the guy.

«If they offer me to stay, I’ll take it. This is my chance to achieve something in this life.» We went up to some little store. Apparently that’s what Dan was talking about in the conversation.

«What’s the plan if they keep you?» I asked.

«I’ll sign a contract, move out of Andrew’s and move my girlfriend here. Are you in a relationship, by the way?» the guy asked in between.

«No, I don’t have any luck with that,» I grinned.

«And why is that?» the guy was genuinely surprised.

«What would you like, young people?» The salesman turned to us. Daniel dictated our order, paid for it, put everything into different bags, one of which he handed to me, and we left the place.

«So why?» the guy suddenly asked.

«Why what?» I didn’t understand.

«Why don’t you have anyone?»

«Well, I guess I purposely always choose the most idiotic option of all,» I exhaled.

«What do you mean?»

«Let’s just say that emotional swings are my specialty. My first under-ex-boyfriend had exhausted me with his games of „Hot – Cold“ and when he was ripe for a normal relationship, I decided to teach him a lesson. It was a tough and enlightening story,» I recalled from my dark past.

«You gonna tell me about it?» We walked into some apartment complex. Apparently, this was where Henry lived.

«Some other time. I don’t want to remember this dark story.»

«Was there a criminal act?»

«Yeah. A wounded ego and a broken heart,» I replied sarcastically.

«I’m eerily curious.» Dan went to the door, entered the code, and we entered the entryway.

«I’ll tell you about it sometime.»

We went up to the eleventh floor, got off the elevator, and knocked on the door.

Henry opened it for us.

«Welcome to my home!» Henry greeted us.