Victory RUN: Collected Victory RUN 1, 2, 3

by Devon Hartford

Another reason I’ve never tried anything with Em is I think she’s the kind of woman who’s going to have sex with maybe two guys in her entire life, and marry the second one. I don’t want to play around with someone like her. From the way she talks, I think she’s probably still a virgin at 23. She’s way too innocent and deserves to stay that way. I mean, she’s drinking milk and eating chocolate chip cookies to blow off steam. She doesn’t need a guy like me.

  “No,” I answer, “It’s about…someone I met recently.”

  “Have you played it for her?”

  “No,” I chuckle, “I just wrote it tonight.”

  “Oh,” she smiles and takes a dainty sip of milk. “Can I hear it? Again, I mean?”

  “Sure,” I smile. This isn’t the first time I’ve sung and played in front of someone or even some crowd. I’m used to it. I sit on the edge of the easy chair facing my couch, put the Martin over my knee, and run through the tune again. I don’t really pay attention to Emily while I’m playing because I’m still working out the timing of playing and singing at the same time.

  When I finish, I hike my eyebrows. “Whaddya think?”

  She sits on the edge of the couch, slightly slouched, elbows resting on her knees. Her head hangs over the half eaten Chips Ahoy cookie cradled in her hands, “You should really play that for the girl you wrote it about,” she mutters. “Any girl would melt if she heard you singing like that about her.” She sounds bummed or maybe slightly depressed.

  I know she likes me. There’s nothing I can do about it. “Thanks,” I say.

  A moment later, she straightens her back and plucks a Chips Ahoy out of the bag. “Want a cookie?” she grins. Like I said, Em is a determined girl with a lot of focus.

  “Sure,” I smile, leaning over from my easy chair to grab the cookie from her. I eat it in the chair.

  Em sits on the couch.

  I don’t want any chance of mixed signals.

  We chat about random shit for the next twenty minutes.

  When Em leaves to go back to her studying, I call Victory.

  She doesn’t answer.

  No problem. I’ll see her at the school soon enough.

  Chapter 96

  VICTORY

  “Cameras are rolling,” someone yells in the darkness.

  I think it’s the cinematographer of the music video, or the cameraman. I’m not sure who. There are so many people on the big soundstage, I can’t keep them all straight.

  The day after our exhibitionist Ferrari fingering session, Julian called to tell me he had arranged another surprise. Getting to watch the video shoot for Layce’s upcoming single ‘I Rise’ is way beyond anything I imagined.

  It’s like being on the set of a full-blown Hollywood movie production.

  The ‘I Rise’ music video is set in a huge dark gothic castle surrounded by gray skies crowded with storm clouds. A palatial stone staircase leads up to the arched entrance where a handsome prince awaits.

  The model playing the prince reminds me of a renaissance manga vampire. He’s dressed in a princely black riding coat with tails. The coat has white satin appointments that circle the cuffs and collar. Tight white pants and black thigh high riding boots complete the outfit. Pale makeup contrasts strikingly against his painted blood red lips. I have no doubt the girls of the world will swoon over his leading man good looks when they see the video online.

  “Cue music,” someone else yells from the shadows.

  The music for ‘I Rise’ plays through the P.A. speakers positioned throughout the darkened soundstage.

  Julian told me this song is the first single from Layce’s next album, and the reason why he and Max flew to Sweden to rework it at the last minute. I’ve never heard the song before today, but since I arrived on set this morning, I’ve heard it at least twenty times.

  Julian and Max’s work must have paid off, because the tune is instantly catchy and I absolutely love it. I’ve always enjoyed all styles of music, especially pop. I can appreciate a good hook and a good chorus, and ‘I Rise’ has both. This song is going to be big. Based on the amount of money going into the video production, I think Layce’s record company thinks so too.

  There’s an energy on set because everyone working the soundstage is excited about the song and the production of the video. They all believe in it and are working hard to make everything perfect. Between takes, I’ve heard people chattering about how many views it will have on YouTube. Some are saying it will be bigger than Katy Perry’s Roar. I believe them.

  “Action!” someone yells in the darkness.

  Super bright strobe lights flash on and off several times, simulating lightning.

  A crystalline carriage drawn by four white horses pulls up to the base of the staircase. White mist a foot deep swirls around their hooves and the wheels of the carriage. The white horses are real and they’re huge and their hooves are loud compared to the music pumping out of the P.A. speakers, sounding like pistol shots that echo around the soundstage.

  Earlier, I was lucky enough to see the horses up close between takes. Their trainer was friendly but cautioned me to stay out of the way because the horses were getting spooked by the fake strobe light lightning.

  When the crystalline carriage stops, a princess in an elegant white gown steps carefully out of the carriage. It’s Layce in costume as a gothic manga princess, dressed in white lace, just like her name. She’s a beautiful young woman.

  I looked Layce up on my phone earlier and found out she’s 26. Four years older than me, but a million times more successful in the music business than I am. I’ve heard her music, seen her in cosmetics commercials on TV, seen her videos online, but didn’t know much about her before today.

  According to her Wikipedia page, three singles from her last album “Penny Princess: Rags to Riches” hit number one on Billboard’s Hot 100. One of the singles, Young In Love, held at number one for eight weeks. Penny Princess spent a total of 44 weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart and received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year in 2012. And, Layce’s net worth is estimated at almost a hundred million dollars. The buzz is that Layce’s next album is going to be even bigger than Penny Princess, and 2014 is the year that Layce is going to own the pop starlet crown.

  Based on hearing ‘I Rise’ on set all day, and this lavish video production, I think the buzz is right.

  Layce is the next big thing.

  Am I jealous?

  Yes and no. I never wanted to be a pop star. But when I listen to the lyrics for ‘I Rise,’ a lump forms in my throat that threatens to suffocate me. I wish I’d written this song myself. I wish I was the one singing it. It’s so damn cool and catchy.

  But I don’t sing.

  I’ll never sing.

  The idea of me singing is so painful, it threatens to collapse my chest into the black hole where my heart is supposed to be.

  I wish…I want…

  But I can’t.

  I can’t ever sing.

  I promised…

  I shake my head, trying to clear it. I don’t want to think about it right now. I focus on the beautiful story unfolding before me in the music video.

  I feel so lucky to be here, and I owe it all to Julian’s generosity. I need to think of a good way to thank him for this opportunity. But I have no idea what I could possibly do for him that can compare to what he’s done for me.

  As Layce walks up the bleak stone steps of the gothic castle, she is the only bright being in the Prince’s gloomy gray world. A camera man with a steadicam rig strapped to his shoulders climbs backward up the steps in front of Layce, his camera tracking her in close up as she lip syncs to the words of the first verse:

  “Your smile disarming

  Your eyes alarming

  You were my very own Prince Charming”

  Another camera is close on the handsome prince, capturing his devilishly delectable features. I stand behind the director’s area which is near the back wall of the sound stage. The director, the c
inematographer, and ten other assistants with numerous official titles huddle around several playback monitors which show what all the different cameras are capturing. The lyrical description of the Prince is accurate. The model they hired to play the Prince is beautiful, but has a hint of brooding danger trapped behind his thin grin.

  Layce continues to mouth the rest of the first verse:

  “I should’ve known

  You’d take it all

  The day I slipped into your fall”

  Layce, as the Princess, reaches the top of the stairs, and the Prince takes her hand to kiss it delicately. She lip syncs the pre-chorus:

  “I tried so hard

  It’s over now

  Won’t sink into your meltdown”

  The camera reveals a look of tearful sorrow haunting Layce’s eyes as she reluctantly accepts the Prince’s kiss as he holds her wrist.

  “I’ve had enough

  I gave my all

  I will not live within your fall”

  At that moment, the Prince motions toward the entrance of the gothic castle, which is a gaping black maw. The pointed spikes of the fake iron portcullis overhead form the teeth in the castle’s mouth. There is a wicked gleam in the eyes of the handsome Prince as he leads the Princess inside. The castle is obviously symbolic and represents the dark personality of the broken Prince.

  ‘I Rise’ is clearly a song about a girl who falls for a damaged boy she thought she could fix, but couldn’t. I can relate. Can I get a Scott Walker, anyone? Scott was so broken, he ruined everything we built. The relationship and the band. So much for Skin Trade. I should’ve known better. Oh well. What’s done is done. I’ve forgotten all about Scott.

  Sort of.

  I still don’t have a band of my own.

  The thing with Olivia, Lucas, and Logan has potential, but everyone is so busy it’s stalling. It frustrates me like you can’t imagine. Watching Layce’s video production where everyone is giving 110% to make her a success stabs my heart. I’m the only person in my life giving my music career 110%.

  I want to make music that moves people like ‘I Rise’ moves me.

  But I can’t do it alone.

  I refuse to think about it right now.

  I shove it out of my head and watch the majesty of the video shoot.

  Surrounding the Prince and Princess on the sound stage at the entrance to the castle are a crowd of the Prince’s loyal subjects, all dressed in black. They have garish white and black facial makeup that makes them appear almost skeletal. Their clothing is all black, twisted, and wicked like something out of a Tim Burton movie. They all have slightly insane looks on their faces, and all of them glare and sneer at the Princess. They grab at her as she walks through the gates of the castle, but she ignores them, and sings the chorus to the song:

  “The beat of my heart,

  my angel wings, and finally,

  I rise

  Soaring above it all

  I fly

  My heart beat, dreams and desires

  Finally, I rise

  I fly

  Soaring above it all

  Aa-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-all

  All

  Soaring above it all

  Aa-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-all

  Aa-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-all

  All, all

  Soaring above it all”

  The power pop glam rock music is so powerful as it pumps out of the sound stage P.A., it sends shivers into my heart. I want to

  (sing)

  cry, I’m so jealous. This song is really, really good. It may be teenage girl pop music, but it’s honest. I wish I wrote it. I wish I was the one

  (singing)

  in costume, playing the part of the Princess. This surprises me, because I never really thought of doing anything other than playing lead guitar in a hard rock band. I imagined that would be enough for me. But now that I don’t have Skin Trade, and now that I’m seeing a video like this shot first hand and hearing the amazing song that goes with it, I want to

  (singsingsing)

  be a part of something like this.

  On the plus side, now that I’m out of Skin Trade, maybe some day I can. Scott would never have done a video like this. For one, we could never have afforded it. I can only wonder how much of Layce’s personal fortune is being spent on this huge production.

  Also, Scott would never do something this fantastic. I can imagine him saying, “This isn’t rock and roll. This is bullshit. This is corporate crack for teenage twits too stupid to think for themselves.” Before our break up, I probably would’ve agreed with him.

  Now, I’m swept away. It’s awesome.

  Scott was a douche. A repressive, suffocating douche bag.

  I wish I knew how to build a career like Layce’s for myself. I feel lucky just witnessing a piece of it unfolding.

  Chapter 97

  VICTORY

  I don’t know who Layce is behind her pop star persona, but I do know she’s the luckiest girl I’ve ever stood twenty feet away from.

  Throughout the day, Layce has come down to the director’s area with all the playback monitors to talk with the director and his assistants between takes. During those moments, Layce has been so close, I could’ve called her name and she would’ve heard me. But I didn’t because several of the production assistants have been kind enough to warn me not to bother the star if I want to stay on set. Apparently, it’s literally in their contracts that they are not allowed to look Layce in the eyes or talk to her. That includes me.

  “Cut!” the director shouts at the end of yet another take. “Love it!” He turns to the assistant director and says in a low voice, “If Layce doesn’t like this take, tell her she can hire George Lucas to finish the shoot.”

  The assistant director grins and nods, “If George is busy, I’ll put in a call to Spielberg. I’m sure he’ll be happy to do it.”

  The two of them exchange a long smile before shaking their heads and chuckling quietly together.

  The assistant director says, “She really is a pain in the ass, isn’t she?”

  The director rolls his eyes, “You said it, not me!”

  “I didn’t say anything,” the assistant director lies, clearly amused.

  The director sighs, “We can bitch about it later. Right now, we have scenes to shoot before we run out of budget. I think we can move everyone around to the ballroom set and shoot that after lunch.”

  “Good call,” the assistant director nods. He grabs a bullhorn from the table in front of the monitors and walks to the base of the gothic staircase. He starts calling out instructions to everyone. Bright work lights flicker on, illuminating the set, cutting through the gloom. Tall stage doors are opened, letting in sunlight.

  The horses are unharnessed from the crystalline carriage and led outside for water and fresh air. One of the horses dumps a huge basketful of horse apples on set, and one of the animal trainer’s assistants rushes over with a shovel and a wheelbarrow to clean up. A union guy with a mop scrubs the area until it’s spic and span.

  Outside the studio, a food truck is parked next to the building. A white tent covers a row of picnic tables. Some of the crew is lined up to get food, but most of the crew is inside preparing the next shot.

  I wait in line and get a burger. I haven’t eaten anything all day, and I’m happily surprised I don’t have to pay for it. None of the crew do.

  Before I know it, the crew are being summoned inside. I hastily finish the rest of my burger and toss my trash in a waste can at the end of the picnic tables.

  As I near the stage doors, Layce is walking toward me and the doors from the opposite direction in her white lace wedding gown. She is surrounded by an entourage of people in non-costume trendy business casual.

  I stop near the stage entrance to watch. I hope they don’t notice me.

  One of the women with Layce has a short black bob with bangs and wears a kimono crop top with a white pencil skirt and strappy heels. She says to Layce, “…and they’
ve designed three new scents exclusively for your fragrance line.” She holds an iPad in one arm and cradles several perfume bottles in the other.

  Layce frowns, “I hope they gave me something good to work with. The last batch smelled heinous.”

  Kimono Top says, “They really need you to make a decision on which scent you like and choose a bottle design so they can begin production on the bottles now. It takes weeks for them to ship overseas from China.”

  “I thought they made the perfume in New Jersey?”

  “They do. But the bottles are manufactured in China.”

  Layce stops beside one of the tall doors to the soundstage and says, “Have we picked a name yet?”

  Kimono Top shakes her head, “No. We’re waiting for focus group results on Uplift, Flight, and Wings.”

  “What?” Layce growls, “what happened to my picks for the name?”

  Kimono Top shrugs, “That’s what the suits at the record label wanted.”

  Layce scowls, “Are you serious? Uplift makes me think of a forklift or a hoist, and Flight makes me think of being trapped on Southwest Airlines next to a fat guy who farts all the way from Kansas to Kalamazoo. What about my suggestions: Soar or Rise? It’s the name of the damn single!”

  Kimono Top is merely the messenger, but she winces unconsciously away from Layce’s intensity. After she recovers, she says, “Do you want to smell them?”

  “Now?” Layce whines.

  “We’ve pushed back two weeks already,” Kimono Top says sheepishly.

  “Fine,” Layce barks and holds out her wrist. “Hit me.”

  Kimono top juggles her iPad and the bottles until she has one in hand. She spritzes Layce’s outstretched wrist.

  Layce sniffs it and grimaces, “That’s awful. Next.”

  Kimono Top readies another bottle. “Where do you want it? Next to this one?”