Chasing Inspiration With A Bat

Ding!

I quickly scanned the contents of the email; it was from my label, and it was a long letter. I frowned at some of the sections, and by the end of it I put my phone down and sighed.

"What was that about?" Diana asked, stretching her arms above her head. She was midway through her cool-down stretches, her hair pulled back in a severe, perfect bun that matched her blue leotard. We would sometimes hang out together and do some cardio exercises, but it mostly happened every month or so. Diana had a busy schedule, since she was a college student at a prestigious classical arts university, and she probably had a million things to do at a given time.

I slouched in my seat, staring at my phone as if I could magically turn back time and change the contents of the letter I got. "Management," I groaned, letting my head hit the back of the studio couch. "They’re changing the lead single choice."

Diana stopped stretching. "But... you’ve been pitching Starlit Dream for weeks. It’s such a pretty song too..." She pouts. "It’s literally your life story! There's basically no song that's more fitting of being a lead single!"

Diana was being so supportive in a short amount of time that it snapped me out of my irritability. I laughed softly. "It's okay, Diana. I'll live. There's no need to storm their headquarters." I looked down at my hands and tried to keep an even tone while I was talking. There was no use in being upset. It wasn't a big deal anyway, I told myself.

"The thing is..." I sighed, standing up and grabbing my water bottle. "Apparently, 'grinding for dreams' doesn't do numbers on social media. You know what does? Parker. They want a love song. Specifically, a song that 'fans the flames of the B1 rumors.' They want me to give the press something to decode."

My friend nods slowly. It's her thing that she does when she's deep in thought; most of the time it doesn't actually mean she's agreeing with whatever the other person is saying.  Case in point, she stops mid-nod and pipes up: "Wait, Celeste! Don't you hate writing love songs?"

"I don't exactly hate them...they're just not the kind of songs I usually write. Or have fun writing about." 

"See. World's #1 romance hater." Diana says, sighing dramatically.

I ignored the exaggerated accusation. "I haven't written a love song in years. I’m dry. I’m not exactly swooning over anyone, and I can't just manufacture butterflies out of thin air. It's such a huge hassle..."

Diana smirked. "You have a fake boyfriend who looks like a model 24/7. Maybe start there?"

I groaned. "But writing songs is more about honesty for me. It's very different from acting. I could try to make up a story, but every single time I do that I just end up with a mediocre song."

"That is a predicament..." Diana grabs her water bottle, and unscrews it thoughtfully. "You know, if you would just hurry up and fall in love with Parker already, like I told you, then it would completely solve your problem. Tsk tsk."

I laughed. "Sure. Why didn't I just think of that."

Suddenly, I jolted upright. I had the most perfect idea. "Diana, you're the absolute best." 

I grabbed my phone and began speedily typing a text message. 

***

"I need you to go out on a date with me," I said, standing in the doorway with my notepad ready.

Parker didn't bat an eye. "Hello to you too, Celeste. I'm doing great, thanks for asking."

"I'm serious. The label wants a 'Parker-coded' love song. I tried to write one, but it sounded like a Hallmark card written by an AI." I hesitated, and I knew my voice was getting softer. "I have this list of potential lyrical themes, but...I don't actually have any experience with dating."

I waved my pen around, hoping it would distract him from the fact that I was starting to turn red. "I need field research. I need to observe romantic behaviors in the wild."

Parker sighs and lets me in his apartment. I saw the script for The Midnight Horizon at the living room table, and realized that he had been flipping through it just before I rang his doorbell. I felt guilty.

"So, let me get this straight." Parker was clearing up some of the mess from his sofa while talking, presumably so I would have something to sit on that wasn't the floor. "You need me to take you on a fake date because it's that impossible to imagine being in love with me."

"Not like that! Why do you make me sound so mean?" I stared at my feet. "I just don't usually... you know my romance life is dry. I'm more married to hard work, really."

"Right," he drawled.

"Since I initiated the idea, should I come up with the date plan, too?" I asked, poising my pen over the paper.

Parker rolled his eyes, tossing the last remaining junk away from the sofa (and into the floor). He stood up, and suddenly the goofy best friend energy shifted into something...confident. 

"You don't have inspiration, right? So let me handle the creative direction," he said, walking past me to grab his car keys. He paused next to me, shooting me a grin that was equal parts teasing and charming.

"I'll come up with the idea. By the time the day is over, I'm sure you'll already be in love with me."

"If you say so."

***

Parker took me to the Ariel Avita Museum.

"I remembered you said you wanted to see their new exhibit before it closed," Parker said as we walked through the entrance. He wasn't wearing his 'cool actor' leather jacket. He was wearing a soft beige sweater and his glasses, looking less like a movie star and more like... just Parker. Well, just Parker except for the atrocious fake wig he's using as a disguise, but I'll let it slide.

At any rate, he was right. I was barely able to control my excitement as I looked at the sparkly costumes in the brand new exhibit section. Ariel Avita was an entertainer from the 1960's, and she had such a fascinating life. She has basically dabbled in almost any type of entertainment media, and she did a great job with all of them; she had won hundreds of awards through her lifetime.

For the next few hours, I took note of all the little things Parker did, like opening doors for me, politely asking me questions about Ms. Avita (even though I'm sure he couldn't be less interested), and the way that he rested his chin on his palm when he's absorbed in reading a plaque. I'm hoping that it would give me a giant spark of inspiration and cause me to write the greatest love song of the modern century or whatever insane thing it was that my label expected from me.

But the mental notes stopped when we got to the vintage animation projector. Parker got weirdly excited. He started explaining the mechanics of the multi-plane camera, his eyes lighting up, his hands moving animatedly as he described the lens focus.

He was just passionately nerdy about something he loved.

I watched him; the way his hair fell into his eyes when he leaned over the glass display case... the way he focused so intently on the details...

Huh.

I've always known Parker was an objectively attractive person, but I think this might be the first time that I've found him cute.