Wherever I Live (Brandon)

[camila calderón]

It was late January, and Camila was both thrilled and nervous to be back in the recording studio. The songs that the British songwriters had come up with were worlds better than anything that she could have written in English, though they didn’t quite speak to her in the same way as the songs that she had written herself, in Spanish. They would have to grow on her, she guessed, but they were catchy enough that she wouldn’t find it too boring to be back in the booth. Plus, how many of them would end up getting scrapped at the final second, anyhow?

She Apparated to the studio alongside one of her security guards, folders of material pressed against her chest with her free hand. It hadn’t taken her long to start memorizing the lyrics, though she was sure that she would have to correct her pronunciation a few times. Inevitably, it seemed, Camila would find herself slipping up somewhere, with someone speaking the proper pronunciation to her as though she were deaf or a small child. They were only trying to help, though, as frustrating as it was from her end.

When they arrived, Camila was shocked to find that she had to wait. Not that she was bothered by waiting—it was the grown adults from her team who seemed more agitated by the wait than she—but she was always rushed in as soon as possible. From what she could tell of the English conversations around her, there was some issue with Studio A. And then she saw that the sign was illuminated to signal that another artist was recording, or had been.

Just then, the light flicked off, and the door opened. A young man stepped out; he was either in his teens or maybe his early twenties. Camila didn’t recognize him, but she felt the need to apologize. She was still a relative newcomer, and she didn’t want to get on anyone’s bad side.

“Sorry, sorry,” Camila excused herself quickly, assuming that she was encroaching on his studio time. “I will use Studio B?”

@brandon
OOC: Hope this works!

[Deleted]

Brandon was finally recording. He was so excited to be in the recording studio after waiting so long. The thing was, Zander put in a good word for him last year after graduation, but with the injuries he sustained in the Durmstrang carriage, it took him almost all summer to get back to playing his music again. So much physical therapy was involved, but it all became worth it once he could play again. However, in the fall he found out that the recording studio was booked. They signed a contract with him, assuring they did want to record his music, they just couldn't fit him in until after Christmas. 

The whole situation was frustrating, but Brandon tried to focus on writing new songs and on his job playing at Club Indigo. He wasn't allowed to play any of his own music, since it hadn't been recorded yet, but he just blended into the background there, playing songs to keep the patrons happy. At least it got him much-needed money. 

At the beginning on January, the recording studio owled him, telling him when to come. They'd met, listening to his new songs and discussing possibilities for his album. Then they started recording. Brandon loved the recording process. It was so much fun and he looked forward to days when he got to record. 

One day, when he left Studio A, it was to find a crowd of people waiting at the door. He looked around himself curiously, trying to figure out what was going on. He frowned when a girl stepped forward, apologizing and saying she'd use a different studio. Oh, was that what this was about? 

Brandon smiled and shook his head, "No, don't worry about it. I'm done for now. You can go on in." He didn't recognize her, but figured that with so many people around her, she was probably pretty famous. Maybe he should actually pay attention to other musicians too. "I'm Brandon Fisher, by the way," he told her with a smile, extending his hand. 

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

The young man was more polite to her than Camila had expected him to be. As she assumed him to be someone who was more experienced in the industry than she was, it was especially surprising to her that he wasn't arrogant. She had met her fair share of… personalities, so to speak, in the music business already. It was unfortunate that so many people were so self-absorbed rather than being genuinely nice, but the guy who had exited the studio gave her a smile as he shook his head and said that he was done.

Camila, though, was certain that she was making a fool of herself in front of him and the others in the room. It would have helped, she thought, if she were well-spoken in English, though he would have to forgive her. Hopefully, she thought, her English would get better as she finished the album and did press. Maybe someday she would be able to laugh at how terrible her English was instead of feeling so self-conscious about it.

"I'm Brandon Fisher, by the way." Still smiling, Brandon reached out for a handshake.

Although she didn't recognize the name, Camila was sure that the rest of her team probably knew who Brandon was. She would have to blame it on her not being from Britain, she supposed, until she could figure it out.

Camila smiled back at Brandon and readjusted her folders to make sure her hand was free. "It is nice to meet you, and I am sorry my English is not good," she laughed in her embarrassment as she returned Brandon's handshake. "I am Camila Calderón."

@brandon

[Deleted]

She seemed shy, or nervous or something, which was a little confusing to Brandon. Most people that came to the Studio were super confident and even a bit overbearing sometimes. He tried not to be bothered by it, but sometimes he couldn't help it. Musicians could be annoying, at least the ones that were full of themselves. 

She smiled, moving the things in her arms to take his hands. She said it was nice to meet him, apologizing for her English and Brandon laughed. "You're English is just fine. I've met plenty of people who are hard to understand. You seem to know what you're saying." Even if she didn't, from the few words he'd heard from her she was doing fine. Besides that, Brandon wasn't one to judge people for the way they talked. 

She said her name and he thought he recognized it. She was famous, from a different country, and then in clicked and his smile widened. "Nice to meet you! I didn't know you were here in England. Are you working on a new album?" Wow. What a stupid question. He did a mental face-palm, but tried to pretend he wasn't embarrassed by how stupid he must sound. 

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

Put in a country where the language didn't quite roll off of her tongue in the same way and where she felt as though she had been put under someone's magnifying glass, Camila was sure that she must have come across as shockingly introverted. Even back home, she wasn't wild and crazy, but it had been normal for her. She had been, for the longest time, just another girl in the world—and able to express herself in the way that she wanted. Even though there were probably translation spells that she could have used, she didn't want to be viewed as distant or cold to people; that wasn't how she was.

Brandon reassured her, though, that her English wasn't bad. She appreciated it, even if she didn't think so herself. It bothered her that she didn't have the time to study the language properly, though she had tried as she sat through countless songwriting sessions. Camila knew that her vocabulary was still limited; her lyrics and words that sounded close to what they were in Spanish or Portuguese were the easiest for her to pick up.

"Thank you," she told him nevertheless.

It was after she mentioned who she was that it appeared to have hit Brandon, who gave her a wide smile in response. He said that he didn't know that she was in England, and he asked if she was working on a new album.

Well, she could have been doing a duet with someone on their record, Camila supposed, so she didn't think that it was a silly question. "Yes," she replied, nodding. "I have a new album, and it is in English. And you?"

@brandon

[Deleted]

Brandon smiled and nodded when she thanked him. He was pretty sure she was still nervous about how she spoke, and that she didn't fully believe that she was doing well, but she was. He'd never be the person to tell people they were doing terrible though. That just wasn't Brandon. 

She continued to answer him, telling him that she was working on a new album in English and he nodded. "That's great. I'll be excited to hear it." Then her question registered and he shrugged a little. "I'm working on my first album. I did a few duets with Zander Lloyd, but now I have my own contract." He tried not to appear to giddy about this. Part of Brandon could hardly believe he was following his dreams, that someone wanted to produce his music. It sounded too good to be true. 

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

Brandon said that that was great, about her new album. Camila hoped that it would be, and of course she wanted to see it do well with her fans. She was thrilled that she had the fan base that she had; people all over the world knew her music and supported her career. Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought that that would happen.

That seemed to be the case for Brandon, too. He was working on his first album, he said. That explained why she wasn't familiar with him, and it wasn't just her. Brandon also mentioned Zander Lloyd, and Camila nodded. She knew of Zander, though she didn't know him personally.

Really, Brandon seemed excited to be making his first album, which was nice to see. He was newer to this, and she was now the more experienced one. It felt odd, in some ways, but also good.

"Congratulations," Camila smiled broadly. Her reaction was genuine, and she hoped that Brandon's music as a solo artist would do well. She didn't want to leave her team waiting on her to get into the studio before they felt that she was unprofessional, she realized, but maybe Brandon's people could talk to her people?

"Do you have a… quill?" she asked, realizing that she was holding no shortage of paper. He could write down his contact information, she thought, and maybe they could discuss things when she wasn't on such a tight schedule?

@brandon

[Deleted]

She smiled when Brandon told her about his new album and he smiled back. She seemed very nice and down-to-earth for a famous star. It was nice, definitely a change from what he'd seen so far. "Thanks," Brandon answered with a smile. 

She asked for a quill and Brandon turned to his bag, quickly pulling one out and offering it to her. Why did she want a quill? Did she need it for recording or something? "Here, I got you," he told her with an easygoing nod. 

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

Brandon thanked her for congratulating him about his album. Camila could still remember the feeling of wondering if she was still living in a dream when she had been offered her contract, nevermind winning a singing competition at all. It was exciting—all of it—even if it was also very stressful at times. The good parts outweighed the bad ones, overall, which was why she had continued to do what she had. She didn't have Castelobruxo to fall back on anymore.

Fortunately, Brandon did have a quill on him. She nodded once he produced it from his bag, and she hoped that it was a self-inking one. Crap. She hadn't thought that far ahead.

"Dios mío… And no ink, yes?" she checked in embarrassment, just so that she wouldn't accidentally puncture a hole in her lyrics on the other side of the page if she tried to write with it and it was a regular quill that had to be dipped in ink first. That could have been disastrous, and she was glad that she had caught herself.

@brandon
OOC: Translation - "Oh my God…"

[Deleted]

She seemed to hesitate after Brandon handed her the quill and he watched her curiously for a moment. Was there a problem with his quill or something? He offered a hesitant smile before she spoke. Then it all made sense. "No, you're good. That one doesn't need ink," Brandon confirmed, glad that he understood now. She didn't want to ruin whatever she was about to write on. Why did she want to write right now anyway? Did a new lyric occur to her or something? He could understand that. Sometimes when the inspiration struck, you just had to go with it. If you hesitated, you might lose it, which was always an annoying feeling. 

He felt a little strange there, waiting for her, but Brandon decided to give himself a few more seconds before walking away. He didn't want to overstay his welcome or get her in trouble with anyone in charge or something. 

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

Luckily, Brandon confirmed that the quill didn't need ink. She wouldn't have to waste time searching for an ink pot or asking someone if they could grab one for her, which made things much easier than they could have been. "Perfect," Camila grinned. She readjusted the papers she was carrying, flipping through them until she could find a piece of paper that wasn't going to be a loss if she ripped it.

Finding some space at the bottom of one page that didn't continue on the other side of the sheet, she tore it as neatly as she could, then tore the piece that she had just torn off from it into rough halves. "One second…" she spoke, readjusting her grasp on her folder of stuff so that she could use it to write without dropping any of what she was carrying. Once she was satisfied that everything was situated again, she wrote her first name—or the first name of her stage name, to be more precise—as well as her mobile number and her manager's contact information in case Brandon didn't own or use a phone.

"Here." She passed the piece of paper on which she'd written, the other slip of paper, and the quill back to Brandon.

@brandon

[Deleted]

Brandon still had no idea what was going on with Camila. He didn't know if she expected him to stand around while she wrote something down, or if the odd spark of inspiration struck her at this inconvenient time. Sure, he knew what that felt like, but he wasn't normally the person being left out of those situations. It felt strange. 

She told him to wait ... at least, Brandon assumed she was talking to him. Maybe she was talking to her guards? Ugh, this was getting more uncomfortable by the moment. He shifted his weight to his other foot, glancing around for a second as he waited. Then she was handing him the piece of paper and quill. Brandon looked at it and smiled. "Thanks," he said, lifting the paper almost in salute to her. "Good luck with your recording session." Not that she really needed luck, but he was being polite. "I'll see you later." He nodded before turning and making his way through the crowd of people surrounding her. He didn't want to be more in the way than he already was. 

@brandon 
(you wanna end for them? Or do we want to time jump? I'm good either way)

[camila calderón]

As she was writing, Camila could see that Brandon had gotten a little bit antsy. She wasn't sure what for, but he thanked her when she gave him the pen and paper. Anticipating that he was going to give her his contact information, too, Camila was left puzzled when Brandon simply wished her good luck and that he would see her later. "Thank you," she replied, not knowing what else to say.

With her conversation with Brandon over (more abruptly than she'd hoped), her team was eager to get her into the studio. Time was money, of course, and they weren't too thrilled with the idea of losing either one of those things, if they had any say in the matter. Still, even as she recorded her songs, Camila couldn't help but to feel as though she must have done or said something wrong. It wasn't like she would never see him again, working in the same industry (and in the same country at least temporarily, from her side), and she really hoped that there wasn't any bad blood there. Maybe she could still contact him to apologize? And get better at playing charades.

@brandon
OOC: Time jump, maybe?

[Deleted]

TIME JUMP

After leaving Camila Calderon so abruptly, Brandon felt a little bad. He didn't want to make her feel bad or like he didn't want to talk to her, but all her guards were glaring at him and Brandon felt like he had to leave. So he called her that night and they set up a time to meet in Diagon Alley. 

He stood outside the ice cream shop, glancing around and waiting for her to show up, hoping she wasn't still annoyed at him or thinking he was really rude. Brandon didn't like the idea of people thinking of him like that. 

camila calderón

[camila calderón]

Camila was relieved to hear from Brandon again—that very night, actually—and he had even invited her to go get ice cream with him in Diagon Alley. Without as many people standing around and waiting for her to get into the studio, Camila thought, maybe they could have a real conversation with one another. At least, she would be able to whip out her mobile phone and explain herself more clearly if she had to resort to that.

She felt a little silly as she waved off her security. They could wait for her at a distance for once, couldn't they? Still waiting on Germán to give her his approval for her Polyjuice idea—probably a stupid one, anyway, she second-guessed herself—she was still very much herself as she approached the ice cream parlor. Theoretically, she supposed, someone could have slipped some poison into a batch of ice cream, but it was ice cream. It would have been stupid to waste it like that.

Besides, Brandon was already there waiting for her, and she didn't want to seem rude. She walked up to him, honestly excited about the ice cream. Would the dairy wreck her voice afterwards? Maybe, but it was a risk she was happy to take. "Brandon!" she smiled. "How are you?" she asked, hoping he wasn't angry with her.

@brandon