Love And Other Drugs

The flight had been uneventful and not as bad as Lucinda had thought. Alex slept the entire time-drunk and passed out until the Captain came over the intercom and announced that they would be landing soon. She had watched a movie which she couldn't remember the name of and while Lucinda had tried to sleep she knew it wasn't going to happen-she was simply too nervous. What if the girls didn't like her? What if they thought she was some country bumpkin and couldn't hold a note to save her life? Silently Lucinda paced around her very nice hotel room, the queen bed with the white comforter sitting in the background as something played on the television.

Alex had checked her in to her hotel, telling her that he would send a car around to pick her up and for her to make herself comfortable. The first thing Lucinda had done was squeal once she got into her room and saw how big and gorgeous it was and then she took a long hot bath. She hadn't had a bath in years-the home she had boarded in only had a shower and bathroom time was limited to twenty minutes-and she enjoyed every bubbly minute of it. Washing her hair, Lucinda decided that she would just leave it alone and let it air dry while she applied some eyeliner and mascara-the only two pieces of makeup she had. A pair of slim cut jeans-thanks Goodwill-and an AC/DC shirt she had found in the laundry room back home were what she put on and as she sat on the edge of the bed and waited for the call from down stairs, Lucinda slipped on her sneakers and bit down on her lip.

Even though Alex had assured her-twice-that all of the girls were very nice, even Madeline, Lucinda couldn't help but feel like she had swallowed a swarm of butterflies. What if they thought she was stupid? What if they wanted someone else to be the singer? Alex said that Charlotte-he had called her Char with some affection to his voice-was the leader and knew a lot about music and the industry and Lucinda knew then and there that she was the person who was going to be the deciding factor. Just as Lucinda had decided that maybe she should go back home and forget this whole thing, the phone rang and she picked it up with shaking hands.

The car was here to take her to the studio and Lucinda had to fight down her nerves as she gathered her old leather purse, checked herself in the mirror one last time and left the room.

The elevator ride down was quiet-she was alone and Lucinda had almost hoped there would be someone else in there to talk to. She wasn't too well known back in Cornerstown, but one thing Lucinda liked about the diner was that she got to talk to people. She was easy to talk to-that's what Marge always said-and Lucinda found that even complete strangers would start up a conversation with her. Finally the elevator reached the ground floor and Lucinda took in the wonderful lobby once again.

Marble, a fountain and plush leather couches sat all around, with the check in desk and concierge sitting along one far wall. Alex said there was a pool on the roof and Lucinda couldn't remember if she even had a bathing suit. Going through the revolving glass doors and seeing the large SUV sitting out front, Lucinda squinted in the sun before getting in to the vehicle. The driver was nice, he didn't say much, but he told her that it was a quick twenty minute drive over to the studio and that that was good for LA. Lucinda answered politely, telling him that she had never been to LA, let alone out of North Carolina. He chuckled at her, admitting that he was originally from Florida and knew exactly how she felt.

Twenty minutes and light bit of traffic later and Lucinda found herself exiting the car with a few encouraging words from Tom the driver before he pulled out and left her there. Lucinda looked up at the building in front of her-it was tall, white stone and had few windows. The building had huge lettering on it, Interscope Records Inc. and she only smiled before pushing open a huge glass door and walking inside. The cool air hit her in the face and Lucinda noticed that people in LA sure did like their air conditioning-the trailer she grew up in and the house she boarded in didn't have it and Lucinda could see why. It must be expensive to cool down such a large building and as she was lost in her thoughts, Lucinda didn't even notice Alex approaching her until he had placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump.


"Lucinda! Welcome, welcome. This is my assistant Joan-if you need anything just let her know. Did you find your hotel room okay?" He asked her as he placed a large hand against the small of her back and began to guide Lucinda towards the large metal doors of an elevator.

"Yes-it's really nice Alex, thank you so much for inviting me out here." She blushed then and Alex only smiled and nodded as he allowed Lucinda and Joan to enter the elevator before him. Silence filled the tiny space as Alex hit the button for the tenth floor and Lucinda felt her stomach lurch.

She had never been in a building taller than four stories before.

"So the girls are here-they're holed up in a practice space working away. All of them very excited to meet you..." Alex remarked and Lucinda only nodded and looked towards Joan.


The woman was tall-taller than Alex and probably somewhere in her late twenties. She had short cropped brown hair, with pink streaks running through it and her jade green eyes were heavily lined and smokey. The dress code here seemed pretty lax as Joan was in jeans and a t-shirt and Alex had on his usual graphic-t and blazer combo. Lucinda gulped as the elevator came to a stop and the doors popped open to reveal a long hallway with framed posters and magazine covers lining the walls.

As she walked down, Lucinda noticed that most of the magazine covers had the same group of guys on the front and she couldn't help but giggle as she looked at them. They were covered in makeup, their hair was styled in a way that Lucinda had only ever seen her mother do it-almost to the ceiling-and they were all wearing very tight pants. One guy seemed to be in the forefront alot and as she passed a magazine cover with just him, she couldn't help but get lost in his light blue eyes.


"Here we are! Now Lucinda, don't worry if the girls don't warm up to you right away-especially Madeline-I know once they hear you sing that they will love you." Alex said to her, obviously trying to be a comfort but failing miserably.

"O-okay..." Lucinda said softly as she waited behind Alex as he knocked and then pushed the door open.


The first thing Lucinda heard was the loud wailing of a guitar, a profanity and then laughter. She heard them before she saw them and as she turned the corner behind Alex, Lucinda felt like her heart was going to stop beating. There they were-four girls in various stages of playing their instruments and the first person Lucinda noticed was a taller girl with light purple hair. Her clothing was all black-black skinny jeans, a black t-shirt and black boots that went up to her knees. She had a white guitar in her hands and she was smiling at the girl who was sitting behind the drums. Lucinda knew that the purple haired girl could either be Talula, Penelope or Charlotte and as Alex cleared his throat all four girls turned to face the newcomers.


"Ladies-I've found you a singer..." Alex announced, holding his hands out towards Lucinda who only stood beside him, one arm crossed over her chest while her feet faced nervously inward. The girl behind the drums laughed, hit a cymbal and then looked towards the girl with the purple hair.

"Sure Alex-just like you brought us that girl over a week ago who was already in a band and had so much rasp in her voice that it made me want a cough drop." The girl with the purple hair smirked as she let her guitar hang from its strap while she reached for a bottle of water from a nearby table.

"Yeah-her clothes were terrible. She looked like a hobo." One girl said, a girl who was shorter than Lucinda and had black hair near the bottom of her head but the entire top was platinum white. The girl seemed nice as she looked towards Lucinda and gave her an encouraging smile.

"Come on guys...give the new girl a chance." Another girl, tall and waive thin with black hair near her neck and orange hair on top said as she smiled at Lucinda and approached slowly, holding out her hand.

"I'm Talula. This is Penelope, that's Charlotte and the grump behind the drums is Madeline." Lucinda smiled as Talula introduced herself, then the girl with the white and black hair, then the smirking girl with her light purple hair and finally the scowling girl behind the drums who had half of her head done in bright red and the other in pitch black.

"I'm Lucinda...it's nice to meet you..." Lucinda said quietly as she dropped Talula's hand and looked around. Penelope was smiling at her softly, Charlotte had a bemused smirk on her full lips and Madeline was still scowling at her.

"Nice shirt-you actually listen to that band?" Charlotte asked as she stepped forward, her white guitar swinging with her movements. Lucinda smirked as she looked down at her black shirt with the red and white lettering-she had grown up listening to AC/DC.

"I do. I don't look like it, but I have a pretty good taste in music." Lucinda said and she noticed that Madeline only rolled her eyes, stuck her sticks in her back pocket and walked over towards them.


The girls circled around her and Lucinda only smiled as she took them each in. Penelope was the one with the black hair on the bottom and the white on top and she was a tad shorter than Lucinda and wearing a very cute sun dress that flared out around her knees and had tiny bows all over the place. Talula, the girl who seemed the nicest and had black hair on the bottom with orange on top, was taller than Penelope but the two girls actually looked kind of similar. Both had smaller facial features, wide eyes-Penelope had light blue where Talula had a dull green-and pouty lips. They were both smiling at her and Lucinda couldn't help but smile back-these two were probably going to be her friends first.

The other two, however, were going to take some work and Lucinda could tell just by looking at the two of them. Charlotte wasn't scowling at her, but her purple hair was hanging in her face, pieces of it crimped and tangled. Her light blue eyes were magnetic and stood out with all of the black makeup that was surrounding her irises. Madeline, on the other hand, was scowling and it made her face look pinched-her brown eyes mere slits as the angry girl with the red and black hair took Lucinda in. She was the new comer and Madeline couldn't help but wonder if the girl even had any talent. She wouldn't fit in with them-Penelope was pushing it with the cutesy skirts and dresses.

But if this girl could sing then Madeline didn't give a fuck if she walked on stage in a fucking hula skirt.


"Can you sing southern girl?" Madeline asked as she walked up and stood beside Charlotte, wrapping her tattooed arms around the guitar player's neck.

"Alex seems to think so." Lucinda said as she stood up a little straighter and smirked at the girls. Penelope and Talula just looked at one another and giggled, while Charlotte cocked an eyebrow and looked over her shoulder at Madeline.

"Yeah well Alex thinks a lot of things." Charlotte said with a smirk and Lucinda shifted her feet uncomfortably. This wasn't going to work-she would have to go back home.

"Ladies...be nice..." Alex said with a warning in his voice and Charlotte only rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. If this girl could sing then great-they could work on her look later, but if not then Charlotte was over this whole thing and would go back to working at the bar.

"We're always nice Alex..." Penelope smiled and Lucinda noticed that Madeline rolled her eyes so hard at this that they almost got stuck. The dynamic with this group of girls was interesting and Lucinda wondered how she was going to fit in.

"Alright then...let's see what you've got." Madeline said, venom in her voice as she glared at the southern belle. This girl wasn't going to hack it...


Lucinda only smirked as she moved towards the mic, placed her hands on either side of the only instrument she could play and breathed. Her eyes were closed and as Alex played some music from the stereo, Lucinda opened her eyes and her mouth.

Notes

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