Chapter Text
Lexa had been immersed in her rehearsal for hours now. She couldn’t take one more minute with the stupid orchestra that couldn’t follow the beat. After five more dreadful minutes, the director called it off and dismissed them. Without a single word to any of the other musicians, Lexa grabbed her music sheets, her bag and her small red cloth for drying her sweaty hands after the long rehearsals and took off.
Her apartment was only half an hour away of the studio, and, as usual, she walked there. It was past ten when she finally slumped in her couch. She looked around her apartment. Almost no light entered through the floor to ceiling glass windows that lead to the small terrace and pool. It was a stormy winter night and Lexa wanted nothing more than to go to bed and sleep the uneasy feeling off. The problem was that she was way to shaken (and she didn’t even know why) to sleep. She put her pajama on and walked towards the grand piano. Slowly, almost reverentially, she lifted the lid. She closed her eyes and let her hands do their thing. Softly, Chopin’s Second Nocturne started to fill the air.
In the opposite side of town, cameras were flashing and excited fans were screaming. The actress started walking down the red carpet with her usual charming smile. “Clarke, over here!” “Can we have a big smile please?!” She flashed the cameras a charming smile as she walked over towards some fans to sign autographs and take selfies. Tonight was supposed to be her big night. For the second time in her short career he had been nominated to an Oscar and, unlike the first time, this year, she was the clear favorite.
After a few minutes, she walked into the hall, her security detail close behind, and sat down in her assigned seat after some quick greetings. She expected her friend Raven, to start speaking, as she was the host, bust instead, she was greeted by some soft piano melody that she was sure she had heard before but couldn’t quite pinpoint. The music made her smile, but it wasn’t one of those camera smiles, it was something much more private, and real. It was soft and made her eyes light up. But all of a sudden the music was over and a bizarre feeling of lost and nostalgia kicked in. Clarke furrowed her brows.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the 87th edition offffff……the Oooooscaaars!” Raven’s voice made Clarke smile, even though the weird, tingling sensation was still there. This was going to be a long night….
When the clock besides her in the night table announced it was half past eleven, Lexa decided giving up on any sleep she could have had. Instead, she woke up and walked to her living room, taking the soft blanket on top of her bed with her. She settled in front of the TV, in her couch with the blanket around her as if it was a cocoon. She turned the TV on and the Oscar’s showed up. Lexa let out an exasperated sigh. There were few things that Lexa hated more than untalented actors getting together. She remembered, back then, how she had gone to some of those galas with Costia, but that had been a long time ago. Well, at least, that’s what she telling herself to think. She watched the good-looking (stunning, if she was being completely honest) blonde actress made her way up to the stage to collet her Oscar. The host was rambling something about being the first openly bisexual person to ever win the Oscar for a lead role. Lexa wasn’t paying much attention. But suddenly, a soft piano music came from the TV. Lexa’s attention was now a hundred percent on it. The music was playing softly while the blonde, blue-eyed actress made her speech on acceptance and tolerance. Lexa could immediately recognize de song. Chopin. She made a lopsided smirk, turned the TV off and went straight (‘pun not quite intended’, she though) to bed.
The next morning she was roughly woken up by some loud slams in her front door. Groaning, Lexa got out of bed and opened the door. A blonde rushed inside her penthouse without a word. “Please Anya come in”, Lexa said, with an implied sarcasm.
“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!”
“Whoa, what did I do now?”
“Today you were supposed to meet with the studio manager!”
Lexa’s eyes were plate size by now. “Wh-What? Wasn’t that tomorrow?”
Anya scoffed. “Are you serious? Anyway, luck for you, I already called in sick for you. The meeting will be in three hours”, Anya said while checking her watch.
“Have I ever told you how much I love you An?”
“Whatever Lex, go get ready you’re paying for lunch.”
Lexa flashed what was supposed to be a smile and ran to the shower, while Anya slumped on her younger sister’s couch.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Green, I know this is a terrible inconvenience, but the meeting will be held later today. Will Ms. Griffin be able to attend? ”
“Give just a second, please, to check her schedule.” Monty said, tipping with one hand. “Luckily, she has a couple of hours today, so she’ll be able to make it.”
“Thank you so much! We will be waiting.”
“Of course, Mr. Forrest, always a pleasure”
Monty hanged up with a slow breath. He looked over to Clarke, whose forehead was resting against the window glass of the limo. “Clarke, are you okay?”
“Yeah sure” She answered, without even looking at him. “Just tired”
“Well, let’s go grab lunch and then we’ll hit the damn meeting, okay?”
“Sure, thanks Monty, I don’t know what I’ll do without you”, Clarke said with a small smile.
The limo stopped in front of a small café. Clarke and Monty got out, stretching their limbs that were numb after a couple of hours in the limo. They could already hear the paparazzi getting their cameras out and ready. Without as much of a word, they both rushed inside the café.
Someone ran into Lexa, making her drop her coffee all over her brand new white shirt. When she looked up, she saw a young blonde girl with blue eyes staring right back at her. Then, the girl started rambling:
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking, and I was trying to get away from the cameras outside…” She grabbed some napkins that were handed to her by Monty and started wiping Lexa’s shirt. The stain was in a quite intimate location and Lexa blushed. She saw how the Asian boy that was clearly with the blonde hair elbowed her trying to make her stop. The girl was a flustered mess by now. She tried to apologize again, but Lexa cut her off.
“It’s okay, don’t worry, I can put my jacket over it”
“I’m so sorry
She saw Anya smirking, and she rushed past the girl back to her friend. “Well that went well” Anya said with her trademark sarcasm.
“Shut up Anya.” Lexa was still blushed and, of course, Anya noticed. “You know, some of the best love stories start like this, with a blonde chick touching your boob. Wait, did I say love story? I meant porn movie” Lexa’s face became crimson red.
“Anya, stop it!” Anya couldn’t hold her laughter anymore. They both exited the café.
“I’m sorry I’m late, some chick spilled coffee on me and I had to go change my shirt” a brunette said while slumping down in a chair in front of her.
Clarke looked up and saw the brunette she had ran into just a couple hours before. She could feel a blush going up her neck and cheeks.
“The important thing is that you are all here. Ms. Griffin, let me introduce you to our finest pianist, Alexandria Woods, and her sister and manager Anya Woods. Lexa and Anya this is Clarke Griffin and her manager Monty Green.”
Anya’s eyes widened. “You mean Clarke Griffin as in yesterday-she-won-an-Oscar Clarke Griffin?!”
Lexa’s eyes widened as well, but she didn’t say a word. Her thoughts were much less appropriate: ‘She’s the one who spilled coffee on me this morning! Are you kidding me?!’
“The one and only” Clarke said softly with a smile. Lexa’s stomach did a weirds thing in that moment. ‘Must be something I’ve eaten’. “Ms. Griffin, pardon me if I overstep” Lexa said, with her usual formality “but, if you are an actress, why do you need a pianist?”
Hearing that, both Monty and Clarke smiled, and Lexa’s guts started dancing La Macarena. There was no point denying that the actress was beautiful, but still, Lexa didn’t understand her insides.
“First of all, please call me Clarke, and secondly, I think it’s time for me to change a little my career. I’ve been stuck in romantic comedies and I’ve only done a couple of more serious movies, so I think it’s time for me to take a hiatus and dedicate some time to my other passion: music.”
“I find that very respectable and all, but where do I come in? And please call me Lexa if we are on first name basis.” Lexa chastised herself for her poor word choice, but luckily, besides Anya, who was exhibiting a lopsided grin, no one noticed. Instead of answering the question herself, Clarke let her manager answer it for her.
“Clarke here has always been into singing, but is not something she wanted to make public until now. But we were wondering if you could collaborate in the album we want to record, both as a composer and as a pianist.” Lexa frowned a little, but before she could say anything, Monty continued her speech: “Of course, the paycheck would be appropriate for this kind of situation and your schedule would be very flexible”. He took a notebook and a pen out of his pocket and scribbled some numbers on it. He passed the paper over to Anya, whose eyebrows flied to the top of her head.
“Lexa, I’ve seen phone numbers shorter than this number.” she murmured to her younger sister. Before Lexa could intervene, she said: “How long does she have to write everything and how many songs do you want?”
“Well our estimation was a couple of years, but please notice that she wouldn’t be working alone, Clarke wants to be a part in the creation of her music and they would be working side by side.” Clarke nodded at this affirmation.
Lexa opened her mouth again to say something, but Anya spoke for her again: “She’ll take it, Thank you so much for the opportunity.”
“Great, Lexa I can wait to start on Monday.” Clarke said with a small smile. And with a small goodbye to Gustus Forrest, the studio’s owner, she and Monty left the studio.