Superstar-Chapter 52

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Chapter 52: Chicago, Illinois 1994  Here It Comes

It was eight o’clock in the morning and all the members of Avant Groove were gathered in the Warehouse, ready to rehearse.

Everyone, that is, except for Eric.

“Has anybody seen or heard from Groove?” Terry asked.

“Not since our show last weekend.” Lisa said.

“I ain’t seen him,” Rob added.

“Nope.” Larry said.

“Haven’t heard from him, Sweetie.” Dom said.

“Great.” Terry groused. “Just great.”

It had been a little over a year since they’d recorded their demo and no one had come knocking on their door yet. They knew and understood that the process could be slow, but their patience, as well as their morale, was running low.

As for Terry, a fear started to take root inside him, fear that he’d end up just like Carl. It ran in tandem with the fear he’d lose Dom to her thirst for success. It wasn’t so bad when he had things to occupy his mind, but when night came and Dom was asleep, he would watch her and every fear, doubt and insecurity fell on him and wrapped their toxic tentacles around his heart and mind.

Basically, Avant Groove was caught in the pull of inertia and nothing they did seemed to kick them loose or lessen the feeling of restlessness and futility.

Then, something happened.

Eric came through the door, his eyes bright with excitement and smiling from ear to ear.

“About time you showed up.” Terry looked at his watch. “We were about to start without you.”

“Not until you hear what I have to say.” Eric gushed. Terry found that strange because Eric never gushed. He was always the calm, composed one, who rarely let excitement get the best of him. Whatever is it, it must be big, Terry mused.

“Everybody knows who James Parker is, right?”

“He’s the A & R executive for Quiet Storm Records.” Larry said.

“That’s right.” Groove said, not even bothering to hide his excitement. “He called me just before I was about to come here and said he wants to hear us perform and possibly sign us.”

The overwhelming silence and general air of nonchalance did manage to turn down Groove’s furious excitement.

“Come on, y’all. This is legit.” He began.

Terry held Groove by his shoulders and looked steadily into his eyes. “I believe you, Eric. Thing is, we’ve had plenty of legit offers that went south. Let’s take it slow and see what Mister Parker’s about before we get excited.”

Eric took a deep breath. He knew Terry wasn’t trying to bring him down, just remind him about what had been plaguing them for the longest time: Record execs reluctance to sign bands, even one as talented as Avant Groove.

“You’re right.” Eric agreed. “Let’s celebrate when we sign the dotted line.” Eric strapped on his guitar and they started working on songs for their next show at Club Jam.

(c)2015 Courtney & W.L. Sherrod