Page 6 of Thanks for Coming Along
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ronan." He stretched his hand to give her a handshake. She met his hand and shook it firmly. He swore he felt a hum of energy when their hands touched. Her eyebrows turned down a fraction in what looked like confusion.
"This is Beck, our drummer." She pointed to the shirtless, tattooed man sprawled on the couch, donning sunglasses like he wasn't in a room with no windows. "Hey man, what's up?" the man said in greeting, tipping his head upwards.
"And that is Finn," Eden gestured to a tall man with a cascade of shaggy, blonde hair. "He's our bass player," she added proudly. Her attention then shifted to a shorter man with sleek black hair.
"And that's Reef, our lead guitarist," Both men offered a perfectly synchronized, almost eerie salute, their movements flawlessly mirroring each other.
"Hi everyone, nice to meet you all." Ronan scanned the room with a small smile as he pulled the strap of his backpack off his shoulder. "I am excited for the upcoming weeks. I thought we could get some footage of you getting ready before the show and maybe get into some questions."
"So, are you like David Attenborough?" Reef inquired, his attention divided between the Ronan and the snacks on the table lined against the room's far end.
"No, he doesn't have a British accent, dummy," Finn retorted with an eye roll. Ronan suppressed a laugh. He refrained from mentioning that he wasn't entirely on the same level as Attenborough, the man who essentially pioneered natural history documentaries.
"No, you morons. I think he's more of a 'Barbara Walters' type nowadays. Big fan, by the way. You are totally badass in the field," Beck said with a nod and Ronan nodded back in thanks.
"Yeah, Beck showed us some clips like a total fanboy. You have this clean-cut look with a freak-in-the-sheets energy. It's hot," Finn said with a smile as he leaned back into the couch. Ronan coughed slightly at the compliment, feeling out of his element. This was definitely different from the type of working environment he was used to.
"Don't hit on him, Finn. You can't screw my documentarian!" Eden glared at Finn as she walked to a long mirror propped against the wall. "Can't I have a single thing to myself?" she muttered as she sat on the floor in front of a mirror and started haphazardly digging through a makeup bag. Tubes of makeup began to roll on the floor, and Ronan held back his laughter as a rogue lip gloss almost hit Finn in the leg.
"He has an edge, is all I'm saying. It'srousing." Finn muttered with a shrug. Reef started belly-laughing as he filled his plate with various snacks. Beck pressed his lips together and rubbed his face, covering his laugh from the couch.
"I'm glad you find my work rousing. It's meant to be rousing.. to the mind." Ronan said with a smile as he unzipped his backpack.
"Ew, that isn't the type of rousing I'm personally into," Finn said with a crinkled nose as he watched Ronan grab the body of his camera and methodically attach the lens.
"See? Did you see the way he just attached the camera lens? Rousing." Finn muttered quietly under his breath to Beck while Beck shook his head.
"Ignore them. They are basically 'The Three Stooges'." She spoke as she applied a steady line of eyeliner on her top lash line, then flicked the line into a wing. Ronan walked past the couch with his camera in hand and sat beside Eden on the floor. He could hear the three men calling dibs on whichever of 'The Three Stooges' they wanted to be, followed by Beck hitting Finn in the back of his head, saying, "What's the matter with you?" in a bad Mid-Atlantic accent.
"I'm going to start filming if that's okay?" Ronan asked Eden as she picked up a large puffy makeup brush and applied her blush.
"Sure, you have my permission to film me whenever you want. I want this documentary to be as genuine as possible. If I'm doing this, I want it to be honest." Her eyes were looking at him in the mirror, and he felt his palms dampen at her direct stare, her sharp, dark blue eyes cutting into him. Her gaze was penetrating, he felt like she could see directly through him. He pulled his camera up and aimed at her while holding her stare. She gave him an impish grin and then focused on swiping her mascara wand to her long eyelashes.
He pressed the record button, marveling at how the shadows danced over her cheekbones, how she blinked and wiggled her mascara wand into her eyelashes. Her full lips were slightly ajar while she concentrated on applying the perfect coat. He noticed that her bottom lip was slightly fuller than the top. He felt absorbed as if he could sit there all night and watch her every move. There was something undeniably enthralling about her. His eyes roamed her smooth forehead, her irises of sapphire blue, the gentle slope of her nose, and the curve of her full lips. The corners of her lips turned up, and her eyes locked onto him, and it felt as if he was the prey, pinned motionless by the gaze of a skilled hunter.
"As much as I love the attention, you should maybe start with some questions." Eden teased gently. Ronan cleared his throat and swallowed. Eden reassuringly tapped Ronan's boot as if she was sayingdon't worry.
"Of course." Ronan searched his mind for a question. He thought about his years working in the field and the rare occasions when he could find a whistleblower willing to talk. "Do you get nervous before you perform?" It was a weak question, but he had to start somewhere. From interviewing internationally, and usually in dangerous situations, he knew that you had to build trust to get an amazing interview.
"I used to, but I recently realized that even if I mess up during a performance, people are at my shows to have fun and let go. They don't care if I sing a flat note. They are there to scream at the top of their lungs, dance, and forget about life. The goal isn't for perfection. It's for inhibition." Eden said, then applied a layer of lip gloss.
"Doyouget nervous for your interviews?" she inquired and met his eyes again, a thrill running up his spine at her attention. It was rare when anyone asked him questions. His career didn't lend itself to being a sharer. He had always been a good listener and observer. He was in front of the camera, but he was never the main object of interest. Her turning the question on him was disarming, to say the least.
"Depends on the person I'm interviewing," he smiled softly at her. Her eyes squinted mischievously, and the corner of her lip turned upwards slyly.
"How do you get ready for a show?"
"We have to do our pre-gig ritual, which involves dancing to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Then Finn insists on everyone revealing a secret about ourselves to get rid of any nerves, and of course, there's the essential task of me eating my weight in jelly beans." Ronan wrinkled his nose at the thought of jelly beans.Who the hell eats jelly beans willingly?
"I do," Eden said. He silently cursed himself; apparently, he had said that out loud without even realizing it.
"Are you okay? Is 'Jelly Belly' holding you hostage? Why would you voluntarily eat jelly beans when there are a myriad of other much better candies in the world?" Ronan couldn't stop the words from spilling out. Was it unprofessional to question someone's candy selection? Yes, but he couldn't understand the preference. The words kept coming.
"Those nasty speckled ones? You eat those of your own volition? Without someone holding a gun to your head?" Eden raised her eyebrows, and for a second, he had a moment of panic. What if she yelled at him to leave, that he had offended her, and the project was over. Then a peal of laughter rolled out of her, his lips twitching in response.
"I never realized jelly beans were so controversial! And those speckled ones are my favorite." A shudder ran through his body at the statement.
"I bet you like the buttered popcorn flavor too."
