Rise To Stardom - Chapter 151

Chapter 151: Peculiar Tune
“Here’s where we usually dine.” Allen pointed out as all four walked past the dining room.

“But, if you’re feeling particularly introverted, feel free to have Mary here, bring up your meals to the bedroom.” Carl, his tone light-hearted yet casual, introduced the Head Housekeeper whom was dusting off a furniture to Kyle and Oliver.

With a light, respectful smile, the duo nodded to the woman in her late forties who reciprocated their gesture with similar smile and a slight nod of her own, after which she then moved off to dust something else while humming lightly.

And so, trailing behind both Carl and Allen, Kyle and Oliver, after taking a tour around the house, were soon sorted into their respective rooms in the big and fairly lively mansion.

As Kyle gazed at his travelling bag which had already being brought in previously by the other attendants in the house who went about their duties efficiently, Kyle took in the sight of the fairly wide, yet modernly luxurious room.

The walls were painted white, with air conditioning expertly fitted on its upper corners, the ornately designed ceiling was fitted with modern, fluorescent bulbs and the flooring, although wooden, was carpeted with a soft, fluffy, matte-gray rug.

There was also a fairly wide bed in the room which had been perfectly laid, a bedside table, a lampstand, a wide wardrobe in a corner of the room with a big-ass mirror attached to one of its door frames and a sliding glass door that opened up to the balcony.

A few minutes later, having arranged his stuff for the meantime, a random thought crossed Kyle’s mind.

Briefly taking a deep breath in and out, Kyle, tensed his calves and then, in one, swift, simultaneous motion, he leaped into the air, legs folding backwards and extending outwards almost instantaneously as he executed a backflip.

With a muffled thud, the young man landed on the ground perfectly, the soft, comfy feel of the fluffy rug cushioning his feet.

Considering he had only learnt it recently, Kyle wanted to ensure that he had completely perfected the skill with no underlying lack of balance or staggering upon landing.

As a result, whenever he got the chance, he’d instantly give it a whirl.

Practice after all, makes perfect.

“Rugs are so tame compared to an actual stage though…” he muttered to himself even though he was still quite proud of himself for nailing another back flip effortlessly.

‘I’d best do some warm-up practices backstage before the actual show…’ he inwardly decided, nodding to himself as he finally, slumped headfirst onto the comfy bed.

The flight from Toronto, Canada to Hollywood, L.A had been roughly 5+ hours.

As a result, despite his body not actually feeling tired due to his [Peak Conditioning], his mind, which should’ve been just as unstressed as his body, was.

Considering how much he had been exerting a crap ton of brain power with the soundtrack for the videogame, attending a few necessary events in between regarding a few advertisements, variety shows and promo for [The Curator] and also, preparing for the mini-tour for the past few weeks, his mind, genuinely needed a break from it all.

That said, as opposed to needing a whole five to six hours as he usually would’ve to completely recharge, Kyle had noticed in more recent memory that all it took for him to feel refreshed, was roughly an hour to two hours of sleep.

…

…

…

At exactly a two-hour mark, Kyle was awake.

That said, the feeling of not wanting to leave the comfort of his bed… that was something he was unwilling to part with as of the moment.

Considering they had arrived at Carl’s mansion at around 2:00pm in the afternoon (along with all the time it had taken for Carl and Allen to introduce them around the house), the time was now roughly 4:30pm in the afternoon.

The previous hustle and bustle of the mansion too had also died down as only a select few attendants were present since most of Carl’s employees had moved over to a rented hotel near the stadium where the concert would take place a few days from now.

That evidently, ensured that the mansion stayed relatively quiet and conducive for sleeping.

The cool evening breeze too, along with the air conditioning of the room, did a fantastic job of preventing Kyle from breaking free of the bed’s hold on him.

However, as a result of his [Peak Conditioning], Kyle’s senses which were pretty much at the sharpest a human’s could ever be, picked up on the soft, acoustic riff of a guitar.

🎸 🎶 ♫🎵

That was all the young man needed to get off his bed, his bleary eyes, blinking open a few times.

The simple yet catchy tune, although very faint, was being repeated as Kyle pushed off his bed.

Now fully awake, Kyle made a conscious effort to listen keenly as he walked out the doors of his room.

🎸 🎶 ♫🎵

Tracing the sound of the guitar’s strings that only got clearer and clearer as he descended down the staircase, Kyle followed till he reached the living room.

Right there, in the middle of the luxurious room, was Carl Finch who sat on the carpeted flooring, humming a tune as he kept playing the guitar with his eyes closed.

🎸 🎶 ♫🎵

Not wanting to disrupt his flow, especially since he seemed to be so immersed, Kyle simply leaned on the wall from the corner of the room, listening to the simple acoustic tune as Carl, finally sang.

🎸 🎶 ♫🎵

I saw you standing there, under the lamp’s glow,

A moment frozen in time, and I just had to know,

I walked into your world, you pulled me close,

And in that single heartbeat, I knew what I’d do.

🎸 🎶 ♫🎵

Carl’s voice was typically, that of a smooth, clean yet polished, crisp and articulate quality.

However, as of this moment, his voice was raspy, deep and raw, hinting at the level of versatility he must’ve achieved over the years.

Continuing the song, nodding his head to the tune, still with his eyes closed, a thin smile now settling on his lips, Carl moved to the pre-chorus.

🎸 🎶 ♫🎵

‘Cause you lit up my world, and darkness fades…

With you by my side, I feel so complete.

🎸 🎶 ♫🎵

Easily and comfortably switching between low and high registers with such finesse, made it obvious that Carl had a very wide vocal range.

Yet, as of the moment, that mattered so little to Kyle whom was enjoying the song, a similarly warm smile on his lips as he listened to the chorus of the song.

🎸 🎶 ♫🎵

So hold me close tonight, don’t let me go,

I wanna be the one you call, through the highs and lows,

We’ll take it slow my dear, that I assure…

So promise me my love, promise you’ll hold on.

🎸 🎶 ♫🎵

Believing that the song was complete, Kyle listened on, awaiting the second verse, a strong hint of anticipation in his eyes.

Added to that, Kyle had more or less heard all of Carl’s songs over the years and he, just like so many others would’ve figured, knew that this was a new one that was yet to be released.

In fact, he felt a bit guilty for listening in on a song that was yet to be released but, regardless, Kyle waited for the song to continue.

But unfortunately, the acoustic tune came to an abrupt halt, eliciting a slight frown on the young man’s face.

Watching from his corner as Carl, similarly had a small frown on his features, he listened as the man muttered with a hint of resignation while opening his eyes;

“No dice, huh…”

Hearing that, Kyle pondered over what he could’ve meant.

However, the young man didn’t even need to reason any further as he watched Carl, start the song again from the top.

And once again, the moment he got to the second verse, he halted.

This same scenario, repeated itself about six times, with Carl, unable to progress past that part.

Unsurprisingly, the superstar hadn’t noticed Kyle standing in the corner since he was quite immersed in what he was doing.

In contrast, the young man in the corner, his mind fresh as the morning’s dew after waking up, was already coming up with something in his head.

Kyle had realized that Carl was having an inspiration block… presumably a major one.

Yet, he in turn, was having a surge of inspiration, a bunch of lyrics forming in his head as he rested a few fingers on his chin with a thoughtful gaze while rearranging them in his mind.

That said, even though Kyle figured he could help out, especially since Carl seemed to be struggling with the second verse, he really didn’t want to just intrude on someone else’s creative process.

However, it seemed like his luck had run out as Carl, finally caught a glimpse of him from the corner of his eye.

“You’re up early.” the experienced musician called out to him casually, causing Kyle to step out from the corner whilst scratching the back of his head.

“Honestly, I thought you’d sleep in for a few more hours. It was a long flight after all.” Carl added, after which he then arched an eyebrow, seemingly questioning if Kyle had been listening in.

“Yeah. I sleep light, mostly.” Kyle replied with a bit of a wry smile, after which he then continued.

“Also, I apologize for listening in. It seemed like a really great song and I didn’t want to intrude on your creative process…” he explained to Carl who simply tilted his head in mild curiosity as questioned;

“Great? Creative process?”

“Yeah. Isn’t that like a song you’ve been working on for a while? It sounds great.” Kyle affirmed.

“Wait, you really think it’s great?!” Carl asked instead, a genuine smile blossoming on his lips as he inquired.

“Uh, yeah.” Kyle was a bit puzzled as Carl replied with a beam on his features.

“That so! I really just came up with it a few minutes ago so I wouldn’t know really…”

To that, Kyle had a perplexed expression grace his features.

At the exact same time, the young man subconsciously appraised Carl.

___________________________

{Carl Finch} – 29 years

Singing › Level 16

Composing › Level 17

Dancing › Level 11

Acting › Level 8

Instrumental Mastery (Guitar/Piano) › Level 13/12

Skills – [Pop Star], [Genius Songwriter]

___________________________

‘Good gracious…’ Kyle had an amazed expression on his features as he studied the superstar’s stats.

Now he understood perfectly well why Carl had been trying to affirm if his song was actually good through him.

Carl Finch was a genius musician in every sense of the word.

That much was evidently clear!

And the common trait most geniuses had, was the inclination to believe that something they created wasn’t anywhere good, much less great, especially when it actuality, it was far better than they gave themselves credit for.