Chapter Text
--- Part 01 ---
The table was in complete chaos with papers and scraps of cuttings. Office supplies and ripped prints scattered everywhere. The whiteboard in front was no better. Prints of various sizes, color swatches, pictures all pinned in a disorderly orderly fashion. Staring at the board so intensely that my mind went blank, not knowing what direction this project was going to take. This needed to be perfect, the absolute best work I can produce. This isn’t just work that will have my name attached to it, but it will also be tied to well-known figures. Like public figures. Like figures who are so dangerously talented that I can absolutely not fuck up a single element in this project because I not only take pride in my work and want to produce nothing but the best for them, I would also be incredibly embarrassed to submit something that wouldn’t meet their status. The studio was empty, as it was already 6:45pm on a Friday and everyone had gone home for the day.
Oh, I should probably mention who these public figures are right? Like I put them in such a spotlight that I just cannot say anything. Well-being in secrecy is kind of their thing but I think I should tell you anyway, so you know where this love story goes. I work with robots. Yup two robots. Music producing robots. Like I’m not even fucking with you I work with a silver and a gold robot. No lie… okay well they are humans whose characters are robots but still I wasn’t lying because that is how there are known under their name, Daft Punk. Lesser known as Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Ooh now that makes sense, right? I hope that’s what you were thinking. And if you don’t know who Daft Punk is then why did you click on this book? No, I mean like stay but if you don’t know who they are then you may not understand this story but it’s okay, you can keep up.
So, I work with Daft Punk. More specifically I’m their in-house graphic designer hence the absolute catastrophe of prints and paper in my workspace right now. Recently I’ve been working on some designs for… actually, none of that means anything to this story right now. Let’s go back to me blankly staring at the whiteboard.
“Ugh I got nothing” I say in defeat to myself. Yes, I talk to myself no one is in the office right now.
I sat on top of the table, more like sitting on top of a bunch of papers that are on the table and continue to look at the designs I have pinned in front of me while slowly losing focus. Behind me I hear the studio door open and think nothing of it. I assumed it was one of the crew coming in after hours to do whatever as this was a common practice here, but it wasn’t one of the crew.
“Looks like you have been working a lot on this project, no?” I heard a deep thick French accent behind me.
I’d admit I got startled as I didn’t expect one of the “robots” to be here, but I knew exactly which robot it was just by his voice. I turned my body around and smiled. Like a goofy ass smile because he makes me so nervous, in a good way.
“I’m trying not to.”
Guy-Man smiles. Fuck he is so pretty. “Why are you in the studio so late?” He raises an eyebrow while keeping eye contact.
“I don’t know, I guess I like working alone sometimes. I could ask you the same question.”
“I was in the area and Thomas asked me to grab a few things. But I’m glad to see you here.”
“Oh yeah? Why is that?” Is this flirting? Am I doing it right? I’m so shit at this I swear I feel as awkward as a dog wearing shoes for the first time.
“I don’t know. I just am.” He gives me a cheeky smile, “Well I am going to quickly grab some things but are you going to stay here longer or…” he treads off.
“No, I think I’m done for today. If I stare at this wall any longer, I might lose my mind.” I joke.
“Okay euh would you like to come back with me to our apartment? It’s getting very late, and I don’t want you to go back home on your own.” He is so sweet and right, I’ve only lived in Paris for less than a year but I know the streets at this hour are stress inducing and my commute is on the opposite side of the city from where the guys live so I would have to go home on my own if I didn’t go with him. Thinking about my safety and the grand opportunity to stay the night with the French duo I agreed.
“Sure, I would love that!” I answered joyfully. “Merci” I’m sure my pronunciation was shit but he seemed to like it.
Guy-Man tends to do this thing where he knows I don’t know much French accept a pinch of words since I’m still learning, yet he talks to me in French as if I understand. I think he does it to annoy me because he never actually tells me what he is saying in English.
“Je suis content de te voir ici car tu es la plus belle femme que j'ai jamais connue” (I’m glad to see you here because you are the most beautiful woman I have ever known)
He smiles and then heads to the back where the recording studio to grab what he came here for. I’m still sitting on the table watching him walk off and I can feel my face turn pink. I love when he speaks French because let’s be so fucking honest right now, it’s hot, he’s hot.
Guy-Man heads back in my direction with a few records in one hand while the other pushes back his thick brown hair away from his face. “Let’s go?”
I nod and hop off the table and we both walk out of the studio and out of the building while saying goodnight to the night security guard.
“The metro station is not too far of a walk from here.” he holds my hand and looks at me, “Just to be safe.”
I nod in agreement and look down at my feet as we walk down the streets of Paris completely shy and giddy. I know Guy-Man is known to be the silent one while Thomas is much more engaging but when it comes to more private affairs meaning no interviews or press, Guy-Man is quite talkative and confident. I on the other hand am very shy and quiet no matter the setting I’m in. It just takes me time to really open up and fully be my loud, high-energy self. But when I’m around Guy-Man I get small and quiet. He fills my stomach with butterflies and knots at the same time. With Thomas however, oh we go crazy and obnoxious.
Guy-Man breaks my trance of thought, “what are you thinking about?”
My head snaps up breaking my hard stare off the ground, “huh? Oh, um nothing really.”
“No?” He looks deep in my eyes.
My legs go a little jelly, “Nope.” I smiled.
“Okay.” He smiles back holding my hand tighter, making my heart race faster.
I like Guy-Man, I mean duh did I really need to clarify that but, I don’t know if he likes me as well. You must understand, like I just said he’s shy around the press but is a very confident character so this hand holding, and innocent flirting could mean anything. He can be a big flirt so when he does the same to me it’s hard to read if he is genuinely interested or just playing around. Or maybe I’m just naïve. But I’d rather just assume he thinks nothing of me, so I don’t get my hopes too high, and my heart shattered. He is completely out of my league anyway.
We finally made it to the metro and headed down the stairs and entered one of the trains. The cart we were in was quite empty. There was a man in a suit with his head in his hands tired from what seemed to be a long day of work and a woman with her son sitting on the far opposite end. Guy-Man sat down pulling me next to him hands still locked. Soon after the doors close and the train moves.
I look up and stare at Guy-Man. No matter what angle you saw him in he was perfect. He turned his head and looked back at me with a warm grin. I frantically asked a question, so it didn’t seem like I was being a stalker and just staring even though that was exactly what I was doing.
“So why does Thomas need those records?”
“Well, we have been working on a new song back at the apartment and he wanted to experiment with them to see if they are a good fit for the track.”
I nod my head trying to think of another question. I’m not so great at making conversation if you couldn’t already tell.
“Do you want to help us with another song we have been working on?” he asks.
I look at him in complete shock, “Me? Oh, I don’t know, I have no musical background. I wouldn’t be able to add anything valuable.” I frantically respond while shaking my head.
“You are a listener of musique no? And you are a very creative person, I think you can help us.”
My face got hot, I felt it. You don’t understand I’ve been a listener of Daft Punk since their 2001 release “Discovery”. Working with them as one of their graphic designers has been a massive opportunity on its own but to contribute to their craft. I could never, I would mess it up or I would just say whatever they play me is good because let’s be honest everything they do IS good.
“Yeah, I listen to musique.” I mimic his accent as I tend to do as an ongoing joke.
He chuckles and playfully shoves his shoulder against me, “So you will help?”
“Of course.”
The train comes to another stop. Guy-Man gets up pulling me with him, “This is our stop.”
We headed out of the train and emerged back out on the streets. Paris was sketchy at night, like any other major city is but, it sure was beautiful to see the fully lit stars in the sky and the building lights shining throughout. It was the early stages of summer where the night air was chilly but warm enough to not need a jacket. My head was looking up at the sky as Guy-Man continues to hold my hand guiding me along.
“It’s beautiful tonight.” I say still holding my gaze at the stars.
Guy-Man hums in agreeance, “Mais tu es plus belle. Tu brilles plus que n'importe quelle étoile dans le ciel.” (But you are more beautiful. You shine brighter than any star in the sky.)
I knew he said something about beauty, maybe agreeing that tonight was beautiful? Ugh I wish I knew what he was saying but, no matter what he said it always sounded romantic and charming.
“One day I will understand these things you tell me.” I broke my contact with the night sky and towards him.
“Maybe I should teach you French so you can understand faster. And maybe you teach me more English.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
After another 3 minutes of walking, we finally made it to the apartment. Guy-Man buzzes the one of the buttons on the side of the building and someone answers.
“Oui?” (Yes?) a familiar voice comes out of the speaker.
“c'est moi et Seraphina. laissez nous entrer.” (it's me and Seraphina. let us in.)
Another buzzing sound comes from the speaker and Guy-Man opens the door into the building and we head up to the apartment. Before Guy-Man could even knock on the door Thomas swings it open and greets us with a warm smile.
“Seraphina my love, how are you?” Thomas goes in for a kiss on the left and then a kiss on the right. You know the typical European greeting.
“I’m really good!” I answer cheerfully.
Thomas quickly glances down, and notices Guy-Man and I are still holding hands from the walk here. This makes me insecure as I hadn’t even noticed we didn’t break our hold the entire way here. My hands must be so sweaty. He smirks but does not say a word and moves out of the way letting both Guy-Man and I into the apartment. We finally pulled our hands apart.
Although two men lived here, it wasn’t as messy or chaotic as you may think. It was quite homey and comforting. There wasn’t anything flashy decorating the space or expensive furniture filling the room. It was just simple, average, cozy.
“Do you want something to drink? Have you eaten dinner yet? We can order something while we work on the tracks.” Thomas asks as he heads towards the kitchen.
I look down at my watch to check the time, 7:30pm. I look at Guy-Man almost asking the same question in silence, and he nods. “Yeah, lets order.” I reply.
-2 hours later –
It had been some time after dinner and the guys were in the small studio-like room in their apartment. While they were messing around with records, experimenting with sounds, mumbling to each other in French; I sat in the corner admiring all the cool equipment and media they had throughout the room. Their walls were filled with awards, pictures, and cool collectables.
“Avez-vous apporté les disques vinyles?” (Did you bring the vinyl records?)
“Oh ouais. Je les ai laissés sur la table de la cuisine. je vais les chercher.” (Oh yeah. I left them on the kitchen table. I’ll go get them.)
Guy-Man got up and left the room just leaving Thomas and I alone.
“So.” Thomas breaks the silence, “Looks like you and Guy-Man are getting close.” He gives a sly look.
I act a bit naïve, “What do you mean close? We are good friends just like we’re good friends.” I avoid eye contact with him in hopes that I wouldn’t get too nervous as I’m already am.
“You know what I mean.” But before he could pry anymore out of me Guy-Man enters back in the room with the records he brought earlier.
“What are you both talking about?”
“Rien.” (Nothing.) Thomas shakes his head and then grabs the records from his hand.
“En fait maintenant que je me souviens (actually now that I remember.) I asked Seraphina if she would like to help us work on the other song we started yesterday.” Guy-Man tells Thomas.
My head shots up looking at the guys a bit worried that Thomas may disagree with the suggestion.
“Yes of course! I think it’s a good idea.”
A mental sigh of relief escapes my body. I smile wide and start asking questions, “So what is this song about? What story are you trying to tell? How can I help?” I wanted to get engaged and excited about this opportunity although I wasn’t sure how I could really contribute.
“Well, we are thinking about calling it “Technology” or “Technologic” but basically, we want the lyrics to reflect how we use technology. For example, we were thinking of some words like code, load, pause, zoom and so on. and each word would end with it.” Thomas explains.
“Since you use a lot of technology with designing, I figured you would know some phrases to contribute.” Guy-Man explains.
“Oh ok, well let me think… umm… how about I just say different words and you see what works best.”
Thomas nods and grabs a notebook and a pen and looks at me implying he is ready.
Before I could say anything, for a split second I felt a realization of shyness come over me. Like there was a spotlight shining down as the duo both looked at me waiting for my response. What if I say something stupid or if I don’t get the vision they are trying to get for this song. Ugh just pull yourself together and stop over thinking so much.
“Write it, cut it, copy it, paste it, click it, save it, zip it… unzip it” I go on.
“Attendre, attendre (wait, wait) that was good.” Thomas quickly scratches down in his book, “Write it, cut it, paste it, save it.” He continues to write, “I like when you say zip it, unzip it.” He’s still looking down at his book jotting down his genius.
I look over at Guy-Man who is glaring at the book as well with a look of intense thought and focus.
“Write it, cut it, paste it, save it. Load it, check it, quick – rewrite it.” He goes on “Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it. Drag and drop it, zip – unzip it.”
Thomas looks at Guy-Man and then at me. I smile widely not because my less than one percent contribution made it to the song but just amazed at how effortlessly Thomas was able to get those words down.
Guy-Man looked satisfied and looked at me with such a warm smile, it made my stomach get that feeling again.
“C'est bien. Je pense qu'il faut s'arrêter ici pour aujourd'hui.” (That’s good. I think we should stop here for today.) Guy-Man says to Thomas.
“Oui, je pense aussi.” (Yeah, I think so too.) Thomas agrees and closes his notebook, and the guys begin to turn off all their machines, computers, and things.
Guy-Man gets up from his chair and looks towards me and says, “Come with me. I will show you where you can sleep tonight.”
I give a small smile and follow him out the studio and into the hallway. He opened the door to the left and inside was a small and slightly messy room. The bed had been made but a few clothes decorated the floor. The dresser was filled with little figurines and records and the nightstand was crammed with glasses of half drank water and a cigarette tray with ash and buds. This must be his room.
“You can sleep here tonight. Sorry if I knew I was having a guest over I would have cleaned.” he said scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment.
“Is this your room? I could just sleep on the couch I don’t want to intrude.”
“Non, non, please I insister (insist) .” He smiles gaining his charm back.
“Are you sure?” I really didn’t want to take over his room just for the night. I would have been fine sleeping on the cold floor in the middle of the living room for all I cared.
“Oui mon amour (yes, my love). Please I’ll be ok.” He blushed a bit realizing what he had just said.
I may not know much French yet, but I did understand what he just said. My stomach was doing back and front flips at this point and my face got hot again.
“Okay, merci.”
He kissed me on the cheek and whispered in my ear, “J'aimerais pouvoir te tenir dans mes bras pendant que tu t'endors ce soir; bonne nuit et fait de beaux rêves.” (I wish I could hold you in my arms while you fall asleep tonight; good night and sweet dreams.) But before I could process what had just happened, he left the room and closed the door just leaving me and my thoughts alone.
Shit, I really need to start learning more French.