2007-03-30: Anastasia And Amanda

Starring:

Jane_icon.gif

Summary: Two college student musicians from NYU (NPCs played by Tamara_icon.gif visit Jane Forrest.

Date It Happened: March 30, 2007

Anastasia and Amanda


Apartment 108 in a Greenwich Village high rise building, Manhattan, NYC


Having met a prospect the day before, following Tamara's lead, and invited the taller blonde here with her keyboardist friend, Jane Forrest waits in her apartment for them to arrive. Drinks are set out, a variety of colas and fruity things. Wine might be out too, but she doesn't yet know if they're old enough for that. Her phone rests on top of a pizza delivery menu, ready to have that call made. A seat is taken on the piano bench, sheet music is resting on tables, and she's lightly running fingers over her favorite guitar.

Footsteps in the hall might be the first clue to the presence of Jane's guests - or the quiet chatter of hushed voices. Both are female, and one (possibly recognizable as Anastasia's) is not as good at managing quiet as the other. The footsteps stop at Jane's door, with a brief pause as if to check the number against one written on paper before someone knocks.

Anastasia is just as tall and blonde as she was yesterday, her hair more or less contained in a ponytail. Her color of choice today is bright red, with denim shorts despite the early spring weather. The young woman she brought along - who looks to have been the one to knock - is considerably shorter, probably in the vicinity of five-four, with chin-length light-brown hair and an apparent preference for cooler colors. Both have, of course, brought their instruments, and it looks like the second woman's keyboard case also has sheet music tucked away in its side pocket.

The door opens, Jane stands there in a dark blue skirt which stops about two inches above her knees and flat shoes. A Metallica t-shirt covers her torso, and hair is loose around her shoulders. One step to the side is taken, she admits the visitors and flashes a welcoming smile. "Thanks for coming, folks." A sweeping gesture of her hand makes the invitation to enter.

"Thanks for having us!" is Anastasia's immediate and enthusiastic reply. "Jane, this is Amanda Hendricks. Amanda, Jane." Never mind that her companion is perfectly capable of introducing herself. Despite having been in back, Anastasia also somehow manages to lead the way into the room. "Nice place," she remarks, as she glances curiously through the doorways. Grinning a bit as Anastasia takes the lead, Amanda offers Jane a handshake. "Pleased to meet you."

Her right hand extends and shakes Amanda's once, then releases. "Likewise, Amanda," Jane answers. "Thanks, Anastasia. Very Russian, the name." Walking further into the apartment and the main room, she states "I wasn't sure what you might want to drink, so I've got a variety. Even more if you're at least twenty-one." She stands aside to let the pair look around and set up, offering "Get comfortable, yeah? And does pizza work?" Turning away for a moment she closes her eyes to bask in the moment, the first time she's had a chance like this with fellow musicians since that first year at Yale.

"I'm more Polish, actually," Anastasia notes. "My parents just liked the name." The pair follow Jane into the main room, each taking a seat. "Oh, you play cello, too?" the blonde remarks, upon seeing the instrument in question. She picks up a soda from the selections on the table, opening it and taking a sip.

"This is more than fine," Amanda states, nodding towards the present variety of drinks. "Especially with pizza. The alcohol can wait until later." Tacitly agreeing both to pizza and that everyone here is over 21. Rather than claiming a drink immediately, Amanda starts rifling through the sheet music set out.

"I do, sometimes," the hostess replies. "But rarely. Guitar's the one I spent the most time with, piano is second. The 'rents had this whole well-rounded thing they insisted on, being the proper young lady." Jane picks up her phone and prepares to dial, asking "What toppings would you want? And style." The sheet music is varied. Some is for more recent tunes from fairly well known rock artists, but most of it is from classic rockers. Beatles, Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Clapton, Hendrix, on down the line. There's also a good bit of Heart, Pretenders, Joan Jett, and Pat Benatar.

For her part, Anastasia waves a hand at the question of pizza details. "Whatever's good," she replies. "Then I won't haul my bass over here next time," she adds with an easy grin. Apparently already assuming there's going to /be/ a next time.

Amanda passes off a few of the songs for Anastasia's perusal, highlighting one with a murmured, "Hey, remember this?" Jane's question distracts her from the papers. "Hm? Ah - no mushrooms," Amanda requests. "Other than that, anything's fine." Distracted from the music, she takes the opportunity to grab some juice before she gets preoccupied again.

The call is made. One large, two thirds pepperoni and sausage with mushrooms, the other third without. Jane sets the phone down and reports "It'll be about half an hour." She walks over to where they're looking through music and watches for a time, letting them take their leisure at it. "Have you been in a band before?" Her backside settles on the piano bench. "It's been a while for me, something I really miss and want to recapture."

Once Amanda starts handing her music, Anastasia seems to lose all interest in her soda, relegating it to a place on the table. "Sure." Half an hour, not a problem. The room is quiet for a while, broken mostly by the rustle of papers; only when Jane speaks again does Anastasia look up. "It's been a while for me, too," she agrees. "But I was for a bit."

Amanda nods to the pizza timing, which is rather standard. When the conversation starts up again with the question of bands, the younger woman shakes her head a bit. "Not as such. Classes, group stuff with friends -" Here, she indicates Anastasia. "Nothing too… structured, otherwise."

A nod, as she watches the two look through music. "I might seem a bit dated in my tastes, even though I'm twenty-four, but my influences go back mostly to older music. Sixties to early nineties, with special enjoyment of women who rock. Ann and Nancy Wilson… the way Nancy played guitar, fearless. She rocks hard, y'know? But at the same time they're not manly." Her fingers move on the instrument, they play out the opening riff of Barracuda.

"Dated?" Anastasia echoes, looking up from her perusal of sheet music. The blink she gives Jane suggests that descriptor had never occurred to her. "Nah," she disagrees. "They're good songs and great musicians." A broad grin spreads across her face as Jane fits action to description and starts playing.

Amanda's opinion seems to concur with Anastasia's, the younger woman shrugging one shoulder and smiling at Jane. "I have a feeling we all grew up with similar influences," she observes. "Although mine are from the 70's on."

"Cool," the hostess answers with a spreading grin. "Pick something, let's play. Got time before the food shows, and I want to hear how we sound together." Jane's fingers move again, her voice joining in at low volume. The chosen pitch is mid-range soprano, a rich tone similar to Ann Wilson's style. "Rebel rebel, you tore your dress… Rebel rebel, your face is a mess…"

"You're on." With a glance towards Amanda, Anastasia nods to the music. Then she pushes pages around on the table until she finds the one she was looking for. After that, she extricates her own guitar. Amanda leaves the music selecting to Anastasia, moving just to set up her keyboard instead. Pages are handed out, both of the pair taking a moment to study their music before nodding to Jane to start things off.

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