The Voice to the Broken Strings ( Closed )

A silver melodic laugh rippled into the loft before there was a creak of wood and a slender young woman appeared at the stairs, a playful smile playing on her lips. "Aww, Ric, and here I thought that you and I were friends. I'm hurt." she teased. Oh yes. The new lead singer, Hailey Connors. The girl stood at about 5 foot 6 inches, often overshadowed by the much taller male members of the band, but she never seemed intimidated in the slightest. Fair skin, dark spiraling curls matched with dark compelling eyes and an utterly mischievous smile to boot. Her smile was absolutely contagious, it was hard not to smile back at her. Of course, unless you didn't like her her--scratch that, detested her.

Hailey was a talented singer, even from a very young age. Her mother was a piano teacher, and she encouraged her to explore her natural talent. All through her teenage years, singing had been a side hobby while she pursued various instuments like the violin and flute. But in the end, her singing had surpassed her other skills, and she had been landed here. And boy, did she think she was lucky. She knew perfectly what had happened to the other lead singers and exactly who had caused them to leave. Ric Maxwells. But she wasn't scared one bit; she knew about the terms they had stuck to him; be nice, or get out.

But to be honest, she could have taken care or herself even if he had directed his anger at her. She did have a brother with a particularly nasty streak of rebellion while she was growing up. She could easily deal with people like Ric and her older brother, Bradley. At least her brother was 28 and married for a good two years(she had sung for their wedding), along with a little boy that had been born a few months ago(She had been so happy--'Oh god, I'm going to be an aunt!' she had exclaimed. 'Hopefully he'll inherit his mom's temperment instead of yours.' she had teased).

Hailey and her brother were seven years apart--her being only 21 and being an 'accident.' Her parents hadn't planned her, and luckily for her, they had decided to keep the unborn baby that would become thier little girl. By the time she was seven and could be rather annoying, her brother was fourteen going into puberty. Often he yelled at her and told her to go jump off a cliff, but her love for her brother did not sway. She had been determined to stay close with her only sibling, no matter how much be pushed her away. In the end, she had succeded, and they were very good friends even now.

Ric would probably be the only one who actually disliked her. She was quite outgoing and friendly--though she did like to tease a lot--and the other members, fondly calling her 'Hailes,' were--if not kind to her, were at least accepting of her and appreciative of her talents. Even the manager liked her, because she was cooperative, and reliable, not to mention extremely mature for her age. After all, she was the youngest amongst them all. She walked over to the padded bench across from him, casually crossing her legs and smiling. "I'm not leaving so soon, you know. Unless you want to try and chase me out?" she didn't mean this in a bad way, just a small joke. She didn't want to be on his bad side--hopefully he'd loosen up sooner or later. Besides, Hailey was the type of girl that eventually grew on you. She had a simple but undeniable charm. Hailey hoped that she would at least be able to be on good terms with him on the tour that was coming up--after all, they were a group, and bad blood between members could prove to be disasterous, like it had been before.

Hailey listened carefully as Kale told them about the plan. She was rather impressed. She had not really thought of the full extent--nearly a year? She was new to the celebrity world--she supposed she would get used to it in the end. And hadn't this been the reason she had joined up? To travel the world and do what she loved to do? "That sounds like a plan," she said, always going with the flow. "I'm excited now." there was the flash of her mischievous smile. She had her own mind, yes--but she happened to be what they would call a 'team player.' She had a lot to learn from these more experienced performers.

Hailey liked both Luther and Kale; Kale sort of like an older brother and Luther, even though he was older than her, something of a younger brother(she would never tell him that, though). She usually teased him about his cheating streak on his girlfriends. Kale, she never really teased him, but she often asked about his fiance with a smile. She liked to talk about marriage and things like that; she had a good relationship with her sister-in-law and her little nephew because of her interest and kindness she showed them.

Her nephew's name was Evan, and he was such a darling, so, so, cute. Her sister in law, Darleen, often said that Evan had Hailey's eyes. She had been surprised the first time; her brother had the same color eyes as her. Wouldn't it make more sense to say that Evan had taken after his father? No, Darleen had explained with a laugh; his eyes had the same endearing spark of mischief that Hailey had. She went and visited them often, but now, on this tour, she realized she would not see Bradley, Darleen, or little Evan for a whole year. He would be bigger than, yes? But there was no going back--she had chosen this more herself, and she was going to have a kick-ass time.

She laughed good naturedly when Kale proclaimed that Ric had to be nicer to her, but the laugh died in her throat at the next suggestion. She recovered quickly, however. "Take me out for a lunch date? Sure, as long as he pays," quipped Hailey. "Just kidding, but really... is that wise? Leaving me alone with him? Won't he try and kill me or something? We all know how fond he is of me..." she said sweetly. She meant that everyone knew how much he disliked her. "..But I won't argue." she said, uncrossing her legs and standing. Maybe she really shouldn't try and poke fun at grumpy Ric, but she couldn't help it. She would befriend him somehow--and if not, she would at least get him to call her by her name. He rarely addressed her at all, and she had to surpress a laugh each time she saw the expression he would make from trying to keep himself from badmouthing her.

"Pick me up in three minutes, I hate it when my dates are late," she teased him one last time before leaving the loft to get her things. She was gone in an instant, just a bell-like laugh floating in the air to testify that she had been there at all. She left like she came, with teasing words, mischievous smiles, and the prettiest laughs. It was Hailey Connors alright.

Hailey wasn't too excited to have to go out to lunch with someone who disliked her--but she would have to deal. After all, it was important to get along. She might poke fun at him often, but she was always careful not to go too far. Experience with her hot tempered brother had taught her to be cautious when guys like Ric were moody. Well, he was always moody whenever it came to Hailey. She didn't mind that Ric had a nasty disliking towards her--not too much, but she sincerely hoped that he would soften up. Heck, he might even be cute once he stopped scowling.

“My, my, mighty eager aren’t we?” Hailey muttered to herself at his impatient knocks. She was actually lounging on her sofa, only a couple feet away from the door he was nagging at from the other side. She just didn’t want to seem like she had been ready ages ago. But she was surprised when he called her by her name, and she became rather amused. Since when? Ha, perhaps she was getting there.

She decided to indulge him and got up and traipsed to the door. “My neighbors are going to think I’m being visited by a loan shark,” she teased as she opened the door. “That, or you’d eventually break down my door. You seem quite, quite impatient for someone who didn't want to go.” she smiled mischievously before stepping outside. She was wearing exactly what she had worn before; white simple short sleeved dress shirt, dark skinny jeans, and heeled sandals. Her hair, though curly, was still somehow neat, and her soft make up was perfect, as usual. Hailey thought there was no reason to dress up for something that was so not a date(she had only been teasing, after all).

“Where are we going for lunch?” she asked, subconsciously twirling a dark curl with a slender finger. She wasn't too hungry, but hungry enough to want something good. Hailey wasn't much of a picky eater, as long as there was nothing to do with fish; when she was five she had gotten food poisoning after eating a slightly uncooked fish. After that, she didn't touch the stuff. She shouldered her bag and looked up at him(he practically towered over her) with a hint of a smile. "I was kidding before, you don't have to pay." the smile turned into a brief grin.


[OOC: Kinda short. Sorry~ xF]

[[ it's fine xD ]]


"What the heck took you so long?" Ric hissed before he turned away from he and headed towards the elevator, his eyes closed when he heard her speak while they waited for the silver door to part. The man slightly released a sigh and looked up at the ceiling, his eyes reopened as he managed to force himself to say, "No, I feel that I think I should.. Because I need to apologize.. For.. My bad.. Er. Behaviour."

He was straining and forcing himself to talk like that, especially to someone of whom he just met and surely, Hailey Connors, was already fitting into the missing square Monica Fretcher left behind. Ric figured there was no way he was going to melt to her lively vibe like Luther and Kale had already done. Same with Alexis Edwards, his future sister in law and pretty much their manager.
Alexis was always teasing Ric about getting a girlfriend, and his reaction to having Hailey had made matters worse as it was one of the worst reactions he had done compared to Monica and the other girls who managed to stay for a couple of weeks and months. The Guitarist was a jerk and when Hailey arrived without him being able to say or do anything to her, well, he felt he had lost his cool and just wanted to blow up at someone else.

Well he actually did.
To a waitress at a restaurant who got his order wrong.
The same went to the event manager at a stadium they were playing when she mistaken a guitar with a bass guitar and mistaken Ric of being Kale.
Oh, not to mention "Ellen", Luther's last ever girlfriend, that was one of the controversial one actually, Ric went to jail for three days before he was released with bail thanks to Alexis.. Apparently, the Guitarist was mad at Angelica Jones for leaving and Monica was away the day that reminded him of Angelica since her departure and he just, blew up, he verbally attacked "Ellen" and she was emotionally scarred for a whole before Ric's Apology was made worldwide.

But yes, since then, Ric's graduation from Anger Management helped and Hailey was actually seeing and meeting one of the nicest Ric anyone has seen.
Even Kale told Hailey about it and told her of how lucky she was when she joined after Ric's Anger Management had finally ended, the girls before her were probably scarred emotionally too.

"I have an idea," Ric returned his head straight oncethe elvator opened. He released a sigh and awaited for her to enter before he followed, he stood awkwardly still aside her. "We eat at a Sushi Bar Alexis told me to take you, it's got fish and I remembered Luther said never to take you to anywhere 'fishy', so I am thinking we can just go to Burger King."

Whoa, Ric remembered a fact about Hailey.

"Oh, come on. Don't you know how much care we put into dressing up nicely just for guys?" she said good naturedly, though that really hadn't been the reason of her tardiness. But she was naturally surprised to hear his half-apology. "Eh? That's so unlike you. But don't feel bad, I've heard I'm lucky not to be at the end of your extreme anger. Honestly though, I'm really hard to scare off. I have a brother like you." Hailey was glad to see that Ric actually had a decent side, as she had suspected. She was the type to see the best of people and draw it out even more.

Hailey lived on the fifth floor. She had a head for heights; as a child she had been such a cheeky tomboy with a penchant for climbing trees(and falling out of them--she had probably broken a couple ribs in her childhood but she had still insisted climbing as soon as she was released from the hospital). Who knew that the little girl would grow up and be part of a real band? Her family had been very proud of her--down to her still at-times-moody brother(Come to think of it, Darleen had been more excited at the news than her brother). Ric had been through anger management, but her brother hadn't--though she doubted Bradley needed it now. Hailey herself had squeezed and pried into her brother's acceptance, and made him all for the better.

She blinked as she stepped into the elevator, wondering why he was being so grudgingly nice. She’d sort of prefer it that he treated her nicely because he liked her as a human being, not just because someone told him to. Hailey blinked again at his suggestion of food—three surprises in the same meeting? First he calls her by her name, second he apologizes(well, sort of), and third, he actually paid attention to something about her? What a shocker.

“You’re so full of surprises, Ric,” she said, her smile once again turning teasing. “Didn’t know you cared so much.” Shouldn’t Burger King be the exact place where one was not supposed to take a girl? At least in the popular media? “I’m fine with that—but hey, d’you hate me so much you’re trying to get rid of me by feeding me too much? I’m not a goldfish, you know. I won’t explode.” an eyebrow quirked questioningly, but like always, she meant it all in good cheer.

But Hailey would have preferred the burger shop over the sushi restaurant—not because of the fish, but because she wasn’t really comfortable with those stiff and stuck up types of places. She was much more partial to a laid-back, fast food place. It was more her thing; where people wouldn’t glare at you for blinking too much or not being able to handle the super hot towels they handed out. Hailey’s family hadn’t been very wealthy, so being at fancy places usually made her fidget. She was feeling grateful towards him for that.