eliserxdemacher - Tumblr blog

[eliserxdemacher]

brckenhearteds​:

At this point in his life, Julian was fairly certain the majority of his bloodstream chemically consisted of coffee. A lifetime of abuse had left him with a litany of gnarly, garish mental wounds that had never fully scarred over, which led to him having intense, debilitating nightmares more nights than not. Thus, the need for coffee presented itself almost daily – after all, he had a day job to go to and a life to live, and he couldn’t perform at his best while half-asleep.

School was out for the summer, and it was a Friday afternoon, anyway, so at least in this instance, Julian had no actual need for coffee. Today’s plan was a bit simpler – he wanted only to people watch, to perhaps gather inspiration for a new song. He’d never been good at talking to people; it was easier to sit back and let the inspiration come to him from his comfortable position as a wallflower.

He didn’t actually need coffee, but he felt bad sitting outside his favorite coffee shop without ordering any, so he’d ordered his typical drink anyway – a small cold brew coffee with a hint of vanilla cream. As Julian stood by the to-go counter, his eyes wandered through the other patrons in line: an exasperated mother holding two children close to her side, a tall, lanky man with great hair, and a petite blonde woman who clearly looked frazzled in the moment. His lips twitched downward into a frown as he took stock of the situation. From his vantage point, it looked like perhaps she’d forgotten her wallet and had begun frantically searching for it.

Threading his way through the other patrons, Julian slid up to the counter and handed the barista his card. “Hey, I got it,” he interjected softly, hoping to not attract too much attention to himself. He turned to look back at the woman, a grin immediately forming on his features once he saw her up close. “Elise? Strings fan Elise from the show three weeks ago?” Julian asked, his heartbeat escalating quickly. “If it isn’t the queen of AutoCAD herself. Wow. Fancy meeting you here, huh?” he said, ruffling up the back of his hair as he grabbed his card and dropped a few dollars into the tip jar.

“I hope your, um, boyfriend or girlfriend or significant other in general doesn’t mind that.” He nodded to the barista, then stepped aside and smiled down at Elise. “I promise I’m not being that creepy local musician who’s trying to hit on you because you’re pretty. I’m sure you get that a lot, on account of how lovely you are and everything. But I just noticed you didn’t have your wallet and I’ve been there before.” In an attempt to make conversation – and in large part because they hadn’t gotten a chance to finish their conversation before – Julian decided to speak for longer than his normally allotted two seconds. “What drink did you order? I’m curious.”

It had been quite a busy week at the architecture firm Elise was working in. She had been working on the final construction plan of a sports complex that approved the firm’s initial proposal the previous month. They were apparently in a rush to get the planning process over within a few weeks which would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Elise and the amazing intern that was appointed to this project, Olivia. They had been staying late at the office, exchanging hopeless glances and cranking each other up with a joke or two to get through the night. As they finalized the construction plan that Friday afternoon, they both fell back on their chairs and let out exasperated sighs-it had been a debilitating ride, to say the least. 

To blow off some steam and get as far away from work as possible, Elise decided to get home, take a quick shower, change into the comfiest pair of clothing she could find in her room without digging through her closet (which happened to be a ripped mom jean and a white crop top) and make her way towards one of her favorite coffee shops. She did not forget to tuck a copy of The Art of Cruelty by Maggie Nelson into her bag, in hopes of catching a moment to read while she sipped her coffee.

After she ordered her drink, she took a hold of the bag that had been slinging off her shoulder. As soon as her hands failed to grasp around the leather material of her wallet; there was no doubt something was wrong. Just like many aspects of her life, Elise’s bag was usually very organized; she would always keep her wallet in the little pocket inside of the bag. By doing so, she would avoid crowding the lines by rummaging through all of her possessions...which happened to be exactly what she was doing now. Mumbling a quick ‘‘Just a second.’’ to the cashier, her hand travelled down to the pockets of her jeans in one last attempt to locate at least some amount of cash that may have been forgotten there. Once again, she was out of luck.

Just as her hopes diminished and the blonde looked up at the barista and opened her mouth to cancel her drink; she noticed someone swooping right in. She raised her head to take a look at her savior, only to be pleasantly surprised once more. ‘‘Julian! Hey!’’ Elise marveled and a sense of relief washed over her when she noticed Julian was holding out his card to pay for her drink. A shaky laughter escaped from her lips. ‘‘Thank you so much for that, I think I left my wallet at the office...or maybe even at home.’’ She explained before quickly adding ‘‘I’ve been overworked, so now I’m a mess. Can’t even function properly to buy myself a coffee.’’ It was hard not to realize the sense of relief had been replaced with a flare of joy. After their brief encounter, Elise had no doubt in her mind her momentary crush on Julian was both unrequited and a bit too usual for him to recollect. However, maybe it was possible she has been too quick to reach to that conclusion. Julian did not seem like he had a hard time figuring out who she was at all, which caused her to lighten up immediately.  At his remark on the AutoCAD, she threw her head back and vividly laughed. ‘‘After the week I’ve had, I’m not sure if I even want to be around a laptop for a while.’’ She admitted. ‘‘I really like this coffee shop. It’s pretty close to my neighborhood, though it’s been a while since I’ve been here. Been drowning myself with tasteless coffee they make at the office.’’ Suddenly, the thought of absentmindedly running into Julian before crossed her mind as she asked ‘‘Do you come here often?’’

‘‘I’m sure my nonexistent significant other would have been really pleased you showed up in your shining armor and saved me from public humiliation.’’ Her reply was a bit too quick, her eagerness to clarify she was not seeing anyone was maybe a little too evident in her voice. While Julian explained he did not intend to seem like the creepy musician, Elise shook her head and scoffed to underscore the unnecessity of the thought. ‘‘For one thing, I highly doubt anyone would be creeped out by you hitting on them. Really. Plus, I can only be thankful you rushed to my rescue, or I would be beating myself down for being so forgetful as I walked back home.’’ The barista delivered both of their drinks with a swoop of his hand and Elise reached for her coffee. ‘‘They make excellent chai tea latte with almond milk. So, it’s usually what I go for.’’ She said and glanced at Julian’s drink. ‘‘Cold brew is a close second, though.’’ 

Noticing her favorite spot right outside the coffee shop was empty, Elise realized she did not want to keep their encounter as short as the previous one. In fact, after the concert, it felt as though she could have talked to Julian all night long-he stimulated her attention more than anyone else she met in a long, long time. ‘‘Hey, were you waiting for someone or would it be okay if I kept you in company?’’

[eliserxdemacher]

brckenhearteds​:

Home looked like a lot of things for Julian Evans. Some days, home tasted like the sea salt air of Santa Barbara, the wind whipping across his face as he surfed along the coast with his mom and Belle watching from the beach. On other days, home felt like falling into the softness of a synthesizer or reworking the same beat for five hours straight while his roommates played Xbox in the living room. Some days it looked like sunlight filtering through the dusty windows in his classroom as he got ready for school.

One home, though, drew him back every time: the stage. Julian often spent time wondering how he’d made it through life as such an awkward, bumbling fool, one who cared too deeply and was generally just a little too much for most people. His exuberance and intensity often drew people to him and then scared them away, his wide and bright eyes existing as two twin moons that pushed and pulled newcomers in and out of his life like the tides. Home wasn’t a person for Julian, and it probably never would be – after a string of failed and particularly damaging relationships, he’d taken that much as a fact of life.

The stage would never leave him, though. Neither would the feeling of singing his heart out to a crowd that sang his own words back to him. Something electric thrummed within Julian every time he turned his amp on and slung his guitar over his shoulder, and that buzz called him back again and again. That euphoric rush and the hazy, endorphin-drenched aftermath that consumed him ensured that he’d never give up on performing his music live, even if he ended up only playing to a crowd of a few people.

It seemed that wouldn’t be the case any time soon, though. Danny had told him that the band’s following had been growing steadily, but he hadn’t realized just how much they’d grown until tonight’s show. What had started as a few of their mutual friends watching them in dive bars had grown into something bigger than any of them. They’d actually sold their show out tonight, and a slew of fans had come up to each of them after the show singing their praises, then asking for photos and autographs.

As the crowd momentarily waned, Julian sat on the stage next to Danny and fiddled with his guitar absentmindedly, his mind elsewhere. Two girls popped out of the crowd and headed toward them, one of them waving excitedly toward Danny. It wasn’t an unusual sight – Danny had always been the biggest social butterfly out of the four bandmates, and Julian looked to him intently as the girls approached. “Paige from Connecticut. She’s a sweetheart. So outgoing,” Danny explained, leaning into Julian’s ear to introduce the strangers. “We met at…”

“The party with those gigantic palm trees in the valley. Yeah, I remember,” Julian interjected, taking a swig of water as he surveyed both girls. “Cool that she actually showed up. And that must be…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Paige’s energy bubbled over and collided into Danny’s. Julian offered her a small smile, fading into the background as Danny thanked her for her kindness and introduced her to the rest of the band. Meanwhile, his eyes drifted over to the girl next to her: smaller, blonde, with dimples in her smile that made his heart jump. Awkward as ever, he watched the scene in front of him unfold, preferring to stay in the wings while the others spoke for him.

Elise. The petite girl confirmed his suspicions, and Julian offered her a small smile as he re-tuned his guitar halfheartedly. He would’ve been fully content to spend the rest of the night watching her from afar before he heard her compliment. I’m one hundred percent sure your lyrics consist of the most soul-touching words I’ve ever heard.

“Oh, Elise, you’re so sweet. I’d love to take credit for our lyrics – I’m sure we all would – but that’s all Julian and Zoe,” Danny explained, nudging Julian’s side. “Actually, now that I think about it, Jules wrote all the lyrics for tonight’s set.”

Julian looked up, immediately flushing bright red as Danny introduced him. He replayed Elise’s words in his mind, the producer in him immediately picking up on the cadence and intonation of her voice. He hopped down from the stage, setting his guitar to the side as he offered Elise a genuine smile. “That would be me,” he explained softly, clearing his throat as he tried to speak a bit more loudly. “I’m Julian. You’re Elise, right? Architect Elise?” he asked, finally finishing the question he’d initially wanted to ask Danny. It was an off the cuff comment that Danny had made about Paige’s friend when talking in passing, but it had stuck with him, and he hoped he hadn’t been mixing her up with someone else.

Brushing his chestnut curls back with a swipe of his hand, Julian studied Elise intently as he tried to choose his words deliberately. She was almost disarmingly pretty and it intimidated him more than he wanted to admit. “That’s such a sweet compliment. Thank you so much for coming to see us… and for saying that. That’s why I write music. It really means a lot that you actually listened to the lyrics and took them to heart,” he said, wishing for a moment that he could hook his amp up to his vocal cords rather than his guitar.

“Elise,” he repeated, turning her name over in his mouth as he cocked his head to the side. “That’s such a pretty name. Pretty name for a pretty girl,” he mused, his tone matter-of-fact and innocent. Julian had never been good at filtering his thoughts – he spoke the truth, and the truth was that Elise was pretty. It was like saying the sky was blue, or that water was wet. “I would love to say that I’m some sort of lyrical genius, but I think it’s really you that’s the genius. Danny told me – well, Danny told me that Paige told him that you’re an architect? That’s… really cool. A skill set I couldn’t even dream of having. What made you become an architect?”

Zoe nudged his side playfully, then turned to Elise. “Sorry, Elise. This isn’t a job interview. Though if coming to more of our shows is in your five-year plan, we’d love that.”

Upon hearing Danny’s words, Elise’s head turned to meet Julian’s gaze. The moment their eyes locked, she could not help but stare into his pair of almond brown orbs for a moment too long. There was something absolutely magnetic about his eyes; it was inevitable to feel like a shot of electricity just wired up through her entire body. It was a momentary reaction, a moment’s weakness that came and went but she head to blink her eyes a few times to make sure she could break the eye contact and offer the boy her hand. There, hopefully that seemed much less creepy. ‘‘Yeah, that’d be me. Sorry, you just have really great eyes. It’s so great to finally meet you.’’ She mused while shaking his head before quickly adding ‘‘I mean all of you. It is so cool my friend knows not only the coolest band but also the most talented bunch!’’ Ever since she was a little girl, Elise adored people who could get up on stage and put on mesmerizing performances as it was easy as falling off a log. Watching performers take over the stage with their undeniable presence and seem so comfortable while doing so was incomprehensible to her. Mainly because she was certain she had some mild case of stage fright, Elise could not imagine herself reciting lines or singing her heart out in front of an audience. 

Poems had been among Elise’s favorite pieces of literature for quite some time. The expressive ability a person must obtain to convey their deepest emotions in their work was admirable. ‘‘I’m clearly no expert but I’m drawn to meaningful lyrics. And when I listen to your songs they just seem so... effortless, you know? It’s so raw and genuine, it’s almost as if you sit down, write everything down and barely even revise or edit it. Kind of like the Beat poetry.’’ She commented, the twinkle in her eyes evident while she spoke. Every time she started going off about a topic she found particularly interesting, it was difficult to hit the brakes and slow down a bit. ‘‘My favorite is Strings. I’ve hit replay on that song so many times it basically became my personal anthem. I assume it was also written by you since it was on the setlist today?’’ She asked, and was greeted with an eye roll from Paige who was more into catchier tunes produced by the band. ‘‘I swear to God, I thought it was a phase. But at this point, Strings could easily be Eli’s ringtone.’’ With the brunette’s remark, waves of laughter filled the room.  

Most of the time, Elise was good with compliments. She excelled in giving them out as well as receiving them in a humble yet graceful manner. Yet, when Julian stated he thought she was pretty, a broad and probably foolish grin plastered across her lips; heat spreading throughout her chest. ‘‘Thanks! I was named after my grandmother and well, she wasn’t always the nicest. So, feels nice to hear that.’’ That was an understatement because her grandmother was probably the crankiest person she had ever encountered during her twenty-four years on earth. When she was just a child, her mother would constantly warn Elise and her brother to get on the woman’s good side...which was not an attainable quest for the girl. Their grandmother’s favorite was undoubtedly Jason and that did not surprise anyone in the family. He was the most charming, delightful one of the Rademacher family. 

As Zoe joked about how many questions the two had been throwing at each other, the blonde threw her head back and let out a laugh. ‘‘I would love to! You guys should just ban me from coming backstage though, since I clearly have no self-control and probably exhaust you with my fangirling.’’ She acknowledged before she paused momentarily and focused her attention back to Julian. Luckily for her, Paige and Danny were already engaged in an apparently fascinating conversation about Connecticut and Paige’s parents. ‘‘It’s not nearly as cool as being able to play instruments and writing lyrics, but I try. Don’t tell anyone, but AutoCAD does most of the work for me.’’ She spoke the last sentence leaning forward and in a much lower voice, as if she was telling him a secret.  There was a brief pause while Elise contemplated whether or not to tell the entire story to Julian. Now that the other band members and Paige were too engaged in a conversation to pay much attention to them, she figured she could let it all out. ‘‘When I was in high school, we had to complete twenty hours of community service to graduate. My friends and I found an elementary school that did not have enough funds to build a playground and helped them out as our community service project. I was in charge of making the sketches of all the ladders and slides because we were working on a budget. That’s when I figured I really enjoy spending hours designing stuff...especially furniture. Buildings are much more technical and require years and years of practice, so I tend to lean more on the interior design side nowadays.’’ 

There was no doubt Elise did not experience much difficulty while she was talking to people; she was easygoing by nature. Yet, it was unusual of her to fixate on one person so much and crave to know more about them. Something about the boy made her feel like it would be fine if she could spill out and tell him all about her most well-kept secrets. He would listen and not scold. Or she was reading too much into the lyrics he wrote and daydreaming. ‘‘What about you? Have you always been interested in pursuing the rockstar dream?’’ The question spilled from her lips quickly to prevent herself from getting lost in Julian’s beautiful pair of eyes that filled her chest with warmth.

[eliserxdemacher]

There was no doubt Paige could easily convince Elise to jump off a bridge with her if she made a solid argument of it. Two girls had been close friends since they met at their freshmen year in college when they were assigned to be roommates. At first, it felt like Elise was trapped in a nightmare that repeated itself every single day with only slight alterations. Paige was one of the messiest people Eli had ever met-once, her toothbrush was found under the doormat of their dorm room. She was careless and had an extremely difficult time figuring out what kind of a neat freak she was living under the same roof with. Once they installed some ground rules both promised not to break under any circumstances, their reluctant roommate relationship effortlessly blossomed into the companionship they now enjoyed. After graduating from college, Paige had moved back to Connecticut where her family still resided in. The girls were no longer able to see each other every day, day and night like they used to. Regardless, they had made a habit of paying one another visits every three to four months to ensure they did not fall out of touch. For almost a year now, Paige had been nagging the blonde about seeing a band her friend Danny was  in. Given their Spotify statistics, they were an up and coming band of young, talented musicians. Elise always had a predilection for lyrics that were simple, yet poetic. The songs Paige kept blasting through the speakers of her car provided just that element, so it was only natural for Elise to agree this band her friend could not enough of was about to become a big hit. Consequently, it felt redundant to refuse Paige’s offer when she found out the band had an upcoming show just around the time she was back in LA.

Throughout the entire show, the crowd was going wild. Truly, the rendition of the songs were remarkable and although it was not her area of expertise, even Elise was able to grasp that fact. They were unique, energetic and apparently, almost everyone in the room knew the songs by heart. Hours have passed all too quickly and as the end of the show drew near, she leaned towards Paige to talk into her ear. ‘‘Remind me to never discredit your music taste ever again.’’ She commented, which only earned her a lopsided grin and a knowing shrug from her friend. With a swift motion of her hand, Elise took the elastic hair band off her wrist and pulled her blonde locks in a ponytail. As the people that surrounded the two girls continued to grind against one another and dance to the rhythm, Paige grabbed Elise by the shoulder and nudged her towards the direction of the backstage entrance. ‘‘I told Danny we were gonna be here. We should go say hi!’’ She shouted because even though the concert ended, it was still too loud for them to hear each other if they did not speak in higher volumes. In response, Elise gave her friend an affirmative nod and allowed herself to be dragged towards the backstage.

If the crowd outside could be considered excited to see the band play, the people that were gathered inside this room seemed much more thrilled to get the chance to visit backstage. A brunette had not so kindly shouldered her while almost frantically asking ‘‘Where’s the meet and greet?’’ Clearly, Elise had underestimated the popularity the band obtained, yet a voice inside of her whispered there was no way an official meet and greet was going to be held at that exact moment. Letting out an impatient sigh, she made way for herself and Paige as they approached a towering guy with chocolatey brown hair. ‘‘Danny!’’ Paige exclaimed before pulling him into a tight hug. ‘‘You guys were amazing! Obviously I knew how cool you guys were right off the bat, but you even mesmerized the tough little cookie over here.’’ She announced bluntly, pointing towards Elise. At her friend’s straightforward assessment, the blonde could not help but let out a chuckle. ‘‘Elise.’’ She introduced herself and offered her hand to Danny, just as the remaining band members were finishing up their conversations with fans and started to make their way towards Danny. ‘‘Not that I had much doubt before but tonight, I’m one hundred percent sure your lyrics consist the most...soul touching words I’ve ever heard.’’ She stated as-a-matter-of-factly, turning her head to address the other band members as well as Danny.