The words in quotes are the titles of Maroon 5 tracks.
Whether or not they will make it into the actual story, I'm still trying to figure out.
It's strange- the vast majority of the music that's inspiring my story are all by female artists. Maybe because Talia has this attitude about hating men... I still think about how funny it was that I spent so much time with these female influences (a bunch of personal role models), I fall in love with another male celebrity [this time an athlete] and have zero recollection of the last time I felt that way about a guy.
That kinda dispels any doubt in my head that I'm straight. I may be a little bicurious at times, but I definitely feel that attractive pull more strongly towards guys.
Anyway...
The first time I heard "Ladykiller" while running through Maroon 5's Overexposed album, I was perplexed as much as I was awed.
Because to me, it sounds like Adam's warning an ex-girlfriend to stay away from another woman. In reality, that more likely isn't true... maybe I was just looking for something more spicy..
Then when I started putting "Tickets" on heavy rotation, the visual brainstorming really started kicking into high gear. I see Amber dancing with her two guy friends, Michel and Misha. The three of them are on a stage doing a lot of cha-cha and samba steps. She's being flirtatious as usual. This time around, I started picturing choreography with her arms, folding them and twisting them in different positions in front of her.
Both songs, I see coming into play in one particular pivotal scene.
The set-up:
Talia had just broken up with Juan Paulo, the guy who spent most of the 2nd act (of three) wooing her. And they'd only been together for a couple weeks. An argument ensues, he says some things that he doesn't mean, but she takes very seriously and breaks up with him over them.
Emilia overhears the argument... her apartment happens to be located on the street they happen to be walking... she goes after Talia reason with her, only to find her already making out with another guy. One of many "booty call" guys she has saved on her cell phone when she needs a quick fix.
After the guy storms off upon the interruption, Emilia is beside herself. Talia deliberately kept this part of her and their business from her to protect her innocence. In this instance, Emilia proclaims that she's going to work with Amber instead- since she'd made it clear that she wants to work with her. Talia tries to talk her out of it, saying that Amber takes the business too seriously and she couldn't handle it. Emilia insists that nothing could be worse than Talia shacking up with a random guy not even 10 minutes after breaking up with a perfectly nice guy.
I started brainstorming a bit more while running through "Ladykiller" earlier today and I came across an interesting notion:
I never took into account what the other S&M prostitutes thought of Amber- particularly after she left their side of town and Evangeline and her girlfriend wound up dead. Isaac owned their business and may have told them that Amber turned Evangeline into a lesbian- which led to her murder.
Having said that, "Ladykiller" might take on a literal meaning.
I'd also played around with the idea that Amber was so hardcore as a part of Talia's business that some of the back-up dancers quit because they couldn't handle her way of doing things.
I'm still not entirely sure about going that route.
Supposing my book ever got finished/published and turned into a movie, this could be an interesting number where Emilia wonders through the dingy side of town. Although this city is very poor to begin with, this is the poorest part of it. [For whatever reason, I'm picturing an early scene from "Rock of Ages" where a bunch of local prostitutes harass Sherrie, singing "you were meant for this since you were born"]
The only way Emilia can find out where Amber works her 2nd job is either a conversation with Vanessa or Ruby.
Maybe she calls Scarlet/Ruby's apartment. It's not too late in the evening, so Scarlet is probably still with Javier (they're either having sex at this point or had just finished).
Ruby answers. Emilia asks where she can find Amber because she needs to talk to her. Ruby goes down a few floors, knocks on Amber's door, but she doesn't answer. She then calls Vanessa, asking her the same question.
In a previous scene that I'm still brainstorming about, Vanessa and Amber have another conversation. Amber had just started materializing her idea for a theme night and if Talia agrees to it, she wants Vanessa to be a part of it. She tells her that she really needs this to work out, not just to make a mark at the club, but she needs the extra money for Michel and Misha's business. She relays that she tries to help them out whenever she can and she performs with them some nights.
After hanging up with Vanessa, she calls Emilia back to forward the address. But she still tries to warn her about her. Emilia rolls her eyes, insisting she can handle her being extra hardcore about the business. Ruby still insists that she be careful. Saying how she'd blown up at her several times and doesn't like spending time with the other girls. "Just don't be surprised if she ends up breaking your heart. At the end of the day, she's the only one she really cares about."
Despite what just happened with Talia, how she spent the past year or so looking up to her only to have that image in her head smashed, Emilia remains optimistic. She truly believes Amber is different and wants to really get to know her since the other girls have clearly given up on that.
"Tickets" could very well be an inside joke. Amber dancing to this music because that's how others perceive her. They believe she's only concerned about herself and could care less about the people she hurts along the way.
However, this winds up not being the case. Amber is very warm with Emilia, looking very forward to working with her, while on the inside she's rejoicing because she knew there'd come a time that Emilia would tire of following Talia's lead [ergo the song "Told ya so" by Karmin].
All this being said, I have a couple of scenes to work on.
*Vanessa and Amber- "I have an idea and I want you to be part of it. And I hope Emilia will be too."
*Conversation with Amber and Talia- "You'll see. There will come a time when Emilia tries of following your lead and wants to join me."
*phone conversation involving Emilia, Ruby and Vanessa
*Emilia walking to the gritty side of town, taking in the surroundings, asking the local girls where the place is located and they tell her to watch out for Amber because she got one of their friends killed [and later, the conversation needs to happen where this is clarified]
*Amber's performance with Michel and Misha shortly before Emilia shows up.
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