We walked down the stone path to the opposite side of the house. The bench was still there and the city still shone bright.
“What are we really doing here, Frank?” I looked up at him, my heart thundering.
“I want to start over, Cassy,” he said, moving closer. His voice was sweet and low with a lick of fear. Was he afraid of rejection? “Clean slate?”
“I don’t know if clean slate is possible. You’re aware we’re a GIF?”
“So I’ve heard.”
“You hurt me.”
“And I’m sorry.”
“Multiple times.”
“I did.”
“You broke your promises. Multiple times too.”
“Guilty.” He pulled me into his arms. “But I’ve had some time to reflect on things, and I know where I’m going now and I want you to go with me.”
Everything about him at that moment, the impressive breadth of his chest, the silky touch of his hair, the faint scent of his cologne, felt right. Felt wonderful.
My heart squeezed. I pulled back and gazed up at him through a curtain of tears. “We can give it a shot, but I’m not moving in with you tomorrow.”
“No, not tomorrow.” He smiled. “Maybe next week?”
“You really like to rush into things, don’t you?” I bit my lip and trailed the line of his jaw with my index finger.
“I can’t help it. I don’t want you going around and kissing random guys.” A playful glint in his eyes told me he didn’t plan on holding a grudge against me for my unsuccessful attempt to move on.
I grinned and ran my palms down his chest, needing to touch him, needing to feel his heartbeat, needing to know he was okay. “Hi. I’m Cassy. I interview rock stars and produce documentaries. What’s your superpower?”
“Hi, Cassy. I’m Frank. I write music and set off metal detectors in airports.”
There were no words, no warnings, and no explanations. There was only me and him and the raw cadence of our lips. The velocity of our gasps. The gentle flicks of our tongues. A covert, slightly indecent kiss with no hands and no hugs. Just our mouths and our pulses connected, driven by a maddening rhythm.
“Now you have enough for an anthology, doll,” he whispered as we pulled apart to catch our breath.
Epilogue
Dreamcatchers (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dreamcatchers is a 2019 American documentary film directed and produced by Levi Bernstein and co-produced by Cassandra Evans. The film follows the story of a nineteen-year-old singer from Northern California, Isabella Solana, whose debut record contract was terminated by the label after a car accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Dreamcatchers offers an unfiltered look at the state of the modern music business and features a number of notable guest speakers, including ex-front man of the two-time Grammy winner band Hall Affinity, Frankie Blade.
Background
The idea of doing a documentary came to Bernstein after seeing Solana perform with her band in a nightclub in Hollywood. Both Bernstein and Evans, who co-own Los Angeles-based music magazine Rewired, were impressed with Solana’s voice and approached her mother/manager about a possible collaboration.
The film was produced on a limited budget through a number of donations. Bernstein, who graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Television, shot and edited the film himself and with the help of several college friends and Evans’ younger brother. More than 300 hours of raw footage featuring rehearsals, studio recordings, interviews, and live performances was captured. Originally designed as an attempt to attract the attention of other labels and potential sponsors to help Solana finance and record her debut album, the film changed its direction upon the involvement of Frankie Blade. Blade’s initial interest in the project was originally credited to his assistant, who came across Solana’s cover of a Hall Affinity song via Twitter, but later, the singer himself confirmed that it was Evans’ idea. Sources close to the rock singer confirmed that he and Evans had been in a secret relationship long before Blade decided to collaborate with Solana and it was her idea.
In January 2020, Blade’s publicist issued an announcement that Blade and Solana were recording a duet and industry veteran Gary Torino was producing and mixing the single. Burdened by legal issues, health problems, and the depression that his recent stage incident and firing from the band had caused, Blade unexpectedly exited the project.
Solana recorded “Afterburn” without Blade and all footage of Blade was scrapped from the film. Several weeks later, Blade appeared intoxicated at his band’s latest album release party. His outburst, filmed by a number of attendees and press present at the event, was leaked online and was harshly criticized by fans and other artists.
The following day, Blade’s PR representative issued a statement with an apology. Blade checked himself into a rehabilitation center and several weeks later reached out to Bernstein and Solana to record new footage.
Release
Dreamcatchers was screened on April 25, 2020 at Melrose Cinema in Los Angeles. It had a limited theatrical run and is scheduled to be released digitally and on DVD in October 2020.
Reception
The film received favorable reviews from critics and audiences. Adam McGraw from The Washington Post commended Bernstein and Evans for their creativity and their attempt to tackle a difficult subject most would shy away from.
Libby Thornton from BlackBook called Dreamcatcher “an honest and probably one of the most important documentaries about the music business that has been made in the past twenty years.”
Charles Corbin, who writes for Film Nation, described Dreamcatchers as a “fascinating work of art that gives an outsider a frank yet not always pretty look at what’s going on behind closed doors.” He particularly praised Blade for his courage to come forward and closely examine substance and alcohol abuse among touring artists and the reasons behind it.
Isabella Solana released her debut album South, Wait for Me on August 3, 2020. It charted at number 27 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 20,000 copies in its first week of release. Solana is Spotify’s most streamed artist
