afflatus

SARVIA: After I met Simone, I started to hang around her more. I mean, it made total sense. Since we were both singers, I was able to pull some strings so she could go on before me at different clubs on the strip. She always tried to protest but was far too talented to sing backup for some stuck-up white girl who could barely belt a tune.

SIMONE: It was nice to hang with Sarvia. She made me feel appreciated. She actually ended up moving in a few months later. The thing was, it felt like she and Daisy were drifting 'cause of me. Sarvia didn't really realize it, but Daisy definitely felt it.

DAISY: I wasn't jealous that Sarvia had another friend. I understood that Sarvia and Simone would end up spending more time together than with me since they sang together. I would go to the club they were singing at and cheer them on in the crowd.

SARVIA: I didn't really notice how much we'd drifted until she went into Simone's place one night while the two of us were at Sound City. She didn't even tell me she was thinking of leaving home.

"Simone, I swear, those lyrics were musical genius," Sariva complimented her friend as they exited the car and began walking up the front steps of their place.

Simone laughed. "I wasn't the only one working in that studio. I still have no idea where those words come from, but keep them up."

The joking between them stopped when they reached the bottom of the stairs and heard a noise coming from inside. Quietly, the two went up the stairs, lightly pushing the half-open front door. Simone grabbed the vase from the table near the door and held it up like a weapon.

Simone continued her slow approach to the noise, gasping when Daisy appeared from around the corner. "Daisy! What the fuck?"

Daisy startled. "Oh, my god."

Sarvia held her chest, feeling her fast heartbeat. "Holy shit, Daisy."

"You-you-you... you just broke into my house like that?" Simone stuttered and shut the door. "Like, Jesus Christ!"

"I didn't break in. I used the key sticking out of the flower pot," Daisy explained.

"That doesn't make it that much better," Sarvia pointed out.

"Don't do that ever, ever again!" Simone ordered.

"I'm sorry," Daisy apologized. "I brought wine."

"The least you could do," Simone sighed, walking into the kitchen. "Oh, my god."

Daisy handed the other two a glass. "Here you go. Wine."

"You fucking scared me. What are you cooking that's, like, so important you just had to break in?"

"Smells good, doesn't it?" Daisy replied. "Smells like you want to smell it forever, every night... in your apartment cooked by me."

"You left home?" Simone realized.

"And you didn't tell me?" Sarvia was slightly hurt.

"I can't stay with them anymore," Daisy explained. "And you did say you were looking for another roommate."

"Yeah, to help with rent," Simone confirmed.

"I can help with rent."

"You can?"

"Yeah."

"With what money?"

"I'll get a job," Daisy supplied.

"I can't wait to see Daisy Jones working a job," Sarvia joked, grabbing a spoon to taste what Daisy was cooking. "And that job will not be as a cook."

"Let me taste this." Simone grabbed her own spoonful. "Jesus, that is bad."

"Ooh," Daisy agreed after she tried it. "It is pretty bad."

The three quickly started laughing, high on happiness. And some drugs.

SARVIA: That apartment was always noisy. That's the way we liked it.

* * *

SARVIA: I loved hearing Simone sing. She was incredible. There was this one night I finally convinced Daisy to sing on stage right after her. I thought that Simone's soothing voice would get her out of her shell. I was right.

As usual, Simone was singing her heart out up on stage, but this time, Daisy waiting with her guitar backstage.

♪ Love you in a place ♪

♪ Where there's no space or time ♪

♪ I love you for my life ♪

♪ 'Cause you're a friend of mine ♪

♪ And when my life is over ♪

♪ Remember when we were together ♪

♪ We were alone and I was ♪

♪ I was singing this song to you ♪

♪ We were alone and I was ♪

♪ Singing this song ♪

♪ To you... ♪

The song came to end and the crowd cheered for Simone. "Thank you. That was track two of my record. I got some copies for sale by the bar. And now I'd like to introduce a friend of mine. Gonna take you for a spin around the universe. Come on up, Daisy Jones."

Sarvia, who was sitting at a table in the audience, leaned over to Teddy Price, who had sat down next to her. "Pay attention. You're gonna like her."

Simone went over to the other mic on the stage and Daisy stood front and center. "Hi. I'm Daisy."

♪ The days were wide open ♪

♪ At the heart of all my joy ♪

♪ Boys were invincible lovers ♪

♪ Just begging to be destroyed ♪

♪ They're up in the morning ♪

♪ Regretfully sobbing and gone ♪

♪ I'm bathed and going back to bed ♪

♪ This was never any cause for alarm ♪

♪ It seems you have a choice to make ♪

♪ The shell is white and yours to break ♪

♪ Either way, it's just as well ♪

♪ All I need's a promise I can keep ♪

♪ To myself ♪

At the end of the song, the crowd cheered, Sarvia the loudest. "Whoa! Go, Daisy!"

Simone was the first off the stage and quickly came over to Teddy and Sarvia. "You want to sign her?"

"Will she want to?" Teddy shot back. "That's what we have to ask."

"I doubt she will," Sarvia sighed, watching Daisy walk over while taking a drag of her cigarette.

"Hey," Simone greeted her. "Daisy Jones, Teddy Price. You two should talk."

Sarvia kissed Daisy's cheek before she and Simone left them alone. "Good luck."

"Do you think she'll say yes?" Simone wondered.

"Have you ever met Daisy?"

When Daisy found the two a few minutes later, it was clear what she picked. "I'm not signing with a record label."

"Simone and I are," Sarvia reminded her. "Why not?"

"It's not me," Daisy shortly explained.

SARVIA: I told Teddy where Daisy worked. Look, I understand that it wasn't the nicest move, but I knew how persistent Teddy was. He was gonna sign her one way or another.

DAISY: If Teddy saw something in you, he just wouldn't let it go. It was the first time that I had ever wanted to live up to somebody else's expectations of me.

* * *

SARVIA: Daisy came to Simone and me and said that she wanted to record a song she'd written. She wanted to record it on a tape recorder. After we finished I found out she planned to deliver it to Teddy Price's front door. I found it hilarious.

"Three, two, one," Simone counted down, then pressed record.

Simone and Sarvia sat back and listened to the magical voice of Daisy Jones.

♪ I've been riding with this monkey ♪

♪ On my back ♪

♪ Trying to keep two wheels ♪

♪ On the track... ♪

♪ Nobody needs ♪

♪ Nobody needs ♪

♪ Nobody needs a ♪

♪ Family ♪

♪ Though impossible ♪

♪ It's still alive in me ♪

♪ And a hope like you will always ♪

♪ Prove to be ♪

SIMOME: Daisy, even in the beginning, always had a way of enchanting you with her voice.

SARVIA: I was so proud I could've kissed her. I wish I had.

DAISY: That tape was the start of something new.