Chapter Nineteen
Xander (Monday)
I heard Michael grumbling before I even looked up from the newspaper. I didn’t need to look up to know that he was in a bad mood, but considering he was here, I was safe in the knowledge that at least this time I wasn’t to blame.
“You okay?” I kept my tone casual, trying my best to avoid another hothead situation. His face was taut, his expression strained, his whole body hunched up with stress. This wasn’t good, and I hoped that it didn’t affect us today.
“No, man, I’m fuming.” He grabbed his drink, spilling some of it over his hand without even noticing as he joined me where I was sitting. “Things have gone tits up with Steph.”
Oh, God, this isn’t good. This was the first woman I’d ever known him show more than one night’s worth of interest in, and now that was all gone. Something bad had to have happened for that to end.
I narrowed my eyes, knowing Michael’s history and wondering what he could’ve done. He’d spent a whole lot of his life hurting women’s feelings, and it seemed like this was going to be the same. “What happened?” I asked cautiously.
“She’s just crazy, you know?” His voice was shaky, and his face heated up. There was more to the story, but I knew that by pushing him, I wouldn’t get anything. He would shut down more. The last time I’d tried to extract information from him, he vanished for days. I couldn’t risk that again – it was awful. I didn’t know what to do.
“I just couldn’t deal with it, you know?”
“Right, sure,” I replied with tight lips. “That’s a shame.”
“Nope, no shame. Good riddance, I say.” He was tapping the table too hard, his irritation shining through, but still he didn’t tell me anything. “So, what do we have on the agenda today?”
“Oh, right. Well, we have Lila and Kyle written in pencil. She isn’t well, cold or flu, something viral, so we’ll just have to see if they show up. Then this afternoon we have the band Staid booked in.”
“Oh, right, that’s cool; should be a fun day then. How are Lila and Kyle getting on with everything?”
“The contract is signed, the album is being recorded, it’s all good.” I smiled brightly, glad to have some good news to distract him with. “Soon we can get it out on the shelves, and we’ll start making money.”
I noticed Michael open and close his mouth, as if he was about to say something, but he seemed to think better of it at the last minute. I furrowed my eyebrows at him, wishing that I could just question him, but he didn’t work that way. “Let’s get going then,” he finally announced. “We know how eager Lila and Kyle are.”
Just as Michael suspected, they were waiting outside the studio. Lila looked like a dream in her white tee and jeans combo. As she spun to look at me and her whole face lit up with joy, I heard Michael cough pointedly beside me. I quickly averted my eyes, not wanting him to guess. That was a conversation I wanted to have in a calmer environment.
Unfortunately, as Lila and Kyle went to set up, Michael pulled me to one side. “What is going on?” he hissed, looking unimpressed. “Are you dating Lila?”
I didn’t want to lie, and I hated to push my friend away, but I needed to protect Lila and what we had. “No, nothing’s going on. This is all just business.”
“Right...” I could tell by his tone that he didn’t trust me, but I wasn’t about to crack any time soon. “Okay, well, just be careful. You know that we don’t mix it up with the talent.”
“I know, I know.” I gulped and turned away from him, needing this conversation over before I accidently blurted out something I didn’t want to. “We better get ready. I need to check that Lila’s voice is ready.”
“Sure, sounds good. You do that while I get some paperwork filed. I have a meeting with the accountant tomorrow morning, and I want to get everything in order.”
As he walked off, I turned around to focus on the booth instead. I couldn’t concentrate on Michael now, not with Lila here. I wanted to watch her in peace, to see her bring that magic to life once more.
Especially in that room where we’d had the most amazing experience ever...
I took my seat with a massive grin on my face, recalling the beauty of her body spread across the piano. She was so gorgeous, such a natural beauty. I’d never been with anyone quite like her. As I looked at her, our eyes connected and I could see the same thoughts spinning through her brain, too. We both blushed a little.
This day wasn’t going to be easy, but it would be a whole lot of fun.
***
“So, I think you only need one more song,” I told them honestly once we were done. Now that I had the contract signed, I had Kyle record all the music, followed by Lila’s lyrics. There was only a little bit of work needed in the sound department – this would be one of the easiest projects that we’d ever had. This album would be out before we knew it.
Then, the hard work could begin.
“Yeah, I think you might be right.” Both Kyle and Lila looked happy at that news. I wasn’t sure they knew how this process worked, so they didn’t know how well they’d done, but their eyes were shining with happiness anyway.
This was the sort of act I liked working with. This was how people like Aiden needed to learn how to behave.
“We’ll get it done,” Lila insisted. “We’ll have it ready for you soon enough.”
“You did well today. Your voice must be feeling better?” She looked good, too... much more vibrant than she did on Saturday at any rate.
“Yeah, much better, thanks. I think the virus has totally vanished.”
We grinned at each other for just a beat too long, before I forced myself to drag my eyes away. It had to be obvious by now to Kyle that something was going on between me and Lila, but I wasn’t sure she’d told him directly. I didn’t want to step on any toes and force her into a conversation she wasn’t ready for.
“Well, I’m not concerned about the time it’ll take you finish the song. I think you two have it under control. Once you’ve got this one finished, you might even want to think about more songs. I have a feeling that we’ll be after another album.”
I didn’t usually say things like that, but I was so confident this was going to work. I just knew this would be more than a one-album deal.
“Yeah, okay,” Lila was nodding excitedly. “That sounds wonderful.”
As they walked outside, heading toward the bus stop, I went with them to chat just a little bit more. I had offered to give them a ride back, but they refused, stating a need to shop first. I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to Lila though, not until I had to.
“So, I might come to you for some advice about the last song, if that’s okay?” Kyle asked me cautiously. “Just all that stuff you said the other day made a lot of sense, and it’s been a huge help to me.”
“Of course!” I was more than happy to lend a hand. Just the fact that Kyle, who was very guarded and proud most of the time, would ask for my assistance was heartwarming. He didn’t realize he’d reignited my love for playing music, too, so any chance to practice that was awesome.
“That sounds great. We can either hang out at the studio and practice, or maybe at your apartment.”
“Thank you so much.” He grinned happily. I adored working with him. “That sounds wonderful.”
He stepped ahead and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, acting like he was searching for something important. I felt like that was clue enough that he’d had a talk about us from Lila. That was good; it meant that we only had one person to hide this from.
I still couldn’t let Michael know, especially not after that conversation we’d had earlier. Hopefully, Lila would know that without me having to vocalize it. It didn’t feel nice to say, “Can we keep us a secret?”
“So, did we do okay today?” she practically whispered to me. “My voice sounded all right?”
“Absolutely perfect. I couldn’t even tell that you’d been sick.” She was walking so close to me that I could feel her hip bumping against me with every step, and I enjoyed that sensation. “Your voice is lovely.”
“Well, thank you.” She beamed. “Well, how about I call you tomorrow? And we go from there?”
“What, you mean you aren’t going to spend the whole day sorting out your last song?” I gasped in mock surprise. “How could you?”
“Haven’t you heard? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. And anyway, I wouldn’t worry – my boss is awesome. He won’t mind me having some time off.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then call me.”
I turned to say goodbye to her, having to leave, but the bus would turn up at any moment and there wasn’t any way I could string this out any longer. I lightly brushed my fingers against hers, wanting to drag her toward me. I needed to kiss her, to bring that spark back once more, but it didn’t feel like the right moment to do so. Not in such a public place, and not with Kyle there. Instead, I sent her a sad smile and tried to convey with my eyes what I wanted to be doing.
“I’ll speak to you tomorrow then,” she said quietly, drawing my attention to those beautiful plump lips of hers. “Looking forward to it already.” Her eyes were flaming with lust and desire, and her mouth was curled up in a smile. All I wanted to do was drag her to somewhere private where I could ravish her again, but this wasn’t the time for that. I felt like we’d get another chance, though.
“Maybe text me.” I wasn’t usually the sort of guy who enjoyed pointless messages. I liked them to say something substantial. I liked to spend my time typing for a good reason, but I had enjoyed her sweet messages to me the previous night. I enjoyed knowing that she was thinking about me. It made me happy. “A little later on.”
“I will.” We had an intense connection fixed between us. I was sure that we could both feel the unspoken emotions flowing. It was as if we had a language just for us. I’d never had that before, not even with my ex. This was all brand new to me, and I was enjoying every moment of it. “And I’ll see you soon, okay?”
I eventually managed to tear myself away, but even as I walked off, I could feel Lila’s hands in mine. This girl was special. I already missed her. It was a shame that I couldn’t share this exciting time of my life with Michael. It felt weird to have to keep something like this away from him, but it was the only way.