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I tried to convince myself that her words weren’t any different from a random person on social media on any given Tuesday afternoon. But something about hearing them in personwasdifferent than just reading them on a screen.
But I couldn’t keep improving if I didn’t hear opinions that were different from mine.
“Oh? How so?” I pushed her to explain. I tried to keep my voice neutral and my face impassive, hiding the impact she was having on me. My act apparently worked, because Thalia’s eyes flared brightly with annoyance. It was possible I was pushing her a little too hard right now, laying on the indifference a little too thickly, but there was no turning back now. Besides, if Thalia couldn’t handle this, then she wouldn’t be able to handle the music industry on its best, most laid-back, chill day.
To my surprise, Thalia let out a deep breath, directing it upward and making the curls around her face bounce. She seemed to think this conversation wasn’t going anywhere good, and it was time to get out of here.
“Look, what does what I think matter, anyway? It’s not like my opinion would change anything,” Thalia conceded, eyes moving everywhere around the room except to me. “I’m sorry I said those things out loud…in an empty room. And I’m sorry I hadn’t found your mystery notebook. Yet.”
Her eyes found me then, and the item in question burned in my hand. I couldn’t help but laugh lightly.
“I’m not going to lie. Your commentary certainly piqued my interest. But I wasn’t saying that you shouldn’t have an opinion. I was more saying that you were terrible at completing a simple task. Like finding a notebook.” I added a small smirk as I shook the notebook in my hand. Her confused look was quickly replaced with something that couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than irritation.
I could see the effort on Thalia’s face to not roll her eyes or scoff at me.
“I will do…better next time,” she said with the effort of a steam engine climbing uphill.
Sure, I was pushing Thalia’s buttons, but I really did want to hear what she had to say about my albums and was a little disappointed that she wasn’t taking the opportunity to continue with her thoughts. I had a feeling that if I pulled it out of her, she would probably let everything out.
I walked slowly towards her and yeah, maybe I was still playing with her, but I stood a little too close. Her eyes stayed pinned to mine as she leaned slightly backwards.
"I look forward to you doing better next time," I said with a low voice, my mouth being dangerously close to hers. I felt a tightening in my pants that I would just have to ignore for now. But god, it was difficult. Her breathing had increased, and I felt my heartbeat start to race in my ears. I leaned a little closer…
“Knock knock!” A voice pierced through the silence. I stepped back from Thalia, the spell being quickly broken, aware that our physical closeness might be misconstrued by an outsider. The air between us felt so charged all of a sudden.
I knew all too well who that voice belonged to, and he had a bad habit of walking into the room like he owned the place.
Which, to be fair, he used to. That was until I decided to invest the massive amount of money I’d earned into an underperforming record company.
I cleared my throat at the intrusion and stood with my hands behind my back, trying to calm my racing heartbeat.
“Kurt. To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?”
I might have bought the company, but Kurt was still not a person I wanted to piss off, so I had to keep a friendly professional tone that I’d mastered over the years. Knowing how to work with people who had dangerously inflated egos was just as vital in the industry as putting out good music.
The truth is, he held onto a mere 2% of the company and although he wouldn't typically be involved in our internal meetings at that level of ownership, I allowed him to come out of respect for his legacy in the company.
Without thinking, my eyes slid to Thalia, who was watching this exchange sharply, like she was studying everything about the moment.
“Oh, Damian. Can’t I just stop by to see your face?” Kurt’s tone was painstakingly manufactured. Being sincere in his greetings didn't seem to be part of his DNA.
His eyes landed on Thalia, who seemed frozen in place. His rounded body was clothed in a fine blue suit, and he seemed to glide toward her. His hands were flexed outward at the wrist, and I grinned as it looked like he was a slippery seal walking up to his prey.
“Who do we have here?” Kurt asked, walking right up to Thalia and invading her personal space. I thought I saw a twitch in her body that seemed to beg to take a step back from him.
“I’m Thalia Santana. The new studio assistant.” Her voice trembled ever so slightly, and I had no idea what was going on. Kurt was overbearing, but I didn’t think Thalia would be the type to get overwhelmed by him. She didn’t even know how bad he could get yet.
Kurt's one eyebrow was raised as if he was trying to recollect something. The silence and tension-filled energy thrummed unpleasantly through my office.
“Right! Well, nice to meet you, Thalia,” Kurt finally said, turning toward me while chuckling. “Damian, you sure have a looker here!" I rolled my eyes at his misogynistic comment. "The reason I dropped by is that I forgot you’re working on an album. That’s such a great idea. Now you can freshen things up when you return to touring. I’m so glad you’re using this downtime for something productive and not just out partying with some random, albeit beautiful reality star.”
Kurt was truly insufferable.
He wasn’t the owner of this record label anymore. I had even changed the name when I acquired it, but he still walked around like he was the boss. I could have reminded him that I was the one calling the shots on my own music now, but I knew that would be a waste of energy. Instead, I pulled a wide smile, knowing it looked real enough. At least I think I mastered that sincere look over the years, having to deal with characters like Kurt.
“You and I both, Kurt. Speaking of touring, I’ll see you and the other executives later for a meeting about kicking off the world tour, right?”
Kurt’s answering smile was far less convincing than mine.
