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I stretched my arms above my shoulders, going for a casual posture. But I was feeling anything but casual at this moment. The cardigan Thalia wore during every session due to the cold air, slipped from her shoulder, revealing smooth skin sliced by the hot pink strap of her tank top. The delicate dip of her collarbone caught the light, making her shimmer.
“Don’t get me wrong.” I tore my eyes from her skin. Thalia didn’t need a creepy boss wondering what her skin tasted like. If it tasted citrusy, too. “There are a ton of upsides in what I have achieved. I’m not ignorant. I know how privileged and fortunate I am. But after winning album of the year for my second album, the creative pressure resulted in my third album,Say it Now.”
“And you went on to win another album of the year.” Thalia completed the story for me, but she was looking everywhere around the room except at me. Something was wrong here.
“Yep. I could go on and on about the next album and the domino effect. I was the darling of the music industry.” I rolled my shoulders. “It might sound like an asshole thing to say, but these awards – the medals and pieces of paper that music artistslivefor – they’re just decided by some random people voting on a set of nominees. If it was a different set of nominees or random people, I probably wouldn’t have won any awards.”
I shrugged as Thalia was silent. Slowly, very slowly, I saw that fire return to her eyes. The set of her jaw hardened, and she looked right at me.
“That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Success isn’t accidental, and you’re smart enough to know that. Sure, the voting might be done by human beings, but the awards are indicators of your success, for one reason or another.” I smiled, seeing the usual Thalia return. She raised an eyebrow at my expression.
“I’m sorry if I’m wrong,” she continued, staring me down, daring me to disagree with her. “But it just seems like you’re saying that you don’t particularly care for these awards, even though you just said that you worked so hard to earn them.”
I raised my finger to immediately stop her. “I never said I made these albums to earn awards,” I corrected her, standing up and walking toward her. I wasn’t sure why I did, but suddenly I found myself barely a foot away from her, breathing in the citrus and clearly invading her personal space. “Sometimes we just do what we have to do, and the rest just comes along naturally, you know?”
Thalia held my gaze for a heartbeat, and I could feel the warmth radiating from her. I could see the gold flecks in her eyes and how the color was a lot more complicated than just brown.
“I guess so,” she breathed, her lips parting as her tongue darted out and licked the bottom one. Damn, that was hot.
This close, electricity was firing between us. My fingers twitched and I could see the rise and fall of Thalia’s chest quicken. I imagined grabbing her, exploring her soft, smooth skin with my tongue. Going from her neck, across her collarbone, where I would slowly kneel in front of her, grab her ass in my hands, open her pants with my teeth, find her without panties, dive into her wetness with my…
Thalia cleared her throat. I had been staring at her for a little too long.
"I… uh," she stammered, "I should get setting up." She walked past me into the studio.
I sat down on the couch facing the studio, and just sat to watch her. Honestly, I had to cool my jets and let my cock relax, although I wasn't sure that was going to happen. The way she bent down to pick up my guitar with her ass in full view.
Yeah, nope, my dick was yearning to escape.
I watched her as she started tuning my favorite guitar. She handled it like a professional and had perfect pitch. She didn’t even need the tuner to check if the guitar was off by a note or anything, she just knew on her very first strum.
Thalia moved to the piano and played a few notes. I was mesmerized watching her long, delicate fingers slip over the keys perfectly, as if she’d played her entire life. I couldn't help but wonder how she was just a studio assistant at her age. It was clear she had talent.
“So…” I cleared my throat, suddenly feeling a bit weird again. She looked up at me. Her expression was mostly indifferent but carried just a slight edge of sadness. I hated that look so much. Thalia should never feel sadness. She should only feel happiness and, maybe a little irritation. “I assume you’re getting ready to head on the road?”
Thalia’s entire body tensed up for just a brief second. It was lightning-quick, but I caught it and felt a little guilty. It was my fault she was leaving LA and Luna for such a long time.
“I’m trying,” she said, staring down at the keyboards. “This is my first time having a job that requires so much travel, so it’s a little daunting.”
I nodded and hummed in empathy. I wasn’t a total monster. I knew that she wouldn’t be able to just instantaneously adjust to what I’d asked her to do. By now, I was very used to touring and traveling and sleeping in a different hotel every other night. But it wasn’t always this way.
“No, I get it. I was absolutely overwhelmed during my first-ever tour,” I confessed, still leaning against the door and watching her work through the recording booth. Okay, good. Small talk equals smaller dick. “Different beds, different people, different places, different… everything.”
“I suppose,” she replied, voice filled with an overwhelming sadness that came out of left field. “It’s just that… you don’t have a little girl that you won’t be coming home to every day for a while,” Thalia added, looking directly down at her hands that rested in her lap.
I…didn’t really have anything to say to that. I didn’t have any words because she was absolutely right.
“Ah, yes.” Great response, Damian. “How old is she again?” I tried to keep this connection going. It was the first time we hadn’t fought, and I just wanted…more.
In an instant, the air and vibe in the booth completely changed as Thalia remained silent. The tension was almost suffocating, radiating from Thalia. There was a different emotion written across her face. The sadness was replaced by…fear? Anxiety? I couldn’t tell, but it charged the entire space.
I felt heat run up the back of my neck and spread to my cheeks. It was the same feeling whenever I felt like I said something wrong. But what did I say wrong? I asked how old her kid was, but that was just making small talk.
My mouth opened, but no words came out like I was in a chokehold.
After Thalia finished, she simply stood up and faced me with a small smile.
“The booth is ready for you, Mr. Apollo.”
