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“Speaking of the artist, I have no idea what’s taking him so long. He literally just stepped into the lounge over there when you two arrived.” He pointed to an almost hidden door on the other side of the room.
And as if on cue, the said door opened and revealed none other than the world-famous Damian Apollo. This man had already won a number of Grammys and countless other awards. He toured the entire world with sold-out shows at every stop, and he amassed a legion of fans through his music. And he was standing right there, in a tight-fitting blue crewneck sweatshirt, black joggers, and white slip-on sneakers.
His dark hair was slightly disheveled, and his eyes were heavy. He looked like he’d just woken up. Whatever he was doing, it was a very different look than what everyone was used to seeing in magazines. He didn’t look like a superstar. In fact, I realized with a painful swallow, he just looked like Damian.
“I almost fell asleep in there,” Damian said with a small yawn. He then stretched, tugging his sweatshirt upward and revealing his lower abdomen…and his happy trail. I yanked my eyes up and away before anyone caught me staring at that taught stretch of skin and crisp dark hair. I could almost remember how his skin felt under my fingertips and…
Whoa, girl. I cleared my throat, pulling myself back to the present.
“Almost?” Jackson questioned with a chuckle, sitting down in front of the studio equipment. “Come on, man. Meet the new studio assistant. Thalia.”
Damian’s eyes suddenly adjusted, his dazed blues instantly becoming hard and fierce.
“Is this the studio assistant you asked Sadie to hire?” Damian asked Jackson, ignoring me and obviously not remembering me at all from the day before.
I knew it was only temporary. As soon as the formal introductions had begun and I told him my name, which obviously I would have to, I knew he was going to remember who I was. And I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Did I want him to remember?
A lot of things had changed between us over the years. We weren’t the same people we were five years ago… and I just wasn’t sure how we were going to move past that. Initially, I was pissed off that he didn’t remember me yesterday. But that was just the heat of the moment. Now, when I was faced with him again and I had the choice of anonymity, I had a sudden change of heart.
“Sorry, I didn't fully get your name…” Damian finally looked at me expectantly. And here it was. The moment I had been dreading finally arrived. A small part of me twisted when he basically confirmed that he, in fact, didn’t know who I was right now.
Taking another deep breath, I finally looked him directly in the eye. My breath hitched in my throat, words clogging in my chest, but I managed to power through the hurt.
“I’m Thalia Santana, sir.” Again with the sir, but Damian refused to slip past my lips.
The next surprise of the day: Damian’s expression showed complete indifference.
“Cool,” was all he said before he walked to the couch, dropping himself down as he started scrolling through his phone.
What the hell?
He didn’t even remember myname? My face was one thing. I could admit I’d changed over the years and sometimes we all have trouble placing people. But he couldn’t remember my fucking name?
I stared at the floor in disbelief for a few long seconds before composing myself. Despite the disappointment, I still needed to be here. I had to find a way to move through this, even though I was strangely sad about what just happened.
“Alright, well now that introductions are out of the way, maybe let’s get to work, Damian?” Jackson was clearly trying to take control of the day, earning only a soft hum of approval from Damian.
I kept to the side of the room and out of the way, awaiting further instructions. Though my mind was in a haze, caught somewhere between the past and the present, all bridged together by Damian’s eyes. I would never have been able to forget that shade of blue, even a hundred years from now.
But I had reasons – important reasons – why I needed to be here.
And number one on that list was waiting behind my apartment door when I got home later that evening.
It had been a long day of work. Damian and Jackson tried a million things today in order to find the right sound for one song, and I had to set up the same number of instruments for them. I also stayed at least two hours behind after they both went home because I had to log each and every single instrument they used. Basically, it was a long day of work, and I was exhausted. It didn’t help that the commute from the studio in Silver Lake to my apartment in Van Nuys was even slower than usual. I didn’t need to spend extra time in my ancient Corolla.
Exhausted, I unlocked the apartment door, swinging it open quietly. My little sister was inside, hanging out in the small space on my thrifted sofa.
“Welcome back,” Adriana greeted me with a smile before her face pulled into a grimace. “You look like hell.”
I blew out a breath and a chuckle.
“Ha, thanks, Ana. Just first-day stress, that’s all.”
I trudged over to the couch and sat next to Adriana, melting into the cushions.
“Thank you for watching Luna. I’m sure you had better things to do today, but I really appreciate the help.”
“Sis, no problem,” Adriana said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “As you know, she wasn’t really all that hard to handle. She’s laying in bed, but I doubt she’s asleep yet.”
