AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, we have exactly zero songs that are worth putting on an album, so our progress has been outstanding,” Jackson joked. It was clear Jackson was the only person who could talk to Damian like that; everyone else in the building scurried around him and bent over backwards to get out of his way, let alone call him on his bullshit. Deep down, I was glad Damian had someone like Jackson to bring him down to Earth once in a while.
Of course, it was still a little weird to work with him, but I supposed that was a natural feeling when you’d had a relationship with the man who is now essentially your boss. And we weren’t some quick fling, either, or so I’d thought. Back then, I honestly thought we were…something. Of course, it was hard to prove that now, considering he never acknowledged me and had completely forgotten about me somewhere along the lines in the last five-ish years.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Damian didn’t even look up until he clearly had some sort of creative inspiration. Suddenly, his blue eyes sparkled as he looked at his producer. “Wait a minute. When I was on tour, I had a different notebook where I was writing a lot of lyrics. I had forgotten my usual one and something about the newness of it just let words pour out."
Jackson perked up, looking hopeful and excited, as he faced the superstar.
“Okay,” he nodded happily. “Okay, that’s great, Damian. This might get us somewhere. Where is the notebook?”
I could see the pleading in Jackson’s eyes, hoping against hope that this could be the solution.
But Damian slumped back into his seat, sucking all the optimism from the room.
“It’s in my office,” Damian said, looking upward. “All the way upstairs. Oh well.” His nonchalance was making it clear he wasn’t going to move an inch to go and get the notebook, even though this washisfreaking album they were talking about.
I took a few deep breaths, feeling a strong urge to shake Damian and hope some sense rattled around and settled properly in his brain.
Jackson let out a deep breath, likely also trying to calm his reaction. He could call Damian on a lot of nonsense, but I was sure a line existed for Jackson, too.
He shot me an apologetic look.
“Thalia.” Jackson’s voice was calm in that schooled, tight way that was a universal sign for someone just barely keeping their shit together. “Would you please go to Damian’s office and get the notebook? It’s probably in a desk drawer.”
He glanced at Damian for confirmation. He just nodded without looking up.
Trying to suppress the eye roll toward the indifferent rockstar, I stood up from my chair.
“Yes, Jackson, I'll go get the notebook.” There was more irritation in my voice than I intended, and I sent one annoyed glare in Damien’s direction.
I needed this job. I needed this job for me. I needed this job for Luna.I reminded myself on the other side of the door with a deep breath. I was paid to do these tasks and had to keep the fact that he was my boyfriend out of this. Somehow, working with my insufferable brat of an ex-boyfriend would eventually pay off. I just needed to see it through.
A renewed sense of calm, or almost-calm resignation, might have been a more accurate expression of how I was feeling. I wound my way through the building and to the top floor.
I had to admit that Damian had done well, owning such an amazing place as Blue Guitar Records and finding incredible success. Sure, I didn’t like him a lot right now, but I wasn’t going to discredit his hard work. He could have just coasted and put his entire career on cruise control, but he kept trying to do more, be more, do better, be better. If he wasn’t such an asshole, it would have been inspiring.
I figured the name of the place referenced his famous eyes. Seriously, I was sure they were more famous than any song he ever wrote. His eyes, and his favorite instrument. He was an annoyingly amazing guitarist and everyone knew that. It was an unassuming name, but the music industry knew it as a force to be reckoned with. Damian Apollo didn’t break several records in his career to not have that kind of power.
And while this place might be a destination for music fans and those trying to make it big in this industry, it still managed to capture Damian’s personality really well. Despite his rockstar status and the way people here treated him, he was actually known as kind of lowkey among his fans. Not that he didn’t enjoy his success and wealth, he sure did enjoy both of those things, but he was never an asshole about it…to his fans, at least.
Even his private office had an earthy feel to it that felt a lot like the recording studio downstairs. It had forest green panels and warm woods.
“Thalia!” Sadie called out with a bright smile as I was about to walk into his office. She was standing outside her cubicle, holding a tablet. She’d been reading something intently on it just a minute ago. “Need help with anything?”
I walked over to her, passing a few cubicles with panicked-looking employees typing furiously.
“I see this place is still in high spirits.” Sadie smiled as the sarcasm dripped from my words.
Before she could respond, Sadie and I watched another employee run from one side of the floor to the other in like five seconds. She probably broke a world record with what she just did.
I cocked an eyebrow at Sadie.
“Yeah,” she said eventually, glancing around her. “It’s crazy right now. Actually, it’s probably crazy all the time. But we’re getting ready for a few big events coming up soon. You know, concerts, appearances, signings, all that.” She glanced down at her tablet again as an alarm tone sounded. “So, what brings you up to this calm, zen workplace.” Her crooked smile made me laugh.
I couldn’t help noticing the tight lines around Sadie’s eyes and the slight slump to her shoulders. I figured there was a huge workload on her shoulders right now, too. It was probably best not to complain about Damian and Jackson’s Pen Cup Olympics. Everyone up here seemed to have it much worse.
“Jackson and Damian sent me on a quest up here to find something. Is it alright if I just go in?” I pointed my thumb at the door. It looked like the rest of the doors on this floor, but you could just feel avibecoming from it that said it belonged to the boss.
Sadie looked at the door and shrugged.
