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“Um, I guess so. I mean, if they sent you, that’s no problem. I’ll be honest, I’ve never really spent a lot of time in there, so I don’t think I can help you much. But, yeah, go ahead.”
I nodded my thanks and let Sadie get back to the tablet that was clearly stressing her out.
At first, the space was unassuming. But there was something about the furniture and decor that just seemed more expensive than elsewhere in the building. There was something that screamed, “I’m worth more than your entire life,” from the office chair behind the desk. I bet the furnishings in this room could buy my entire run-down apartment building.
In one corner, there was a built-in bookshelf that displayed all of Damian’s awards. I wanted to linger and look at everything, but I knew they were waiting for me in the studio, and I didn’t want to give Damian any more reason to hate me.
I had to look for a notebook…a notebook I had never seen, nor been given a description. This was going to be fun.
“Probably should ask more questions next time, Thalia,” I muttered to myself before walking behind the desk and realizing there were no drawers. I turned around to see a wood file cabinet that looked more like home furnishings and less accounting department.
I pulled open the first drawer and found a few other awards tucked in there, which made me guess that he was simply running out of places to put them.
In the second drawer were the first vinyl pressings of all of his albums so far. It felt like a weird place to store these, but who was I to question the great Damian Apollo’s filing structure?
I flipped through them and saw his self-titled debut.
“Cute first attempt, honestly,” I muttered aloud as I pulled out the record and put it carefully on top of the desk.
Then, there wasFireproof, his sophomore album, which was objectively great.Say It Nowwas his third. I didn’t love it, but a lot of people in the industry did, and Damian was well-rewarded for the release. Finally,Four Zero Four, his most recent album, had a lot of experimentation with synthesizers. It was a new direction for him and I admired him for branching out and trying something different.
I was about to put them all back when I realized there was one more vinyl in the drawer, turned upside down. I was about to reach for it, but something by the door caught my attention and I let out a yelp, closing the drawer.
Chapter 6
Damian
Honestly,itwasn’teveryday that I received such straightforward and harsh criticism of my music in my own office.
“I don’t quite remember asking for your opinion of my work.”
Thalia had the sense to look embarrassed about being caught snooping through my stuff.
“You scared me,” she said, holding her hand to her heart, and standing up quickly. She froze though and seemed unsure of how to proceed and probably not even aware that she’d been talking out loud about all the albums she was reviewing. I mean, who talked out loud to themselves in an empty office?
A common misconception was that artists appreciated constructive criticism. This was false. No one liked receiving negative comments about the work they poured themselves into and no amount of rebranding the criticism would help it feel better. Everyone wanted to be praised, no one wanted to be scrutinized. And I would have known because my career was full of both praise and criticism. I didn’t like the negative comments one bit.
Thalia’s wide eyes said she was well aware of this, and I could see the wheels spinning in her brain, thinking of a way to get her out of this situation. It was the first time I had really looked at her since she started working here, and I couldn’t help noticing just how beautiful Thalia was. Even panicked like she was now, her eyes were warm, like honey dripping on wheat toast. Her brown curls were streaked through with some blonde. We were in LA, and I was sure she paid for those streaks, but I couldn’t help wondering if they were natural, like she was sun-kissed from spending time on the beach. I could easily imagine that gorgeous, curvy body in a bikini. She would likely choose something colorful that showed off the long line of her legs…
Okay, Damian. None of this was the point of being here.
“I mean… I just think… It’s just that–” Thalia was stammering now. Usually, she seemed so calm and reserved in the few glimpses of her that I allowed myself. But I definitely caught her off-guard now. I tried not to feel too satisfied, but I knew a smug grin was already on my face.
“Well, since we’re here, let’s continue this conversation.” I cut her off with a dare as I walked toward the cabinet she hadn’t gotten to yet. I reached in and immediately pulled out the small, blue notebook that looked a bit worn. “Since you seem to be better at offering unsolicited opinions instead of finding things.”
I could see Thalia holding her tongue, fists clenched tightly by her side. I was concerned for her and the dentist's bill those clenched teeth could have in store.
God, I didn’t realize how fun it could be to tease her. I could have been doing this in the studio the whole time instead of playing stupid games with Jackson.
There was tension and rage building up inside that her body language was just broadcasting into the world. It was an interesting feeling, having all of this…feelingpointed toward me.
In my world, people tended to just say whatever they thought I wanted to hear. All I heard was positivity, agreement, and affirmation. The truth was, for some reason, I had been aching to hear what someone truly had to say. Something that actually came from inside of them. It was a bit of a scary feeling, because of the aforementioned aversion to criticism, but it was suddenly incredibly important.
“It’s surprising to me that an artist of your magnitude would be so touchy from some side commentary muttered subconsciously in an empty room.” I tried hard to suppress my satisfied smile at getting just a touch of honesty from Thalia. She was coming undone just a little, and it was exquisite.
“Personally, I thought your third album was a bit…contrived. And, while I admire the attempt, it wasn’t the success you might have thought. At least to me. The fourth one was a little, how do I describe it? Heavy.”
Okay, I was right. Criticism sucked. I understood Thalia’s point about the third album. But the fourth? I had actually been proud of that one.
