Chapter 4

Weird.  I never expected that to happen, especially not with Ethan. For the rest of our time spent in the studio, Ethan followed me like a puppy. He even insisted to go with me to get us some coffee, when the coffee machine was literally 10 steps away.

“I don’t want to risk you burning yourself.” He says to me then. Confusion paints my face when I ask him, “It’s just coffee, it has been my job to get you guys coffee since I started working here. Don't sweat it.”

It was his turn to be confused. “But that’s not your job, you’re a producer.” He says as he takes the coffee pot and pours the freshly brewed black liquid into three mugs.

I send him a knowing smirk, taking two of the filled mugs from the table to carry into the studio. “Exactly. I'm only a producer by title. Which is why this opportunity means the world to me.”

I leave him there to fill up the last mug and I make my way back to Alexander.

“You two seem cozy,” Alexander comments as I place his mug down next to the console.

“Who?” I ask in confusion, taking a seat once again.

“You and Ethan, you seem cozy.” comes his reply.

I almost spill the coffee onto him when I hear his response. Alexander is one of the quiet ones; the observant ones. But he’s also one of the wrong ones. “Nope,” I replied to him. “Ethan and I barely talked before today. I’m just happy I get to learn from both of you.”

Alexander doesn't reply after that. He returns his attention to his computer and I'm left to wonder about what he said.

The three of us spend most of the day cooped up in the studio. Most of my hours here were spent just watching Alexander work and truly it's a great opportunity. Surely, I’d be able to use this for my side hustle too.

“Thanks so much again today, Alexander for letting me watch you work,” I tell him as I pick up my things, getting ready to go.

“No problem, feel free to drop by when you have time,” Alexander replies. 

“Wait, seriously?” I ask, incredulous. This is a chance of a lifetime! “For sure. I’ll drop by a lot so please don’t get tired of seeing my face.”

Alexander laughs at that. I don't know why he finds that funny because I was being dead serious. He can’t get tired of my face because I need all the help I can get if I were to make it big in this industry.  “I’m serious, you can bring Ethan along too.” He looks at Ethan then, but my eyes are fixated on the knowing smirk on his lips. It's like he knows this big secret and I felt dumb for not knowing it.

           

Ethan shrugs off the smirk and just shook his head from side to side, a shy smile danced on his lips. “Of course, Alex. It’ll be a big help to me too.” After this, Ethan turns to me and says, “Are you sure, you don’t want to join us for a meal? Alex’s treating.”

“Hey!”

That made me laugh albeit uncomfortably. “Thank you, but it’s fine. I need to go uh… go home and… uh help my roommate with something.”

Liar.

I don't have anything to do back home. I just need an excuse because Ethan's seriously starting to freak me out. He’s being too chummy and admittedly I’m terrified of him and the implications of his actions. I don't want to read into it because I don't want to start to get hopeful. He's a star in the sky and I'm just an asteroid in the background. Just a plain rock in his colorful galaxy.

“Well, if you’re sure.” Ethan finally says, “Maybe another time, then.”

I give him a sweet smile and I make my way out the studio door. “Maybe. Good day to both of you, I hope you enjoy your meal.”

And with that, I make a mad dash for the elevator. Pressing continuously on the down button, willing it to go faster. I don't want to have to share an elevator ride with the two boys, and I sure as hell don't want them to ask any more questions.

I send a silent prayer when the elevator arrived and closed behind me safely. Truth be told, I wasn’t going home; I'm scheduled to work today for my side hustle. There's still some time left so I decided to go to one of my favorite coffee shops to kill time. 

I figure I could practice and apply some of the tips I learned from Alexander.

I arrive at the Full Moon Café and stepping foot inside the archway entrance felt like stepping inside my own home. The aroma of the coffee that filled the café felt like a warm embrace of a lover.

As delicious as their coffee maybe, I crave the sanctuary and the quiet more, so I order myself a chocolate cake. I paid and received my order and made my way to a corner booth by the window.

The coffee shop is a bit quieter today than usual and that pleases me immensely. It means that I can focus on my work and enjoy the quiet at the same time.

I take out my laptop and headphones. I power up my laptop and while I waited, I turned on the Bluetooth function of my headphones and scrolled through my Spotify for inspiration.

I played trap music randomly, and suddenly my mind wandered to Rina, Ethan’s girlfriend. People may call me bitter for saying this, but I never really liked her. She always barges in on important dates; hogs Ethan all to herself most of the time and treats me like garbage whenever we crossed paths. I don’t understand how Ethan could stand such an awful person in his life.

Well, in retrospect, she may not be mean in Ethan’s eyes. Perhaps he sees her as the most beautiful and kindest angel to ever grace the Earth, but that’s his own thing and I have nothing to say about that.

I recall a time when Rina came to one of Raze’s recording sessions with a food truck to show her support of the boys. It was about a few weeks after I started working for Raze.

“Ethan!”

Everyone is startled by the high-pitched voice that cut through rehearsals.

“Rina? What are you doing here?” Ethan takes off his headphones in a hurry. He leaves the room and makes his way over to his girlfriend, who ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Instinctively Ethan returned the hug and rested his hands on her waist.

“I brought snacks!” Rina replies. She then looks over Ethan’s shoulder to announce, “Food truck’s outside everyone! Go on.” She continues, practically shooing everyone out of the room. It isn't until Alexander speaks that people start filing out of the room, confusion evident on their faces. “Okay, let’s take a quick break, everyone.” He announces and then thanks Rina for her support for their comeback.

“Of, course! I’d do anything for my sweet Ethan.”

What Alexander doesn't say is how Rina's presence has disrupted their work and delayed their schedule.

Alexander walked over to where Ethan was, when he noticed his discomfort, “You got this Ethan?” 

“Yeah, I got it.”

Unconvinced, Alexander respectfully nods once and follows the herd of people heading for the food truck outside the building.

Everything happened so quickly that at the time, I hadn’t realized that everyone had left the room. I call out to Ethan, eyes glued to the piece of paper I was holding in my hand, as I shuffled to where he was.

“Ethan! Hey, quick question. The head producer changed the bridge a little bit, he wanted me to check if you’re comfortable with the key shift or—oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t—"

“Yeah. Oh.” Rina cut me off mid-sentence, “Who are you anyway?” 

Bitch. I thought. Thankfully I managed to hold my tongue. “Right, uh. My name is Keira, one of the assistant producers, I just wanted to give this to Ethan,” I say, holding up the piece of paper to emphasize.

But the response Rina gives leaves both Ethan and I surprised.

“Ew! What is that on your hand? Is that… blood?”

“What?” I bring my hand closer to my face, turning it to inspect it. She's right, there is a small trail of dried blood, about two inches long that ran from between the knuckles of my index and middle fingers down the inside of my index finger. Surprisingly it didn’t stain the sheet I was holding. I frowned at the wound, I couldn’t believe I had been so careless. “I must’ve nicked it when I helped carried the equipment over.”

I shake my hand and my head in unison as if to brush away the thought and the wound. But Ethan yanks my hand towards him.

“Are you okay? Let me see.” surprise painted not only my face but Rina’s as well when Ethan took my hand in his to have a closer look. Worry was evident in his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m f--”

“She’s fine!” Rina’s voice cut me off once again, this time yanking Ethan’s hand off of yours, causing his fingers to graze the wound. I winced at the contact. “You know what, I think they’re calling you over there” 

“Really? Crap. Here.” I shoved the sheet of paper into Ethan’s hands, “I’ll find you later, yeah?” but before I could turn around to make my way to the door, Rina’s eyes met mine; wide in a warning.

Yeah, I get it. Hands off.

But in my defense, it was Ethan who touched me; not the other way around. The thought almost merited a blush.

“Yeah” Ethan replies with an apologetic smile. “I’ll find you later.”

I returned the smile and made my way out. “Shoo now, Nerd.” I heard Rina’s voice loud and clear. She didn’t even try to mask it.  It was at that moment when I didn’t think I would ever contemplate if hitting an idol’s girlfriend would get me fired. The answer is most likely yes so, I opted for the next best thing.

Turning back with a fake smile planted on my face, I zoomed back towards Rina and grabbed her hand with my own bloodied one. “It was very nice meeting you, Rina, I’ll enjoy the food you brought. Thanks!” And then I ran off, leaving a screaming Rina and a laughing Ethan inside the studio.

           

All I hear is the laughter of an angel. That made me smile.

The smell of cake shook me from the memory. I open my notebook and skim through the notes from my earlier conversations with Ethan and Alexander, before settling on a clean sheet.

“Okay, Keira. Time to get to work”